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CENTENNIAL 



Portrait and Biographical Record 



. . . OK 



THE CITY OF DAYTON 



AND OK • 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO, 



CONTAINING . 



Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, 



. . TOGETHER WITH . 



THE BIOGRAPHIES AND PORTRAITS OP THE PRESIDENTS 

OF THE UNITED STATES AND BIOGRAPHIES 

OF THE GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



Edited by FRANK CONOVER. of Dayton, Ohio. 



A. W. BOWEN & CO. 

18©7. 













FEOM THE PRESS OP WILSON. HUMPHREYS * CO., 
TOCKTH ST., LOGAN6PORT, IND. 



PREFACE. 



k*/^\ IOGRAPHY is the fountain head of history, as only the deeds of men 
\y\ form the true basis for a study of the rise and fall of nations. The 
achievements of the individual are beneath all historical events deserv- 
ing of record, and it therefore follows that the personal histories of the more 
active and prominent inhabitants of a county, such as are presented in this vol- 
ume, will give the best view of the growth and progress of that community, 
unbiased and veracious, and altogether devoid of false coloring. 

While portraits and biographical notices of some of the worthy settlers and 
a few of the prominent living residents of the county will be missed from these 
pages, the fault is not due to the publishers. Of the former many have passed 
away, of whom their descendants have no reliable information; while a number 
of the latter, not having a proper conception of the character of the work, failed 
to give the necessary data for the compilation of a sketch. 

In placing before the reader the Centennial Portrait and Biographical 
Record of the City of Dayton and Montgomery county, the publishers can con- 
scientiously claim that they have faithfully fulfilled every promise made in their 
prospectus, and they are confident that their efforts deserve and will receive the 
approbation of their patrons. 

A. W. BO WEN & CO., Publishers. 
August, 1897. 



& ■%•, 






INDEX. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Adams, J 29 

Adams, J. Q 45 

Arthur, C. A 117 

Buchanan, ] 80 

Cleveland, S. G 121 

Fillmore, M 72 



Garfield, J. A 113 

Grant, U. S 102 

Harrison, B 125 

Harrison, W. H 57 

Hayes, R. B 106 

Jackson, A 49 



Jefferson, T 33 

Johnson, A 98 

Lincoln, A 84 

McKinley, W 127 

Madison, J 37 

Monroe, J 41 



Pierce, F 76 

Polk, J. K 64 

Taylor, Z 68 

Tyler, J 60 

Van Buren, M 53 

Washington, G 25 



PRESIDENTIAL PORTRAITS. 



Adams, J 28 

Adams, J. Q 44 

Arthur, C. A 116 

Buchanan, J 81 

Cleveland, S. G 120 

Fillmore, M 73 



Garfield, J. A 112 

Grant, U." S 103 

Harrison, B 124 

Harrison, W. H 56 

Hayes, R. B 107 

Jackson, A 48 



Jefferson, T 32 

Johnson, A 99 

Lincoln, A 85 

McKinley, W 127 

Madison, J 35 

Monroe, J 40 



Pierce, F 77 

Polk, J. K 66 

Taylor, Z 69 

Tyler, J 62 

Van Buren, M 51 

Washington, G 24 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



Allen, W 156 

Anderson, C 152 

Bartley, M 143 

Bartley, T. W 142 

Bebb, W 143 

Bishop, R 157 

Brough, J 150 

Brown, E. A 136 

Bushnell, A. S 163 

Byrd, C. W 131 



Campbell, J. E 162 

Chase, S. P 147 

Corwin, T 141 

Cox, J. B 153 

Dennison, W. J 148 

Foraker, J. B 160 

Ford, S 145 

Foster, C 159 

Hayes, R. B 154 

Hoadly, G 160 



Huntingdon, S 133 

Kirker, T 133 

Looker, 135 

Lucas, R 139 

McArthur, D 138 

McKinley, W 162 

Medill, W 146 

Meigs, R.J 134 

Morrow, J 138 

Noyes, E. F 154 



Shannon, W 140 

St. Clair, A 131 

Tiffin, E 132 

Tod, D 150 

Trumbull, A 138 

Vance, J 140 

Wood, R 146 

Worthington, T 136 

Young, T. L 156 



INDEX. 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Ackeret, P. M 929 

Acton, E. L 355 

Adelberger, A 368 

Adkins, T. G 366 

Alhrecht, C 928 

Allaback, J 371 

Allaback, [. N 371 

Allaman, t> 295 

Allaman, D. W 295 

Allen, C. R 927 

Allen, D. H 927 

Allen, E 929 

Allen, G. V 873 

Allen, J 373-1276 

Allen,}. F '.131-1275 

Allen, J. M 373 

Allen, R 372 

Allen, R. N 372 

Allen, S. | 1276 

Allison, D. K 376 

Allison, J. C 375 

Allison, [. W 375 

Althoff, H 374 

Althoff, H. F 375 

Althoff, T. P 374 

Ambrose, W. J :;',', 

Ambrose. \V. M ;!77 

Anion, J 376 

Anderson, B 361 

Anderson, B. D ::sl 

Anderson, C. F 381 

Anderson. F 361 

Anderson, R. M 817 

Anderson, \Y. B 814 

Anderton.C, Sr 378 

Anspach, G 1177 

Anspach, J 1177 

Apple, H.. 1109 

Appleton, |. M 250 

Arnold, B. F 383 

Arnold, I) L303 

Arnold Family 1300 

Arnold, E., Miss 1301 

Arnold, H. H 1301 

Arnold, J 1176-1300 

Arnold, J. W 383 

Arnold, S 1300 

Aughe, C, Mrs 383 

Aughe, S. S 382 

Aughe, \V 382 

Aull Bro. Paper and 

Box Co 384 

Aull, F. N 385 

Aull, J. W 386 

Aull, W. J 385 

Bad us, T.J 386 

us, \v 386 

Baggott, |. H 391 

ott, W 391 

Bailey, II 1093 

Bailey, | 1093 

. N. B 1093 

Ba r, \. H I I m 

Baker. A. M 



Baker, B 1178-1279 

Baker, D 1111 

Baker, E. R 393 

Baker, G. P 1280 

Baker. 1 393 

Baker, |. L 393 

Baker, L 1279 

Baker, M 1178-127!) 

Baker, N 1178 

Baker, S 1173 

Banker, G. C 1044 

Banker, S 1044 

Barker, F. D 394 

Barker, L. D 394 

Barney, B 183 

Barney, E. E 183 

Barney, E. J 240 

Basore, D 941 

Basore, G 941 

Bates, D. L 395 

Bates, H 395 

Bates, 1 892 

Bates, i. 11 387 

Bates, L. C 398 

Bat< s, Ns D 398 

Bates, O. E 387 

Bates, R 892 

Bates, R. H 396 

Bates, \Y. 1 892 

Baum, C 930 

Baum, P 930 

Baumann, R. O MHO 

Beachler, G. W 931 

Beachler, H 932 

Beachler, J 931 

Bear, H 1285 

Bear, S. D 243 

Beardshear, ('■ 1230 

Beardshear, 1 1267 

Beardshear,). F 1230 

Beardshear, W. M...1268 

Beaver, F. P.. - . 500 

Beck, C 396 

Bei k, H 1110 

Beck, J 285 

Beck, J. S 285 

Beck, S lllo 

Bei k, S., Sr lllo 

Beck, W 396 

Becker, H 933 

Becker, H. J 402 

Becker. 1 933 

Beeghly.W. E 500 

Bell, |.'X 397 

Berlin, C 368 

Beyl, 1 1281 

Bevl, S 1281 

Bickham, W. D 403 

Billings, F. M 404 

Billings, T 404 

Billington, A. A 725 

Binkley, J 934 

Binklev, J. A 934 

Binkley, N 937 

Binkley, S 935 



Binkley, S. H.... 935-936 

Birch, J 512 

Bittinger, F. D 494 

Bixler, G 1229 

Bixler, S 1229 

Black, G. A 938 

Black, W. A 938 

Blakeny, VV. J 280 

Blocher. W. L 910 

Blum, J 406 

Blum, J. F 400 

Blumenschein, W. L. 300 
Bohlender, E. E.... 413 

Bohlender, P 413 

Bonner, C. A 518 

Bonner, J. N 518 

Booher, D. L 1202 

Booher, J 892 1202 

Booher, S 892-1202 

Bookwalter, B. F.... 939 

Bookwalter, I) 940 

Bookwalter, 1 940 

Bookwalter, W. S... 939 

Boomershine, A 1288 

Boomershine, C. L. .1289 

Boomershine, D 1287 

Boomershine, H.. . . 1287 

Boone, D 411 

Boren, J. W ........ . 412 

Boren, W 412 

Bothast, J 414 

Bouck, O. L S7:l 

Bowersox, A. L 287 

Bowersox, G. A 288 

Bowles, F. K 942 

Bowman, J 1107 

Bowser, P" 1131 

Bradford, E., Mrs... 1291 

Bradford, G.G 1289 

Bradford, T 1290 

Bradford, J. 1 1291 

Bradford, S. J 1289 

Brandt, 1„ Jr 943 

Brandt, J., Sr 943 

Breene.F. S 418 

Brehm, H 944 

Brehm, H. P 944 

Breidenbach, C. H.. 415 
Breidenbach, D. G.. 415 

Brenner. F 899 

Brenner, M 899-1222 

Bridgman, F 1094 

Bridgman, T. ..1083-1094 
Bridgman, W. H. H..1083 

Brookins, X. H 874 

Brookins.R. R 874 

Brown, E. F 261 

Brown. J. A 944 

Brown, M. C, Mrs... 945 

Brown, O. B 261 

Br. mil, O. G 945 

Brownell, F 388 

Browned. ]. R 388 

Brubaker, J. T 1296 

Bruestle, C 1113 



Bruestle, H. C 1113 

Bruestle, J Ill:: 

Brumbaugh, C 1230 

Brumbaugh, b L210 

Brumbaugh, G 1231 

Brumbaugh, H 1-51 

Brumbaugh, J 040 

Brumbaugh, J. H.. ..1210 
Brumbaugh, J. K... . 946 
Brumbaugh, J. R....1251 
Brumbaugh, S..1230-1252 

Bruner, b 1240 

Bryant, L. M 410 

Bryant, W 416 

Buechler, J 1113 

Buehner, C 948 

Buehner, J 947 

Buehner, J. F 948 

Buehner, J. M 948 

Buehner, 949 

Bunker, 1 418 

Bunker, X. R 418 

Burkert, E. F 417 

Burkhardt, F. J 422 

Burkhardt, J. A 224 

Burkhardt, R. P 224 

Burns. R. W 950 

Burtner, A. K 950 

Burtner, J 950 

Butler, J.'J 425 

Butt, ]. W 423 

Butt, R 423 

Butt, R. R 423 

Butz, C. A 301 

Butz, L 300 

Butz, L. C, Miss 360 

Butz, L. M., Miss.... 360 
Butz, V. M., Miss.... 360 

Buvinger, E. E 318 

Buvinger, G. W 315 

Buvinger, H 321 

Byron, J. W 425 

Callahan, W. A 330 

Callahan, W. P 190 

Carmony, J 1269 

Carney, A. C 443 

Carr, S. H 278 

Carroll, J 920 

Carson, 1. L L297 

Carson. R 1296 

Caten.F 231 

Caten, \V. L 230 

Catrow. G.C 952 

Catrow, X. 1 952 

Catrow. P 952 

Cellarius, H 524 

Cellarius, H. F. E... 524 

Chamberlin, S 288 

Chamberlin, W. B... 287 

Childs, B. B 201 

Chrisman, C. N 433 

Clagett, S. M 1112 

Clagett, S.G 1112 

Clay, A 951 



INDEX. 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Clay, A. K 951 

Clemmens, A 427 

Clemmens, F. C 437 

Clemmens, F. N 432 

Clemmens, H 432 

Clemmens, J 42? 

Clemmens, W.T.... 432 

Clemmer, J 1084 

Clemmer.W 1084 

Cline, J. C 310 

Coblentz, E 434 

Coe, A 530 

Coe, E. H 530 

Coffman, C. J 438 

Coffman.J 438 

Coler, C. A 1282 

Coler, J 1282 

Collins, C 4:!7 

Collins, J 4:;t 

Compton.F. M 457 

Conover, O. B 428 

Conover, F 4: 14 

Cbnover, \V 428 

Cook, H 548 

Cook, 1 his;.- lira 

Cook.W 1085 

Cooper, C. A 444 

Cooper, I) 444 

( oover, A. 1 1180 

Coover. E., Mrs 1181 

Coover, J 1181 

Coover, J. M 1267 

Coover, J. Q.A 1267 

Coover, M. J 1181 

Corbin, L 899 

Corns, C. F 439 

Cotterman, W .... 1132 

Cowden, R 445 

Cox, J. M 1146 

Coy, L 1191 

Craig-, Z. A 467 

Craighead, |. B 273 

Craighead, S 909 

Craighead, \V 273 

Crandall, H. A 284 

Crandall, 1 284 

Crauder, H 953 

Crauder, J 953 

Crawford, A 536 

Crawford, C. H 536 

Crawford, W. H 466 

Crawford, Z 536 

Creager, J 1085 

Creager, J. C 1085 

Creager, J. P. .. 1085-1308 

Creager, W 1308 

Crider, P 1146 

Cripe. D 1114 

Cripe, 1., |r 1114 

Crist, 1 1302 

Crook, C 922 

Crook, G 923 

Crook, T 922 

Crook, W 923 

Crooks, J. C 44? 



Crooks, T.J 447 

Crosbv, J..' 111-". 

Crosby, R 1115 

Crosby, W. A 1115 

Crull, H 1261 

Crume, J. C 222 

Crume, W. E 222 

Culbert, E 954 

Cummin, R. 1 238 

Cummin, W 239 

Cuppy, H 1252 

Cuppy.J 1252 

Cusick.'T. M 1179 

Dale, C. W 449 

Dancyger, 1 449 

Dancyger, L 449 

Dancyger, S 44*.< 

Darrow, | 875 

Darrow, P. Mrs 876 

Darrow, \Y. L 875 

David, 1 1091 

Davidson, J 229-1183 

Davidson, ]., Mrs ...lis:; 

Davidson, O. E 165 

Davidson, O. G. H... 465 

Davis, C. M 454 

Davis, L. N 453 

Davisson, O. F 229 

Davisson, H., Mrs . . 230 

Davisson, J 230 

Daw. 1 455 

Davy, W 155 

Dayton (."dirge of 

Music 360 

Dean, D. A 157 

Deardorf, J 1161 

DeBra.D 458 

DeBra, J. F 458 

Degger, J 464 

Degger, J. J 459 

1 *egger, J. L 464 

Delawter, J 1131 

Denise, J. S 463 

Denise, W 463 

Denlinger, A. A 1086 

Denlmger, I . . . .705- Hiss 

Dennick, Bros 554 

Dennick, H 559 

Dennick, J 554 

Denn ck, W 554 

Dennis, H. W 881 

Dennis, M.J 881 

Densmore, A 468 

Densmore, W.....V . 468 

Detrick, A 955 

Detrick, J. J 955 

Detwiler, J 1209 

Dhein, A 465 

Dickev, A 252 

Dickey, R. R 252 

Diehl, E 956 

Diehl, 1 956 

Diers, A. J. F 468 

Disher, C. 1309 



Disher, M 1309 

Disher, P 1309 

Ditzel.F 562 

Ditzel, J. F 562 

Dodds, C. W 958 

Dodds, L 959 

Dodds, W 958 

Dohner, A. D., Miss.. 999 

Dohner, 1 999 

Doren, J. G 47(1 

Drayer, G 1141 

Drill, G. W 1298 

Drill, J. W 1297 

Drury, M. R 488 

Drurv, M. S 4SS 

Duckwall, H 1244 

Duckwall, W 1244 

Dupuv, T 4S5 

Dustin, C. W 239 

Dustin, M 239 

Eagle, P 959 

Eagle, P. W '.'.v.i 

Earlv, 1 960 

Early, J 960 

Earnshaw, L. P 466 

Earnshaw, M. A., Mrs. 232 
Earnshaw, W. . . .231^466 

Earnst, M. F 1089 

Earnst, S 1089 

Ebert, J. M 469 

Ebling, G. M 961 

Ebling, J 961 

Eby, A..' 965 

Ebv, C 1090 

Eby, G 962 

Ebv, J.. 962-963-965-1 1 mo 

Ebv, T. P 962 

Ebv, W 1090 

Eby, W. S 96:; 

Eckhardt, G 1116 

Eckhardt, H. L 1116 

Ecki, F 492 

Ecki, W. H.H 492 

Eckstine, C 474 

Edgar, M. Miss 588 

Edwards, G. W 474 

Eichelberger, D 832 

Eichelberger, T. D.. 832 

Elder, T 346 

Elliff, C. W 475 

Elliott, H 1?:-; 

Elliott, W 173 

Emert, A 964 

Emert, D 964 

Eminger, A. J 966 

Eminger, C. F 966 

Ensev, D 884 

Ensey, J 884 

Ensley, G 1117 

Enslev, J 111? 

Enslev, J. L 1117 

Erbaugh.A 1096 

Erbaugh, G 1095 

Erbaugh.1 1091 



Erbaugh, J 1091 lour. 

Erbaugh, S 1095 

Epplev, C. S 476 

Eppley, H. C 176 

Euchenhofer, E. E. . 338 
Euchenhofer, F. H 339 

Evans, J 1299 

Evans, M 1298 

Evans, R 1299 

Evans, T. P 460 

Ewry, B 967 

Ewry, 1 967 

Ewry, W 967 

Fabing, M 968 

Fair, C 322 

Fair, E. S 322 

Falkner.L 968 

Falkner, L., Sr 96s 

Falknor, C. W 1120 

Falknor.L 1120 

Fansher, L. M 486 

Fansher, W 486 

Fansher, \V. 1 187 

Farrell, T. J 888 

Easold, E.. 440 

Fay, A 497 

Fay, W. E 497 

Feight, A. G 571 

Feight, F 

Feight, H. E 278 

Feight, 1. G 568 

Ferneding, H. 1 482 

Fiorini, PI 481 

Flack, P 187 

Flack, W.H 487 

Fleck, C. M 193 

Fleck, E. L 193 

Fleming, Z. D 499 

Fletcher, J. R 500 

Flory, A.". 1119 

Florv, H 1119 

Florv, J. B 1119 

Flotron, J. R •- 

Foos. J.. 229 

Forney, A 11.18 

Forney, C 1118 

Forrer, S 309 

Fowler, A 866 

Fox, D. B 970 

Fox, D. C, Jr 970 

Fox, 1 969 

Fox. L 969 

Fox, T.S 969 

Francis, A 911 

Francis, O. E 911 

Frank, A 971 

Frank, J 503 

Frank, J. L. H 257 

Frank, L 971 

Frantz. A 1121 

Frantz, D 1097-1121 

Frantz, H 1097-1121 

Frantz, 1 1097 

Frantz, M 1300 



INDEX 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Freigau, C 321 

French, G. W 1121 

French, S. L 1120 

Freudenberger, M . . . 504 

Frohmiller, J. B 512 

Fromm, C 505 

Fromm, C, Sr 505 

Fry, E.A 511 

Fry, H. A 511 

Gaddis, M.P 218 

Gaddis, T. P 218 

Galbraith, A. S 343 

Galbraith, N 344 

Galloway, | 509 

Galloway, "I. G 509 

Ganger, G 1215 

Garber, 1 972-1088 

Gardiner, H 1122 

Gardiner, H.E. ... 1122 

Garlaugh, A 1124 

Garlaugh, H 1124 

Garlaugh, H. A 1123 

Garrett, F. C 578 

Garrett, J 578 

Garrison, D 1098 

Garrison. 1 1098 

Gebhart, A 1124 

Gebhart, G. A 516 

Gebhart, G. H 516 

Gebhart, G. S 975 

Gebhart, H 1125 

Geiger, G. H 517 

linger, J 973 

Geiger, L 517 

Gem City Stove Co.. 522 

George, L 584 

George, S. F 584 

Gephart, E. A 974 

Gephart, G. S 975 

Gephart, J 973 

Gephart, J. M 973 

Gephart, M. 975 

Gerlaugh, A 518 

Gerlaugh, J. A 518 

Gerlaugh, J. H 517 

Getter, A. T 1126 

Getter, G 1125 

Geyer, J 528 

Gilbert, A 1232 

Gilbert, J 1231 

Gilbert, P. E 352 

Gilbert, T 1232 

Ginn, C 528 

Gish, A 1182 

Gish, C 1182 

Gish, M 1182 

Goetz, F. J 523 

( '. lhue, G 264 

1. A 540 

Gottschall, J 296 

Gottschall, O. M. ... 296 

Graf, 11. P, 975 

Grausei , C 529 

Grauser, CO 529 



Green Family 345 

Grim. A. H..' 533 

Groby, D 976 

Groby, H 977 

Groby. S 977 

Grove, G. A 977 

Gruver, A 978 

Gruver, 1 978 

Gummer, A. M 522 

Gummer, CM 522 

Gummer, H. R 522 

Gunckel, L. B 195 

Gussler, J. L 534 

Gussler.S. B 534 

i '.winner, F 979 

Haas, W. E 546 

Haas, W. F 535 

Hackney, J. D 545 

Hacknev. W. W.... 545 

Haeseler, E 590 

Haeseler, E. C 590 

Haeussler, J 542 

Haeussler, W. G 541 

Hagedorn, H 547 

Hagedorn, L. P 547 

Hahne, C [ 211 

Hahne, J. A 548 

Hahne, J. F 212-551 

Haines, A 1237 

Haines, D. A 177 

Haines, I. C 1237 

Hale, W. A 551 

Hall. C.J 559 

Hall, C. S 552 

Hall, 1 552 560 980 

Hall, J. A 980 

Hall, J. F 571 

Hall, J.N 553 

Hall, V. E 571 

Hall, W 552 

Halteman, C 567 

Halteman, E. C 567 

Hamilton, E 561 

Ha mm, D 566 

Hamm, E. F 566 

Hammel, J 980 

Hammel, S 1126 

Hammel, W 1126 

Hand, J 566 

Hand, J. M 565 

Hanley, E. W 482 

Hansbarger.A 1099 

Hargrave, B. F 572 

Harker, H. K 572 

Harley, A 981 

Harley, R 981 

Harley, R., lr 982 

Harries, J. W 573 

Harter, M. G 620 

Harter, S. K 620 

Hartranft, U.C 574 

Hartshorn, J. 575 

Hartzell, A 1126 

Hartzell, J 1126 



Hassler.C M 421 

Hathaway, B. F 576 

Hathaway, F... 576 

Hawker, F 576 

Hawker, W. S 576 

Hawthorn, J 577 

Hawthorn, W. S 577 

Heathman, E 240 

Heathman, G. W.. .. 240 

Heck, D 1128 

Heck, D. L 1128 

Hecker. I. H 581 

Hecker.L.E 581 

Heckman.D 983 

Heckman, W 984 

Heeter, E., Mrs 1259 

Heeter.S 1258 

Heidi nger, [. C 1188 

Heikes.R. O 582 

Hendrix, 1 1254 

Hendrix, J. M 1254 

Hendrix, W 1254 

Henkel.G.C 1129 

Henkel, P 1129 

Hepner.H 1239 

Hepner, J 1239 

Hepner, J. A 1238 

Herbruck, E 897 

Herby, C 588 

Herman, H 984 

Herman, H. M 984 

Herr, H 987 

Herr, S 986-987 

Herr, S. L 986 

Herrman, E. A 589 

Herrman, T. B 588 

Hershev, B. F 332 

Hershey, J. ..332-987 988 

Hickev, I" 590 

Hickev, P 589 

Hikes,' J 463-963 

Hiller, J 600 

Himes, B 594 

Himes, J. E 594 

Hoban, J 583 

Hoch, J 1070 

Hochw'alt, A. F 595 

Hochwalt, G 595 900 

Hochwalt, G. A 900 

Hoffman, G 1286 

Hoffman. J 985-1286 

Hoffman, L. F 1286 

Hoffman, W. H 985 

Holbrook, J. H., Miss 360 
Holderman, J. G.... 989 
Holderman, J. W.... 989 

Hollencamp, H 609 

Hollencamp, H. H.. 609 

Hollenkamp, T 595 

Holy Trinity Congre- 
gation 523 

Hook, J 1192 

Hoops, D 1130 

Hoops, E 1130 

Hooven, J 596 



Hooven, W. E 596 

Hoover, J 887 

Hoover. <). P 887 

Hoover, S. W 885 

Hoover, \V. I. T.... 887 

Horner, E. L 272 

Horner, G 1210 

Horner, 1 272 

Horner, W 1211 

Horning, J 272 1131 

Horning, S 1234 

Horning, W 1234 

Hosier, R 1298 

Houk.G 1132 

Houk, G. W 894-1132 

Hous, A 990 

Hous, G 990 

Hous. G. W 990 

Hous, 1 1099 

Howell. |. M 1133 

Howell, L 1133 

Howell, W. F 1133 

Hubler, G. W 991 

Hubler, M 991 

Huddle. D 936-1162 

Huffman, D. C 612 

Huffman, W 598 

Huffman, W. P 507 

Hughes, J. R 204 

Hughes, T. E 294 

Humerickhouse, J .. .1137 

Hunt, E 992 

Hunt, H. C 992 

Hunter, C 1134 

Hunter, 1 1134 

Hunter, J. B 330 

Huston, M 1099 

Huston, W 1099 

Hutchins, O. P 600 

Hvre, A 1100 

Hyre, M 1100 

Ridings, A. H 599 

Irvin.^A 289 

Irvin, H. A 289 

Irvin, J. B 289 

Irvin. O. \V 895 

Israel, B 604 

Israel, H 604 

Izor, D 1134 

Izor, J 1134 

Jackson, I. L 1212 

Jackson, S 1212 

James, F. E 604 

James, \V 604 

Jenner, A 605 

Jenner, A. E 606 

Jenner, H. G 606 

Jennings, E. 258 

John, A 1094 

John, J 876-1136 

Johns, J 1200 

Johns, L. W 1135 

Johnson, R. T 609 



INDEX. 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Johnston, J. R 340 

Jones, D 611 

Jones, E (ill 

Jones, W. D 616 

Jones. W.J 615 

Jordan, N. W 1090 

Judy, C 993 

Judy, J 993 

Judy, S 993 

Kaiser, H, \Y 354 

Kamrath, C. F 612 

Kaufmann, J 616 

Kauffman, F 995 

Kauffman, J 994 

Kauffman, T.J 995 

Kauffman, W. 1 996 

Kayler, B 1187 

Keener, 1) 1136 

Keener. J 1136 

Keener, S. B L136 

Kellner, C 621 

Kellner.C.G 621 

Kellner, J 621 

Kemp, D 618-1139 

Kemp, G. W 1137 

Kemp, J 618-1138 

Kemp, L... tils 1138 1139 

Kemp, W. H 1139 

Kemper, C. S 378 

Kemper, P. A 315 

Kemper, W. H 619 

Kennedy, G 1140 

Kennedy, G. C 334 

Kennedy, J 334, 1140 

Kennedy, J. W 299 

Kennedy, W 921 

Keplinger, D. K 1277 

Kersting, F 995 

Ketrow, J 1141 

Ketrovv, R 1141 

Ketrow, R. J 1141 

Keyser, D 324 

Kevser, L. S :!'_'4 

Kidder, \V. S 619 

Kimmel, A 1255 

Kimmel, A. B 911 

Kimmel, C 354 

Kimmel, C. F 911 

Kimmel, D 626-1255 

Kimmel, E. F 354 

Kimmel, H. S 625 

Kimmel, J. P 1101 

Kimmel, L 1101 

Kimmel, M 626-1255 

Kinder, C. E 997 

Kinder, J. E 997 

King, C. S 026 

King, J 1155 

King, W 1176 

King, W. B 626 

Kinnard, W. M 622 

Kinsey, D 1272 

Kinsey, J 1257-1272 

Kinsey, S 1257 



Kinsey, W. N 1256 

Kissinger, H 631 

Kittredge, A. M 277 

Klepinger, F 997 

Klepinger, G 114:'. 

Klepinger, H... .627-1143 

Klepinger, | 998 

Klepinger, P. M.. . 640 

Kline, J. H 633 

Kline, R. E 633 

Knecht, I L142 

Knee, [. 1184 

Koeppel, 1 999 

Krauss, L 1000 

Krauss, L. S 1000 

Kreitzer, |. W 639 

Kreitzer, P 1258 

Kreitzer, W 1258 

King, B lool 

Krug, G 638 

King, G. F 638 

Krug, H 1001 

Kuhnle, F. | 261 

Kuhnle, P. A lom; 

Kuhnle, T 1006 

Kumler, A. W 299 

Kumler, D 1309 

Kumler, H 1309 

Kunkle, F.J 261 

Kunnike, C 1185 

Kunnike, L 1185 

Kunnike, T 1185 

Kuntz, J K37 

Kuntz, \V 637 

Kurtz, C. S 1001 

Kurtz, L. S 1001 

Kurtz, P 1001 

Lalon, J 1151 

Landis, A. 1002-1122 1186 

Landis, A. M 100'.' 

Landis. C. W 1186 

Landis, D 1144 

Landis, J 1040 

Landis, J. M... 1186 

Larkin, D. C 221 

Laughlin, C.W 1145 

Laughlin, J 1146 

Laughlin, S 1145 

Lautenschlager, G. C 634 

Leasher, B 995 

Lefevre, I ; 1004 

Lefevre, J 1005 

Lefevre, J. N 1003 

Lefevre, W. H 1004 

Leis, H 1242 

Leis.J.P 1006 

Leis, P 1242 

Leis, W 1006 

Leisenhoff, E 1009 

Leisenhoff, F 1009 

Lenz, J. P 641 

Leopold, C. W 628 

Leopold, G. M 628 

Lewis, J. K 362 



Lewis, I. K., Mrs 362 

Lewis, H.W 641 

Lewis, T. M 362 

Lewis, W. D 362. 

Lienesch, T. H 642 

Light, E.. 644 

Light. G 450 

Light, J 450, 644 

Lindsey, T. C 643 

Lindsey.W 643 

Lindermuth, S 1005 

Lindermuth, T 1006 

Lingle, IJ 1101 

Linxweiler, I.. Jr. . . 263 
Linxweiler, J., Sr. . . . 263 

Loesch, H 1013 

Logan, J. M 649 

Logan, S. M 649 

Long, D 1260 

Long, H 1102 

Long, I L260 

Lorenz, E 351 

Lorenz, E. S 896 

Loucks, M 047 

Loucks, S. C, Mrs.. . 648 
Lounsbury, O.W., |r. 639 
Lounsbury.O. \V.,'Sr. 639 

Loury, F 268 

Loury, E. R. M.,Mrs. -'71 

Lucius, C. A 251 

Lucius, C. A.. Si ... . 251 

Lyon, E. B 650 

Lyons, H. B 1011 

Lyons, T.V., ]r 1011 

Lyons, T. V., Sr ....1010 

McCally, A 634 

McCally, 1. R 034 

McCann, B 875 

McCarter, J 1012 

McCarter, j. J loll' 

McCarty, R. J 640 

McClellan, W 653 

McCov, 1 796 

McCoy, M 796 

McCray, A 1014 

McCray, O 1014 

McCray.S lol4 

McDermont, D 655 

McDermont, S. B.. .. 654 

MacGregor, C 655 

MacGregor, R 655 

McGregor, f 331 

McGregor, T 331 

Mclntire, ]. K 208 

Mclntire, S 208 

McKee, C. J 308 

McKemy, W 656 

McKemy, W. D 656 

McKeown, J. VV 659 

McMahon, J. A 193 

Macy, A 920-1019 

Macy, D 910 

Macv Family 915 

Macy.G 918 



Macy, I '.117 

Macv, J OKi 

Macv, P 915 

Macy, S 919 

Macy, T 916, 1019 

Marshall. E., Mrs.... 661 

Marshall, | 660 

Marshall, J. W 662 

Marsh, ill, YV. C 660 

Martin, D. M 663 

Martin, E 227 

Martin, U. S 663 

Martin, YV. H L"_'7 

Martindale Family. .1304 

Martmdale, [ '...1305 

Martindale, J. A 1304 

Martindale, S...1292 1304 
Martindale, W.L.. 1292 

Mathews, (',. M 301 

Mathews, J 301 

Mathias, | 664 

Mathias, |. F 664 

Matthews, A. G 665 

Matthews. E. P 323 

Matthews, YV. G ... 665 

Mays, S 1015 

Mays, S. H 1016 

Mays,W. A mi:, 

Mease, L. 1019 

Mease, L. W 1019 

Mecklev, B 1187 

Meckley, C 1187 

Meckley, H 1147 

Mehlbert, B 669 

Mehlbert, L 669 

Meienberg, A 1016 

Mellinger, G. W... .1021 
Mendenhall, A. L.. .. or,.", 

Merkle, C 666 

Merkle, F.C 666 

Merkle, J. C 670 

Mescher, B 908 

Mescher, J 908 

Metzger, B 1147 

Metzger, H 1147 

Metzger, ] 1147 

Meyer, C 1022 

Meyer, C, Sr 1022 

Meyer, H. C 070 

Meyer, H.W 671 

Meyer, J 070 

Meyer, J. J 1148 

Meyer, L 747 

Meyer, M 1148 

Meyer, P 670 

Meyers, H. W 675 

Mevers, J 1024 

Meyers, J. R 675 

Michael, J 1216 

Michelon, C 349 

Miller, A 1271 

Miller, B 1144 

Miller, D 1144-1271 

Miller, D. R 683 

Miller, 1). W 672 



10 



INDEX. 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Miller, G. C 677 

Miller.G. W 677 

Miller, 1 1240 

Miller, I., Sr 1240 

Miller, [....305 072 1271 

Miller, J. C 077 1271 

Miller, J. A 305 

Miller, W. H 684 

Mills, I. I. T 205 

Mills, J. V 1023 

Mills, W 102:; 

Mills. \V. M 205 

Minnich, I 682 

Minnich, S. A 682 

Mitchell, L 1024 

Moist, 1 1025 

Moist, "1. F 102:. 

Mooney, W 688 

Moone'y, W. T 688 

Moore, 1. K„ Mrs... . 876 

Moran, M 685 

Morgan, J. M 684 

Morrison, 1 271 

Morrison, W 268 

Mull. J 685 

Mull. R 685 

Mumma, H 1140 

Mumma, 11. C .... 1141) 

Mumma, J. H 1140 

Mundhenk, D. G....1192 

Mundhenk, F 1192 

Mundhenk. W. S 1192 

Mundorff, A 877 

Mundorff, |. W 877 

Munger, E 1213 

Munger, S. S., Miss. .1213 

Munger, W 1213 

Murphy, B. S 694 

Murphy, F. W 687 

Myers, C 1150 

Myers, E 1150 

Myers, G. C 691 

Myers, 1 1024 1214 

Myers, M 1150-1214 

Nat , T 1259 

Ni der, G 687 

Neff, A 1236 

Neff, 1 1236 

Neff, M 1236 

Negley, I. C 201 

Negley, W. H 207 

Neiffer, C 693 

\. iffer, |. G 692 

Nelhs, A. S. B 901 

Nelson, F. S 1026 

Kevin, K 242 

Ni \ in, R. M 242 

h, L 1027 

Ni m -in, E 1102 

Newcom, E. F 1102 

New o i 1 . \\ .... 317 

Newcomer, j 311 

Newsalt, A. 312 

Nil r, II. G 69] 



Nu-r, N. S... 691 

Niswonger, G 1076 

Niswonger, J. D. ...1028 

Niswonger, O. P 1028 

Nixon, A. H 693 

Nixon, 1 693 

Nolan, H. F 678 

Nolan, M. P 078 

Nonas, S 1212 

North, 1) 1305 

North, G 1306 

North, S. F 1305 

Nutt, J. M 697 

Oates. A. K 0,07 

Oblinger, D. L 1020 

Oblinger, E. C 1029 

Oblinger, G 1029 

O'Connor, 1 888 

O'Donohue, R 698 

Oehlschlager, F 705 

Oehlschlager, J. F... 705 

Oldfather, S.. .' 1135 

Oldt, G 1102 

Oldwine, W 1113 

Olinger, ). K 1272 

O'Neill, C 703 

O'Neill, J. P 699 

O'Neill, W 703 

i fWill. W. S 703 

I Hikst, D. A 704 

Onkst, W 704 

Ortman, B 1150 

Ortman, H 1150 

i Isness. A. M 713 

( isnoss, M 713 

Otter, 1. 706 

( >tter, "F. J 706 

Owens, G. B L030 

Owens, I. S 1030 

Ozias. G. W 7oo 

Pansing, B. J 1028 

Pansing, |. H 1028 

Pansing, W. H 1032 

Pardonner, J. A 311 

Pardonner, J. H Mil 

Pardonner, W. S.... 312 

Parrott, H. W 708 

Parrott, \\\, Jr 708 

Parrott, W., Sr 708 

Patrick, A 1007 

Patterson, C. L 707 

Patterson, J. C 353 

Patterson, "1. H 171s 

Patterson, R 913 

Patterson, T. N 714 

Patterson, W. J... 707 71s 

Pattison, T. N 714 

Pattv. 1 560 

Paullus, J 456 

Pease, C. E 290 

Pease, G 1032 

Pease, H 290 

Pease, P 7no 



Pease, P. R 709 

Peiffer, J. R 1241 

Pierce, H. F - 309 

Peirce, I 309 

Peirce, J. E 305 

Pence, j. H 305 

Peirson, J 1151 

Peirson, P. W 1151 

Pettit, A 717 

Philipps, C 715 

Piatt, J 1034 1195 

Piatt, J. B 1033 

Piatt, \V 1104 

Pierson, A 918 

Pine, C 1104 

Pine, S 1105 

Plander.G. A 1104 

Plander, f. H 1104 

Plocher, A 716 

Plocher, 1 716-1034 

Pond,G.F 724 

Poock, A. H 41S 

Poock, F.L 408 

Poock, L. H 408 

Porter, Mary, Mrs. . . 237 

Pote, A....: 1101 

Pote, [. C 1191 

Pote, M 1191 

Powell, C. F 1152 

Powell, 1 720 

Powell, J. C 1152 

Powell, W. G 720 

Powers, A. B 725 

Powers, 1 725 

Price, [.. 1234 

Prinz, 1 891 

Prinz. J. H 891 

Priser, J. W 1106 

Priser, M 1106 

Priser, P 1106 

Pritz, I. A 72.". 

Prugh, C 1036 

Prugh, 1 726-1035 

Prugh, J. W 720 

Prugh, T. 1 1035 

1'rvor, E. 727 

Puis, J 1153 

i Oiance, A 1193 

Quance, S. S 1194 

Ouinn, J. F 72S 

Quinn, M. E 728 

Ralston, J. H 1026 

Ramsey, N. P 7H7 

Randall, H. E 736 

Rasor, D 1215- 1217 

Rasor, H 1218 

Rasor, 1 1215 1217 

Rasor, P 1215 

Ratcliffe, J 720 

Raymond, C. W. . . . 868 

Raymond, G. M 868 

Reed, H. N 1154 

Reed. 1 1264 



Reed, P 1154 

Reel, J 1155 

Reel, P 1155 

Reeve, J. C 195 

Regan, E. D 734 

Regan, T 734 

Reiche, G. 1 7:;:. 

Reillv, D. G 736 

Reiter, I. H 1037 

Reiter, W. L 1036 

Renner, J 7MS 

Requarth, H. W 738 

Reynolds, W. H 1216 

Rhoades.J 1158 

Rhoades, W 1158 

Rice, C, Mrs 1038 

Rice, F 1037 

Rice, 1 1038-1156 

Rice, J. A 74M 1156 

Rice, N. H 743 

Rice, W 1038 

Richman, D 1107 

Richman, \V 1107 

Riegal, D 1242 

Riegel, F.J 1156 

Riegel, J 1242 

Rilev, H 744 

Rison, J 1039 

Kison.P 1039 

Ritchie, A. T 744 

Ritchie, J. B 744 

Rittenhouse, J 1209 

Ritty, B ' 748 

Ritty, 1 748 

Robertson, 1 1042 

Robertson, J. S 1042 

Robinson, E. P 710 

Robinson, J. A 740 

Robinson, W 710 

Robinson, \V. A. ... 740 

Rock, J 740 

Rock, W. S 740 

Rogers, ] 1040 

Rogers, J. J lo4o 

Rogers, R 1040 

Rogge, H 318 

Rohrer.C 1041 1157 

Rohrer.D 1042 

Rohrer, J 1202 

Rohrer, J. H 1041 

Rohrer, M 1 151 

Rowe, C. E 328 

Rowe, W.H 328 

Rouzer, J 470 

Rouzer, M. J.. Mrs.. . 470 
Rubsam. H. 1281 

Sage, H. H 720 

St. Mary's Institute. . 747 

Salisbury, C. \V 752 

Salisbury, J. A 7. r >'> 

Salisbury, 'I. N 752 

Sandridge, P 750 

Savler, J 1219 

Sayler, R 1219 



INDEX. 



11 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Schaefer, F 753 

Schaeffer, J 1043 

Schaeffer, J. C 1044 

Schaeffer, J. H 1043 

Schaeffer, M. B 1043 

Schaeffer, W. H....1044 

Schath, A. J 360 

Schell, A. C 1045 

Schell, D. P 1159 

Schell, H 1045,1159 

Schell, J 1045, 1150 

Si lirllhaus, L 1047 

Schenck, J. F 219 

Schenck, R. C. . .171-277 

Schenck. W. C 171 

Schlosser.M 1197 

Schlosser.S.... 1194-1197 

Schneider. J 11147 

Schoenfeld, H 1046 

Schreiber, P 1047 

Schuberth, H. C 1048 

Schuberth, W 1048 

Schwind, C 755 

Schwind, E. J 755 

Sears, F. H S44 

S< ars, J.G 842 

Sears, P 842 

Sears, S 842 

Sears, S., Mrs 843 

Selz, C 74n 

Sri/. T. A 74(1 

Seybold, I L206 

Seybold.J.G 1206 

Shank, A 1040 

Shank, H 1049 

Shank, J 1050 

Shank, J. A 1040 

Shank, J. W 1049 

Shank, N 1050 

Shank, P 1148 

Shauck, E 200 

Shauck, J. A 200 

Sheets, D 1130 

Shepherd, G 750 

Shepherd, G. E... . 756 
Shepherd, S.Nellie.. 398 

Sheer. C.J 482 

Sheverling, A., Miss.. 1186 

Shiveley, C, [r 1160 

Shiveley, O.G 1160 

Shoe, B. F 1196 

Shoe, J 1196 

Shoemaker, 1 762 

Shoemaker, W. W . . 762 

Shriver, 1. W 1180 

Shroyer, B. D 765 

Shroyer, E 765 

Shroyer, G. W 757 

Shroyer, J 757 

Shrover, W 705 

Shry, A 761 

Shry, A. H 761 

Shuey, A 188 

Shuey, F 1051 

Shuey, J 1052 



Shuey, L 1051 

Shuey, W. J 188 

Shuler, H 1052 

Shuler, W 1052 

Shultz, E 1053 

Simonds, A. A 206 

Simonton, A 1054 

Simonton, C. A 1054 

Sinclair, D. A 176 

Sloan, J 921 

Smart. A. F 307 

Smart, A. M 307 

Smith, A 1055 

Smith, A.J 772 

Smith, D. L 700 

Smith, H 023-1101 

Smith, H. A 773 

Smith, J 700 772 923 

956 1055 L170 1203 

Smith, I. A 765 

Smith, J. \V 1101 

Smith, L. R 1199 

Smith, P 1199 

Smith, R 705 

Smith, S. B 270 

Smith, T. J- S 270 

Snead, J. A 771 

Snead, R. C 771 

Sneller. A 1056 

Snepp, D. J 1056 

Snepp, J L056 

Snepp, J. T 1057 

Snyder, C. F 249 

Snyder, E. N 774 

Snyder, F 249 

Snyder, G 506 

Sollenberger, D. P.. 1251 

Sortman, G 730 

Sortman, H. B 775 

Sortman, J. W 73o 

Souders. J 1307 

Sunders. S 1 .' !< >7 

Sparks, E 770 

Sparks. W. E 770, 

Spatz, J.J 913 

Spatz, S 913 

Spear, D ",',': 

Spear, M. L 777 

Spinning, D. C 181 

Spitler, D 1021 

Spitler. E.W 1278 

Spitler, J 1261 1277 

Spitler, J. M 1061 

Spitler, N. E 1061 

Spitler, S 1061-1261 

Sproule, R 1122 

Stainrook, C. A 781 

Stainrook, D 7 y l 

Stalev, H. J 783 

Staley, J. C 782 

Stamm, J. H 1062 

Stark & Weckesser.. 826 

Starr, C. A 768 

Starr, G. B 768 

Steel, J 175 



Steel, R. W 175 

Stein, L 783 

Stein, R 783 

Stetson, C. W 786 

Stetson, F. A 786 

Stettler, D 1062 

Stettler, J. J 1002 

Stewart, J. R 785 

Stewart, T. L 783 

Stiver,"J. C 1063 

Stiver, S., Jr 1003 

Stiver, S., Sr 1063 

Stiver, W 1064 

Stockslager, 1 1274 

Stockslager, J 1275 

Stoddard, E. F 788 

Stoddard, H 787 

Stoddard, J. \V 202 

Stomps, G 758 

Stoppelman, J. H.... 7 V 'J 
Stoppelman, P. H.. .. 789 

Straub, J 791 

Straub, J., Sr 791 

Strong, J.. Sr 1292 

Sunderland, A . . . . 792 

Sunderland, J 1198 

Sunderland, R 1263 

Sunderland, W 1263 

Sunderland, W. P... 792 

Sutter, A.. Mrs 704 

Sutter, F.I 794 

Sutter, L 794 

Swank, 1 1162 

Swank, N 1162 

Swadener, S 1309 

Swartzel, A 1243 

Swartzel, J 124:; 

Swartzel, M 124:; 

Swartzel, P 1205 

Tanner, M. L 853 

Tanner. \Y. (', 853 

Teeter, A 1164 

Teeter, S 1164 

Teetor, 1 1238 

Terwilhger, C. 1 792 

Theobald, H., Jr.... 801 
Theobald, H., Sr.... 801 

Thomas, A 804 

Thomas, C 1163 

Thomas, C. R 807 

Thomas, E. 802 

Thomas, H. E 803 

Thomas, [..283 1163 127:; 

Thomas, J. B 283 

Thomas,]. H 796 

Thomas, N 795 

Thompson, C, Mrs. .1277 

Thompson, E 

Thompson, H. A.... 805 

Thompson, J „ 805 

Thompson, J. F 878 

Thompson, J. R 808 

Tobias, D 1212 

Tomlinson, W. H... 806 



Tomlinson, W. R... 806 

Treon, C 1004 

Treon, H. P 1064 

Treon, 1 1065 

Trone, J 809 

Trone, S. D 808 

Troxel, P 1007 

Troxel, P. H 1066 

Troxel, R 1067 

Tucker, T 810 

Tucker, T. E 810 

Turner, D 1201 

Turner, F. L 810 

Turner, J. C 811 

Turner, L H 1200 

Turner. W 811 

Turpin, J 812 

Ullery, S 1115 

Ulm.'D 1067 

Ulm, H. B 1067 

Umbenhaur, \V 1165 

Underwood, 1 1268 

Underw 1. J. W. . . .1268 

Vaile, 1 302 

Vaile.J. H 302 

Van Ausdal, C... 184-188 

VanAusdal, 1 184 

Van Cleve, B 176 

Van Clevc W 170. 

Vaniman, J 972-1231 

Van Riper. W. H.... 818 

Vaughan, H 813 

nan. L.H 813 

Wagner, C 1068 

Wagner, P 1166 

\\ agner, T. M loos 

Wagner, W 1166 

Waitman, S 1167 

Waitman, 1 1167 

Wallace, W 1256 

Walter, M 350 

Walters, E 217 

Walters, J. A 217 

Wampler, D 1255 

Wampler, 1 1220 

Want], lei', W 1255 

Warlord, C. H 819 

Warner, G 11 OS 

Warner, J 110,8 

Warner, J. 1168 

Warrington, G. O.. .. 333 

Watrous, E. R Ma 

Watrous, W 819 

Watson, E 820 

Watson. E. E 820 

Watson, I. W 820 

Waymire, I) 1069 

Wavmire, J 1069 

Weakley, E. T 356 

Weakley, H. H 356 

Weaver, D 1169 

Weaver, F. C 214 



12 



INDEX. 



DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES. 



Weaver, F. T. G.... 82] 

Weaver. G 1070 

Weaver, G. W 1071 

Weaver, H 1070 

Weaver, f., 821 902 

'. 1069-1170 

Weaver, J.I 1156 

Weaver, ]. | 1170 

Weaver, J. M 213 

Weaver, }. S 213 

Weaver, P 1236 

Weaver, S. H 1169 

\\ r.n er, W 1072 

Weaver, W. P 1072 

Webber, C 1073 

Webber, L. H 345 

Webber, T 345 

Wehb.rt, H 322 

Webbert, M :i22 

Webster, E 267 

Webster, F 268 

\\ i bster, 1 267 

Webster, T 267 

Webster, W 265 

Weckesser, A. A.... 826 

Weglage, F. W 823 

W< glage, H 823 

Wehner. A S-J4 

Wehner, M 824 

Weidner, P 824 

Weinman, C. F 825 

Weinman, C. H 825 

Weinman, C.J 829 

Weinreich, D 836 

Weinreich, E 836 

Wells, E. T 827 

Wells, S 1203-1264 

Wells, W 1203 

Wells, W. J 827 

Welsh, J 1171 

Welsh, "W. 1) 1H7:I 



Welsh, W. S 1171 

Wenger, A 1077 

Wenger, C In;:, 

Wenger, J 1075 

Wenger, J., Sr 1074 

Wenger, 'L 1077 

Wenger, S 1074 

Wenger, W 1172 

Werkmeister, F .... 830 

Werthimer, M 350 

W.rts. D 1078-1 'J 10 

Wert/, 1 1H7S 

Wessel, B 1173 

Wessel, H 117:1 

West, J 1201 

Weston, E. B 337 

Weston, J. G :!:i7 

Wet/el, I) 901 

Whalev, A 835 

Whaley, J. C 335 

Whealen, C 333 

Whitcomb, R s:',l 

White, A. C 844 

White, J. R s:!7 

White. X 840 

White, P. W 840 

White, W.J 837 

Wiggim, A 1174 

Wiggim, S 1174 

Wiihelm, D 1223 

Wilhelm, F 1222 

Wiihelm, J 1222 

Will, J. G 841 

Will, J. G., Sr 841 

Will.T 845 

Will. T., Sr 845 

Williamson, A.M... 846 

Williamson, 1 846 

Williamson, M. E... 847 

Wilson, B 1221 

Wilson, 1 1221-1222 



Wilson, I. B S47 

Wilson, | 1070 

Wilson, j.R 1079 

Wilson, M.E 233 

Wilson, T. B 233 

Wilson, W. C 1070 

Wilt, A. D 274 

Wilt, 1 274 

Winchell, W. 1 848 

Winder, J. H 849 

Wine, D. D 854 

\\ me, J. M 853 

Winter, T S-"»4 

Winter, W.J 854 

Winters, J. C 855 

Winters, L. W 855 

Wolf, J. W 835 

Wolfe, M 856 

Wollenhaupt, H.A.. 857 
Wollenhaupt, W.F.. 857 

Wolpers, C. O 1081 

Wolpers, H 1081 

W 1. E. M 199 

Wood, G. H 857 

Woodhull, J 241 

Woodhull, M 241 

Work, A 859 

Work, E. W 255 

Work, F. M 858 

Work, J 256 

Work, |. W 256 

Wormon, D 1224 

Wormon, H 1223 

Wormon, S . 1223 

Wortman, J. A 860 

Wright, J. A 863 

WrigmvM 861 

W right, R 863-1127 

Wunderlich, F 863 

Wunderlich, H 863 

\\ ysong, C Hoc, 1175 



W \song, S 1175 

Yenny, T 864 

Vike.'D 1108 

Young, A. T 866 

Young, D 1080 

Young, D. W 1080 

Young, E. S 234 

Young, G.M 234 

Young, G. R 244 

Young, II 866 

Young, J. F 866 

Young, W. H L'44 

Yount, C 1240 

Yount, J 1 251 I 

Yount, G 1240 

Yount, J 1125-1250 

Yount, S 1200 

Zehring, A 1082 1204 

Zehring, B 1204 

Zehring, C 1204 

Zehring, J 1309 

Zehring, L 1082 

Zehring, L. H 1082 

Zehring, P 1082 

Zeil, O. 867 

Zeil, O., Jr 867 

Zeller, A. 1058 

Zeller. J 1058 

Zeller, W. S 1058 

Zimmerman, A. J ... . 1092 

Zimmerman, B 865 

Zizert, C 871 

Zizert, J 871 

Zwick, E 542 

Zwick, H 324 

Zwick, W.G 343 

Zwiesler, A 867 

Zwiesler, C 867 

Zwissler, J. E 872 



PORTRAITS AND VIEWS. 



Allen, C. R 926 

Anderson, W. B 815 

Bates, NsD 399 

Beaver, F. P 507 

er, H 933 

Beeghly.W. E Mil 

Berlin, C 369 

Birch, J 513 

Bittenger, F. D 405 

Bixler, G L226 

Bixler, Mrs. G 1227 

Bonner, i A .",10 

Brown. O. B 915 



Brownell, J. R 389 

Burkhardt, R. P 225 

Callahan, W. P 191 

Cellarius, H 525 

Coe, E. H 531 

Coler, C. A 1283 

Conover, F 435 

Conover, W 429 

Cook, H 549 

Coover, J. Q. A 1266 

Crawford, C. H 537 

Crawford, W. H 466 



Davisson, O. F 228 

Dennick, H 555 

Dennick, W 556 

Dickey, R. R 253 

Ditzel, J. F 563 

Doren, J. G 477 

Drurv, M. R 489 

Duckwall, W 1240 

Duckwall, W., Mrs.. 1247 

Dustin, C. W 915 

Eichelberger, T. D.. 833 

Elder.T 347 

Evans, T. P 461 



Farrell, T. J 889 

Fasold, E 441 

Feight, I. G 569 

Frank, j. L. H 257 

Garrett, F. C 579 

George, S. F 585 

Gottschall, O. M . . . 297 

Haeseler, E. C 591 

Hanlev, E. W 483 

Heidinger, J. C 1189 

Hiller, J 601 

Hollencamp, H 608 



INDEX. 



PORTKAITS AND VIEWS. 



18 



Houk, G. W 895 

Huffman, D. C 613 

Irvin, 0. W 915 



Jennings, E.. . . 
Johnston, J. R.. 



259 
341 



Kemper, C. S 379 

Kennedy, G. C 335 

Kinnard, W. M 623 

Kuhnle, T 1007 

Kumler, A. W 915 

Lautenschlager.G. C. 635 

Leopold, G. M 629 

Lewis, J. K 363 

Light, E 645 

Light, J 451 

Loury, F 269 

Lyon, E.B 651 



McCarty, R.J 640 

McCoy, M 797 

Mclntire, J. K 209 

McKemv, W. D 657 

Martin, \V. H 226 

Martindale, W. L...1293 

Mease, L. W 1018 

Merkle, F. C 667 

Merkle, |. C 670 

Miller, D.W 673 

Mooney, W. T 689 

Murphy, B. S 695 

Newcom, G 788 

Newsalt, A 313 

Nolan, M. P 679 



Ozias, G. \V. 



701 



Patterson, J. H 179 

Patterson, R HI;; 

Pease, C. E 291 



Poock.A. H 419 

Poock, L. H 409 

Raymond, C. W 869 

Robinson, E. P 711 

Rogge, H 319 

Rouzer, J 471 

Sage, H. H 721 

Schenck, R. C 170 

Schenck, R. C 276 

Sears, S , . 843 

Sears, S., Mrs 843 

Selz, T. A 741 

Seybold, J 1207 

Shauck, J. A 915 

Sortman, J. W 731 

Starr, C. A 769 

Steele, R. \V 17.", 

Stoddard, J. W 203 

Stomps, G 759 



Thomas, J. B 282 

Thompson, E 879 

Tanner, W. G 852 

VaileJ. H 303 

Van Ausdal, 1 185 

Van Cleve, B.. .'. . . . 177 

Walters, J. A 216 

Weakley, H. H :::,7 

Weaver, J no:; 

Young, E. S 235 

Young, G. R 246 

Young, W. H 247 

/el lei. W. S 1059 

Zwick, E 543 

Zwick, H 325 



Dayton Public Library 824 

Newcom's First Log Cabin 789 

Newcom's Tavern 789 

Steele High School Building 806 




PRESIDENTS 



OK THE 



UNITED STATES. 





GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



^"^EORGE WASHINGTON was born 
■ ^\ in Westmoreland county, Va. , Febru- 
^Lj ary 22, 1732. His parents were 
Augustine and Mary (Ball) Washing- 
ton. His great-grandfather, John Washing- 
ton, came from England to Virginia about 
1657, and became a prosperous planter. He 
had two sons, Lawrence and John. The former 
married Mildred Warner and had three children, 
John, Augustine and Mildred. Augustine, the 
father of George, first married Jane Butler, 
who bore him four children, two of whom, 
Lawrence and Augustine, reached maturity. 
Of six children by his second marriage, George 
was the eldest, the others being Betty, Sam- 
uel, John Augustine, Charles and Mildred. 

Augustine Washington, the father of George, 
died in 1743, leaving a large landed property. 
To his eldest son, Lawrence, he bequeathed 
an estate on the Potomac, afterward known 
as Mount Vernon, and to George he left the 
parental residence. George received only 
such education as the neighborhood schools 
afforded, save for a short time after he left 
school, when he received private instructions 
in mathematics. 

He was an acknowledged leader among his 
companions, and was early noted for that 
nobleness of character, fairness and veracity 
which characterized his whole life. 

When George was fourteen years old he had 



a desire to go to sea, and a midshipman's warrant 
was secured for him, but through the opposi- 
tion of his mother the idea was abandoned. 
Two years later he was appointed surveyor to 
the estate of Lord Fairfax. In this business 
he spent three years. In 175 1, though only 
nineteen years of age, he was appointed ad- 
jutant with the rank of major in the Virginia 
militia, then being trained for active service 
against the French and Indians. Soon after 
this he sailed to the West Indies with his 
brother Lawrence, who went there to restore 
his health. They soon returned, and in the 
summer of 1752 Lawrence died, leaving a 
large fortune to an infant daughter, who did 
not long survive him. On her demise the estate 
of Mount Vernon was given to George. 

Upon the arrival of Robert Dinwiddie, as 
lieutenant-governor of Virginia, in 1752, the 
militia was reorganized, and the province 
divided into four military districts, of which 
the northern was assigned to Washington as 
adjutant-general. Shortly after this a very 
perilous mission was assigned him. This was 
to proceed to the French post near Lake Erie 
in northwestern Pennsylvania. The distance 
to be traversed was between 500 and 600 miles. 
Winter was at hand, and the journey was to 
be made without military escort, through a 
territory occupied by Indians. The trip was a 
perilous one, and several times he came near 



26 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



losing his life, yet he returned in safety and 
furnished a full and useful report of his expe- 
dition. A regiment of 300 men was raised in 
Virginia and put in command of Col. Joshua 
Fry, and Major Washington was commissioned 
lieutenant-colonel. Active war was then begun 
against the French and Indians, in which 
Washington took a most important part. In 
the memorable event of July 9, 1755, known 
as Braddock's defeat, Washington was almost 
the only officer of distinction who escaped 
from the calamities of the day with life and 
honor. The other aids of Braddock were dis- 
abled early in the action, and Washington 
alone was left in that capacity on the field. In 
a letter to his brother he says: "I had four 
bullets through my coat, and two horses shot 
under me, yet I escaped unhurt, though death 
was leveling my companions on every side." 
\n Indian sharpshooter said he was not born 
to be killed by a bullet, for he had taken direct 
aim at him several times, and failed to hit 
him. After having been five years in the 
military service, he took advantage of the fall 
of Fort Duquesne and the expulsion of the 
French from the valley of the Ohio, to resign 
his commission. Soon after he entered the 
legislacure, where, although not a leader, he 
took an active and important part. January 
J 7. 1759. he married Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) 
Custis, the wealthy widow of John Parke 
Custis. 

When the British parliament had closed 
the port of Boston, the cry went up through- 
out the provinces that "The cause of Boston 
is the cause of us all." It was then, at the 
suggestion of Virginia, that a congress of all 
the colonies was called to meet at Philadel- 
phia, September 5, 1774, to secure their com- 
mon liberties, peaceably if possible. To this 
congress Col. Washington was sent as a dele- 
gate. On May 10, 1775, the congress re- 
assembled, when the hostile intentions of Eng- 



land were plainly apparent. The battles of 
Concord and Lexington had been fought. 
Among the first acts of this congress was the 
election of a commander-in-chief of the colo- 
nial forces. This high and responsible office 
was conferred upon Washington, who was still 
a member of the congress. He accepted it on 
June 19, but upon the express condition that 
he receive no salary. He would keep an exact 
account of expenses and expect congress to 
pay them and nothing more. The war was 
conducted by him under every possible disad- 
vantage, and while his forces often met with 
reverses, yet he overcame every obstacle, and 
after seven years of heroic devotion and match- 
less skill, he gained liberty for the greatest 
nation of earth. On December 23, 1783, 
Washington resigned his commission as com- 
mander-in-chief of the army to the continental 
congress sitting at Annapolis, and retired im- 
mediately to Mount Vernon. 

In February, 1789, Washington was unani- 
mously elected president. In his presidential 
career he was subject to the peculiar trials in- 
cidental to a new government; trials from lack 
of confidence on the part of other govern- 
ments; trials for the want of harmony between 
the different sections of our own country; trials 
from the impoverished condition of the coun- 
try, owing to the war and want of credit ; trial 
from the beginnings of party strife. 

At the expiration of his first term he was 
unanimously re-elected. At the end of this 
term many were anxious that he be re-elected, 
but he absolutely refused a third nomination. 
On the fourth of March, 1797, he returned to 
his home, hoping to pass there his few remain- 
ing years free from the annoyance of public 
life. Later in the year, however, his repose 
seemed likely to be interrupted by war with 
France. At the prospect of such a war he was 
again urged to take command of the armies. 
He chose his subordinate officers and left to 




JOHN ADAMS. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



29 



them the charge of matters in the field, which 
he superintended from his home. In accepting 
the command he made the reservation that he 
was not to be in the field until it was neces- 
sary. In the midst of these preparations his 
life was suddenly cut off. December 12, he 
took a severe cold from a ride in the rain, 
which, settling in his throat, produced inflam- 
mation, and terminated fatally on the night 
of the 14th. On the 18th his body was borne 
with military honors to its final resting place, 
and interred in the family vault at Mount 
Vernon. 

The person of Washington was unusually 
tall, erect and well proportioned. His features 
were of a beautiful symmetry. He commanded 
respect without any appearance of haughtiness, 
and was ever serious without being dull. 



>yOHN ADAMS, the second president 
J and the first vice-president of the 
/• 1 United States, was born in Braintree, 
now Quincy, Mass., and about ten 
miles from Boston, October 19, 1735. His 
great-grandfather, Henry Adams, emigrated 
from England about 1640, with a family of 
eight sons, and settled at Braintree. The 
parents of John were John and Susannah 
(Boylston) Adams. His father was a farmer 
of limited means, to which he added the busi- 
ness of shoemaking. He gave his eldest son, 
John, a classical education at Harvard college. 
John graduated in 1755, and at once took 
charge of the school in Worcester, Mass. This 
he found but a "school of affliction," from 
which he endeavored to gain relief by devot- 
ing himself, in addition, to the study of law. 
For this purpose he placed himself under the 
tuition of the only lawyer in the town. He 
was well fitted for the legal profession, pos- 
sessing a clear, sonorous voice, being ready and 
fluent of speech, and having quick perceptive 



powers. In 1764 he married Abigail Smith, a 
daughter of a minister, and a lady of superior 
intelligence. Shortly after his marriage ( 1 765) 
the attempt of parliamentary taxation turned 
him from law to politics. He took initial steps 
toward holding a town meeting, and the resolu- 
tions he offered on the subject became very 
popular throughout the province, and were 
adopted word for word by over forty different 
towns. He moved to Boston in 1768, and 
became one of the most courageous and prom- 
inent advocates of the popular cause, and was 
chosen a member of the general court (the 
legislature) in 1770. 

Mr. Adams was chosen one of the first dele- 
gates from Massachusetts to the first conti- 
nental congress, which met in 1774. Here he 
distinguished himself by his capacity for busi- 
ness and for debate, and advocated the move- 
ment for independence against the majority of 
the members. In May, 1776, he moved and 
carried a resolution in congress that the colo- 
nies should assume the duties of self-govern- 
ment. He was a prominent member of the 
committee of five appointed June 11, to pre- 
pare a declaration of independence. This 
article was drawn by Jefferson, but on Adams 
devolved the task of battling it through con- 
gress in a three days' debate. 

On the day after the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was passed, he wrote a letter to his 
wife which, as we read it now, seems to have 
been dictated by the spirit of prophecy. 
"Yesterday," he says, "the greatest question 
was decided that ever was debated in America; 
and greater, perhaps, never was or will be 
decided among men. A resolution was passed 
without one dissenting colony, 'that these 
United States are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent states.' The 4th of 
July, 1776, will be a memorable epoch in the 
history of America. I am apt to believe it 
will be celebrated by succeeding generations, 



30 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



as the great anniversary festival. It ought to 
be commemorated as the day of deliverance 
by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. 
It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, 
games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illu- 
minations from one end of the continent to the 
other, from this time forward for ever. You 
will think me transported with enthusiasm, but 
I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and 
blood and treasure, that it will cost to main- 
tain this declaration, and support and defend 
these states; yet, through all the gloom, I can 
see the rays of light and glory. I can see 
that the end is worth more than all the means; 
and that posterity will triumph, although you 
and I may rue, which I hope we shall not." 

In November, 1777, Mr. Adams was ap- 
pointed a delegate to France to co-operate 
with Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee, who 
were then in Paris, in the endeavor to obtain 
assistance in arms and money from the French 
government. He left France June 17, 1779. 
In September of the same year he was again 
chosen to go to Paris, and there hold himself 
in readiness to negotiate a treaty of peace and 
of commerce with Great Britain, as soon as 
the British cabinet might be found willing to 
listen to such proposals. He sailed for France 
in November, from there he went to Holland, 
where he negotiated important loans and 
formed important commercial treaties. 

Finally a treaty of peace with England 
was signed January 2 1 , 1783. The re-action 
from the excitement, toil and anxiety through 
which Mr. Adams had passed threw him into 
a fever. After suffering from a continued 
fever and becoming feeble and emaciated he 
was advised to go to England to drink the 
waters of Bath. While in England, still 
drooping and desponding, he received dis- 
patches from his own government urging the 
necessity of his going to Amsterdam to nego- 
tiate another loan. It was winter, his health 



was delicate, yet he immediately set out, and 
through storm, on sea, on horseback and foot, 
he made the trip. 

February 24, 1785, congress appointed 
Mr. Adams envoy to the court of St. James. 
Here he met face to face the king of England, 
who had so long regarded him as a traitor. 
As England did not condescend to appoint a 
minister to the United States, and as Mr. 
Adams felt that he was accomplishing but lit- 
tle, he sought permission to return to his own 
country, where he arrived in June 1788. 

When Washington was first chosen presi- 
dent, John Adams, rendered illustrious by his 
signal services at home and abroad, was 
chosen vice president. Again at the second 
election of Washington as president, Adams 
was chosen vice president. In 1 796, Wash- 
ington retired from public life, and Mr Adams 
was elected president, though not without 
much opposition. Serving in this office four 
years, he was succeeded by Mr. Jefferson, his 
opponent in politics. 

While Mr. Adams was vice president the 
great French revolution shook the continent 
of Europe, and it was upon this point which 
he was at issue with the majority of his 
countrymen led by Mr. Jeffarson. Mr. Adams 
felt no sympathy with the French people in 
their struggle, for he had no confidence in 
their power of self-government, and he utterly 
abhorred the class of atheist philosophers who 
he claimed caused it. On the other hand 
Jefferson's sympathies were strongly enlisted 
in behalf of the French people. Hence origi- 
nated the alieniation between these distin- 
guished men, and two powerful parties were 
thus soon organized, Adams at the head of 
the one whose sympathies were with England, 
and Jefferson led the other in sympathy with 
France. In 1824, his cup of happiness was 
filled to the brim, by seeing his son elevated 
to the highest station in the gift of the people. 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



33 



The 4th of July, 1826, which completed 
the half century since the signing of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, arrived, and there 
were but three of the signers of that immortal 
instrument left upon the earth to hail its 
morning light. And, as it is well known, on 
that day two of these finished their earthly 
pilgrimage, a coincidence so remarkable as to 
seem miraculous. For a few days before Mr. 
Adams had been rapidly failing, and, on the 
4th, he found himself too weak to rise from his 
bed. On being requested to name a toast for 
the customary celebration oi the day, he ex- 
claimed "Independence forever." When 
the day was ushered in, by the ringing of bells 
and the firing of cannons, he was asked by 
one of his attendants if he knew what day it 
was? He replied, " Oh, yes; it is the glorious 
Fourth of July — God bless it — God bless you 
all." In the course of the day he said, "It is 
a great and glorious day." The last words he 
uttered were "Jefferson survives." But he 
had, at one o'clock, resigned his spirit into the 
hands of his God. The personal appearance 
and manners of Mr. Adams were not particu- 
larly prepossessing. His face, as his portrait 
manifests, was intellectual and expressive, but 
his figure was low and ungraceful, and his 
manners were frequently abrupt and uncour- 
teous. 




>HOMAS JEFFERSON, third presi- 
dent of the United States, was born 
April 2, 1743, at Shadwell, Albemarle 
county, Va. His parents were Peter 
and Jane (Randolph) Jefferson, the former a 
native of Wales, and the latter born in Lon- 
don. To them were born six daughters and 
two sons, of whom Thomas was the eldest. 
When fourteen years of age his father died. 
He received a most liberal education, having 
been kept diligently at school from the time 



he was five years of age. In 1760 he entered 
William and Mary college. Williamsburg was 
then the seat of the colonial court, and it 
was the abode of fashion and splendor. Young 
Jefferson, who was then seventeen years old, 
lived somewhat expensively, keeping fine 
horses, and was much caressed by gay society, 
yet he was earnestly devoted to his studies', 
and irreproachable in his morals. In the 
second year of his college course, moved by 
some unexplained inward impulse, he discarded 
his horses, society, and even his favorite violin, 
to which he had previously given much time. 
He often devoted fifteen hours a day to hard 
study, allowing himself for exercise only a run 
in the evening twilight of a mile out of the city 
and back again. He thus attained very high 
intellectual culture, and excellence in philoso- 
phy and the languages. The most difficult 
Latin and Greek authors he read with facility. 

Immediately upon leaving college he began 
the study of law. For the short time he con- 
tinued in the practice of his profession he rose 
rapidly and distinguished himself by his energy 
and acuteness as a lawyer. But the times 
called for greater action. The policy of 
England had awakened the spirit of resistance 
of the American colonies, and the enlarged 
views which Jefferson had ever entertained 
soon led him into active political life. In 1769 
he was chosen a member of the Virginia house 
of burgesses. In 1772 he married Mrs. 
Martha Skelton, a very beautiful, wealthy and 
highly accomplished young widow. 

Upon Mr. Jefferson's large estate at Shad- 
well, there was a majestic swell of land, called 
Monticello, which commanded a prospect of 
wonderful extent and beauty. This spot Mr. 
Jefferson selected for his new home; and here 
he reared a mansion of modest yet elegant 
architecture, which, next to Mount Vernon, 
became the most distinguished resort in our 
land. 



34 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In 1775 he was sent to the colonial con- 
gress, where, though a silent member, his 
abilities as a writer and a reasoner soon be- 
came known, and he was placed upon a num- 
ber of important committees, and was chairman 
of the one appointed for the drawing up of a 
declaration of independence. This committee 
consisted of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Rob- 
ert R. Livingston. Jefferson, as chairman, 
was appointed to draw up the paper. Frank- 
lin and Adams suggested a few verbal changes 
before it was submitted to congress. On June 
28, a few slight changes were made in it by 
congress, and it was passed and signed July 4, 
1776. What must have been the feelings of 
that man — what the emotions that swelled his 
breast — who was charged with the preparation 
of that declaration, which, while it made 
known the wrongs of America, was also to 
publish her to the world, free, sovereign and 
independent! 

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was elected successor 
to Patrick Henry, as governor of Virginia. At 
one time the British officer, Tarleton, sent a 
secret expedition to Monticello, to capture the 
governor. Scarcely five minutes elapsed after 
the hurried escape of Mr. Jefferson and his 
family ere his mansion was in possession of 
the British troops. His wife's health, never 
very good, was much injured by this excite- 
ment and in the summer of 1782 she died. 

Mr. Jefferson was elected to congress in 
1783. Two years later he was appointed 
minister plenipotentiary to France. Return- 
ing to the United States in September, 1789, 
he became secretary of state in Washington's 
cabinet. This position he resigned January 1, 
1794. In 1797, he was chosen vice president 
and four years later was elected president over 
Mr. Adams, with Aaron Burr as vice president. 
In 1804 he was re-elected with wonderful 
unanimity, and George Clinton, vice president. 



The early part of Mr. Jefferson's second 
administration was disturbed by an event 
which threatened the tranquility and peace of 
the Union; this was the conspiracy of Aaron 
Burr. Defeated in the late election to the 
vice presidency, and led on by an unprincipled 
ambition, this extraordinary man formed the 
plan of a military expedition into the Spanish 
territories on our southwestern frontier, for the 
purpose of forming there a new republic. 

In 1809, at the expiration of the second 
term for which Mr. Jefferson had been elected, 
he determined tQ retire from political life. 
For a period of nearly forty years, he had 
been continually before the public, and all 
that time had been employed in offices of the 
greatest trust and responsibility. Having 
thus devoted the best part of his life to the serv- 
ice of his country, he now felt desirous of 
that rest which his declining years required, 
and upon the organization of the new adminis- 
tration, in March, 1809, he bade farewell for- 
ever to public life, and retired to Monticello. 

The 4th of July, 1826, being the fiftieth 
anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 
great preparations were made in every part of 
the Union for its celebration, as the nation's 
jubilee, and the citizens of Washington, to 
add to the solemnity of the occasion, invited 
Mr. Jefferson, as the framer, and one of the 
few surviving signers of the Declaration, to 
participate in their festivities. But an illness, 
which had been of several week's duration, and 
had been continually increasing, compelled 
him to decline the invitation. 

On the 2d of July, the disease under 
which he was laboring left him, but in such a 
reduced state that his medical attendants en- 
tertained no hope of his recovery. From this 
time he was perfectly sensible that his last 
hour was at hand. On the next day, which 
was Monday, he asked, of those around him, 
the day of the month, and on being told that 




JAMES MADISON 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



37 



it was the 3d of July, he expressed the earnest 
wish that he might be permitted to breathe 
the air of the fiftieth anniversary. His prayer 
was heard — that day, whose dawn was hailed 
with such rapture through our land, burst 
upon his eyes, and then they were closed for- 
ever. And what a noble consummation of a 
noble life ! To die on that day, — the birth of 
a nation — the day which his own name and 
own act had rendered glorious; to die amidst 
the rejoicings and festivities of a whole nation, 
who looked up to him, as the author, under 
God, of their greatest blessings, was all that 
was wanting to fill up the record of his life. 
Almost at the same hour of his death, the kindred 
spirit of the venerable Adams, as if to bear him 
company, left the scene of his earthly honors. 
In person Mr. Jefferson was tall and thin, 
rather above six feet in height, but well formed; 
his eyes were light, his hair, originally red, in 
after life became white and silvery; his com- 
plexion was fair, his forehead broad, and his 
whole countenance intelligent and thoughtful. 
He possessed great fortitude of mind as well 
as personal courage; and his command of tem- 
per was such that his oldest and most intimate 
friends never recollected to have seen him in a 
passion. His manners, though dignified, were 
simple and unaffected, and his hospitality was 
so unbounded that all found at his house a 
ready welcome. In conversation he was fluent, 
eloquent and enthusiastic; and his language was 
remarkably pure and correct. He was a 
finished classical scholar, and in his writings 
is discernable the care with which he formed 
his style upon the best models of antiquity. 



l^AMES MADISON, fourth president of 

£3 the United States, was born March 16, 

A I 1751, and died at his home in Virginia, 

June 28, 1836. He was the last of the 

founders of the Constitution of the United 



States to be called to his eternal reward. 
The Madison family were among the early 
emigrants to the New World, landing upon the 
shores of the Chesapeake but fifteen years 
after the settlement of Jamestown. The father 
of James Madison was an opulent planter, re- 
siding upon a very fine estate called "Mont- 
pelier, " Orange county, Va. The mansion 
was situated in the midst of scenery highly 
picturesque and romantic, on the west side of 
Southwest Mountain, at the foot of Blue 
Ridge. It was but twenty-five miles from the 
home of Jefferson at Monticello. The closest 
personal and political attachment existed be- 
tween these illustrious men from their early 
youth until death. 

The early education of Mr. Madison was 
conducted mostly at home under a private 
tutor. At the age of eighteen he was sent 
to Princeton college, in New Jersey. Here he 
applied himself to study with the most im- 
prudent zeal, allowing himself for months but 
three hours' sleep out of the twenty-four. His 
health thus became so seriously impaired that 
he never recovered any vigor of constitution. 
He graduated in 1 77 1 , when a feeble boy, but 
with a character of utmost purity, and with a 
mind highly disciplined and richly stored with 
learning. 

Returning to Virginia, he commenced the 
study of law and a course of extensive and 
systematic reading. This educational course, 
the spirit of the times in which he lived, all 
combined to inspire him with a strong love of 
liberty, and to train him for his life-work of a 
statesman. 

In the spring of 1776, when twenty-five 
years of age, he was elected a member of the 
Virginia convention, to frame the constitution 
of the state. The next year (1777) he was a 
candidate for the general assembly. He re- 
fused to treat the whisky-loving voters, and con- 
sequently lost his election; but those who had 



38 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



witnessed the talent, energy and public spirit 
of the modest young man, enlisted themselves 
in his behalf and he was appointed to the 
executive council. 

Both Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson 
were governors of Virginia while Mr. Madison 
remained member of the council; and their 
appreciation of his intellectual, social and 
moral worth, contributed not a little to his 
subsequent eminence. In the year 1780, he 
was elected a member of the continental con- 
gress. Here he met the most illustrious men 
in our land, and he was immediately assigned 
to one of the most conspicuous positions 
among them. For three years Mr. Madison 
continued in congress, one of its most active 
and influential members. In the year 1784, 
his term having expired, he was elected a 
member of the Virginia legislature. 

No man felt more deeply than Mr. Madison 
the utter inefficiency of the old confederacy, 
with no national government, with no power 
to form treaties which would be binding, or to 
enforce law. There was not any state more 
prominent than Virginia in the declaration, 
that an efficient national government must be 
formed. In January, 1786, Mr. Madison car- 
ried a resolution through the general assembly 
of Virginia, inviting the other states to appoint 
commissioners to meet in convention at Ann- 
apolis to discuss the subject. Five states only 
were represented. The convention, however, 
issued another call, drawn up by Mr. Madison, 
urging all the states to send their delegates to 
Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to draft a consti- 
tution for the United States, to take the place 
of that confederate league. The delegates met 
at the time appointed. Every state but Rhode 
Island was represented. George Washington 
was chosen president of the convention; and 
the present constitution of the United States 
was then and there formed. There was, per- 
haps, no mind and no pen more active in 



framing this immortal document than the mind 
and pen of James Madison. 

The constitution, adopted by a vote of 81 
to 79, was to be presented to the several states 
for acceptance. But grave solicitude was felt. 
Should it be rejected we should be left but a 
conglomeration of independent states, with 
but little power at home and little respect 
abroad. Mr. Madison was selected by the 
convention to draw up an address to the peo- 
ple of the United States, expounding the prin- 
ciples of the constitution, and urging its adop- 
tion. There was great opposition to it at first, 
but it at length triumphed over all, and went 
into effect in 1789. 

Mr. Madison was elected to the house of 
representatives in the first congress, and soon 
became the avowed leader of the republican 
party. While in New York attending congress, 
he met Mrs. Todd, a young widow of remark- 
able power of fascination, whom he married. 
She was in person and character queenly, and 
probably no lady has thus far occupied so 
prominent a position in the very peculiar soci- 
ety which has constituted our republican court, 
as Mrs. Madison. 

Mr. Madison served as secretary of state 
under Jefferson, and at the close of 
his administration was chosen president. 
At this time the encroachments of Eng- 
land had brought us to the verge of war. 
British orders in council destroyed our com- 
merce, and our flag was exposed to constant 
insult. Mr. Madison was a man of peace. 
Scholarly in his taste, retiring in his disposi- 
tion, war had no charms for him. But the 
meekest spirit can be roused. It makes one's 
blood boil, even now, to think of an American 
ship brought to upon the ocean by the guns of 
an English cruiser. A young lieutenant steps 
on board and orders the crew to be paraded 
before him. With great nonchalance he selects 
any number whom he may please to designate 




JAMES MONROE. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



41 



as British subjects; orders them down the 
ship's side into the boat; and places them on 
the gun-deck of the man-of-war to fight, by 
compulsion, the battles of England. This 
right of search and impressment, no efforts of 
our government could induce the British cabi- 
net to relinquish. 

On the 1 8th of June, 1812, President Madi- 
son gave his approval to an act of congress de- 
claring war against Great Britain. Notwith- 
standing the bitter hostility of the federal 
party to the war, the country in general ap- 
proved; and Mr. Madison, on the 4th of March, 
18 1 3, was re-elected by a large majority, and 
entered upon his second term of office. The 
contest commenced in earnest by the appear- 
ance of a British fleet early in February, 181 3, 
in Chesapeake bay, declaring nearly the whole 
coast of the United States under blockade. 
The emperor of Russia offered his services 
as mediator. America accepted; England re- 
fused. A British force of five thousand men 
landed on the banks of the Patuxant river, near 
its entrance into Chesapeake bay, and marched 
rapidly, by way of Bladensburg, upon Wash- 
ington. 

The straggling little city of Washington 
was thrown into consternation. The cannon 
of the brief conflict at Bladensburg echoed 
through the streets of the metropolis. The 
whole population fled from the city. The 
president, leaving Mrs. Madison in the White 
House, with her carriage drawn up at the door 
to await his speedy return, hurried to meet 
the officers in a council of war. He met our 
troops utterly routed, and he could not go 
back without danger of being captured. But 
few hours elapsed ere the presidential mansion, 
the capitol, and all the public buildings in 
Washington were in flames. 

The war closed after two years of fighting, 
and on February 13, 181 5, the treaty of peace 
was signed at Ghent. 



March 4, 1817, James Madison's second 
term of office expired, and he resigned the 
presidential chair to his friend, James Monroe. 
He retired to his beautiful home at Montpelier 
and there passed the remainder of his days. 
On June 28, 1836, then at the age of eighty- 
five years, he fell asleep in death. Mrs. Madi- 
son died July 12, 1849. 



WAMES MONROE, the fifth president of 
B the United States, was born in West- 
(• J moreland county, Va., April 28, 1758. 
He joined the colonial army when every- 
thing looked hopeless and gloomy. The num- 
ber of deserters increased from day to day. 
The invading armies came pouring in, and the 
tories not only favored the cause of the mother 
country, but disheartened the new recruits, 
who were sufficiently terrified at the prospect 
of contending with an enemy whom they had 
been taught to deem invincible. To such brave 
spirits as James Monroe, who went right on- 
ward undismayed through difficulty and danger, 
the United States owe their political eman- 
cipation. The young cadet joined the ranks 
and espoused the cause of his injured country, 
with a firm determination to live or die with 
her strife for liberty. Firmly, yet sadly, he 
shared in the melancholy retreat from Harlaem 
Heights and White Plains, and accompanied 
the dispirited army as it fled before its foes 
through New Jersey. In four months after 
the Declaration of Independence, the patriots 
had been beaten in seven battles. At the bat- 
tle of Trenton he led the vanguard, and, in the 
act of charging upon the enemy he received a 
wound in the left shoulder. As a reward for 
his bravery, Mr. Monroe was promoted a cap- 
tain of infantry; and, having recovered from 
his wound, he rejoined the army. He, how- 
ever, receded from the line of promotion by 



42 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



becoming an officer on the staff of Lord Stir- 
ling. During the campaigns of 1777 and 1778, 
in the actions of Brandywine, Germantown, 
and Monmouth, he continued aid-de-camp; 
but becoming desirous to regain his position in 
the army, he exerted himself to collect a regi- 
ment for the Virginia line. This scheme failed 
owing to the exhausted condition of the state. 
Upon this failure he entered the office of Mr. 
Jefferson, at that period governor, and pursued 
with considerable ardor the study of common 
law. He did not, however, entirely lay aside 
the knapsack for the green bag; but on the in- 
vasions of the enemy, served as a volunteer 
during the two years of his legal pursuits. 

In 1782, he was elected from King George 
county a member of the legislature of Virginia, 
and by that body he was elevated to a seat in 
the executive council. He was thus honored 
with the confidence of his fellow citizens at 
twenty-three years of age; and at this early- 
period displayed some of that ability and apti- 
tude for legislation, which were afterward 
employed with unremitting energy for the pub- 
lic good; he was in the succeeding year chosen 
a member of the congress of the United States. 

Deeply as Mr. Monroe felt the imperfec- 
tions of the old confederacy, he was opposed 
to the new constitution, thinking, with many 
others of the republican party, that it gave too 
much power to the central government, and 
not enough to the individual states. In 1789 
he became a member of the United States sen- 
ate, which office he held for four years. Every 
month the line of distinction between the two 
great parties which divided the nation, the 
federal and the republican, was growing more 
distinct. The two prominent ideas which now 
separated them were, that the republican party 
was in sympathy with France, and also in 
favor of such a strict construction of the con- 
stitution as to give the central government as 
little power, and the state governments as 



much power, as the constitution would war- 
rant. The federalists sympathized with Eng- 
land, and were in favor of a liberal construc- 
tion of the constitution, which would give as 
much power to the central government as that 
document could possibly authorize. 

Washington was then president. England 
had espoused the cause of the Bourbons 
against the principles of the French revolu- 
tion. All Europe was drawn into the conflict. 
We were feeble and far away. Washington 
issued a proclamation of neutrality between 
these contending powers. France had helped 
us in the struggle for our liberties. All the 
despotisms of Europe were combined to pre- 
vent the French from escaping from a tyranny 
a thousand-fold worse than that which we had 
endured. Col. Monroe, more magnanimous 
than prudent, was anxious that, at whatever 
hazard, we should help our old allies in their 
extremity. It was the impulse of a generous 
and noble nature. He violently opposed the 
president's proclamation as ungrateful and 
wanting in magnanimity. 

Washington, who could appreciate such a 
character, developed his clam, serene, almost 
divine greatness, by appointing that very 
James Monroe, who was denouncing the policy 
of the government, as the minister of that 
government to the republic of France. Mr. 
Monroe was welcomed by the national conven- 
tion in France with the most enthusiastic 
demonstrations. 

Shortly after his return to this country, Mr. 
Monroe was elected governor of Virginia, and 
held the office for three years. He was again 
sent to France to co-operate with Chancellor 
Livingston in obtaining the vast territory 
then known as the province of Louisiana, 
which France had but shortly before obtained 
from Spain. Their united efforts were suc- 
cessful. For the comparatively small sum of 
fifteen millions of dollars, the entire territory 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



45 



of Orleans and district of Louisiana were 
added to the United States. This was prob- 
ably the largest transfer of real estate which 
was ever made in all the history of the world. 

From France Mr. Monroe went to England 
to obtain from that country some recognition 
of our rights as neutrals, and to remonstrate 
against those odious impressments of our sea- 
men. But England was unrelenting. He 
again returned to England on the same mis- 
sion, but could receive no redress. He returned 
to his home and was again chosen governor of 
Virginia. This he soon resigned to accept the 
position of secretary of state under Madison. 
While in this office war with England was de- 
clared, the secretary of war resigned, and dur- 
ing those trying times the duties of the war de- 
partment were also put upon him. He was 
truly the armor-bearer of President Madison, 
and the most efficient business man in his cab- 
inet. Upon the return of peace he resigned 
the department of war, but continued in the of- 
fice of secretary of state until the expiration of 
Mr. Madison's administration. At the election 
held the previous autumn Mr. Monroe had been 
chosen president with but little opposition, and 
upon March 4, 1817, was inaugurated. Four 
years later he was elected for a second term. 

Among the important measures of his presi- 
dency were the cession of Florida to the United 
States; the Missouri compromise, and the 
"Monroe doctrine." This famous "Monroe 
doctrine" was enunciated by him in 1823. At 
that time the United States had recognized 
the independence of the South American 
states, and did not wish to have European 
powers longer attempt to subdue portions of 
the American continent. The doctrine is as 
follows: "That we should consider any at- 
tempt on the part of European powers to ex- 
tend their system to any portion of this hemi- 
sphere as dangerous to our peace and safety," 
and "that we could not view any interposi- 



tion for the purpose of oppressing or controll- 
ing American governments or provinces in any 
other light than as a manifestation by Euro- 
pean powers of an unfriendly disposition to- 
ward the United States." This doctrine imme- 
diately affected the course of foreign govern- 
ments, and has become the approved senti- 
ment of the United States. 

At the end of his second term Mr. Monroe 
retired to his home in Virginia, where he lived 
until 1830, when he went to New York to live 
with his son-in-law. In that city he died on 
the 4th of July, 1831. 



WOHN QUINCY ADAMS, the sixth 
m president of the United States, was 
/• 1 born in Quincy, Mass., on the 11th of 
July, 1767. His mother, a woman of 
exalted worth, watched over his childhood 
during the almost constant absence of his 
father. 

When but eleven years old he took a tear- 
ful adieu of his mother, to sail with his father 
for Europe, through a fleet of hostile British 
cruisers. The bright, animated boy spent a 
year and a half in Paris, where his father was 
associated with Franklin and Lee as minister 
plenipotentiary. His intelligence attracted the 
notice of these distinguished men, and he re- 
ceived from them flattering marks of attention. 

Mr. John Adams had scarcely returned tc 
this country, in 1779, ere he was again sent 
abroad. Again John Quincy accompanied his 
father. At Paris he applied himself with great 
diligence, for six months, to study; then accom- 
panied his father to Holland, where he entered 
first a school in Amsterdam, then the univer- 
sity at Leyden. About a year from this time, 
in 1 78 1, when the manly boy was but fourteen 
years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, 
our minister to the Russian court, as his pri- 
vate secretary. 



46 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



In this school of incessant labor and of en- 
nobling culture he spent fourteen months, and 
then returned to Holland through Sweden, 
Denmark, Hamburg and Bremen. This long 
journey he took alone, in the winter, when in 
his sixteenth year. Again he resumed his 
studies, under a private tutor, at Hague. 
Thence, in the spring of 1782, he accompa- 
nied his father to Paris, traveling leisurely, and 
examining architectural remains, galleries of 
paintings and all renowned works of art. At 
Paris he again became associated with the 
most illustrious men of all lands in the con- 
templations of the loftiest temporal themes 
which can engross the human mind. After a 
short visit to England he returned to Paris, 
and consecrated all his energies to study until 
May, 1785, when he returned to America. 

After leaving Harvard college at the age 
of twenty, he studied law for three years. In 
June, 1794, being then but twenty-seven years 
of age, he was appointed, by Washington, res- 
ident minister at the Netherlands. Sailing 
from Boston in July, he reached London in 
October, where he was immediately admitted 
to the deliberations of Messrs. Jay and Pinck- 
ney, assisting them in negotiating a commer- 
cial treaty with Great Britain. After thus 
spending a fortnight in London, he proceeded 
to the Hague. 

In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to 
Portugal as minister plenipotentiary, On his 
way to Portugal, upon arriving in London, he 
met with despatches directing him to the court 
of Berlin, but requesting him to remain in 
London until he should receive his instruc- 
tions. While waiting he was married to an 
American lady to whom he had been previ- 
ously engaged — Miss Louisa Catherine John- 
son, daughter of Mr. Joshua' Johnson, Ameri- 
can consul in London. 

He reached Berlin with his wife in Novem- 
ber, 1797, where he remained until July, 



1799, when, having fulfilled all the purposes of 
his mission, he solicited his recall. Soon after 
his return, in 1802, he was chosen to the sen- 
ate of Massachusetts from Boston, and then 
was elected senator of the United States for 
six years, from the 4th of March, 1804. His 
reputation, his ability and his experience, 
placed him immediately among the most prom- 
inent and influential members of that body. 
Especially did he sustain the government in its 
measures of resistance to the encroachments 
of England, destroying our commerce and in- 
sulting our flag. 

In 1809, Madison succeeded Jefferson in 
the presidential chair, and he immediately 
nominated John Quincy Adams minister to St. 
Petersburg. Resigning his professorship in 
Harvard college, he embarked at Boston, in 
August, 1809. While in Russia, Mr. Adams 
was an intense student. He devoted his at- 
tention to the language and history of Russia; 
to the Chinese trade; to the European system 
of weights, measures, and coins; to the 
climate and astronomical observations; while 
he kept up a familiar acquaintance with the 
Greek and Latin classics. All through life the 
Bible constituted an important part of his 
studies. It was his rule to read five chapters 
every day. 

On the 4th of March, 1817, Mr. Monroe 
took the presidential chair, and immediately 
appointed Mr. Adams secretary of state. 
Taking leave of his friends in public and pri- 
vate life in Europe, he sailed in June, 18 19, 
for the United States. On the iSth of August, 
he again crossed the threshold of his home in 
Quincy. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- 
roe's administration, Mr. Adams continued 
secretary of state. 

Some time before the close of Mi. Mr 
roe's second term of office, new candidates 
began to be presented for the presidency. 
The friends of Mr. Adams brought forward 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



his name. It was an exciting campaign. 
Party spirit was never more bitter. Two 
hundred and sixty electoral votes were cast. 
Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine; John 
Quincy Adams, eighty-four; William H. Craw- 
ford, forty-one; Henry Clay, thirty-seven. 
As there was no choice by the people, the 
question went to the house of representatives. 
Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. 
Adams, and he was elected. 

Mr, Adams was, to a very remarkable de- 
gree, abstemious and temperate in his habits; 
always rising early, and taking much exercise. 
When at his home in Quincy, he has been 
known to walk, before breakfast, seven miles 
to Boston. In Washington, it was said that 
he was the first man up in the city, lighting 
his own fire and applying himself to work in 
his library often long before dawn. 

On the 4th of March, 1829, Mr. Adams 
retired from the presidency, and was suceeded 
by Andrew Jackson. John C. Calhoun was 
elected vice president. The slavery question 
now began to assume portentous magnitude. 
Mr. Adams returned to Quincy, and to his 
studies, which he pursued with unabated zeal. 
But he was not long permitted to remain in 
retirement. In November, 1830, he was 
elected representative to congress. For sev- 
enteen years, until his death, he occupied the 
post as representative, ever ready to do brave 
battle for freedom, and winning the title of 
"the old man eloquent." Upon taking his 
seat in the house, he announced that he should 
hold himself bound to no party. He was 
usually the first in his place in the morning, 
and the last to leave his seat in the evening. 
Not a measure could be brought forward and 
escape his scrutiny. The battle which Mr. 
Adams fought almost singly, against the 
proslavery party in the government, was sub- 
lime in its moral daring and heroism. For 
persisting in presenting petitions for the aboli- 



tion of slavery, he was threatened with i dict- 
ment by the grand jury, with expulsior from 
the house, and also with assassination, but 
no threats could intimidate him and his final 
triumph was complete. 

On the 2 1st of February, 1848, he rose on 
the floor of congress, with a paper in his hand, 
to address the speaker. Suddenly he fell, 
again stricken by paralysis, and was caught in 
the arms of those around him. For a time he 
was senseless, as he was conveyed to the 
sofa in the rotunda. With reviving conscious- 
ness, he opened his eyes, looked calmly around 
and said: "This is the end of earth;" then, 
after a moment's pause, he added, "I am 
content. " These were the last words of the sixth 
president. 

HNDREW JACKSON, the seventh 
president of the United States, was 
born in Waxhaw settlement, N. C, 
March 15, 1767, a few days after his 
father's death. His parents were from Ireland, 
and took up their abode in Waxhaw settle- 
ment, where they lived in deepest poverty. 

Andrew, or Andy, as he was universally 
called, grew up a very rough, rude, turbulent 
boy. His features were coarse, his form un- 
gainly; and there was but very little in his char- 
acter, made visible, which was attractive. 

When only thirteen years old he joined the 
volunteers of Carolina against the British in- 
vasion. In 1 78 1, he and his brother Robert 
were captured and imprisoned for a time at 
Camden. A British officer ordered him to 
brush his mud-spattered boots. " I am a 
prisoner of war, not your servant," was the 
reply of the dauntless boy. The brute drew 
his sword, and aimed a desperate blow at the 
head of the helpless young prisoner. Andrew 
raised his hand, and thus recived two fearful 
gashes — one on the hand and the other upon 
the head. The officer then turned to his 



50 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



brother Robert with the same demand. He 
also refused, and received a blow from the 
keen-edged saber, which quite disabled him, 
and which probably soon after caused his 
death. They suffered much other ill-treat- 
ment, and were finally stricken with the small- 
pox. Their mother was successful in obtain- 
ing their exchange, and took her sick boys 
home. After a long illness Andrew recovered, 
and the death of his mother soon left him en- 
tirely friendless. 

Andrew supported himself in various ways, 
such as working at the saddler's trade, teaching 
school and clerking in a general store, until 
1784, when he entered a law office at Salis- 
bury, N. C. In 1788, he was appointed solicit- 
or for the western district of North Carolina, 
of which Tennessee was then apart. This in- 
volved many long and tedious journeys amid 
dangers of every kind, but Andrew Jackson 
never knew fear. 

In 1 79 1, Jackson was married to a woman 
who supposed herself divorced from her former 
husband. Great was the surprise of both 
parties, two years later, to find that the con- 
ditions of the divorce had just been definitely 
settled by the first husband. The marriage 
ceremony was performed a second time, but 
the occurrence was often used by his enemies 
to bring Mr. Jackson into disfavor. During 
these years he worked hard at his profession, 
and frequently had one or more duels on hand, 
one of which, when he killed Dickinson, was 
especially disgraceful. 

In January, 1796, the territory of Tennes- 
see then containing nearly 80,000 inhabitants, 
the people met in convention at Knoxville to 
frame a constitution. Five were sent from each 
of the eleven counties. Andrew Jackson was 
one of the delegates. The new state was en- 
titled to but one member in the national house 
of representatives. Andrew Jackson was 
chosen that member. Mounting his horse he 



rode to Philadelphia, where congress then 
held its sessions — a distance of about 800 
miles. 

Jackson was an earnest advocate of the 
democratic party. Jefferson was his idol. He 
admired Bonaparte, loved France and hated 
England. As Jackson took his seat, Gen. 
Washington, whose second term of office was 
then expiring, delivered his last speech to 
congress. A committee drew up a compli- 
mentary address in reply. Andrew Jackson 
did not approve of the address, and was one 
of the twelve who voted against it. He was 
not willing to say that Gen. Washington's 
administration had been "wise, firm and 
patriotic. " 

Jackson was elected to the United States 
senate in 1797, but soon resigned. Soon after 
he was chosen judge of the supreme court of 
his state, which position he held for six years. 

When the war of 1 8 1 2 with Great Britain 
commenced, Madison occupied the presidential 
chair. Aaron Burr sent word to the president 
that there was an unknown man in the west, 
Andrew Jackson, who would do credit to a 
commission if one were conferred upon him. 
Just at that time Gen. Jackson offered his 
services and those of 2,500 volunteers. His 
offer was accepted, and the troops were assem- 
bled at Nashville. As the British were hourly 
expected to make an attack upon New Orleans, 
where Gen. Wilkinson was in command, he 
was ordered to descend the river with 1,500 
troops to aid Wilkinson. The expedition 
reached Natchez, and after a delay of several 
weeks there, the men were ordered back to 
their homes. But the energy Gen. Jackson 
had displayed, and his entire devotion to the 
comfort of his soldiers, won him golden 
opinions; and he became the most popular man 
in the state. It was in this expedition that his 
toughness gave him the rickname of ''Old 
Hickory." 




MARTIN VAN BUREN. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



53 



Soon after this, while attempting to horse- 
whip Col. Thomas H. Benton, for a remark 
that gentleman made about his taking a part 
as second in a duel, in which a younger brother 
of Benton's was engaged, he received two 
severe pistol wounds. While he was lingering 
upon a bed of suffering news came that the 
Indians, who had combined under Tecumseh 
from Florida to the lakes, to exterminate the 
white settlers, were committing the most 
awful ravages. Decisive action became neces- 
sary. Gen. Jackson, with his fractured bone 
just beginning to heal, his arm in a sling, and 
unable to mount his horse without assistance, 
gave his amazing energies to the raising of an 
army to rendevous at Fayettesville, Ala. 

The Creek Indians had established a strong 
fort on one of the bends of the Tallapoosa 
river, near the center of Alabama, about fifty 
miles below Fort Strother. With an army of 
2,000 men, Gen. Jackson traversed the path- 
less wilderness in a march of eleven days. He 
reached their fort, called Tohopeka or Horse- 
shoe, on the 27th of March, 18 14. The bend 
of the river inclosed 100 acres of tangled 
forest and wild ravine. Across the narrow 
neck the Indians had constructed a formidable 
breastwork of logs and brush. Here 900 war- 
riors, with an ample supply of arms, were as- 
sembled. The fort was stormed. The fight 
was utterly desperate. Not an Indian would 
accept of quarter. When bleeding and dying, 
they would fight those who endeavored to spare 
their lives. From ten in the morning until 
dark, the battle raged. The carnage was awful 
and revolting. Some threw themselves into 
the river; but the unerring bullet struck their 
heads as they swam. Nearly every one of the 
900 warriors was killed. This closing of the 
Creek war enabled us to concentrate all our 
militia upon the British, who were the allies of 
the Indians. No man of less resolute will than 
Gen. Jackson could have conducted this Indian 



campaign to so successful an issue. Immedi- 
ately he was appointed major-general. 

Late in August, with an army of 2,000 
men, on a rushing march, Gen. Jackson went 
to Mobile. A British fleet came from Pensa- 
cola, landed a force upon the beach, anchored 
near the little fort, and from both ship and 
shore commenced a furious assault. The battle 
was long and doubtful. At length one of the 
ships was blown up and the rest retired. 

Garrisoning Mobile, Jackson moved his 
troops to New Orleans, and the battle of New 
Orleans, which soon ensued, was in reality a 
very arduous campaign. Here his troops, 
which numbered about 4,000 men, won a 
signal victory over the British army of about 
9,000. His loss was but thirteen, while the 
loss of the British was 2,600. 

The name of Gen. Jackson soon began to 
be mentioned in connection with the presi- 
dency, but, in 1824, he was defeated by Mr. 
Adams. He was, however, successful in the 
election of 1828, and was re-elected for a 
second term in 1832. In 1829, he met with 
the most terrible affliction of his life in the 
death of his wife. At the expiration of his two 
terms of office he retired to the Hermitage, 
where he died June 8, 1845. The last years 
of Jackson's life were that of a devoted chris- 
tian man. 



QARTIN VAN BUREN, the eighth 
president of the United States, was 
born at Kinderhook, N. Y., Decem- 
ber 5, 1782. He died at the same 
place, July 24, 1862, and his body rests in the 
cemetery at Kinderhook. Above it is a plain 
granite shaft fifteen feet high, bearing a sim- 
ple inscription about half way up on the face. 
The lot is unfenced, unbordered or unbounded 
by shrub or flower. His ancestors, as his 
name indicates, were of Dutch origin, and 



54 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



were among the earliest emigrants from Hol- 
land to the banks of the Hudson. His father 
was a farmer, residing in the old town of 
Kinderhook. His mother, also of Dutch 
lineage, was a woman of superior intelligence 
and exemplary piety. At the age of fourteen, 
he had finished his academic studies in his na- 
tive village, and commenced the study of law. 
As he had not a collegiate education seven 
years of study in a law office were required of 
him before he could be admitted to the bar. 
Inspired with a lofty ambition, and conscious 
of his powers, he pursued his studies with in- 
defatigable industry, After spending six years 
in an office in his native village, he went to 
the city of New York, and prosecuted his 
studies for the seventh year. 

In 1803, Van Buren, then twenty-one 
years of age, commenced the practice of law 
in his native village. The great conflict be- 
tween the federal and republican parties was 
then at its height. Van Buren was in cordial 
sympathy with Jefferson, and earnestly and 
eloquently espoused the cause of state rights; 
though at that time the federal party held the 
supremacy both in his town and state. His 
success and increasing reputation led him after 
six years of practice, to remove to Hudson, 
the county seat of his county. Here he spent 
seven years, constantly gaining strength by 
contending in the courts with some of the 
ablest men who have adorned the bar of his 
state. 

just before leaving Kinderhook for Hudson, 
Mr. VanBuren married a lady alike distinguished 
for beauty and accomplishments. After 
twelve short years she sank into the grave, 
the victim of consumption, leaving her hus- 
band and four sons to weep over her loss. In 
1 8 12, when thirty years of age, he was chosen 
to the state senate, and gave his strenuous 
support to Mr. Madison's administration. In 
181 5, he was appointed attorney-general, and 



the next year moved to Albany, the capital of 
the state. 

While he was acknowledged as one of the 
most prominent leaders of the democratic 
party, he had the moral courage to avow that 
true democracy did not require that "univer- 
sal suffrage" which admits the vile, the de- 
graded, the ignorant, to the right of governing 
the state. In true consistency with his demo- 
cratic principles, he contended that, while 
the path leading to the privilege of voting 
should be open to every man without distinc- 
tion, no one should be invested with that 
sacred prerogative, unless he were in some 
degree qualified for it by intelligence, virtue 
and some property interests in the welfare of 
the state. 

In 1 82 1 he was elected a member of the 
United States senate, and in the same year he 
took a seat in the convention to revise the 
constitution of his native state. His course in 
this convention secured the approval of men 
of all parties. In the senate of the United 
States, he rose at once to a conspicuous posi- 
tion as an active and useful legislator. In 
1827, John Quincy Adams being then in the 
presidential chair, Mr. Van Buren was re- 
elected to the senate. He had been, from the 
beginning, a determined opposer to the ad- 
ministration, adopting the state rights view in 
opposition to what was deemed the federal 
proclivities of Mr. Adams. 

Soon after this, in 1828, he was chosen 
governor of the state of New York, and ac- 
cordingly resigned his seat in the senate. 
Probably no one in the United States con- 
tributed so much towards ejecting John Q. 
Adams from the presidential chair, and placing 
in it Andrew Jackson, as did Martin Van 
Buren. Whether entitled to the reputation 
or not, he certainly was regarded throughout 
the United States as one of the most skillful, 
sagacious and cunning politicians. It was sup- 




WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



57 



posed that no one knew so well as he how to 
touch the secret springs of action; how to pull 
all the wires to put his machinery in motion; 
and how to organize a political army which 
would, secretly and stealthily, accomplish the 
most gigantic results. By these powers it is 
said that he outwitted Mr. Adams, Mr. Clay, 
Mr. Webster, and secured results which few 
thought then could be accomplished. 

When Andrew Jackson was elected presi- 
dent, he appointed Mr. Van Buren secretary 
of state. This position he resigned in 1831, 
and was immediately appointed minister to 
England, where he went the same autumn. 
The senate, however, when it met, refused to 
ratify the nomination, and he returned home, 
apparently untroubled; was nominated vice 
president in the place of Calhoun, at the re- 
election of President Jackson; and with smiles 
for all and frowns for none, he took his place 
at the head of that senate which had refused 
to confirm his nomination as ambassador. His 
rejection by the senate aroused all the zeal 
of President Jackson in behalf of his repudiated 
favorite; and this, probably more than any 
other cause, secured his elevation to the chair 
of the chief executive. On the 20th of May, 
1836, Van Buren received the democratic nom- 
ination to succeed Gen. Jackson as president 
of the United States. He was elected by a 
handsome majority, to the delight of the retir- 
ing president. 

His administration was filled with exciting 
events. The insurrection in Canada, which 
threatened to involve this country in war with 
England, the agitation of the slavery question, 
and finally the great commercial panic which 
spread over the country, all were trials to his 
wisdom. The financial distress was attributed 
to the management of the democratic party, 
and brought the president into such disfavor 
that he failed of re-election. With the ex- 
ception of being nominated for the presidency 



by the free soil democrats, in 1848, Mr. Van 
Buren lived quietly upon his estate until his 
death. 

He had ever been a prudent man, of frugal 
habits, and, living within his income, had now 
fortunately a competency for his declining 
years. It was on the 4th of March, 1841, 
that Mr. Van Buren retired from the presidency. 
From his fine estate at Lindenwald, he still 
exerted a powerful influence upon the politics 
of the country. From this time until his death, 
on the 24th of July, 1862, at the age of eighty 
years, he resided at Lindenwald, a gentleman 
of leisure, of culture and of wealth; enjoying 
in a healthy old age, probably far more happi- 
ness than he had before experienced amid the 
stormy scenes of his active life. 



m. 



»ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the 
ninth president of the United 
States; was born at Berkeley, Va., 
Feb. 9, 1773. His father, Benja- 
min Harrison, was in comparatively opulent 
circumstances, and was one of the most dis- 
tinguished men of his day. He was an inti- 
mate friend of George Washington, was early 
elected a member of the continental congress, 
and was conspicuous among the patriots of 
Virginia in resisting the encroachments of the 
British crown. In the celebrated congress of 
1775, Benjamin Harrison and John Hancock 
were both candidates for the office of speaker. 

Mr. Harrison was subsequently chosen 
governor of Virginia, and was twice re-elected. 

Having received a thorough common- 
school education, William Henry Harrison 
entered Hampden Sidney college, where he 
graduated with honor soon after the death of 
his father. He then repaired to Philadelphia 
to study medicine under the instructions of 
Dr. Rush and the guardianship of Robert 



58 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Morris, both of whom were, with his father, 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

Upon the outbreak of the Indian troubles, 
and notwithstanding the remonstrances of his 
friends, he abandoned his medical studies and 
entered the army, having obtained a commis- 
sion of ensign from President Washington. He 
was then but nineteen years old. From that 
time he passed gradually upward in rank until 
he became aid to Gen. Wayne, after whose 
death he resigned his commission. He was 
then appointed secretary of the Northwestern 
territory. This territory was then entitled to 
but one member in congress, and Capt. Harri- 
son was chosen to fill that position. 

In the spring of 1800 the Northwestern 
territory was divided by congress into two 
portions. The eastern portion, comprising 
the region now embraced in the state of Ohio, 
was called "The Territory northwest of the 
Ohio." The western portion, which included 
what is now called Indiana, Illinois, and Wis- 
consin, was called the "Indiana territory." 
William Henry Harrison, then twenty-seven 
years of age, was appointed, by John Adams, 
governor of the Indiana territory, and imme- 
diately after, also governor of upper Louisi- 
ana. He was thus ruler over almost as 
extensive a realm as any sovereign upon the 
globe. He was superintendent of Indian af- 
fairs, and was invested with powers nearly 
dictatorial over the now rapidly increasing 
white population. The ability and fidelity 
with which he discharged these responsible 
duties may be inferred from the fact that he 
was four times appointed to this office — first 
by John Adams, twice by Thomas Jefferson 
and afterward by President Madison. 

When he began his administration there 
were but three white settlements in that al- 
most boundless region, now crowded with 
cities and resounding with all the tumult of 
wealth and traffic. One of these settlements 



was on the Ohio, nearly opposite Louisville; 
one at Vincennes, on the Wabash, and the 
third a French settlement. 

The vast wilderness over which Gov. Har- 
rison reigned was filled with many tribes of 
Indians. About the year 1806, two extraordi- 
nary men, twin brothers, of the Shawnee 
tribe, rose among them. One of these was 
called Tecumseh, or "The Crouching Pan- 
ther;" the other, Olliwacheca, or "The Pro- 
phet." Tecumseh was not only an Indian 
warrior, but a man of great sagacity, far- 
reaching foresight and indomitable persever- 
ance in any enterprise in which he might en- 
gage. He was inspired with the highest 
enthusiasm, and had long regarded with dread 
and with hatred the encroachments of the 
whites upon the hunting grounds of his fath- 
ers. His brother, the Prophet, was an orator, 
who could sway the feelings of the untutored 
Indian as the gale tossed the tree-tops beneath 
which they dwelt. 

Gov. Harrison made many attempts to 
conciliate the Indians, but at last the war 
came, and at Tippecanoe the Indians were 
routed with great slaughter. October 28, 
1 812, his army began its march. When near 
the Prophet's town three Indians of rank made 
their appearance and inquired why Gov. Har- 
rison was approaching them in so hostile an 
attitude. After a short conference, arrange- 
ments were made for a meeting the next day, 
to agree upon terms of peace. But Gov. Har- 
rison was too well acquainted with the Indian 
character to be deceived by such protestations. 
Selecting a favorable spot for his night's en- 
campment, he took every precaution against 
surprise. His troops were posted in a hollow 
square, and slept upon their arms. The 
troops threw themselves upon the ground for 
rest; but every man had his accoutrements 
on, his loaded musket by his side, and his 
bayonet fixed. The wakeful governor, between 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



59 



three and four o'clock in the morning, had 
risen and was sitting in conversation with his 
aids by the embers of a waning fire. It was a 
chill, cloudy morning with a drizzling rain. 
In the darkness, the Indians had crept as near 
as possible, and just then, with a savage yell, 
rushed with all the desperation which supersti- 
tion and passion most highly inflamed could 
give, upon the left flank of the little army. 
The savages had been amply provided with 
guns and ammunition by the English. Their 
war-whoop was accompanied by a shower of 
bullets. The camp-fires were instantly extin- 
guished, as the light aided the Indians in their 
aim. With hideous yells, the Indian bands 
rushed on, not doubting a speedy and entire 
victory. But Gen. Harrison's troops stood as 
immovable as the rocks around them until day 
dawned; they then made a simultaneous charge 
with the bayonet, and swept everything before 
them, and completely routed the foe. Gov. 
Harrison now had all his energies tasked to the 
utmost. The British, descending from the Can- 
adas, were of themselves a very formidable 
force; but with their savage allies, rushing like 
wolves from the forest, searching out every 
remote farm house, burning, plundering, scalp- 
ing, torturing, the wide frontier was plunged 
into a state of consternation which even the 
most vivid imagination can but faintly con- 
ceive. Gen. Hull had made the ignominious 
surrender of his forces at Detroit. Under 
these despairing circumstances, Gov. Harrison 
was appointed by President Madison comman- 
der-in-chief of the Northwestern army, with 
orders to retake Detroit, and to protect the 
frontiers. 

Harrison won the love of his soldiers by 
always sharing with them their fatigue. His 
whole baggage, while pursuing the foe up the 
Thames, was carried in a valise; and his bed- 
ding consisted of a single blanket lashed over 
his saddle. Thirty-five British officers, his 



prisoners of war, supped with him after the bat- 
tle. The only fare he could give them was beef 
roasted before the fire, without bread or salt. 

In 1816, Gen. Harrison was chosen a mem- 
ber of the national house of representatives to 
represent the district of Ohio. In congress he 
proved an active member, and, whenever he 
spoke, it was with force of reason and power 
of eloquence, which arrested the attention of 
all the members. 

In 1 8 19, Harrison was elected to the sen- 
ate of Ohio; and in 1824, as one of the presi- 
dential electors of that state, he gave his vote 
for Henry Clay. The same year he was chosen 
to the United States senate. 

In 1836, the friends of Gen. Harrison 
brought him forward as a candidate for the 
presidency against Van Buren, but he was de- 
feated. At the close of Mr. Van Buren's term, 
he was re-nominated by his party, and Harri- 
son was unanimously nominated by the whigs, 
with John Tyler for the vice presidency. The 
contest was very animated. Gen. Jackson 
gave all his influence to prevent Harrison's 
election; but his triumph was signal. 

The cabinet which he formed, with Daniel 
Webster at its head as secretary of state, was 
one of the most brilliant with which any presi- 
dent had ever been surrounded. In the midst 
of these bright and joyous prospects. Gen. 
Harrison was seized by a pleurisy-fever, and, 
after a few days of violent sickness, died on 
the 4th of April; just one month after his inau- 
guration as president of the United States. 

With the exception, perhaps, of the death 
of George Washington, the demise of no presi- 
dent of the United States, down to this time, 
had created a deeper thrill of sympathy through- 
out the country than that of President Harri- 
son. North and south, his obsequies were ob- 
served with unaffected sorrow, and men of all 
parties seemed to forget differences of opinion 
in doing honor to the memory of the dead. 



60 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



>7*OHN TYLER, the tenth president of 
m the United States, was born in Charles 
/» 1 City county, Va., March 29, 1790. 
At the early age of twelve, John entered 
William and Mary college and graduated with 
much honor when but seventeen years old. 
He devoted himself with great assiduity to the 
study of law, partly with his father and partly 
with Edmund Randolph, one of the most dis- 
tinguished lawyers of Virginia. 

At nineteen years of age, he commenced 
the practice of law. His success was rapid 
and astonishing. It is said that three months 
had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case 
on the docket of the court in which he was not 
retained. When but twenty-one years of age, 
he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in 
the state legislature. He connected himself 
with the democratic party, and warmly ad- 
vocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison. 
For five successive years he was elected to the 
legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous 
vote of his county. 

When but twenty-six years of age, he was 
elected a member of congress. Here he acted 
earnestly and ably with the democratic party, 
opposing a national bank, internal improve- 
ments by the general government, a protective 
tariff, and advocating a strict construction of 
the constitution, and the most careful vigilance 
over state rights. His labors in congress were 
so arduous that before the close of his second 
term he found it necessary to resign and retire 
to his estate in Charles City county, to recruit 
his health. He, however, soon after consented 
to take his seat in the state legislature, where 
his influence was powerful in promoting public 
works of great utility. He was then chosen 
by a very large majority of votes, governor of 
his native state. His administration was sig- 
lally a successful one, and his popularity 
secured his re-election. 

ohn Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half- 



crazed man, then represented Virginia in the 
senate of the United States. A portion of the 
democratic party was displeased with Mr. 
Randolph's wayward course, and brought 
forward John Tyler as his opponent, and 
Tyler was the victor. In accordance with his 
professions, upon taking his seat in the senate, 
he joined the ranks of the opposition. He 
opposed the tariff; he spoke against and voted 
against the bank as unconstitutional; he stren- 
uously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, 
resisting all projects of internal improvements 
by the general government, and avowed his 
sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullifica- 
tion; he declared that Gen. Jackson, by his 
opposition to the nullifiers, had abandoned the 
principles of the democratic party. Such was 
Mr. Tyler's record in congress — a record in 
perfect accordance with the principles which 
he had always avowed. 

Returning to Virginia, he resumed the 
practice of his profession. There was a split 
in the democratic party. His friends still re- 
garded him as a true Jeffersonian, gave him a 
dinner, and showered compliments upon him. 
He had now attained the age of forty-six. 
Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, 
for the better education of his children; and 
he again took his seat in the legislature of Vir- 
ginia. 

By the southern whigs, he was sent to the 
national convention at Harrisburg to nominate 
a president in 1839. The majority of votes 
were given to Gen. Harrison, a genuine whig, 
much to the disappointment of the south, who 
wished for Henry Clay. To conciliate the 
southern whigs and to secure their vote, the 
convention then nominated John Tyler for 
vice president. Thus it happened that a whig 
president and, in reality, a democratic vice 
president were chosen. 

In 1 84 1, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated vice 
president of the United States. In one short 




JOHN TYLER 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



63 



month from that time Pres. Harrison died, and 
Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own sur- 
prise and that of the whole nation, an occu- 
pant of the presidential chair. This was a new 
test of the stability of our institutions, as it 
was the first time in the history of our country 
that such an event had occurred. Mr. Tyler 
was at home in Williamsburg when he received 
the unexpected tidings of the death of Pres. 
Harrison. He hastened to Washington, and 
on the 6th of April was inaugurated to the high 
and responsible office. Gen. Harrison had 
selected a whig cabinet. Should he retain 
them, and thus surround himself with coun- 
selors whose views were antagonistic to his 
own? or, on the other hand, should he turn 
against the party which had elected him and 
select a cabinet in harmony with himself, and 
which would oppose all those views which the 
whigs deemed essential to the public wel- 
fare? This was his fearful dilemma, and so he 
invited the cabinet which Pres. Harrison had 
selected to retain their seats. 

The whigs carried through congress a bill 
for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the 
United States. The president, after ten days' 
delay, returned it with his veto. He suggested, 
however, that he would approve of a bill 
drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed. 
Such a bill was accordingly prepared, and 
privately submitted to him. He gave it his 
approval. It was passed without alteration, 
and he sent it back with his veto. Here com- 
menced the open rupture. It is said that Mr. 
Tyler was provoked to this measure by a pub- 
lished letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a 
distinguished Virginia whig, who severely 
touched the pride of the president. 

The opposition now exultingly received the 
president into their arms. The party which 
elected him denounced him bitterly. All the 
members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Web- 
ster, resigned. The whigs of congress, both the 



senate and the house, held a meeting and issued 
an address to the people of the United States, 
proclaiming that all political alliances between 
the whigs and Pres. Tyler were at an end. 

Still the president attempted to conciliate. 
He appointed a new cabinet of distinguished 
whigs and conservatives, carefully leaving out 
all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon 
found it necessary to resign, forced out by the 
pressure of his whig friends. Thus the four 
years of Mr. Tylor's unfortunate administra- 
tion passed sadly away. More and more, 
however, he brought himself into sympathy 
with his old friends, the democrats, until, at 
the close of his term, he gave his whole influ- 
ence to the support of Mr. Polk, the demo- 
cratic candidate for his successor. 

On the 4th of March, 1845, he retired from 
office, to the regret of neither party, and 
probably to his own unspeakable relief. His 
first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died in 
Washington, in 1842; and in June, 1844, 
Pres. Tyler was again married, at New York, to 
Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many 
personal and intellectual accomplishments. 

The remainder of his days Mr. Tyler passed 
mainly in retirement at his beautiful home — 
Sherwood Forest, Charles City county, Va. 
A polished gentleman in his manners, richly 
furnished with information from books and 
experience in the world, and possessing bril- 
liant powers of conversation, his family circle 
was the scene of unusual attractions. With 
sufficient means for the exercise of a generous 
hospitality, he might have enjoyed a serene 
old age with the few friends who gathered 
around him, were it not for the storms of civil 
war which his own principles and policy had 
helped to introduce. 

When the great rebellion rose, which the 
state rights and nullifying doctrines of John C. 
Calhoun had inaugurated, Pres. Tyler re- 
nounced his allegiance to the United States. 



64 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and joined the confederates. He was chosen 
a member of their congress; and while engaged 
in active measures to destroy, by force of arms, 
the government over which he had once pre- 
sided, he was taken sick and soon died. 



Vj*AMES KNOX POLK, the eleventh 
■ president of the United States, was 
Al born in Mecklenburg county, N. C. , 
November 2, 1795. His parents were 
Samuel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a 
son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located at the 
above place, as one of the first pioneers, in 

1735- 

In the year 1806, with his wife and chil- 
dren, and soon after followed by most of the 
members of the Polk family, Samuel Polk emi- 
grated some two or three hundred miles further 
west, to the rich valley of the Duck river, Tenn. 
Here, in the midst of the wilderness, in a 
region which was subsequently called Maury 
county, they reared their log huts, and estab- 
lished their homes. In the hard toil of a new 
farm in the wilderness, James K. Polk spent 
the early years of his childhood and youth. 
His father, adding the pursuit of a surveyor to 
that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth 
until he became one of the leading men of the 
region. 

Very early in life, James developed a taste 
for reading and expressed the strongest desire 
to obtain a liberal education. His mother's 
training had made him methodical in his habits, 
had taught him punctuality and industry, and 
had inspired him with lofty principles of 
morality. His health was frail; and his father, 
fearing that he might not be able to endure a 
sedentary life, got a situation for him behind 
the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial 
pursuits. He remained in this uncongenial 
occupation but a few weeks, when at his 
earnest solicitation his father removed him, 



and made arrangements for him to prosecute 
his studies. Soon after he sent him to Mur- 
freesboro academy. In the autumn of 181 5 he 
entered the sophomore class in the university 
of North Carolina,, at Chapel Hill. He grad- 
uated in 1 81 8, with the highest honors, being 
deemed the best scholar of his class, both 
in mathematics and classics. He was then 
twenty-three years of age. Mr. Polk's health 
was at this time much impaired by the assi- 
duity with which he had prosecuted his studies. 
After a short season of relaxation he went to 
Nashville, Tenn., and entered the office of 
Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk 
renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jack- 
son, who resided on his plantation, the Her- 
mitage, but a few miles from Nashville. 

James K. Polk was a popular public speaker, 
and was constantly called upon to address the 
meetings of his party friends. His skill as a 
speaker was such that he was popularly called 
the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man 
of unblemished morals, genial and courteous 
in his bearing, and with that sympathetic na- 
ture in the joys and griefs of others whichever 
gave him troops of friends. In 1823, Mr. 
Polk was elected to the legislature of Tennes- 
see. Here he gave his strong influence toward 
the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the 
presidency of the United States. 

In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss 
Sarah Childress, of Rutherford county, Tenn. 
His bride was altogether worthy of him — a 
lady of beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825, 
Mr. Polk was chosen a member of congress. 
The satisfaction which he gave to his constit- 
uents may be inferred from the fact, that for 
fourteen successive years, until 1839, he was 
continued in that office. He then voluntarily 
withdrew, only that he might accept the 
gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In congress 
he was a laborious member, a frequent and 
popular speaker. He was always in his seat, 




JAMES K. POLK. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



67 



always courteous; and whenever he spoke it 
was always to the point, and without any am- 
bitious rhetorical display. 

During five sessions of congress, Mr. Polk 
was speaker of the house. Strong passions 
were aroused, and stormy scenes were witness- 
ed; but Mr. Polk performed his arduous duties 
to a very general satisfaction, and a unani- 
mous vote of thanks to him was passed by the 
house as he withdrew on the 4th of March, 

1839. 

On the 14th of October, 1839, he took the 
oath of office as governor of Tennessee at 
Nashville. In 1841, his ■ term of office ex- 
pired, and he was again the candidate of the 
democratic party, but was defeated. On the 
4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was inaugurated 
president of the United States. The verdict 
of the country in favor of the annexation of 
Texas exerted its influence upon congress; and 
the last act of the administration of President 
Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint reso- 
lution of congress, passed on the 3d of March, 
approving of the annexation of Texas to the 
American Union. As Mexico still claimed 
Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican 
minister, Almonte, immediately demanded his 
passports and left the country, declaring the 
act of annexation to be an act hostile to 
Mexico. 

In his message, President Polk urged that 
Texas should immediately, by act of congress, 
be received into the Union on the same foot- 
ing with the other states. In the meantime, 
Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas 
to hold the country. He was sent first to 
Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the 
western boundary of Texas. Then he was 
sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to 
the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries 
which commanded the Mexican city of Matamo- 
ras, which was situated on the western banks. 

The anticipated collision soon took place, and 



war was declared against Mexico by President 
Polk. The war was pushed forward by Mr. 
Polk's administration with great vigor. Gen. 
Taylor, whose army was first called one of 
"observation," then of "occupation," then of 
"invasion," was sent forward to Monte- 
rey. The feeble Mexicans, in every encounter, 
were hopelessly and awfully slaughtered. It 
was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administra- 
tion that the war was brought on. 

"To the victors belong the spoils.'' Mex- 
ico was prostrate before us. Her capital was 
in our hands. We now consented to peace 
upon the condition that Mexico should sur- 
render to us, in addition to Texas, all of New 
Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower Califor- 
nia. This new demand embraced, exclusive 
of Texas, 800,000 square miles. This was an 
extent of territory equal to nine states of the 
size of New York. Thus slavery was securing 
eighteen majestic states to be added to the 
Union. In the prosecution of this war we ex- 
pended 20,000 lives and more than $100,000,- 
000, Of this more than $15,000,000 were 
paid to Mexico. 

On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk re- 
tired from office, having served one term. The 
next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. 
Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr. 
Polk rode to the capitol in the same carrriage 
with Gen. Taylor; and the same evening, with 
Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Ten- 
nessee. He was then but fifty-four years of 
age. He had ever been strictly temperate in 
all his habits and his health was good. With 
an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated 
mind, and domestic ties of the dearest nature, 
it seemed as though long years of tranquility 
and happiness were before him. But the 
cholera — the awful scourge — was then sweep- 
ing up the valley of the Mississippi. This he 
contracted, and died on the 15th of June, 1849, 
in the fifty-fourth year of his age. 



68 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



V m ACHARY TAYLOR, .twelfth presi- 
J^^f dent of the United States, was born 
f J on the 24th of November, 1784, in 
Orange county, Va. His father, 
Colonel Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and 
a distinguished patriot and soldier of the Revo- 
lution. When Zachary was an infant, his 
father, with his wife and two children, emi- 
grated to Kentucky, where he settled, a few 
miles from Louisville. In this frontier home 
young Zachary could enjoy but few social and 
educational advantages. When six years of 
age he attended a common school, and was 
then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather 
remarkable for bluntness and decision of char- 
acter. He was strong, fearless and self-reli- 
ant, and manifested a strong desire to enter 
the army to fight the Indians who were ravag- 
ing the frontiers. 

In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining 
for him the commission of lietenant in the 
United States army; and he joined the troops 
which were stationed at New Orleans under 
Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married 
Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one 
of the first families of Maryland. 

Immediately after the declaration of war 
with England, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he 
had then been promoted to that rank) was put 
in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wa- 
bash, about fifty miles above Vincennes. 
This fort had been built in the wilderness by 
Gen. Harrison, on his march to Tippecanoe. 
It was one of the first points of attack by the 
Indians, led by Tecumseh. Its garrison con- 
sisted of a broken company of infantry num- 
bering fifty men, many of whom were sick. 
Early in the autumn of 18 12, the Indians, 
stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon 
the fort. Their approach was first indicated 
by the murder of two soldiers just outside of 
the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possi- 
ble preparation to meet the anticipated as- 



sault. On the 4th of September, a band of 
forty painted and plumed savages came to the 
fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. 
Taylor that in the morning their chief would 
come to have a talk with him. It was evident 
that their object was merely to ascertain the 
state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, 
well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept 
them at a distance. The sun went down; the 
savages disappeared, the garrison slept upon 
their arms. One hour before midnight the 
war-whoop burst from a thousand lips in the 
forest around, followed by the discharge of 
musketry, and the rush of the foe. Every 
man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every 
man knew that defeat was not merely death, 
but in case of capture, death by the most 
agonizing and prolonged torture. The savages 
succeeded in setting fire to one of the block- 
houses. Until six o'clock in the morning, this 
awful conflict continued. The savages then, 
baffled at every point, and gnashing their teeth 
with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gal- 
lant defense, was promoted to the rank of 
major by brevet. 

Until the close of the war, Major Taylor 
was placed in such situations that he saw but 
little more of active service. He was sent far 
away into the depths of the wilderness, to 
Fort Crawford, on Fox river, which empties 
into Green bay. Gradually he rose to the 
rank of colonel. In the Black Hawk war, 
which resulted in the capture of that renowned 
chieftain, Col. Taylor took a subordinate but 
a brave and efficient part. For twenty-four 
years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defense 
of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in 
employments so obscure, that his name was 
unknown beyond the limits of his own imme- 
diate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was 
sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians 
to vacate that region and retire beyond the 
Mississippi, as their chiefs, by treaty, had 




ZACHARY TAYLOR. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



71 



promised they should do. The services ren- 
dered here secured Col. Taylor the high ap- 
preciation of the government; and as a reward, 
he was elevated to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral by brevet; and soon after, in May, 1838, 
was appointed to the chief command of the 
United States troops in Florida. After two 
years of such wearisome employment, Gen. 
Taylor obtained, at his own request, a change 
of command, and was stationed over the de- 
partment of the southwest. This field em- 
braced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and 
Georgia. Establishing his headquarters at 
Fort Jesup, in Louisiana, he removed his fam- 
ily to a plantation which he purchased near 
Baton Rouge. Here he remained for five 
years, buried, as it were, from the world, but 
faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon 
him. 

In 1846 Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the 
land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, 
the latter river being the boundary of Texas, 
which was then claimed by the United States. 
Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, 
and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. 
Taylor won brilliant victories over the Mex- 
icans. The rank of major-general by brevet 
was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and 
his name was received with enthusiasm almost 
everywhere in the nation. Then came the 
battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, in which 
he won signal victories over forces much larger 
than he commanded. His careless habits of 
dress and his unaffected simplicity, secured for 
Gen. Taylor among his troops the sobriquet of 
"Old Rough and Ready." 

The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena 
Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the 
country. The whig party decided to take ad- 
vantage of this wonderful popularity in bring- 
ing forward the unpolished, uncultured, honest 
soldier as their candidate for the presidency. 
Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announce- 



ment, and for a time would not listen to it; 
declaring that he was not at all qualified for 
such an office. So little interest had he taken 
in politics that, for forty years, he had not 
cast a vote. 

Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker 
nor a fine writer. His friends took possession 
of him, and prepared such few communica- 
tions as it was needful should be presented to 
the public. The popularity of the successful 
warrior swept the land. He was triumph- 
antly elected over two opposing candidates — 
Gen. Cass and ex-Pres. Martin Van Buren. 
Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the 
good old man found himself in a very uncon- 
genial position, and was, at times, sorely per- 
plexed and harassed. His mental sufferings 
were very severe, and probably tended to has- 
ten his death. The proslavery party was 
pushing its claims with tireless energy; expedi- 
tions were fitting out to capture Cuba; Cali- 
fornia was pleading for admission to the 
Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar 
her out. Gen. Taylor found the political con- 
flicts in Washington to be far more trying to 
the nerves than battles with Mexicans or 
Indians. 

In the midst of all these troubles. Gen. 
Taylor, after he had occupied the presidential 
chair but little over a year, took cold, and 
after a brief sickness, of but litttle over five 
days, died on the 9th of July, 1850. His last 
words were; " I am not afraid to die. I am 
ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." 
He died universally respected and beloved. 

Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted 
with Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic 
and truthful description of his character: 
" With a good store of common sense. Gen. 
Taylor's mind had not been enlarged and re- 
freshed by reading, or much converse with the 
world. Rigidity of ideas was the consequence. 
The frontiers and small military posts had 



72 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant 
for his rank, and quite bigoted in his igno- 
rance. His simplicity was child-like and 
with innumerable prejudices, amusing and in- 
corrigible, well suited to the tender age. 
Thus, if a man, however, respectable, chanced 
to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat 
a little on one side of his head; or an officer 
to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling 
from an outside pocket — in any such case, this 
critic held the offender to be a coxcomb (per- 
haps something worse), whom he would not, 
to use his oft repeated phase, "touch with a 
pair of tongs." 



m 



ILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth 
president of the United States, wa s 
born at Summer Hill, Cayuga 
county, N. Y. , on the 7th of Janu- 
ary, 1800. His father was a farmer, and, 
owing to misfortune, in humble circumstances. 
Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar 
Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said 
that she possessed an intellect of very high 
order, united with much personal loveliness, 
sweetness of disposition, graceful manners and 
exquisite sensibilities. She died in 1831; 
having lived to see her son a young man of 
distinguished promise, though she was not per- 
mitted to witness the high dignity which he 
finally attained. 

In consequence of the secluded home and 
limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed 
but slender advantages for education in his 
early years. The sacred influences of home 
had taught him to revere the Bible, and had 
laid the foundations of an upright character. 
When fourteen years of age his father sent 
him some hundred miles from home, to the 
then wilds of Livingston county, to learn the 
trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was 



a small village, where some enterprising man 
had commenced the collection of a village I 
library. This proved an inestimable blessing] 
to young Fillmore. His evenings were spent 1 
in reading. Soon every leisure moment was 
occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge 
became insatiate, and the selections which he 
made were continually more elevating and 
instructive. He read history, biography, 
oratory, and thus gradually there was en- 
kindled in his heart a desire to be something 
more than a mere worker with his hands; and 
he was becoming, almost unknown to himself, 
a well informed, educated man. 

The young clothier had now attained the 
age of nineteen years, and was of fine per- 
sonal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor. 
It so happened that there was a gentleman in 
the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means 
and of benevolence — Judge Walter Wood — 
who was struck with the prepossessing appear- 
ance of young Fillmore. He made his ac- 
quaintance, and was so much impressed 
with his ability and attainments that he ad- 
vised him to abandon his trade and devote 
himself to the study of law. The young man 
replied that he had no means of his own, no 
friends to help him, and that his previous edu- 
cation had been very imperfect. But Judge 
Wood had so much confidence in him that he 
kindly offered to take him into his own office, 
and to loan him such money as he needed. 
Most gratefully the generous offer was ac- 
cepted. 

In 1823, when twenty-three years of age, 
he was admitted to the court of common pleas. 
He then went to the village of Aurora, and 
commenced the practice of law. In this 
secluded, peaceful region, his practice, of 
course, was limited, and there was no oppor- 
tunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. 
Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of 
great moral worth, and one capable of adorn- 




MILLARD FILLMORE 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



75 



ing any station she might be called to fill — 
Miss Abigail Powers. 

His elevation of character, his untiring in- 
dustry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as 
an advocate, gradually attracted attention; 
and he was invited to enter into partnership, 
under highly advantageous circumstances, with 
an elder member of the bar in Buffalo. Just 
before removing to Buffalo, in 1829, he took 
his seat in the house of assembly, of the state 
of New York, as a representative from Erie 
county. Though he had never taken a very 
active part in politics, his vote and his sympa- 
thies were with the whig party. The state 
was then democratic, and he found him- 
self in a helpless minority in the legislature, 
still the testimony comes from all parties, that 
his courtesy, ability, and integrity, won, to 
a very unusual degree, the respect of his asso- 
ciates. 

In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to 
a seat in the United States congress. He en- 
tered that troubled arena in some of the most 
tumultuous hours of our national history. 
The great conflict respecting the national bank 
and the removal of the deposits was then 
raging. 

His term of two years closed, and he re- 
turned to his profession, which he pursued with 
increasing reputation and success. After a 
lapse of two years he again became a candi- 
date for congress; was re-elected, and took his 
seat in 1837. His past experience as a repre- 
sentative gave him strength and confidence. 
The first term of service in congress to any 
man can be but little more than an introduc- 
tion. He was now prepared for active duty. 
Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and 
his popularity filled the state, and in the year 
1847 he was elected comptroller of the state. 

Fillmore had attained the age of forty- 
seven years. His labors at the bar, in the 
legislature, in congress, and as comptroller, 



had given him very considerable fame. The 
whigs were casting about to find suitable can- 
didates for president and vice president at the 
approaching election. Far away, on the 
waters of the Rio Grande, there was a rough 
old soldier, who had fought successful battles 
with the Mexicans, which had caused his 
name to be proclaimed in trumpet-tones all 
over the land. But it was necessary to asso- 
ciate with him, on the same ticket, some 
man of reputation as a statesman. Under the 
influence of these considerations, the names of 
Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became 
the rallying cry of the whigs, as their candi- 
dates for president and vice president. The 
whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 
4th of March, 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugu- 
rated president, and Millard Fillmore vice 
president, of the United States. 

On the 9th of July, 1850, Pres. Taylor, but 
one year and four months after his inaugura- 
tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By 
the constitution, Vice Pres. Fillmore thus be- 
came president. He appointed a very able 
cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Web- 
ster was secretary of state. 

Fillmore had very serious difficulties to 
contend with, since the opposition had a ma- 
jorty in both house. He did everything in 
his power to conciliate the south; but the pro- 
slavery party in the south felt the inadequacy 
of all measures of transient conciliation. The 
population of the free states was so rapidly in- 
creasing over that of the slave states that it 
was inevitable that the power of the govern- 
ment should soon pass into the hands of the 
free states. The famous compromise meas- 
ures were adopted under Fillmore's administra- 
tion, and the Japan expedition was sent out. 
On the 4th of March, 1853, Fillmore, having 
served one term, retired. 

In 1856, Fillmore was nominated for the 
presidency by the "know nothing" party, but 



76 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that 
Fillmore lived in retirement. During the ter- 
rible conflict of civil war he was mostly silent. 
It was generally supposed that his sympathies 
were rather with those who were endeavoring 
to overthrow our institutions. He lived to a 
ripe old age, and died in Buffalo, N. Y. , 
March 8, 1874. 



BRANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth 
president of the United States, was born 
in Hillsborough, N. H., November 23, 
1804. Franklin was a very bright 
and handsome boy, generous, warm-hearted 
and brave. He won alike the love of old and 
young. The boys on the play ground loved 
him. His teachers loved him. The neigh- 
bors looked upon him with pride and affection. 
He was by instinct a gentleman; always speak- 
ing kind words, doing kind deeds, with a 
peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what 
was agreeable. Without developing any pre- 
cocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to 
books, he was a good scholar; in body, in mind, 
in affections, a finely developed boy. 

When sixteen .years of age, in the year 
1820, he entered Bowdoin college at Bruns- 
wick, Maine. He was one of the most popu- 
lar young men in the college. The purity of 
his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of 
his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and genial 
nature, rendered him a universal favorite. 
There was something very peculiarly winning 
in his address, and it was evidently not in the 
slightest degree studied; it was the simple out- 
gushing of his own magnanimous and loving 
nature. 

Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Frank- 
lin Pierce commenced the study of law in the 
office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most 
distinguished lawyers of the state, and a man 
of great private worth. The eminent social 



qualities of the young lawyer, his father's 
promince as a public man, and the brilliant 
political career into which Judge Woodbury 
was entering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce 
into the fascinating, yet perilous, path of po- 
litical life. With all the ardor of his nature 
he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the 
presidency. He commenced the practice of 
law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to 
represent the town in the state legislature. 
Here he served for four years. The last two 
years he was chosen speaker of the house by a 
very large vote. 

In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was 
elected a member of congress. Without tak- 
ing an active part in debates, he was faithful 
and laborious in duty, and ever rising in the 
estimation of those with whom he was associ- 
ated. In 1837, being then but thirty-three 
years of age, he was elected to the senate of 
the United States, taking his seat just as Mr. 
Van Buren commenced his administration. 
He was the youngest member in the senate. 
In the year 1S34 he married Miss Jane Means 
Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- 
plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn 
every station with which her husband was 
honored. Of the three sons who were born 
to them, all now sleep with their parents in 
the grave. 

In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing 
fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took 
up his residence in Concord, the capital of 
New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his 
accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce at- 
torney-general of the United States; but the 
offer was declined in consequence of numerous 
professional engagements at home and the 
precarious state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He 
also about the same time declined the nomina- 
tion for governor by the democratic party. 
The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce to the 
army. Receiving the appointment of briga- 




FRANKLIN PIERCE. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



79 



dier-general, he embarked with a portion of 
his troops at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of 
May, 1847. He took an important part in 
this war, proving himself a brave and true 
soidier. 

When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his 
native state he was received enthusiastically 
by the advocates of the Mexican war, and 
coldly by its opponents. He resumed the 
practice of his profession, very frequently tak- 
ing an active part in political questions, giving 
his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of 
the demociatic party. The compromise meas- 
ures met cordially with his approval; and he 
strenuously advocated the enforcement of the 
infamous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked 
the religious sensibilities of the north. He thus 
became distinguished as a "northern man with 
southern principles." The strong partisans of 
slavery in the south consequently regarded 
him as a man whom they could safely trust in 
office to carry out their plans. 

On the 1 2th of June, 1852, the democratic 
convention met in Baltimore to nominate a 
candidate for the presidency. For four days 
they continued in session, and in thirty-five 
ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds 
vote. Not a vote thus far had been thrown 
for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delega- 
tion brought forward his name. There were 
fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen. 
Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the 
forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes, ahd 
all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield 
Scott was the whig candidate. Gen. Pierce 
was chosen with great unanimity. Only four 
states — Vermont, Massachusetts, Kentucky 
and Tennessee — cast their electoral votes 
against him. Gen. Franklin Pierce was there- 
fore inaugurated president of the United States 
on the 4th of March, 1853. 

His administration proved one of the most 
stormy our country had ever experienced. The 



controversy between slavery and freedom was 
then approaching its culminating point. It 
became evident that there was an "irrepress- 
ible conflict" between them, and that the 
nation could not long exist "half slave and 
half free." President Pierce, during the whole 
of his administration, did everything he could 
to conciliate the south; but it was all in vain. 
The conflict every year grew more and more 
violent, and threats of the dissolution of the 
Union were borne to the north on every 
southern breeze. 

On the 4th of March, 1857, President 
Pierce retired to his home in Concord. Of 
three children, two had died, and his only sur- 
viving child had been killed before his eyes by 
a railroad accident; and his wife, one of the 
most estimable and accomplished of ladies, 
was rapidly sinking in consumption. The hour 
of dreadful gloom soon came, and he was left 
alone in the world without wjfe or child. 

Such was the condition of affairs when 
Pres. Pierce approached the close of his four 
years' term of office. The north had become 
thoroughly alienated from him. The anti- 
slavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages, 
had been rapidly increasing; all the intellectual 
ability and social worth of Pres. Pierce were 
forgotten in deep reprehension of his adminis- 
trative acts. The slaveholders of the south, 
also, unmindful of the fidelity with which he 
had advocated those measures of government 
which they approved, and perhaps, also, feel- 
ing that he had rendered himself so unpopular 
as no longer to be able acceptably to serve 
them, ungratefully dropped him, and nomi- 
nated James Buchanan to succeed him. 

When the terrible rebellion broke forth, 
which divided our country into two parties, 
Mr. Pierce remained steadfast in the principles 
which he had always cherished and gave his 
sympathies to that pro-slavery party with 
which he had ever been allied. He declined 



80 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



to do anything, either by voice or pen, to 
strengthen the hand of the national govern- 
ment. He continued to reside in Concord i 
until the time of his death, which occurred in 
October, 1869. He was one of the most genial 
and social of men, an honored communicant 
of the Episcopal church, and one of the kind- 
est of neighbors. Generous to a fault, he con- 
tributed liberally for the alleviation of suffer- 
ing and want, and many of his townspeople 
were often gladdened by his material bounty. 



WAMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth presi- 
m dent of the United States, was born in 
#• ■ Franklin county, Pa., on the 23d of 
April, 1 79 1. His father was a native 
of the north of Ireland; a poor man, who had 
emigrated in 1783, with little property save his 
own strong arms. Five years afterward he 
married Elizabeth Spear, the daughter of a 
respectable farmer, and, with his young bride, 
plunged into the wilderness, staked his claim, 
reared his log hut, opened a clearing with his 
ax, and settled down to perform his obscure 
part in the drama of life. In this secluded 
home, where James was born, he remained for 
eight years, enjoying but few social or intel- 
lectual advantages. When James was eight 
years of age his father removed to the village 
of Mercersburg, where his son was placed at 
school, and commenced a course of study in 
English, Latin and Greek. His progress was 
rapid, and at the age of fourteen he entered 
Dickenson college at Carlisle. Here he de- 
veloped remarkable talent, and took his stand 
among the first scholars of the institution. His 
application to study was intense, and yet his 
native powers enabled him to master the most 
abstruse subjects with facility. In the year 
1809, he graduated with the highest honors of 
his class. He was then eighteen years of age; 



tall and graceful, vigorous in health, fond of 
athletic sport, an unerring shot, and enlivened 
with an exuberant flow of animal spirits. He 
immediately commenced the study of law in 
the city of Lancaster, and was admitted to the 
bar in 18 12, when he was but twenty-one 
years of age. Very rapidly he rose in his pro- 
fession, and at once took undisputed stand 
with the ablest lawyers of the state. When 
but twenty-six years of age, unaided by coun- 
sel, he successfully defended before the state 
senate one of the judges of the state, who was 
tried upon articles of impeachment. At the 
age of thirty it was generally admitted that he 
stood at the head of the bar. 

In 1820 he reluctantly consented to run as 
a candidate for congress. He was elected, 
and for ten years he remained a member of 
the lower house. During the vacations of 
congress, he occasionaily tried some important 
case. In 183 1 he retire i altogether from the 
toils of his profession, having acquired an 
ample fortune. 

Gen. Jackson, upon his elevation to the 
presidency, appointed Mr. Buchanan minister 
to Russia. The duties of his mission he per- 
formed with ability which gave satisfaction to 
all parties. Upon his return, in 1833, he was 
elected to a seat in the United States senate. 
He there met, as his associates, Webster, 
Clay, Wright and Calhoun. He advocated 
the measures proposed by Pres. Jackson, of 
making reprisals against France, to enforce 
the payment of our claims against that country: 
and defended the course of the president in 
his unprecedented and wholesale removal from 
office of those who were not supporters of his 
administration. Upon this question he was 
brought into direct collision with Henry Clay. 
He also, with voice and vote, advocated ex- 
punging from the journal of the senate the 
vote of censure against Gen. Jackson for re- 
moving the deposits. Earnestly he opposed 




JAMES BUCHANAN. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



83 



the abolition of slavery in the District of Co- 
lumbia, and urged the prohibition of the circu- 
lation of anti-slavery documents by the United 
States mail. 

Upon Mr. Polk's accession to the presi- 
dency, Mr. Buchanan became secretary of 
state, and as such took his share of the respon- 
sibility in the conduct of the Mexican war. Mr. 
Polk assumed that crossing the Nueces by the 
American troops into the disputed territory was 
not wrong, but for the Mexicans to cross the 
Rio Grande into that territory was a declara- 
tion of war. Mr. Buchanan identified himself 
thoroughly with the party devoted to the per- 
petuation and extension of slavery, and brought 
all the energies of his mind to bear against the 
Wilmot Proviso. He gave his approval of 
the compromise measures of 1850, which in- 
cluded the fugitive slave law. Mr. Pierce, upon 
his election to the presidency, honored Mr. 
Buchanan with the mission to England. 

In the year 1856, a national democratic 
convention nominated Mr. Buchanan for the 
presidency. The political conflict was one of 
the most severe in which our country has ever 
engaged. All the friends of slavery were on 
one side; all the advocates of its restriction 
and final abolition on the other. Mr. Fre- 
mont, the candidate of the enemies of slavery, 
received 114 electoral votes. Mr. Buchanan 
received 174, and was elected. The popular 
vote stood 1,341,264 for Fremont, 1,838,160 
for Buchanan. On March 4, 1857, Mr. Bu- 
chanan was inaugurated. Mr. Buchanan was 
far advanced in life. Only four years were 
wanting to fill up his three score years and 
ten. His own friends — those with whom he 
had been allied in political principles and 
action for years — were seeking the destruction 
of the government, that they might rear upon 
the ruins of our free institutions a nation 
whose corner stone should be human slavery. 
In this emergency, Mr. Buchanan was hope- 



lessly bewildered. He could not, with his 
long avowed principles, consistently oppose 
the state-rights party in their assumptions. 
As president of the United States, bound by 
his oath faithfully to administer the laws, he 
could not, without perjury of the grossest kind, 
unite with those endeavoring to overthrow the 
republic. He therefore did nothing. Mr. 
Buchanan's sympathy with the pro-slavery 
party was such, that he had been willing to 
offer them far more than they had ventured to 
claim. All the south had professed to ask of 
the north was non-interference with the sub- 
ject of slavery. Mr. Buchanan had been 
ready to offer them the active co-operation of 
the government to defend and extend the in- 
stitution. As the storm increased in violence, 
the slave holders claiming the right to secede, 
and Mr. Buchanan avowing that congress had 
no power to prevent it, one of the most piti- 
able exhibitions of governmental imbecility 
was exhibited the world has ever seen. He 
declared that congress had no power to enforce 
its laws in any state which had withdrawn, or 
which was attempting to withdraw from the 
Union. This was not the doctrine of Andrew 
Jackson, when, with his hand upon his sword 
hilt, he exclaimed: "The Union must and 
shall be preserved." 

South Carolina seceded in December, i860, 
nearly three months before the inauguration 
of Pres. Lincoln. Mr. Buchanan looked on in 
listless despair. The rebel flag was raised in 
Charleston; Fort Sumter was besieged; our 
forts, navy yards and arsenals were seized; 
our depots of military stores were plundered; 
and our custom houses and post offices were 
appropriated by the rebels. The energy of 
the rebels, and the imbecility of our executive, 
were alike marvelous. The nation looked on 
in agony, waiting for the slow weeks to glidf 
away and close the administration, so terrible 
in its weakness. At length the long looked 



84 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



for hour of deliverance came, when Abraham 
Lincoln was to receive the scepter. 

The administration of President Buchanan 
was certainly the most calamitous our country 
has experienced. His best friends cannot re- 
call it with pleasure. And still more deplor- 
able it is for his fame, that in that dreadful 
conflict which rolled its billows of flame and 
blood over our whole land, no word came 
from his lips to indicate his wish that our 
country's banner should triumph over the flag 
of the rebellion. He died at his Wheatland 
retreat, June i, 1S68. 



HBRAHAM LINCOLN, the sixteeeth 
president of the United States, was 
born in Hardin county, Ky. , Febru- 
ary 12, 1809. About the year 1780, 
a man by the name of Abraham Lincoln left 
Virginia with his family and moved into the 
then wilds of Kentucky. Only two years after 
this emigration, still a young man, while work- 
ing one day in a field, he was stealthily ap- 
proached by an Indian and shot dead. His 
widow was left in extreme poverty with five 
little children, three boys and two girls, 
Thomas, the youngest of the boys, was four 
years of age at his father's death. This 
Thomas was the father of Abraham Lincoln, 
the president of the United States, whose 
name must henceforth forever be enrolled with 
the most prominent in the annals of our world. 
When twenty-eight years of age Thomas 
Lincoln built a log cabin of his own, and mar- 
ried Nancy Hanks, the daughter of another 
family of poor Kentucky emigrants, who had 
also come from Virginia. Their second child 
was Abraham Lincoln. The mother of Abra- 
ham was a noble woman, gentle, loving, pen- 
sive; created to adorn a palace, doomed to 
toil and pine, and die in a hovel. "All that I 



am, or hope to be," exclaims the grateful son, 
"I owe to my angel mother." 

When Abraham was eight years of age, his 
father sold his cabin and farm, and moved to 
Harrison county, Ind, where two years later 
his mother died. Abraham soon became the 
scribe of the uneducated community around 
him. He could not have had a better school 
than this to.teach him to put thoughts into 
words. He also became an eager reader. The 
books he could obtain were few; but these he 
read and re-read until they were almost com- 
mitted to memory. As the years rolled on, 
the lot of this lowly family was the usual lot of 
humanity. There were joys and griefs, wed- 
dings and funerals. Abraham's sister, Sarah, 
to whom he was tenderly attached, was mar- 
ried when a child of but fourteen years of age, 
and soon died. The family was gradually 
scattered. Thomas Lincoln sold out his 
squatter's claim in 1830, and emigrated to 
Macon county, 111. Abraham Lincoln was 
then twenty-one years of age. With vigorous 
hands he aided his father in rearing another 
log cabin. Abraham worked diligently at this 
until he saw the family comfortably settled, 
and their small lot of inclosed prairie planted 
with corn, when he announced to his father 
his intention to leave home, and to go out into 
the world and seek his fortune. Little did he 
or his friends imagine how brilliant that 
fortune was to be. He saw the value of educa- 
tion and was intensely earnest to improve his 
mind to the utmost of his power. He saw the 
ruin which ardent spirits were causing, and 
became strictly temperate; refusing to allow a 
drop of intoxicating liquor to pass his lips. 
And he had read in God's word, "Thou shalt 
not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
vain;" and a profane expression he was never 
heard to utter. Religion he revered. His 
morals were pure, and he was uncor.taminated 
by a single vice. 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



97 



Young Abraham worked for a time as a 
hired laborer among the farmers. Then he 
went to Springfield, where he was employed in 
building a large flat-boat. In this he took a 
herd of swine, floated them down the Sanga- 
mon to the Illinois, and thence by the Missis- 
sippi to New Orleans. In this adventure his 
employers were so well pleased, that upon his 
return they placed a store and mill under his 
care. In 1832, at the outbreak of the Black 
Hawk war, he enlisted and was chosen captain 
of a company. He returned to Sangamon 
county, and although only twenty-three years 
of age, was a candidate for the legislature, but 
was defeated. He soon afterward received 
from Andrew Jackson the appointment of post- 
master of New Salem. His only postoffice 
was his hat. All the letters he received he 
carried there ready to deliver to those he 
chanced to meet. He studied surveying and 
soon made this his business. In 1834 he again 
became a candidate for the legislature, and 
was elected. Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, ad- 
vised him to study law. He walked from New 
Salem to Springfield, borrowed of Mr. Stuart 
a load of books, carried them back and began 
his legal studies. When the legislature assem- 
bled he trudged on foot with his pack on his 
back 100 miles to Vandalia, then the capital. 
In 1836 he was re-elected to the legislature. 
Here it was he first met Stephen A. Douglas. 
In 1839 he removed to Springfield and began 
the practice of law. His success with the jury 
was so great that he was soon engaged in al- 
most every noted case in the circuit. 

In 1854 the great discussion began between 
Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Douglas, on the slavery 
question. In the organization of the republi- 
can party in Illinois, in 1856, he took an active 
part, and at once became one of the leaders in 
that party. Mr. Lincoln's speeches in opposi- 
tion to Senator Douglas in the contest in 1858 
for a seat in the senate, form a most notable 



part of his history. The issue was en the 
slavery question, and he took the broad ground 
of the Declaration of Independence, that all 
men are created equal. Mr. Lincoln was de- 
feated in this contest, but won a far higher 
prize — the presidency. 

The great republican convention met at 
Chicago on the 16th of June, i860. The del- 
egates and strangers who crowded the city 
amounted to 25,000. An immense building, 
called "The Wigwam," was reared to accom- 
modate the convention. There were eleven 
candidates for whom votes were cast. William 
H. Seward, a man whose fame as a statesman 
had long filled the land, was the most prom- 
inent. It was generally supposed he would be 
the nominee. Abraham Lincoln, however, 
received the nomination on the third ballot. 
Little did he then dream of the weary years of 
toil and care, and the bloody death, to which 
that nomination doomed him; and as little did 
he dream that he was to render services to his 
country which would fix upon him the eyes of 
the whole civilized world, and which would 
give him a place in the affections of his coun- 
trymen, second only, if second, to that of 
Washington. 

Election day came and Mr. Lincoln re- 
ceived 1 80 electoral votes out of 203 cast, and 
was, therefore, constitutionally elected presi- 
dent of the United States. The tirade of 
abuse that was poured upon this good and 
merciful man, especially by the slaveholders, 
was greater than upon any other man ever 
elected to this high position. In February, 
1 86 1, Mr. Lincoln started for Washington, 
stopping in all the large cities on his way, 
making speeches. The whole journey was 
fraught with much danger. Many of the 
southern states had already seceded, and sev- 
eral attempts at assassination were afterward 
brought to light. A gang in Baltimore had 
arranged, upon his arrival, to "get up a row," 



98 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and in the confusion to make sure of his death 
with revolvers and hand grenades. A detect- 
ive unraveled the plot. A secret and special 
train was provided to take him from Harris- 
burg, through Baltimore, at an unexpected 
hour of the night. The train started at half- 
past ten; and to prevent any possible com- 
munication on the part of the secessionists 
with their confederate gang in Baltimore, as 
soon as the train had started the telegraph 
wires were cut. Mr. Lincoln reached Wash- 
ington in safety and was inaugurated, although 
great anxiety was felt by all loyal people. 

In the selection of his cabinet Mr. Lincoln 
gave to Mr. Seward the department of state, 
and to other prominent opponents before the 
convention he gave important positions. 

During no other administration have the 
duties devolving upon the president been so 
manifold, and the responsibilities so great, as 
those which fell to the lot of President Lincoln. 
Knowing this, and feeling his own weakness 
and inability to meet, and in his own strength 
to cope with the difficulties, he early learned 
to seek Divine wisdom and guidance in deter- 
mining his plans, and Divine comfort in all his 
trials, both personal and national. Contrary 
to his own estimate of himself, Mr. Lincoln 
was one of the most courageous of men. He 
went directly into the rebel capital just as the 
retreating foe was leaving, with no guard but 
a few sailors. From the time he had left 
Springfield, in 1861, however, plans had been 
made for his assassination, and he at last fell 
a victim to one of them. April 14, 1865, he, 
with General Grant, was urgently invited to 
attend Ford's theater. It was announced that 
they would be present. Gen. Grant, however, 
left the city. Pres. Lincoln, feeling, with his 
characteristic kindliness of heart, that it would 
be a disappointment if he should fail them, 
very reluctantly consented to go. While 
listening to the play an actor by the name of 



John Wilkes Booth entered the box where the 
president and family were seated, and fired a 
bullet into his brains. He died the next morn- 
ing at seven o'clock, and now, if never before, 
the nation was plunged into the deepest 
mourning, and truly mourned the "country's 
loss." 



HNDREW JOHNSON, the seventeenth 
president of the United States, was 
born December 29, 1808, in Raleigh, 
N. C. When Andrew was five years 
of age, his father accidentally lost his life 
while heroically endeavoring to save a friend 
from drowning. Until ten years of age, An- 
drew was a ragged boy about the streets, sup- 
ported by the labor of his mother, who ob- 
tained her living with her own hands. He 
then, having never attended a school one day, 
and being unable either to read or write, was 
apprenticed to a tailor in his native town. A 
gentleman was in the habit of going to the 
tailor's shop occasionally and reading to the 
boys at work there. He often read from the 
speeches of distinguished British statesmen. 
Andrew, who was endowed with a mind of 
more than ordinary native ability, became 
much interested in these speeches; his ambi- 
tion was roused, and he was inspired with a 
strong desire to learn to read. He according- 
ly applied himself to the alphabet, and, with 
the assistance of some of his fellow-workmen, 
learned his letters. He then called upon the 
gentleman to borrow the book of speeches. 
The owner, pleased with his zeal, not only 
gave him the book, but assisted him in learn- 
ing to combine the letters into words. Under 
such difficulties he pressed onward laboriously, 
spending usually ten or twelve hours at work 
in the shop, and then robbing himself of rest 
and recreation to devote such time as he could 
to reading. 




ANDREW JOHNSON. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



101 



He went to Tennessee in 1826 and located 
at Greenville, where he married a young lady 
who possessed some education. Under her 
instructions he learned to write and cipher. 
He became prominent in the village debating 
society, and a favorite with the students of 
Greenville college. In 1828 he organized a 
workingman's party, which elected him alder- 
man, and in 1830 elected him mayor, which 
position he held three years. He now began 
to take a lively interest in political affairs, 
identifying himself with the working classes to 
which he belonged. In 1835 he was elected 
a member of the house of representatives of 
Tennessee. He was then just twenty-seven 
years' of age. He became a very active mem- 
ber of the legislature, gave his adhesion to the 
democratic party, and in 1840 "stumped the 
state," advocating Martin Van Buren's claims 
to the presidency in opposition to those of 
Gen. Harrison. In this campaign he ac- 
quired much readiness as a speaker, and ex- 
tended and increased his reputation. 

In 1 841 he was elected state senator; in 
1843 he was elected a member of congress, 
and by successive elections held that important 
post for ten years. In 1853 he was elected 
governor of Tennessee, and was re-elected in 
1855. In all these responsible positions he 
discharged his duties with distinguished ability 
and proved himself the friend of the working 
classes. In 1857 Mr. Johnson was elected a 
United States senator. 

Years before, in 1845, he had warmly ad- 
vocated the annexation of Texas, stating 
however, as his reason, that he thought 
this annexation would probably prove "to be 
the gateway out of which the sable sons of Africa 
are to pass from bondage to freedom, and be- 
come merged in a population congenial to 
themselves." In 1850 he also supported the 
compromise measures, the two essential fea- 



tures of which were, that the white people 
of the territories should be permitted to de- 
cide for themselves whether they would en- 
slave the colored people or not, and that the 
free states of the north should return to the 
south persons who attempted to escape from 
slavery. 

Mr. Johnson was never ashamed of his 
lowly origin; on the contrary he often took 
pride in avowing that he owed his distinction 
to his own exertions. "Sir," said he on the 
floor of the senate, "I do not forget that I 
am a mechanic; neither do I forget that Adam 
was a tailor and sewed fig leaves, and that our 
Savior was the son of a carpenter." 

In the Charleston-Baltimore convention of 
1 860, he was the choice of the Tennessee 
democrats for the presidency. In 1861, when 
the purpose of the southern democracy became 
apparent, he took a decided stand in favor of 
the Union, and held "slavery must be held 
subordinate to the Union at whatever cost." 
He returned to Tennessee, and repeatedly im- 
periled his own life to protect the Unionists of 
Tennessee. Tennessee having seceded from 
the Union, President Lincoln, on March 4, 
1862, appointed him military governor of the 
state, and he established the most stringent 
military rule. His numerous proclamations 
attracted wide attention. In 1864 he was 
elected vice president of the United States, and 
upon the death of Mr. Lincoln, April 15, 1865, 
became president. In a speech two days later 
he said: "The American people must be 
taught, if they do not already feel, that trea- 
son is a crime and must be punished; that the 
government will not always bear with its ene- 
mies; that it is strong not only to protect, but 
to punish. * * The people must under- 
stand that it (treason) is the blackest of crimes 
and will surely be punished." Yet his whole 
administration, the history of which is so well 



102 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



known, was in utter inconsistency with, and 
the most violent opposition to, the principles 
laid down in that speech. 

In his loose policy of reconstruction and 
general amnesty he was opposed by congress; 
and he characterized congress as a new rebel- 
lion, and lawlessly defied it in everything pos- 
sible to the utmost. In the beginning of 1868, 
on account of "high crimes and misdemean- 
ors," the principal of which was the removal 
of Secretary Stanton, in violation of the Ten- 
ure of Office act, articles of impeachment 
were preferred against him, and the trial began 
March 23. 

It was very tedious, continuing for nearly 
three months. A test article of the impeach- 
ment was at length submitted to the court for 
its action. It was certain that as the court 
voted upon that article, so would it vote upon 
all. Thirty-four voices pronounced the presi- 
dent guilty. As a two-thirds vote was neces- 
sary to his condemnation, he was pronounced 
acquitted, notwithstanding the great majority 
against him. The change of one vote from 
the not guilty side would have sustained the 
impeachment. 

The president for the remainder of his 
term was but little regarded. He continued, 
though impotently, his conflict with congress. 
His own party did not think it expedient to 
renominate him for the presidency. The bul- 
let of the assassin introduced him to the presi- 
dent's chair. Notwithstanding this, never 
was there presented to a man a better oppor- 
tunity to immortalize his name and win the 
gratitude of a nation. He failed utterly. He 
retired to his home in Greenville, Tenn., tak- 
ing no very active part in politics until 1875. 
On January 26, after an exciting struggle, he 
was chosed by the legislature of Tennessee 
United States senator in the forty-fourth con- 
gress; and took his seat in that body at the 
special session convened by President Grant 



on the 5th of March. On the 27th of July, 
1875, the ex-president made a visit to his 
daughter's home, near Carter Station, Tenn. 
When he started on his journey he was appar- 
ently in his usual vigorous health, but on 
reaching the residence of his child the follow- 
ing day was stricken with paralysis, rendering 
him unconscious. He rallied occasionally, but 
finally passed away at 2 A. M., July 31, aged 
sixty-seven years. He was buried at Green- 
ville, on the 3d of August, 1875. 



aLYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth 
president of the United States, was 
born on the 29th of April, 1822, of 
christian parents, in a humble home, 
at Point P'easant, Va. , on the banks of the Ohio. 
Shortly after his father moved to Georgetown, 
Brown county, Ohio. In this remote frontier 
hamlet, Ulysses received a common school 
education. At the age of seventeen, in the 
year 1839, he entered the Military academy at 
West Point. Here he was regarded as a solid, 
sensible young man of fair abilities, and of 
sturdy, honest character. He took respect- 
able rank as a scholar. In June, 1843, he 
graduated, about the middle in his class, and 
was sent as lieutenant of infantry to one of 
the distant military posts in the Missouri terri- 
tory. Two years he passed in these dreary 
solitudes, watching the vagabond and exasper- 
ating Indians. 

The war with Mexico came. Lieut. Grant 
was sent with his regiment to Corpus Christi. 
His first battle was at Palo Alto. There was 
no chance here for the exhibition of either 
skill or heroism, nor at Resaca de la Palma, 
his second battle. At the battle of Monterey, 
his third engagement, it is said that he per- 
formed a signal service of daring and skillful 
horsemanship. His brigade had exhausted its 
ammunition. A messenger must be sent for 



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PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



105 



more, along a route exposed to the bullets of 
the foe. Lieut. Grant, adopting an expedient 
learned of the Indians, grasped the mane of 
his horse, and hanging upon one side of the 
animal, ran the gauntlet in entire safety. 
From Monterey he was sent, with the Fourth 
infantry, to aid Gen. Scott, at the siege of 
Vera Cruz. In preparation for the march to 
the city of Mexico, he was appointed quarter- 
master of his regiment. At the battle of 
Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first 
lieutenancy, and was brevetted captain at 
Chapultepec. 

At the close of the Mexican war, Capt. 
Grant returned with his regiment to New 
York, and was again sent to one of the mili- 
tary posts on the frontier. The discovery of 
gold in California causing an immense tide of 
emigration to flow to the Pacific shores, Capt. 
Grant was sent, with a battalion, to Fort 
Dallas, in Oregon, for the protection of the 
interests of the emigrants. Life was weari- 
some in those wilds. Capt. Grant resigned 
his commission and returned to the states; 
and having married, entered upon the cultiva- 
tion of a small farm near St. Louis, Mo. He 
had but little skill as a farmer. Finding his toil 
not remunerative, he turned to mercantile 
life, entering into the leather business, with a 
younger brother at Galena, 111. This was in 
the year 1 860. As the tidings of the rebels 
firing on Fort Sumter reached the ears of 
Capt. Grant in his counting room, he said — 
"Uncle Sam has educated me for the army; 
though I have served him through one war, I 
do not feel that I have yet repaid the debt. 
I am still ready to discharge my obligations. I 
shall therefore buckle on my sword and see 
Uncle Sam through this war, too." 

He went into the streets, raised a company 
of volunteers, and led them, as their captain, 
to Springfield, the capital of the state, where 
their services were offered to Gov. Yates. The 



governor, impressed by the zeal and straight- 
forward executive ability of Capt. Grant, gave 
him a desk in his office, to assist in the volun- 
teer organization that was being formed in the 
state in behalf of the government. On the 
1 5th of June, 1861, Capt. Grant received a 
commission as colonel of the Twenty-first 
regiment of Illinois volunteers. His merits as 
a West Point graduate, who had served for 
fifteen years in the regular army, were such 
that he was soon promoted to the rank of 
brigadier general and was placed in command 
at Cairo. The rebels raised their flag at Pa- 
ducah, near the mouth of the Tennessee river. 
Scarcely had its folds appeared ere Gen. Grant 
was there. The rebels fled. Their banner 
fell, and the stars and stripes were unfurled in 
its stead. 

At Belmont, a few days later, he sur- 
prised and routed the rebels, then at Fort 
Henry won another victory. Then came the 
brilliant fight at Fort Donelson. The nation 
was electrified by the victory, and the brave 
leader of the boys in blue was immediately 
made a major general, and the military district 
of Tennessee was assigned to him. 

Like all great captains, Gen. Grant knew 
well how to secure the results of a victory. He 
immediately pushed on to the enemy's lines. 
Then came the terrible battles of Pittsburg 
Landing, Corinth, and the siege of Vicksburg, 
where Gen. Pemberton made an unconditional 
surrender of the city with over 30,000 men 
and 172 cannon. The fall of Vicksburg was 
by far the most severe blow which the rebels 
had thus far encountered, and opened up the 
Mississippi from Cario to the gulf. 

Gen. Grant was next ordered to co-operate 
with Gen. Banks in a movement upon Texas, 
and proceeded to New Orleans, where he was 
thrown from his horse and received severe in- 
juries, from which he was laid up for months. 
He then rushed to the aid of Gens. Rosecrans 



106 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and Thomas at Chattanooga, and by a won- 
derful series of strategtic and technical measures 
put the Union army' in fighting condition. 
Then followed the bloody battles of Chatta- 
nooga, Lookout Mountain and Missionary 
Ridge, in which the rebels were routed with 
great loss. This won for him unbounded 
praise in the north. On the 4th of February, 
1864, congress revived the grade of lieutenant 
general, and the rank was conferred on Gen. 
Grant. He repaired to Washington to receive 
his credentials and enter upon the duties of his 
new office. 

Gen. Grant decided as soon as he took 
charge of the army to concentrate the widely 
dispersed national troops for an attack on 
Richmond, the nominal capital of the rebel- 
lion, and endeavor there to destroy the rebel 
armies which would be promptly assembled 
from all quarters for its defense. The whole 
continent seemed to tremble under the tramp 
of these majestic armies, rushing to the deci- 
sive battle-field. Steamers were crowded with 
troops; railway trains were burdened with 
closely packed thousands. His plans were 
comprehensive and involved a series of cam- 
paigns, which were executed with remarkable 
energy and ability, and were consummated at 
the surrender of Lee, April 9, 1865. 

The war was ended. The Union was saved. 
The almost unanimous voice of the nation de- 
clared Gen. Grant to be the most prominent 
instrument in its salvation. The eminent 
services he had thus rendered the country 
brought him conspicuously forward as the re- 
publican candidate for the presidential chair. 
At the republican convention held at Chicago, 
May 21, 1868, he was unanimously nominated 
for the presidency, and at the autumn elec- 
tion received a majority of the popular 
vote, and 214 out of 294 electoral votes. The 
national convention of the republican party 
which met at Philadelphia on the 5th of June, 



1872, placed Gen. Grant in nomination for a 
second term by a unanimous vote. The selec- 
tion was emphatically endorsed by the people 
five months later, 292 electoral votes being 
cast for him. 

Soon after the close of his second term, 
Gen. Grant started upon his famous trip 
around the world. He visited almost every 
country of the civilized world, and was every- 
where received with such ovations and demon- 
strations of respect and honor, private, as well 
as public and official, as were never before 
bestowed upon any citizen of the United States. 

He was the most prominent candidate 
before the republican national convention i.i 
1 880 for a renomination for president. But he 
went to New York and embarked in the 
brokerage business under the firm name of 
Grant & Ward. The latter proved a villain, 
wrecked Grant's fortune, and for larceny was 
sent to the penitentiary. The general was 
attacked with cancer in the throat, but suffered 
in his stoic-like manner, never complaining. 
He was re-instated general of the army and 
retired by congress. The cancer soon finished 
its deadly work, and July 23, 1885, the nation 
went in mourning over the death of the illus- 
trious general. 



kS~\ UTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nine- 
I /^ teenth president of the United States, 
T was born in Delaware, Ohio, October 
4, 1852, almost three months after 
the death of his father, Rutherford Hayes. 
His ancestry, an both the paternal and mater- 
nal sides, was of the most honorable character. 
It can be traced, it is said, as far back as 
1280, when Hayes and Rutherford were two 
Scottish chieftains, fighting side by side with 
Baliol, William Wallace and Robert Bruce. 
Both families belonged to the nobility, owned 
extensive estates, and had a large following. 




RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



109 



Misfortune overtaking the family, George 
Hayes left Scotland in 1680, and settled in 
Windsor, Conn. His son George was born 
in Windsor, and remained there during his 
life. Daniel Hayes, son of the latter, married 
Sarah Lee, and lived from the time of his 
marriage until his death in Simsbury, Conn. 
Ezekiel, son of Daniel, was born in 1724, and 
was a manufacturer of scythes at Bradford, 
Conn. Rutherford Hayes, son of 'Ezekiel and 
grandfather of President Hayes, was born in 
New Haven, in August, 1.756. He was a 
farmer, blacksmith and tavern-keeper. He 
emigrated to Vermont at an unknown date, 
settling in Brattleboro, where he established a 
hotel. Here his son, Rutherford Hayes, the 
lather of President Hayes, was born. He was 
married, in September, 18 13, to Sophia Bir- 
chard, of Wilmington, Vt., whose ancestors 
emigrated thither from Connecticut, they hav- 
ing been among the wealthiest and best fami- 
lies of Norwich. Her ancestry on the male 
side are traced back to 1635, to John Bir- 
chard, one of the principal founders of Nor- 
wich. Both of her grandfathers were soldiers 
in the Revolutionary war. 

The father of President Hayes was an in- 
dustrious, frugal and open-hearted man. He 
was of a mechanical turn, and could mend a 
plow, knit a stocking, or do almost any- 
thing else that he chose to undertake. He 
was a member of the church, active in all the 
benevolent enterprises of the town, and con- 
ducted his business on christian principles. 
After the close of the war of 18 12, for reasons 
inexplicable to his neighbors, he resolved to 
emigrate to Ohio. 

The journey from Vermont to Ohio in that 
day, when there were no canals, steamers, nor 
railways, was a very serious affair. A tour of 
inspection was first made, occupying four 
months. Mr. Hayes determined to move to 
Delaware, where the family arrived in 1817. 



He died July 22, 1822, a victim of malarial 
fever, less than three months before the birth 
of the son, of whom we now write. Mrs. 
Hayes, in her sore bereavement, found the 
support she so much needed in her brother 
Sardis, who had been a member of the house- 
hold from the day of its departure from Ver- 
mont, and in an orphan girl whom she had 
adopted some time before as an act of charity. 

Mrs. Hayes at this period was very weak, 
and the subject of this sketch was so feeble at 
birth that he was not expected to live beyond 
a month or two at most. As the months went 
by he grew weaker and weaker, so that the 
neighbors were in the habit of inquiring from 
time to time "if Mrs. Hayes' baby died last 
night." On one occasion a neighbor, who 
was on familiar terms with the family, after 
alluding to the boy's big head, and the moth- 
er's assiduous care of him, said in a bantering 
way, "That's right! Stick to him. You have 
got him along so far, and I shouldn't wonder 
if he would really come to something yet." 

"You need not laugh," said Mrs. Hayes. 
"You wait and see. You can't tell but I 
shall make him president of the United States 
yet." The boy lived in spite of the universal 
predictions of his speedy death; and when, in 
1825, his older brother was drowned, he be- 
came, if possible, still dearer to his mother. 

The boy was seven years old before he 
went to school. His education, however, was 
not neglected. He probably learned as much 
from his mother and sister as he would have 
done at school. His sports were almost wholly 
within doors, his playmates being his sister 
and her associates. His uncle Sardis Birchard 
took the deepest interest in his education; and 
as the boy's health had improved, and he was 
making good progress in his studies, he pro- 
posed to send him to college. His preparation 
commenced with a tutor at home; but he was 
afterward sent for one year to a professor in 



110 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the Wesleyan university, in Middletown, Conn. 
He entered Kenyon college in 1838, at the 
age of sixteen, and was graduated at the head 
of his class in 1842. 

Immediately after his graduation he began 
the study of law in the office of Thomas Spar- 
row, Esq., in Columbus. Finding his oppor- 
tunities for study in Columbus somewhat 
limited, he determined to enter the law school 
at Cambridge, Mass., where he remained two 
years. In 1845, after graduating at the law 
school, he was admitted to the barat Marietta, 
Ohio, and shortly afterward went into practice 
as an attorney-at-law with Ralph P. Buck- 
land, of Fremont. Here he remained three 
years, acquiring but a limited practice, and 
apparently unambitious of distinction in his 
profession. 

In 1849 he moved to Cincinnati, where his 
ambition found a new stimulus. Two events, 
occurring at this period, had a powerful influ- 
ence upon his subsequent life. One of these 
was his marriage with Miss Lucy Ware Webb, 
daughter of Dr. James Webb, of Chillicothe; 
the other was his introduction to the Cincin- 
nati Literary club, a body embracing among 
its members such men as Chief Justice Salmon 
P. Chase, Gen. John Pope, Gov. Edward F 
Noyes, and many others hardly less distin- 
guished in after life. The marriage was a 
fortunate one in every respect, as everybody 
knows. Not one of all the wives of our presi- 
dents was more universally admired, rever- 
enced and beloved than was Mrs. Hayes, and 
no one did more than she to reflect honor 
upon American womanhood. The Literary 
club brought Mr. Hayes into constant associa- 
tion with young men of high character and 
noble aims, and lured him to display the 
qualities so long hidden by his bashfulness and 
extreme modesty. 

In 1856 he was nominated to the office of 
judge of the court of common pleas; but he 



declined to accept the nomination. Two 
years later, the office of city solicitor becoming 
vacant, the city council elected him for the un- 
expired term. 

In 1 86 1, when the rebellion broke out, he 
was at the zenith of his professional life. His 
rank at the bar was among the first. But the 
news of the attack on Fort Sumter found him 
eager to take up arms for the defense of his 
beloved country. 

His military record was bright and illus- 
trious. In October, 1861, he was made 
lieutenant-colonel, and August, 1862, promoted 
colonel of the Seventy-ninth Ohio regiment, 
but he refused to leave his old comrades and 
go among strangers. Subsequently, however, 
he was made colonel of his old regiment. At 
the battle of South Mountain he received a 
wound, and while faint and bleeding displayed 
courage and fortitude that won admiration 
from all. 

Col. Hayes was detached from his regiment, 
after his recovery, to act as brigadier-general, 
and placed in command of the celebrated Kana- 
wha division, and for gallant and meritorious 
services in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's 
Hill and Cedar Creek, he was promoted briga- 
dier-general. He was also brevetted major- 
general "for gallant and distinguished services 
during the campaigns of 1S64 in West Vir- 
ginia." In the course of his arduous services 
four horses were shot from under him, and he 
was wounded four times. 

In 1864, Gen. Hayes was elected to con- 
gress, from the Second Ohio district, which 
had long been democratic. He was not pres- 
ent during the campaign, and after his election 
was importuned to resign his commission in 
the army; but he finally declared: " I shall 
never come to Washington until I can come by 
the way of Richmond." He was re-elected 
in 1866. 

In 1867, Gen. Hayes was elected governor 





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JAMES A. GARFIELD. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



118 



of Ohio over Hon, Allen G. Thurman, a popu- 
lar democrat. In 1869 was re-elected over 
George H. Pendleton. He was elected gov- 
ernor for the third term in 1875. 

In 1876 he was the standard-bearer of the 
republican party in the presidential contest, 
and, after a hard, long contest, was chosen 
president, and was inaugurated Monday, March 
5. 1875. 

He served one full term of four years, then 
retired to his peaceful home, where he expired 
January 17, 1893. 



>^*AMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth pres- 
m ident of the United States, was born 
/* 1 November 19, 1831, in the woods of 
Orange, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. His 
parents were Abram and Eliza (Ballou) Gar- 
field, both of New England ancestry, and from 
families well known in the early history of that 
section of our country, but had moved to the 
Western Reserve, in Ohio, early in its settle- 
ment. 

The house in which James A. was born 
was about 20x30 feet, built of logs, with the 
spaces between the logs filled with clay. His 
father was a hard-working farmer, and he soon 
had his fields cleared, an orchard planted, and 
a log barn built. The household comprised 
the father and mother and their four children — 
Mehetabel, Thomas, Mary and James. In 
May, 1823, the father, from a cold contracted 
in helping to put out a forest fire, died. At 
this time James was about eighteen months 
old, and Thomas about ten years old. He 
now lives in Michigan, and the two sisters live 
in Solon, Ohio, near their birth-place. 

The early educational advantages young 
Garfield enjoyed were very limited, yet he 
made the most of them. He labored at farm 
work for others, did carpenter work, chopped 



wood, or did anything that would bring in a 
few dollars. Nor was Gen. Garfield ever 
ashamed of his origin, and he never forgot the 
friends of his struggling childhood, youth and 
manhood, neither did they ever forget him. 
When in the highest seats of honor, the 
humblest friend of his boyhood was as kindly 
greeted as ever. 

The highest ambition of young Garfield 
until he was about sixteen years old was to be 
a captain of a vessel on Lake Erie. He was 
anxious to go aboard a vessel, which his 
mother strongly opposed. She finally con- 
sented to his going to Cleveland, with the 
understanding, however, that he should try to 
obtain some other kind of employment. He 
walked all the way to Cleveland. After 
making many applications for work, and try- 
ing to get aboard a lake vessel, and not meet- 
ing with success, he engaged as a driver for his 
cousin, Amos Letcher, on the Ohio & Penn- 
sylvania canal. He remained at this work 
but a short time when he went home, and 
attended the seminary at Chester for about 
three years, when he entered Hiram and the 
Eclectic institute, teaching a few terms of 
school in the meantime, and doing other work. 
This school was started by the Disciples of 
Christ in 1850, of which church he was then 
a member. He became janitor and bell-ringer 
in order to help pay his way. He then be- 
came both teacher and pupil. In the fall of 
1854, he entered Williams college, from which 
he graduated in 1856, taking one of the high- 
est honors of his class. He afterward re- 
turned to Hiram college as its president. Dr. 
Noah Porter, president of Yale college, says ot 
him in reference to his religion: 

"President Garfield was more than a man 
of strong moral and religious convictions. His 
whole history, from boyhood to the las'i. 
shows that duty to man and to God, and de- 
votion to Christ and life and faith and spiritual 



11-4 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



commission were controlling springs of his 
being, and to a more than usual degree." 

Mr. Garfield was united in marriage with 
Miss Lucretia Rudolph, November 1 1, 1S58, 
who proved herself worthy as the wife of one 
whom all the world loved and mourned. To 
them were born seven children, five of whom 
are still living, four boys and one girl. 

Mr. Garfield made his first political 
speeches in 1856, in Hiram and the neighbor- 
ing villages, and thrje years later he began to 
speak at county mass meetings, and became 
the favorite speaker wherever he was. Dur- 
ing this year he was elected to the Ohio 
senate. He also began to study law at Cleve- 
land, and in 1861 was admitted to the bar. 
The great rebellion broke out in the early part 
of this year, and Mr. Garfield at once resolved 
to fight as he had talked, and enlisted to de- 
fend the old flag. He received his commission 
as lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-second reg- 
iment of Ohio volunteer infantry, August 14, 
1 86 1. He was immediately put into active 
service, and before he had ever seen a gun 
fired in action, was placed in command of four 
regiments of infantry and eight companies of 
cavalry, charged with the work of driving out 
of his native state the officer (Humphrey Mar- 
shall) reputed to be the ablest of those, not 
educated to war, whom Kentucky had given to 
the rebellion. This work was bravely and 
speedily accomplished, although against great 
odds. President Lincoln, on his success, com- 
missioned him brigadier general, January 10, 
1862; and as "he had been the youngest man 
in the Ohio senate two years before, so now 
he was the youngest general in the army." 
He was with Gen. Buell's army at Shiloh, in 
its operations around Corinth and its march 
through Alabama. He was then detailed as a 
member of the general court-martial for the 
trial of Fitz-John Porter. He was then or- 
dered to report to Gen. Rosecrans, and was 



assigned to the chief of staff. The military 
history of Gen. Garfield closed with his brill- 
iant services at Chickamauga, where he won 
the stars of the major-general. 

Without an effort on his part Gen. Garfield 
was elected to congress in the fall of 1862 
from the Nineteenth district of Ohio. This 
section of Ohio had been represented in con- 
gress for sixty years mainly by two men — 
Elisha Whittlesey and Joshua R. Giddings. It 
was not without a struggle that he resigned 
his place in the army. At the time he entered 
congress he was the youngest member in that 
body. Here he remained by successive re- 
elections until he was elected president in 1880. 
Of his labors in congress Senator Hoar savs: 
"Since the year 1864 you cannot think of a 
question which has been debated in congress, 
or discussed before a tribunal of the American 
people, in regard to which you will not find, 
if you wish instruction, the argument on one 
side stated, in almost every instance, better 
than by anybod)' else, in some speech made in 
the house of representatives or on the hustings 
by Mr. Garfield." 

Upon January 14, 1880, Gen. Garfield was 
elected to the United States senate, and on 
the 8th of June, of the same year, was nom- 
inated as the candidate of his party for presi- 
dent at the great Chicago convention. He was 
elected in the following November, and on 
March 4, 1881, was inaugurated. Probably 
no administration ever opened its existence 
under brighter auspices than that of President 
Garfield, and every day it grew in favor with 
the people, and by the first of July he had 
completed all the initiatory and preliminary 
work of his administration and was preparing 
to leave the city to meet his friends at Will- 
iams college. While on his way and at the 
depot, in company with Secretary Blaine, a 
man stepped behind him, drew a revolver, and 
fired directly at his back. The president 



F 




CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



117 



tottered and fell, and as he did so the assassin 
fired a second shot, the bullet cutting the left 
coat sleeve of his victim, but inflicting no 
further injury. For eighty days all during 
the hot months of July and August, he lingered 
and suffered. He, however, remained master 
of himself till the last, and by his magnificent 
bearing was teaching the country and the 
world the noblest of human lessons — how to 
live grandly in the very clutch of death. He 
passed serenely away September 19, 1881, at 
Elberon, N. J., on the seashore, where he had 
been taken shortly previous. The murderer 
was tried, found guilty and executed, in one 
year after he committed the foul deed. 



a HESTER A. ARTHUR, twenty-first 
president of the United States, was 
born in Franklin county, Vermont, 
on the fifth of October, 1830, and is 
the eldest of a family of two sons and five 
daughters. His father was the Rev. Dr. 
William Arthur, a Baptist clergyman, who 
emigrated to this country from the county 
Antrim, Ireland, in his eighteenth year, and 
died in 1875, m Newtonville, near Albany, N. 
Y. , after a long and successful ministry. 

Young Arthur was educated at Union col- 
lege, Schenectady, N. Y. , where he excelled 
in all his studies. After his graduation, he 
taught school in Vermont for two years, and 
at the expiration of that time went to New 
York, with $500 in his pocket, and entered 
the office of ex-Judge E. D. Culver, as student. 
After being admited to the bar he formed a 
partnership with his intimate friend and room- 
mate, Henry D. Gardiner, with the intention 
of practicing in the west, and for three months 
they roamed about in the western states in 
search of an eligible site, but in the end re- 
turned to New York, where they entered upon 
a successful career almost from the start. 



Gen. Arthur soon afterward married the daugh- 
ter of Lieut. Herndon, of the United States 
navy, who was lost at sea. Congress voted a 
gold medal to his widow in recognition of the 
bravery he displayed on that occasion. Mrs. 
Arthur died shortly before Mr. Arthur's nomi- 
nation to the vice presidency, leaving two 
children. 

Gen. Arthur obtained considerable legal 
celebrity in his first great case, the famous 
Lemmon suit, brought to recover possession of 
eight slaves who had been declared free by 
Judge Paine, of the superior court of New 
York city. It was in 1852 that Jonathan 
Lemmon, of Virginia, went to New York with 
his slaves, intending to ship them to Texas, 
when they were discovered and freed. The 
judge decided that they could not be held by 
the owner under the Fugitive Slave law. A 
howl of rage went up from the south, and the 
Virginia legislature authorized the attorney 
general of that state to assist in an appeal. 
William M. Evarts and Chester A. Arthur 
were employed to represent the people, and 
they won their case, which then went to the 
supreme court of the United States. Charles 
O'Conor here espoused the cause of the slave- 
holders, but he too, was beaten by Messrs. 
Evarts and Arthur, and a long step was taken 
toward the emanicipation of the black race. 

Another great service was rendered by 
Gen. Arthur in the same cause in 1856. Liz- 
zie Jennings, a respectable colored woman, 
was put ofi a Fourth avenue car with violence 
after she had paid her fare. Gen. Arthursued 
on her behalf, and secured a verdict of $500 
damages. The next day the company issued 
an order to admit colored persons to ride on 
their cars, and the other car companies quickly 
followed their example. Before that the Sixth 
avenue company ran a few special cars for col- 
ored persons and the other lines refused to let 
them ride at all. 



118 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Gen. Arthur was a delegate to the conven- 
tion at Saratoga that founded the republican 
party. Previous to the war he was judge-ad- 
vocate of the Second brigade of the state of 
New York, and Governor Morgan, of that 
state, appointed him engineer-in-chief of his 
staff. In 1 86 1, he was made inspector gen- 
eral, and soon afterward became quartermas- 
ter general. In each of these offices he ren- 
dered great service to the government during 
the war. At the end of Gov. Morgan's term 
he resumed the practice of the law, forming a 
partnership with Mr. Ransom, and then Mr. 
Phelps, the district attorney of New York, 
was added to the firm. The legal practice of 
this well known firm was very large and lucra- 
tive; each of the gentlemen composing it was 
an able lawyer, and possessed a splendid local 
reputation, if not indeed one of national 
extent. 

Arthur was appointed collector of the port 
of New York by President Grant, November 
21, 1872, to succeed Thomas Murphy, and 
held the office until July 20, 1878, when he 
was succeeded by Collector Merritt. Mr. 
Arthur was nominated on the presidential 
ticket, with Gen. James A. Garfield, at the 
famous national republican convention held at 
Chicago in June, 1880. This was perhaps the 
greatest political convention that ever assem- 
bled on the continent. It was composed of 
the leading politicians of the republican party, 
all able men, and all stood firm and fought 
vigorously and with signal tenacity for their 
respective candidates that were before the con- 
vention for the nomination. Finally Gen. 
Garfield received the nomination for president 
and Gen. Arthur for vice president. The cam- 
paign which followed was one of the most 
animated known in the history of our country. 
Gen. Hancock, the standard-bearer of the 
democratic party, was a popular man, and his 
party made a valiant fight for his election. 



Finally the election came and the country's 
choice was Garfield and Arthur. They were 
inaugurated March 4, 1881, as president and 
vice-president. A few months only had passed 
ere the newly chosen president was the 
victim of the assassin's bullet. The remarka- 
ble patience that Garfield manifested during 
those hours and weeks, and even months, of 
the most terrible suffering man has often been 
called upon to endure, was seemingly more 
than human. It was certainly God-like. 
During all this period of deepest anxiety Mr. 
Arthur's every move was watched, and be it 
said to his credit, that his every action dis- 
played only an earnest desire that the suffer- 
ing Garfield might recover, to serve the re- 
mainder of the term he had so auspiciously 
begun. Not a selfish feeling was manifested 
in deed or look of this man, even though the 
most honored position in the world was at any 
moment likely to fall to him. 

At last God in his mercy relieved President 
Garfield from further suffering. Then it be- 
came the duty of the vice president to assume 
the responsibilities of the high office, and he 
took the oath in New York, September 20, 
1 88 1. The position was an embarrassing one 
to him, made doubly so from the facts that all 
eyes were on him, anxious to know what he 
would do, what policy he would pursue, and 
whom he would select as advisers. The duties 
of the office had been greatly neglected during 
the president's long illness, and many import- 
ant measures were to be immediately decided 
by him; and still farther to embarrass him he 
did not fail to realize under what circumstances 
he became president, and knew the feelings of 
many on this point. Under these trying cir- 
cumstances President Arthur took the reins of 
the government in his own hands; and as em- 
barrassing as was the condition of afiairs, he 
happily surprised the nation, actign so wisely 
that but few criticised his administration. He 




STEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



121 



served until the close of his administration, 
March 4, 1885, and was a popular candidate 
before his party for a second term. His name 
was ably presented before the convention at 
Chicago, and was received with great favor, 
and doubtless but for the personal popularity 
of one of the opposing candidates, he would 
have been selected as the standard-bearer of 
his party for another campaign. He retired 
to private life carrying with him the best 
wishes of the American people, whom he had 
served in a manner satisfactory to them and 
with credit to himself. Although not a man 
of the transcendent ability possessed by the 
lamented Garfield, Mr. Arthur was able for 
the emergency he was so unexpectedly called 
to fill, and was a worthy successor to his chief. 



£^*TEPHEN GROVER CLEVELAND, 
*^^MT the twenty-second and twenty-fourth 

^ j president of the United States, was 
born in 1837, in the town of Cald- 
well, Essex county, N. J., and in a little two- 
and-a-half story white house which is still 
standing, characteristically to mark the hum- 
ble birth-place of one of America's great men 
in striking contrast with the old world, where 
all men high in office must be high in origin, 
and born in the cradle of wealth. When three 
years of age, his father, who was a Presbyte- 
rian minister with a large family, and a small 
salary, moved by the way of the Hudson river 
and Erie canal to Fayetteville in search of an 
increased income and a larger field of work. 
Fayetteville was then the most straggling of 
country villages, about five miles from Pompey 
Hill, where Gov. Seymour was born. At the 
last mentioned place young Grover commenced 
going to school in the "good old-fashioned 
way," and presumably distinguished himself 
after the manner of all village boys in doing 



the things he ought not to do. Such is the 
distinguishing trait of all village geniuses and 
independent thinkers. When he arrived at 
the age of fourteen years he had outgrown the 
capacity of the village school and expressed a 
most emphatic desire to be sent to an acad- 
emy. To this his father decidedly objected. 
Academies in those days cost money; besides, 
his father wanted him to become self-support-- 
ing by the quickest possible means, and this 
at that time in Fayetteville seemed to be a 
position in a country store, where his father, 
with the large family on his hands, had con- 
siderable influence. Grover was to be paid 
$50 for his services the first year, and if he 
proved trustworthy he was to receive $100 the 
second year. Here the lad commenced his 
career as a salesman, and in two years he had 
earned so good a reputation for trustworthi- 
ness that his employers desired to retain him 
longer. 

But instead of remaining with this firm in 
Fayetteville, he went with the family in their 
removal to Clinton, where he had an oppor- 
tunity of attending a high school. Here he 
industriously pursued his studies until the 
family removed with him to a point on Black 
river known as the Holland Patent, a village 
of 500 or 600 people, fifteen miles north of 
Utica, N. Y. At this place his father died, 
after preaching but three Sundays. This event 
broke up the family, and Grover set out for 
New York city to accept, at a small salary, 
the position of "under-teacher" in an asylum 
for the blind. He taught faithfully for two 
years, and although he obtained a good repu- 
tation in this capacity, he concluded that 
teaching was not his calling for life, and, re- 
versing the traditional order, he left the city to 
seek his fortune, instead of going to a city. 
He first thought of going to Cleveland, Ohio, 
as there was some charm in that name for him; 
but before proceeding to that place he went to 



122 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Buffalo to ask advice of his uncle, Lewis 
F. Allan, a noted stock breeder of that place. 
After a long consultation, his uncle offered 
him a place temporarily as assistant herdkeeper 
at $50 a year, while he could "look around." 
One day afterward he boldly walked into the 
office of Rogers, Bowers & Rogers, of Buffalo, 
and told them what he wanted. A number of 
young men were already engaged in the office, 
but Grover's persistency won, and he was fin- 
ally permitted to come as an office boy and 
have the use of the law library for the nomi- 
nal sum of $3 or $4 a week. Out of this he 
had to pay for his board and washing. The 
walk to and from his uncle's was a long and 
rugged one; and, although the first winter was 
a memorably severe one, yet he was neverthe- 
less prompt and regular. On the first day of 
his service there, his senior employer threw 
down a copy of Blackstone before him with a 
bang that made the dust fly, saying, "That's 
where they all begin." A titter ran around 
the little circle of clerks and students, as they 
thought that was enough to scare young 
Grover out of his plans; but in due time he 
mastered that cumbersome volume. Then, as 
ever afterward, however, Mr. Cleveland exhib- 
ited a talent for executiveness rather than for 
chasing principles through all their metaphys- 
ical possibilities. "Let us quit talking and go 
and do it," was practically his motto. 

The first public office to which Mr. Cleve- 
land was elected was that of sheriff of Erie 
county, N. Y. , in which Buffalo is situated; 
and in such capacity it fell to his duty to in- 
flict capital punishment upon two criminals. 
In 1 88 1 he was elected mayor of the city of 
Buffalo on the democratic ticket, with especial 
reference to the bringing about certain reforms 
in the administration of the municipal affairs 
of that city. In this office, as well as that of 
sheriff, his performance of duty has generally 
been considered fair, with possibly a few ex- 



ceptions, which were ferreted out and magni- 
fied during his last presidential campaign. 
The editorial manager or the New York Sun 
afterward very highly commended Mr. Cleve- 
land's administration as mayor of Buffalo, and 
thereupon recommended him for governor of 
the Empire state. To the latter office he was 
elected in 1882, and his administration of the 
affairs of state was generally satisfactory. The 
mistakes he made, if any, were made very 
public throughout the nation after he was nom- 
inated for president of the United States. For 
this high office he was nominated July 11, 
1884, by the national democratic convention 
at Chicago, when other competitors were 
Thomas F. Bayard, Roswell P. Flower, Thomas 
A. Hendricks, Benjamin F. Butler, Allen G. 
Thurman, etc. ; and he was elected by the 
people by a majority of about a thousand over 
the brilliant and long-tried James G. Blaine. 
President Cleveland resigned his office as gov- 
erner of New York in January, 1885, in order 
to prepare for his duties as the chief executive 
of the United States, in which capacity his term 
commenced at noon on the 4th of March, 1885. 
In November, 1892, Mr. Cleveland was re- 
elected to the presidency by the democratic 
party, the candidate of the republican party 
being their ex-chief, Benjamin Harrison, a 
sketch of whom follows this. The popular 
vote on this occasion stood: Cleveland, 5,556- 
562; Harrison, 5,162,874; the electoral vote 
was 277 for Cleveland, and 145 for Harrison. 
During the early part of his first administra- 
tion, Mr. Cleveland was married to Miss 
Frances Folsom, of Buffalo, N. Y. , and in Oc- 
tober, 1 89 1, a daughter, Ruth, came to bless 
the union, and a second daughter, Esther, was 
born in July, 1893. The first act of Mr. 
Cleveland, on taking his seat for his second 
term, was to convene congress in extra session 
for the purpose of repealing the Sherman sil- 
ver bill, and accordingly that body met Sep- 



— During the second administration of Mr. Cleveland a thiid daughter, Frances Marian, was born.] 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



125 



tember 4, 1893, and both houses being demo- 
cratic, the bill, in accordance with the recom- 
mendation ol the president, was uncondition- 
ally repealed. The special feature, however, 
ol the second administration of Grover Cleve- 
land was the repeal of the McKinley tariff bill 
by congress and the substitution of the bill re- 
ported by William L. Wilson, of West Vir- 
ginia, as chairman of the ways and means com- 
mittee of the house of representatives, which 
bill, being concurred in, with sundry amend- 
ments, by the senate, was finally passed and 
went into effect in the latter part of 1894, 
materially reducing the duties on imports. 



<V^\ ENJAMIN HARRISON, the twenty- 
I<^^ third president, is the descendant of 
^d^J one of the historical families of this 
country. The head of the family 
was a Major General Harrison, one of Oliver 
Cromwell's trusted followers and fighters. In 
the zenith of Cromwell's power it became the 
duty of this Harrison to participate in the 
trial of Charles I, and afterward to sign the 
death warrant of the king. He subsequently 
paid for this with his life, being hung October 
13, 1660. His descendants came to America, 
and the next of the family that appears in his- 
tory is Benjamin Harrison, of Virginia, great- 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, and 
after whom he was named. Benjamin Har- 
rison was a member of the continental con- 
gress during the years 1774-5-6, and was one 
of the original signers of the Declaration of 
Independence. He was three times elected 
governor of Virginia. 

Gen. William Henry Harrison, the son of 
the distinguished patriot of the Revolution, 
after a successsul career as a soldier during the 
war of 181 2, and with a clean record as gov- 
ernor of the Northwestern territory, was 
elected president of the United States in 1840. 



His career was cut short by death in one 
month after his inauguration. 

President Benjamin Harrison was born at 
North Bend, Hamilton county, Ohio, August 
20, 1833. His life up to the time of his grad- 
uation by the Miami university, at Oxford, 
Ohio, was the uneventful one of a country lad 
of a family of small means. His father was 
able to give him a good education, and nothing 
more. He became engaged while at college 
to the daughter of Dr. Scott, principal of a 
female school at Oxford. After graduating, 
he determined to enter upon the study of the 
law. He went to Cincinnati and there read 
law for two years. At the expiration of that 
time young Harrison received the only inher- 
itance of his life; his aunt, dying, left him a 
lot valued at $800. He regarded this legacy 
as a fortune, and decided to get married at 
once, take this money and go to some eastern 
town and begin the practice of law. He sold 
his lot, and with the money in his pocket, he 
started out with his young wife to fight for a 
place in the world. He decided to go to 
Indianapolis, which was even at that time a 
town of promise. He met with slight encour- 
agement at first, making scarcely anything the 
first year. He worked diligently, applying 
himself closely to his calling, built up an ex- 
tensive practice and took a leading rank in the 
legal profession. He is the father of two 
children. 

In i860 Mr. Harrison was nominated for 
the position of supreme court reporter, and 
then began his experience as a stump speaker. 
He canvassed the state thoroughly, and was 
elected by a handsome majority. In 1862 he 
raised the Seventeenth Indiana infantry, and 
was chosen its colonel. His regiment was 
composed of the rawest of material, but Col. 
Harrison employed all his time at first master- 
ing military tactics and drilling his men; when 
he therefore came to move toward the east 



126 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



with Sherman his regiment was one of the 
best drilled and organized in the army. At 
Resaca he especially distinguished himself, 
and for his bravery at Peachtree Creek he was 
made a brigadier general, Gen. Hooker speak- 
ing of him in the most complimentary terms. 

During the absence of Gen. Harrison in 
the field the supreme court declared the office 
of the supreme court reporter vacant, and 
another person was elected to the position. 
From the time of leaving Indiana with his 
regiment until the fall of 1864 he had taken 
no leave of absence, but having been nomi- 
nated that year for the same office, he got a 
thirty-day leave of absence, and during that 
time made a brilliant canvass of the state, and 
was elected for another term. He then started 
to rejoin Sherman, but on the way was 
stricken down with scarlet fever, and after a 
most trying siege made his way to the front in 
time to participate in the closing incidents of 
the war. 

In 1 868 Gen. Harrison declined a re-elec- 
tion as reporter, and resumed the practice of 
law. In 1876 he was a candidate for governor. 
Although defeated, the brilliant campaign he 
made won for him a national reputation, and 
he was much sought, especially in the east, to 
make speeches. In 1880, as usual, he took 
an active part in the campaign, and was elected 
to the United States senate. Here he served 
six years, and was known as one of the ablest 
men, best lawyers and strongest debaters in 
that body. With the expiration of his sena- 
torial term he returned to the practice of his 
profession, becoming the head of one of the 
strongest firms in the state of Indiana. 

The political campaign of 1888 was one of 
the most memorable in the history of our coun- 
try. The convention, which assembled in 
Chicago in June and named Mr. Harrison as 
the chief standard bearer of the republican 
party, was great in every particular, and on 



this account, and the attitude it assumed upon 
the vital questions of the day, chief among 
which was the tariff, awoke a deep interest in 
the campaign throughout the nation. Shortly 
after the nomination delegations began to visit 
Mr. Harrison at Indianapolis, his home. This 
movement became popular, and from all sec- 
tions of the country societies, clubs and dele- 
gations journeyed thither to pay their respects 
to the distinguished statesman. The popu- 
larity of these was greatly increased on ac- 
count of the remarkable speeches made by Mr. 
Harrison. He spoke daily all through the 
summer and autumn to these visiting delega- 
tions, and so varied, masterly and eloquent 
were his speeches that they at once placed 
him in the foremost rank of American orators 
and statesmen. On account of his eloquence 
as a speaker and his power as a debater, he 
was called upon at an uncommonly early age 
to take part in the discussion of the great 
questions that then began to agitate the coun- 
try. He was an uncompromising anti-slavery 
man, and was matched against some of the 
most eminent democratic speakers of his state. 
No man who felt the touch of his blade de- 
sired to be pitted with him again. With all 
his eloquence as an orator he never spoke for 
oratorical effect, but his words always went 
like bullets to the mark. He is purely Ameri- 
can in his ideas and is a splendid type of the 
American statesman. Gifted with quick per- 
ception, a logical mind and a ready tongue, he 
is one of the most distinguished impromptu 
speakers in the nation. Original in thought, 
precise in logic, terse in statement, yet wilhal 
faultless in eloquence, he is recognized as the 
sound statesman and brilliant orator of the 
day. His term of office as president of the 
United States expired on March 4, 1893, when 
he surrendered the high position to Stephen 
Grover Cleveland, allusion to which fact is 
made on a preceding page. 




william Mckinley. 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



127 



ar 



TLLIAM McKINLEY, the twenty- 
fourth president, and twice governor 
of Ohio, is one of the most distin- 
guished politicians of his state and 
nation. His ancestry lived in western Penn- 
sylvania, his father, William McKinley, who 
died recently at the age of eighty-five years, 
having been born on a farm in Pine township, 
Mercer county, that state — a farm which was 
recently and may be to-day in the possession 
of the Rose family, which is related to Mr. Mc- 
Kinley, and of which ex-Mayor W. G. Rose, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, is a member. William Mc- 
Kinley, Sr. , was in the iron business all his 
life, as was also his father before him. 

William McKinley, Jr., was born at Niles, 
Trumbull county, Ohio, January 29, 1843. He 
was educated in the common schools, in the 
academy at Poland, Ohio, and in the fall of 
i860 he entered Allegheny college at Mead- 
ville, Pa., with the view of taking a full college 
course; but owing to sickness he was obliged 
to return home before the winter came on. 
During the winter of 1860-61 he taught a dis- 
trict school, and intended to return to Alle- 
gheny college, but in April, 1861, Fort Sumter 
was fired upon by the rebels, and the spirit 
of patriotism in young McKinley's heart was 
so strong that he enlisted in company E, 
Twenty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, with 
which he marched and fought in the ranks for 
fourteen months. His regiment was with 
Rosecrans and McClellan in Virginia and 
West Virginia. His first battle was that of 
Carnifax Ferry. After this he joined the army 
of the Potomac and fought with McClellan. 
Subsequently Private McKinley was promoted, 
first to second lieutenant, September, 24, 1862; 
then to first lieutenant, February 7, 1863, and 
then to captain, July 25, 1864. Then he 
served on the staff of Gen. R. B. Hayes and 
was afterward detailed to act as assistant 
adjutant-general on the staff of Gen. George 



Crook. He was with Sheridan in the Shenan- 
doah valley, in the battles of Winchester, 
Cedar Creek, Fisher's Hill, Opequan, Kerns- 
town, Cloyd Mountain and Berryville. For 
meritorious conduct he was brevetted major 
by President Lincoln, and after Gen. Crook's 
capture, in Maryland, he served on the staff 
of Maj.-Gen. Hancock, and later on that of 
Gen. S. S. Carroll, commander of the veteran 
reserve corps at Washington, D. C. He was 
present at the surrender of Gen. Lee, April 9, 
1865, was with his regiment all through its 
campaigns and battles, and was mustered out 
of service July 26, 1865, having been in the 
army four years and one month. 

Returning to Ohio, Maj. McKinley studied 
law with Hon. Charles S. Glidden and David 
Wilson, of Mahoning county, and then at- 
tended the law school at Albany, N. Y. In 
1867 he was admitted to the bar, and in May 
of that year located in Canton, Ohjo, where he 
formed a law partnership with Judge Belden, 
practicing in that relationship for two years. 
In 1869 he was elected on the republican 
ticket prosecuting attorney of Stark county, 
notwithstanding that county was democratic 
usually by a reliable majority, but in 1871 
he was defeated for re-election by an ad- 
verse majority of forty-five. In 1876 he 
ran for congress, and, to the surprise of the 
older politicians, was elected and was then 
continuously in congress from his district (not- 
withstanding several gerrymanders made for 
the sake of defeating him) for fourteen con- 
secutive years, with the exception of a part of 
his fourth term, when he was unseated by a 
democratic majority in congress and his place 
given to his competitor. He was a candidate for 
re-election to congress in 1890, but on account 
of fictitious alarm awakened by his political en- 
emies as to the result, or the probable result, of 
the " McKinley tariff bill," which went into ef- 
fect about October 1, 1890, a little more than 



128 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



one month before the election, he was defeated, 
the majority against him and in favor of his 
competitor, Lieut. -Gov. Warwick, being 303 
votes. The year before the counties compos- 
ing this district, which had been most out- 
rageously gerrymandered for the sake of ac- 
complishing his defeat, gave a majority to 
James E. Campbell for governor of 2,900. 
But while this defeat retired him from con- 
gress it at the same time made him governor 
in 1891, when he was elected over his opponent 
by a plurality of 21,511. In 1893 he was 
again elected governor by the phenomenal 
plurality of 80,995, ms opponent this time be- 
ing the Hon. Lawrence T. Neal. 

While in congress Maj. McKinley was a 
member of the committee on revision of laws, 
the judiciary committee, the committee on ex- 
penditures in the post office department, and 
the committee on rules. Upon the nomina- 
tion of Gen. Garfield for the presidency, Mr. 
McKinley took his place on the committee on 
ways and means, with which he served for the 
rest of his time in congress. It was while he 
was chairman of this committee that he framed 
the "McKinley Bill" which still bears its name, 
and provided for a high rate of duty on an im- 
mense number of articles imported from for- 
eign countries, but made sugar free. Its pur- 
pose was to reduce the national revenue and 
to increase protection. 

The work involved in the preparation of 
this bill is almost inconceivable. It contained 
thousands of items and covered nearly every 
interest in the country. For four weeks, while 
the house was in session, Mr. McKinley was 
almost constantly upon his feet answering num- 
berless questions, meeting objections and giving 
information. With the exception of two minor 
amendments the bill passed exactly as it came 
from the hands of the committee, and its pas- 
sage was the signal for a conflict which few 
statesmen in the history of free government 



could have withstood. It was assaulted as no 
other law has ever been assaulted in this gen- 
eration and for a time even republican leaders 
had misgivings. 

The indomitable courage and unbounded 
faith of Mr. McKinley during this trying period 
alone seemed to hold the republican party to- 
gether. He never wavered for an instant. 
With a fervor born of conviction, he had thrown 
his ambitions, his hopes, almost his very life, 
into the cause he represented. Its defeat was 
his defeat; its triumph his triumph. From 
the apparent defeat of his cause in 1S90, and 
again in 1892, he arose courageous, steadfast, 
hopeful. Others might change, others might 
doubt, others might modify their views, but he 
stood firm for a protective tariff — for the Ameri- 
can producer against the foreign producer. 
He accepted with true American spirit the 
popular verdict and challenged the interpreta- 
tion put upon it by political opponents. He 
took an appeal to the people and in two years 
from the crushing defeat of 1892 he led the 
republican hosts to the greatest victory and the 
most stupendous change in the popular vote of 
a country ever recorded. The tide turned; 
the result of the free trade policy was apparent, 
the object lesson was received, noted and the 
decision reversed. 

In 1884 Maj. McKinley was a delegate at 
large to the republican national convention 
which nominated Hon. James G. Blaine. In 
1888 he was again a delegate at large to the 
republican national convention, and this time 
was in favor of the Hon. John Sherman for 
the party's candidate, but the complications 
then were numerous and difficult of solution, 
because of Mr. Blaine's refusal to be again the 
nominee. Many thought the nomination of 
Maj. McKinley would solve all problems and 
harmonize all factions, but in spite of all argu- 
ments and all persuasions he remained true to 
his state and to himself by steadfastly refusing 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



129 



to permit his name to be used as a presidential 
candidate. Again, in 1892, Maj. McKinley 
was a delegate at large to the Minneapolis con- 
vention which renominated President Harrison, 
and in this convention, in spite of all remon- 
strances that he could make, he received within 
a fraction of as many votes as were given to 
the idol of the republican party, James G. 
Blaine, the latter receiving 1S2 5-6 votes, 
while McKinley received 182 1-6 votes. Pres- 
cient Harrison was, however, renominated, only 
to be defeated by Grover Cleveland. 

In his political campaigns he has mani- 
fested brilliant qualities as an orator. It is 
probably true that more people have heard 
him discuss political questions than have ever 
listened to any other campaign speaker in the 
United States. Thousands of people assemble 
to hear him ; he always commands the rapt 
attention of his hearers, and he frequently 
elicits at least hearty applause. 

His great tour in the fall of 1894 is prob- 
ably without a parallel in the history of the 
United States. Everywhere thousands greeted 
him. For more than eight weeks he averaged 
seven speeches a day, and it is estimated that 
during that time 2,000,000 people listened to 
him. It is altogether likely that the secret of 
his power over an audience lies in his sincerity, 
as he employs no adventitious methods and is 
not amusing, his simple and single aim being 
apparently to convince by argument fairly 
and squarely. 

The preliminary canvass or campaign of 
1896, which resulted in the nomination of Mr. 
McKinley for the presidency, was remarkable 
in many ways, but in no respect more so than 
in the unanimity of public sentiment which 
made it possible to predict with almost abso- 
lute certainty weeks before the convention the 
selection of the champion of protection and a 
sound financial policy as the candidate. His 
choice as the representative of the party best 



fitted to be entrusted with the administration of 
national affairs was a natural sequence — the re- 
suit of sentiment that had been engendered 
during the four years previous, and yet it had 
every characteristic of spontaneity. The increas- 
ing favor with which he was regarded by the 
voters of the country was, until a few months 
before the convention, a steady, rapid, but 
withal a natural growth, and the almost uni- 
versal endorsement of his candidacy, which 
came a short time before the St. Louis con- 
vention, must be attributed in a great measure 
to the desire of the American people to return 
to an idea and a policy which a majority of the 
citizens of the United States came to regard as 
absolutely indispensable to individual and na- 
tional prosperity of which the distinguished 
Ohioan stood as the recognized exponent. The 
national republican convention convened in the 
city of St. Louis, Mo., June 16, 1896, and 
upon the first ballot Mr. McKinley was nomi- 
nated with the greatest enthusiasm, receiving 
66 1 J of the 700 ballots cast. 

In many respects the campaign of 1896 
was one of the most remarkable presidential 
contests in the history of the nation, but the 
outcome, as foreshadowed for weeks before the 
election, resulted in the triumph of Mr. Mc- 
Kinley over the brilliant and popular young 
Nebraskian, William J. Bryan, a man of dis- 
tinguished ability, whose uncompromising ad- 
vocacy of the free and unlimited coinage of sil- 
ver and hostility to the American idea of 
protection made him a formidable opponent. 
Mr. McKinley entered upon the discharge of 
his high official functions on the 4th day of 
March, 1897, with the unbounded confidence 
of his political party and the American people, 
and thus far he has steadily and courageously 
followed the lines mapped out by the platform 
upon which he was nominated. And his ad- 
ministration in ability and wisdom gives every 
promise of comparing favorably with those of 



130 



PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



the distinguished men who have preceded him 
in the high office of the presidency. 

President McKinley was married January 
25, 1 87 1, to Miss Ida Saxton,who is an ac- 
complished lady and daughter of James A. Sax- 
ton, of Canton, Ohio. They have had born to 
them two children, both of whom died in 
infancy. In religion President McKinley and 
his wife are Methodists, as were his father 
and mother. His grandfather, however, was 
a Presbyterian, and was a member of the Lis- 
bon Presbyterian church from 1822 to 1836, 
during the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Vallan- 



digham, father of Clement L. Vallandigham. 
As already stated President McKinley's father 
died recently at the age of eighty-five, but his 
mother is still living. 

"There is probably not a more stalwart 
and sturdy figure to-day before the American 
people than William McKinley. The story of 
his life is not only instructive but interesting; 
it is the history of an American for Americans; 
its activity is so interwoven in the life of the 
republic during his career of the past thirty 
years that political friends and foes may read 
it with profit and learn an important lesson." 




GOVERNORS OF OHIO 




GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



0. 



RTHUR ST. CLAIR, one of the most 
noted characters of our early colonial 
days, was a native of Scotland, being 
born at Edinburg in 1735. Becom- 
ing a surgeon in the British army, he subse- 
quently crossed the Atlantic with his regiment 
and thenceforward was identified with the 
history of this country until the day of his 
death. Serving as a lieutenant with Wolfe in 
the memorable campaign against Quebec, St. 
Clair won sufficient reputation to obtain ap- 
pointment as commander of Fort Ligonier, Pa. , 
where a large tract of land was granted to him. 
During the Revolutionary war he espoused the 
colonial cause, and before its close had risen 
to the rank of major-general. In 1875 he was 
elected a delegate to the Continental congress 
and afterward became its president. After the 
passage of the ordinance of 1787, St. Clair 
was appointed first military governor of the 
Northwest territory, which then embraced the 
territory now comprised within the boundaries 
of the present state of Ohio, with headquarters 
at Fort Washington, now Cincinnati. In 1791 
he undertook an expedition against the north- 
western Indians, which resulted in the great 
disaster known in western history as "St 
Clair's defeat. " On November 4 the Indians 
surprised and routed his whole force of about 
1,400 regulars and militia, in what is now 



Darke county, Ohio, killing over 900 men and 
capturing his artillery and camp equipage. 
Gen. St. Clair held the office of territorial 
governor until 1802, when he was removed by 
President Jefferson. He returned to Ligonier, 
Pa., poor, aged and infirm. The state granted 
him an annuity which enabled him to pass the 
last years of his life in comfort. He died near 
Greensburgh, Pa., August 31, 1S18, leaving a 
family of one son and three daughters. 



aHARLES WILLING BYRD, who was 
secretary of the Northwest territory, 
and who succeeded Gov. St. Clair as 
governor, on the removal of the latter 
from office, was born in Virginia, received a 
liberal education and settled in Ohio. While 
it is not practicable to find fully authentic 
material for a full biography of Gov. Byrd, 
it may be of interest to recite briefly the rea- 
sons for the removal of Gov. St. Clair, which 
are of course the reasons for Mr. Byrd becom- 
ing governor of the territory. St. Clair's gov- 
ernment was very unpopular, and when the 
people became desirous of forming a state gov- 
ernment in 1 80 1, and found themselves unable 
to secure a majority of the legislature, they 
ser.t Thomas Worthington to congress to ob- 
tain if possible a law under which a conven- 



132 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



tion could be called to consider the expediency 
of forming a state, and framing a constitution 
therefor. This convention met in Chillicothe 
in November, 1802, voted to form a state gov- 
ernment and adopted a constitution, all this 
notwithstanding the fact that the territory did 
not then contain the 60,000 inhabitants re- 
quired at that time. 

But this was a small difficulty compared 
with the prohibition in the ordinance of 1787 
against slavery in the territory of the north- 
west. This clause tended to prevent immigra- 
tion to Ohio from Virginia and other southern 
states; and the attempt was made to so frame 
a constitution for the new state that slavery in 
a somewhat modified form could be established. 
When this clause was proposed it was discov- 
ered by the opponents of slavery that on the 
morrow there would be a majority of one in its 
favor, and thus, if it were adopted, the curse 
of slavery would be fixed upon the state. 
Judge Ephraim Cutler, of Washington county, 
a delegate to the convention, and a son of 
one of the principal framers of the ordinance 
of 1787, was lying sick in bed, when this situ- 
ation was revealed, and Gen. Putnam, hasten- 
ing to his bedside, urged him to reach the con- 
vention hall at the earliest practicable moment 
the next morning. Judge Cutler having next 
day reached the hall, made an impassioned 
appeal to the delegates in opposition to the 
proposed action of the convention, and won 
over the one delegate necessary to save the 
state from the blighting curse of slavery. 

Gov. St. Clair and his friends looked upon 
the convention as little short of revolutionary, 
the governor taking strong grounds against the 
formation of a state government, before the 
convention began the labors of the day. Their 
utter disregard of this advice filled him with 
irritation, and in the bitterness of his heart he 
declared, in the hearing of unfriendly listeners, 
that he no longer had confidence in republican 



institutions, and that in his opinion, without 
some stronger form of government, anarchy 
seemed inevitable. These remarks were quickly 
reported to President Thomas Jefferson, who 
immediately removed St. Clair from his office, 
and the secretary of the territory, Charles W. 
Byrd, became acting governor, serving until 
the state government was formed under the 
constitution, which, as framed by the conven- 
tion, was declared by that convention, without 
having been submitted to the people for their 
ratification, to be the fundamental law of the 
land. After the expiration of his brief term as 
governor of the Northwest territory, Gov. 
Byrd was appointed by President Jefferson 
United States judge for the district of Ohio. 



first governor of 
organization of the 



eDWARD TIFFIN 
Ohio upon the 
state, in 1803, was a native of Eng- 
land, born in the city of Carlisle on 
the 19th day of June, 1766. After coming to 
the United States he studied medicine, located 
at Charlestown, W. Va., in 1784, and in 1789 
received his degree from the university of Penn- 
sylvania. In the year last named he was 
united in marriage with Mary Worthington, 
sister of Gov. Thomas Worthington, and in 
1790 united with the Methodist church, of 
which he soon afterward became a local 
preacher. In 1796 Mr. Tiffin settled at Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio, where he preached and practiced 
medicine, and was instrumental in organizing 
a number of local congregations in that part of 
the state. The same year he was elected to the 
legislature of the Northwest territory, became 
speaker of that body, and in 1802 was chosen 
president of the convention that formed the 
state constitution. He proved to be a potential 
factor in political affairs, and in 1 803 was 
elected first governor of the state under the 
constitution. He was re-elected in 1805, and 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



133 



proved a most capable chief executive, but re- 
signed in 1807 to become United States sena- 
tor, having been elected to the latter body as 
successor to his brother-in-law, Hon. Thomas 
Worthington. Gov. Tiffin's senatorial career 
was cut short on account of the death of his 
wife, by reason of which he resigned in March, 
1S09, and for a time lived a retired life. Sub- 
sequently he married again, and afterward was 
elected to the lower house of the state legis- 
lature, in which he served two terms as speaker. 
At the expiration of his legislative experi- 
ence, Gov. Tiffin resumed the practice of medi- 
cine at Chillicothe, and in 18 12 was appointed 
by President Madison commissioner of the 
general land office, having been the first person 
to fill that position. On assuming his official 
functions he removed to the national capital 
and organized the system that has obtained 
in the land office until the present time; in 
18 14 he was instrumental in having the papers 
of his office removed to Virginia, thus saving 
them from destruction when the public build- 
ings in Washington were burned by the British. 
Becoming dissatisfied with residing in Wash- 
ington and wishing to return west, Gov. Tiffin 
succeeded in exchanging his position for that of 
surveyor of public lands northwest of the Ohio 
river, held by Josiah Meigs, the change being 
sanctioned by the president and senate, and he 
discharged the duties of the latter position 
until July, 1829, receiving while on his death- 
bed an order from President Jackson to deliver 
the office to a successor. During his long 
period of public service, Gov. Tiffin maintained 
most scrupulously his ministerial relations, and 
preached the gospel whenever occasion would 
admit. He was on familiar terms with Gen. 
Washington, who always spoke of him in terms 
of praise, and he will always be remembered 
as one of the leading spirits in the formative 
period of Ohio's history. His death occurred 
at Chillicothe on the 9th day of August, 1829. 




HOMAS KIRKER, who succeeded 
Edward Tiffin as governor of Ohio, is 
one of the few governors of the state 
of whom but little can be learned. 
In 1807 there was a remarkable contest for 
the governorship of the state. The two oppos- 
ing candidates were Return Jonathan Meigs 
and Nathaniel Massie. The former received a 
majority of the votes, and therefore, so far as 
the people were concerned, was elected gov- 
ernor of the state. The general assembly, how- 
ever, declared him to be ineligible to the 
office, on the ground that he was not a resi- 
dent of the state, and as Mr. Massie had not 
received a sufficient number of votes, he had 
not been elected governor, and the election 
was therefore entirely void. Hon. Thomas 
Kirker bing then speaker of the state senate, 
became acting governor by virtue of his office 
as speaker, when Gov. Edward Tiffin resigned 
his office in order to take his seat in the United 
States senate. Gov. Kirker remained in the 
office of governor until after the election, in 
1808, of Samuel Huntington, who had been 
elected by the people. At the time of serving 
as governor he was a resident of Adams county, 
and he served in the general assembly of the 
state for twenty-five years. 



^"V'AMUEL HUNTINGTON, the second 
*\^^r governor elected by the people of 

hs^^J Ohio, was born at Norwich, Conn., 
in 1765, and graduated at Yale col- 
lege in 1 78 5. He adopted the profession of 
law, in 1795 married a lady of his own name, 
and attended strictly to the duties of his pro- 
fession in the town of his birth until the year 
1800, when he resolved to visit that western 
country which was then attracting to it so 
many residents of the New England states. 
First stopping at Youngstown, Ohio, he from 
there went to Marietta, where he spent the 



134 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



summer, and in the fall of that year returned 
to Norwich. The following spring, taking his 
wife and children in an Ohio wagon (then so 
called), they arrived, after weeks of toilsome 
travel, at Cleveland, then a settlement of 
doubtful name as a healthy abode, as they 
found that many who had preceded them had 
vacated the cabins they had first built and 
had removed to the higher ground back of the 
town to escape the sickness so prevalent near 
the lake. He erected a strongly-built house, 
as attacks by drunken and riotous Indians were 
not uncommon. Mr. Huntington soon entered 
upon public life. Gen. Saint Clair appointed 
him second in command of a regiment of 
Trumbull count}' militia, and he was shortly 
afterward elevated to the position of presiding 
judge in the first court in that part of the ter- 
ritory. In 1802 he was a member of the con- 
stitutional convention, and by that body ap- 
pointed state senator from Trumbull county, 
the name then borne by the territory now 
known as the northeastern portion of the state 
and which at present is divided into six coun- 
ties. For some time he was speaker or presi- 
dent of the state senate, and by the legislature 
elected to a seat on the supreme bench. When 
Michigan was organized as a territory Judge 
Huntington was offered the position of judge 
of the district court of that territory, but this 
he declined, as well as other important offices 
which were pressed upon him. The prevailing 
unhealthiness of Cleveland finally induced him 
to remove his residence to Newburg, where he 
erected a grist-milll, then a very important 
construction and advantageous to the settlers. 
In 1809 he purchased a mill, located on the 
eastern shore of Grand river, between Paines- 
ville and the lake, and erected a mansion — 
commodious, and, for those days, rather im- 
posing in its style of architecture. This house 
remains to attest by its position the good taste 
of him who built it. A conflict of authoritv 



arose between the legislative and judicial de- 
partments of the state while Judge Huntington 
was on the supreme bench. The legislature 
passed a law conferring certain rights upon 
justices of the peace which the judges of the 
supreme court declared to be unconstitutional. 
Thereupon the whole house filed articles of 
impeachment against the judges, but in the 
midst of this confusion the people of Ohio had 
elected Judge Huntington governor of the state. 
He, having resigned, was therefore not brought 
to trial, and it being impossible to obtain two- 
thirds of the legislative vote against the other 
two judges, the) - consequently escaped convic- 
tion. Nothing of particular moment occurred 
the term he held office, but his prominence 
prevented his retiring to private life. In 18 12 
he was, during the second war with Great 
Britain, a member of the Ohio legislature. 
The destruction of life and property by the 
Indians during that year was such that Gov. 
Huntington, having with Gen. Cass visited 
Washington to represent to the authorities 
there the condition of affairs in Ohio, was ap- 
pointed district paymaster, with the rank of 
colonel, and returned to the camp of Gen. 
Harrison with a supply of funds in the shape 
of government drafts. He remained for many 
months in the army and until peace was de- 
clared, when he returned to his home, where 
he subsequently lived peacefully until 18 17, 
during which year he died a comparatively 
young man, being but fifty-two years old. His 
character for strict integrity, great executive 
ability and accomplished scholarship was sec- 
ond to that of no other governor. 



ETURN JONATHAN MEIGS, who 



succeeded Samuel Huntington in the 



11 

W gubernatorial chair, was born in Mid- 

dletown, Conn., in March, 1765, the 

son of Return J. Meigs, a distinguished Ameri- 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



135 



can soldier, whose name is inseparably con- 
nected with the war of American independence. 
Gov. Meigs was graduated from Yale college 
in 1785, after which he studied law and began 
the practice of the same at Marietta, Ohio, at 
which place his father had previously settled. 
He entered the army at the breaking out of 
the Indian war, and was sent on a commission 
to the British commander at Detroit, by Gen. 
St. Clair, in 1790, and later took part in a 
number of battles with the savages. He rose 
rapidly in his profession and in 1 803-4 was 
chief justice of the Ohio supreme court; later 
he had charge of the Saint Charles circuit in 
Louisiana until 1806, with the brevet rank of 
lieutenant-colonel in the United States army, 
being also judge of the supreme court of said 
district during the years of 1805 and 1806. 
Mr. Meigs was further honored, in 1807, by 
being appointed judge of the United States 
district court of Michigan, in which capacity 
he continued until 1808, when he was elected 
to the United States senate from Ohio. The 
honorable distinction acquired by Mr. Meigs 
as a jurist was not dimmed by his senatorial 
experience, and his record in the national legis- 
lature is replete with duty ably and conscien- 
tiously performed. He served in the senate 
from January, 1809, till May, 1810. 

In October, 1807, Mr. Meigs was the dem- 
ocratic candidate for governor of Ohio, and 
after the election, which went in his favor by 
a decided majority, his competitor, Nathaniel 
Massie, contested the same on the ground that 
Meigs had not been a resident of the state for 
the four years next preceding the election, as 
provided by the constitution. The general 
assembly, in joint convention, decided that 
Meigs was not entitled to the office, but it does 
not appear that his competitor was allowed to 
assume the same; Thomas Kirker, acting gov- 
ernor, continued to discharge the duties of the 
office until December, 1808, when Samuel 



Huntington was inaugurated as his immediate 
successor. 

In 18 10 Mr. Meigs was again a candidate 
for governor, and at the ensuing election was 
victorious, defeating his competitor by a 
large majority. He was triumphantly re- 
elected in 18 12 and filled the office with dis- 
tinguished ability during the trying years of 
the last war with England, his services in be- 
half of the national government throughout 
that struggle being far greater than those of 
any other governor, and of such a patriotic 
character as to elicit the warmest praise from 
the president and others high in authority. 
He assisted in the organization of the state 
militia, garrisoned the forts on the border, 
thus securing safety to the exposed-settlements, 
and did much toward strengthening the army 
under Gen. Harrison. Near the expiration of 
his gubernatorial term, in 18 14, Gov. Meigs 
resigned to accept the appointment of post- 
master-general in the cabinet of President 
Madison, to fill the place made vacant by the 
death of Gideon Granger; he continued in 
office under President Monroe until 1823, in 
December of which year he retired from active 
life and spent the remainder of his days at his 
home in Marietta, dying March 29, 1825. 



OTHNIEL LOOKER, the fourth gov- 
ernor of Ohio, was born in the state of 
New York in 1757. He was a private 
soldier in the Revolutionary war, go- 
ing into the army from his native state, and serv- 
ing through the war. He was a man of humble 
origin and a farmer most of his life. In 1784, 
having received a land warrant for his services 
during the war of the Revolution, he crossed the 
Alleghany mountains, and located his land in 
what was then the wilderness of the territory 
northwest of the Ohio river, within the limits of 
the future state of the same name. Upon this 



136 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



grant he erected his cabin and began the labor 
of clearing his farm, as did other pioneers of 
his day. Upon the organization of the state 
he was elected a member of the lower house of 
the general assembly, and by increasing his 
knowledge and acquaintanceship with the peo- 
ple of the new state, he so rose in popular favor 
and esteem as to be elected to the senate. Of 
this body he eventually became president, and 
by virtue of holding this office, when Gov. 
Return J. Meigs resigned, in 1814, to accept 
the position of postmaster-general in the cabi- 
net of President Madison, became governor of 
Ohio. He served eight months, and afterward 
was a candidate before the people for election 
to the office of govenor, but was defeated by 
his opponent, Thomas Worthington. Mr. 
Looker afterward returned to his farm, where 
he lived respected by all for his unusual intelli- 
gence, his clear logical mind, and his pleasing 
disposition. But little else is known of Gov. 
Looker, except that he died unmarried. 




IHOMAS WORTHINGTON, fourth 
elected governor of Ohio, was born 
near Charlestown, Va., July 16, 1773. 
He received a liberal education, but 
when a young man went to sea and continued 
before the mast for three years — from 1 790 to 
1793. In 1797 he became a resident of Ross 
county, Ohio, served as a member of the ter- 
ritorial legislature in 1 799-1 801, and was 
chosen delegate to the state constitutional 
convention in the year 1S02. He was elected 
to the United States senate as a democrat 
immediately after the adoption of the state 
constitution and served in that body from 
October 17, 1803, till March 7, 1807; was 
again chosen to fill the unexpired term caused 
by the resignation of Return J. Meigs, Jr., and 
ed from January 8, 181 1, until his resigna- 
tion in 1 814. Mr. Worthington was elected 



governor of Ohio in 18 14 and served till 1818 
— having been chosen his own successor in 
18 16. After the expiration of his second 
gubernatorial term Gov. Worthington became 
canal commissioner, which position he held 
till his death. He was a public-spirited man 
and to him is the great commonwealth not a 
little indebted for much of its development 
and prosperity. 

To Gov. Worthington belongs the unique 
distinction of being the only Ohio governor 
ever arrested and started to jail for debt. In 
1 81 5 or 1 8 16, Gov. Worthington contracted 
with Judge Jarvis Pike to grub and chop the 
timber off the present state-house square. The 
governor was a non-resident of Franklin 
county, residing at Chillicothe. Some mis- 
understanding arose as to the payment of 
Judge Pike for his labors, whereupon he sued 
a capias from the court of Squire King, and 
had the governor arrested and marched off to 
jail. He was not locked up, however, the 
matter having been amicably adjusted. Gov. 
Worthington departed this life in the city of 
New York, June 20, 1827. 



eTHAN ALLEN BROWN, seventh 
governor and the fifth elected by the 
people of Ohio, was born on the 
shores of Long Island Sound in Fair- 
field county, Conn., July 4, 1766, and died at 
Indianapolis, Ind., February 24, 1S52. His 
father, Roger Brown, was an intelligent 
farmer of wealth, who, to secure the advan- 
tages of a liberal education for his children, 
employed a teacher of good ability to instruct 
them at home. Under such tuition Ethan's 
quickness of apprehension and extraordinary 
memory enabled him to acquire a knowledge 
of the Latin, Greek and French languages not 
inferior to that of most college graduates of 
the present day. Having determined to adopt 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



137 



the profession of a lawyer, he then procured 
the necessary books and began the study of 
law at home, at the same time assisting in the 
labors of his father's farm. After thus ac- 
quiring some legal knowledge he went to New 
York city and entered the law office of Alex- 
ander Hamilton, who, as a lawyer and states- 
man, had achieved at that time a national 
reputation. Here he soon won the esteem 
and friendship of Mr. Hamilton, while also he 
was brought into contact with others of the 
ablest men of the day, and, mingling with the 
most refined and cultivated society of the city, 
his mind was developed and stimulated and he 
acquired the elegance and polish of manners 
for which he was remarkable in after-life. 
Diverted from the study of law at this time, 
he engaged in business, by which he obtained 
very considerable property, but subsequently 
he again entered upon his neglected study, and 
in 1802 he was admitted to practice. Then, 
urged by love of adventure and a desire to see 
the principal portion of that state which, in 
that year, had qualified for admission into the 
Union, he, with a cousin, Capt. John Brown, 
started on horseback and followed the Indian 
trails from east to west through middle and 
western Pennsylvania until they reached 
Brownsville on the Monongahela river. Hav- 
ing brought a considerable sum of money with 
them they here purchased two fiat-bottomed 
boats, loaded them with flour, and placing 
crews upon them started for New Orleans, 
which city they reached in safety, but not be- 
ing able to sell their cargoes to advantage they 
shipped the flour to Liverpool, England, and 
took passage themselves in the same vessel. 
Having disposed of their flour at good prices, 
they returned to America, landing at Baltimore 
the same year. Then his father, wishing to 
secure a large tract of western land, eventually 
to make it his home, he empowered his son to 
select and purchase the same, which he pro- 



ceeded to do, locating it near the present town 
of Rising Sun, Ind., that locality having 
attracted his attention on his flat-boat trip to 
New Orleans. Hither his father removed 
from Connecticut, in 18 14, when that part of 
the Northwest territory which subsequently 
became Indiana was canvassing delegates to 
hold a territorial convention. 

Ten years subsequently, however, and after 
securing the land mentioned, Ethan Allen 
Brown began the practice of law in Cincinnati, 
where he soon took a prominent position in the 
profession and secured a large income for his 
professional services. In 18 10 he was chosen 
by the Ohio legislature a judge of the supreme 
court of the state, a position he held with dis- 
tinguished ability during the eight following 
years, and in 181 8 was elected governor of the 
state. His administration is marked for the 
prosecution and completion of important inter- 
nal improvements, among the chief of which 
may be mentioned that important work, the 
"Ohio canal," and which was nicknamed 
"Brown's Folly." In 1820 he was re-elected, 
and in 1 82 1 elected to the United States senate 
and served one term with distinction. In 1S30 
he was appointed minister to Brazil, remaining 
in that country four years and giving general 
satisfaction, when he resigned and came home. 
A few months later, at the urgent request of 
President Andrew Jackson, he accepted the 
position of commissioner of public lands, held 
the office two years, and then retired finally 
from public life. Gov. Brown never married, 
and the close of his life was spent among his 
relatives at Rising Sun. After reaching the age 
of eighty-two years, with not more than a week's 
sickness during all the years of his long life, 
he died suddenly while attending a democratic 
convention at Indianapolis, and was buried at 
Rising Sun, near the grave of his venerated 
father, leaving an enduring record of a useful 
and well-spent life. 



138 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



HLLEN TRIMBLE, who filled out the 
unexpired term of Ethan Allen Brown 
as governor of Ohio, and also served 
as governor by election from 1827 to 
1830, was born in Augusta county, Va., March 
24, 1783. He was the son of Capt. James 
Trimble, who removed in 1784 to Lexington, 
Ky., and who died in that state about the year 
1S04. Later Allen Trimble came to Ohio, 
settling in the county of Highland, where he 
served in various official positions, including 
those of clerk of the courts and recording sec- 
retary, filling the last two offices for a period 
of about seven years. He took part in the 
war of 1812 as commander of a regiment of 
mounted troops under Gen. William Henry 
Harrison, and in 18 16 was chosen a member 
of the state legislature. Subsequently, from 
1817 to 1826, he served as state senator, and 
was also speaker of the house for several terms. 
In 1 82 1 he was appointed governor, and, as 
already stated, was elected to the office in 1 826, 
and discharged the duties of the position in 
an eminently satisfactory manner until 1830. 
In 184G, Gov. Trimble was chosen president 
of the state board of agriculture, being the 
first man honored with that office, and served 
as such until 1848. While governor he was 
untiring in promoting the cause of education 
in Ohio, and the present excellent public 
school system is indebted to him for much of 
its efficiency; he also encouraged manufactur- 
ing and did much toward improving the penal 
institutions of the state. Politically Gov. 
Trimble was a federalist; his death occurred at 
Hillsborough, Ohio, February 2, 1870. 



>-j*EREMIAH MORROW, sixth governor 

M elected under the state constitution, 

A 1 was born in Gettysburg, Pa. , October 

6, 1 77 1. In early manhood he removed 

to the Northwest territory and in 1 802 was 



chosen delegate to the convention that framed 
the constitution of Ohio. Politically he was 
an ardent democrat, and in 1803 was elected 
a representative in the congress of the United 
States, in which body he served for a period 
of ten years. He did much toward promoting 
legislation in behalf of the western section of 
the United States, and for some time was 
chairman of the committee on public lands. 
In 1 8 14 he was commissioner to treat with the 
Indians west of the Miami river, and from 1 S r 3 
till 1 8 19 served with distinction in the United 
States senate. In 1822 Mr. Morrow was elected 
governor of Ohio and served as such until 1 826, 
having been re-elected in 1824. From 1826 
to 1828 he was state senator, later became 
canal commissioner, and for some time served 
as president of the Little Miami Railroad com- 
pany. In 1 84 1 he was again elected to repre- 
sent his district in the national house of repre- 
sentatives, in which capacity he served a single 
term. Gov. Morrow left the impress of his 
character on the commonwealth and his is 
among the many illustrious names which have 
given Ohio so prominent a position among her 
sister states; his death occurred in the county 
of Warren, on the 22nd day of March, 1852. 



,y^V UNCAN McARTHUR, distinguished 
I as a soldier and statesman, and gov- 
/^^J ernor of Ohio from 1831 to 1832, was 
a native of the state of New York, 
born in the county of Dutchess, on the 14th 
day of June, 1772. When he was a mere lad 
his parents emigrated to the western part of 
Pennsylvania, and at the age of eighteen 
he volunteered in Gen. Harmar's expedition 
against the Miami Indians, in which he dis- 
tinguished himself by many acts of bravery. 
Subsequently he acted as scout in the warfare 
with the Indians in Ohio and Rentucky, and 
after the cessation of hostilities, in 1794, set- 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



139 



tied near Chillicothe, Ohio, where he became 
the possessor of large tracts of real estate. 
For some years after settling in Ohio Gov. 
McArthur followed the profession of civil engi- 
neer, later he became interested in political 
matters and in 1 805 was elected to the lower 
house of the Ohio legislature. In 1808 he was 
appointed major-general of the territorial mili- 
tia, and at the beginning of the war of 18 12 
was commissioned colonel of the First Ohio 
volunteers. He was second in command at 
Detroit, when that ill-fated post was surren- 
dered to the British by Gen. Hull, and it is 
stated that so great was his chagrin and anger 
at the capitulation that he tore off his epau- 
lettes and broke his sword in a fit of indigna- 
tion. Gov. McArthur was commissioned brig- 
adier-general in 1 8 1 3, and upon the resigna- 
tion of Gen. William Henry Harrison the year 
following, he succeeded to the command of 
the western army. He planned the conquest 
of Canada, crossed the Saint Clair river in 
1 814 with a strong force, and after consider- 
able manuvering returned to Detroit by way of 
Saint Thomas, and discharged his force at 
Sandwich the latter part of the aforesaid year. 
In the meantime, 1S13, he had been elected 
by the democrats to a seat in the congress of 
the United States, but declined to leave the 
army, remaining with the command until hon- 
orably discharged June 15, 1815. On leaving 
the army Gov. McArthur was returned to the 
state legislature, and during the years 18 16-17 
served as commissioner to negotiate treaties 
with the Indians, by which their lands in Ohio 
were ceded to the general government in 18 18. 
From 181 7 to 18 19 he was again a member of 
the lower house of the legislature, of which he 
was made speaker, and in 1822 was elected 
to congress on the democratic ticket and served 
as a member of that body from December 1, 
1823, till March, 1825. In 1830 he was 
elected governor of Ohio, which position he 



filled very acceptably for one term, and in 
1832 was again a candidate for congress, but 
lost the election by a single ballot. 

The record of Gov. McArthur, both mili- 
tary and civil, is without a blemish, and he 
will ever be remembered as one of the leading 
soldiers and officers of the great commonwealth 
of Ohio. While governor he suffered severe 
injuries from an accident, and never entirely 
recovered from the effects of the same. He 
died near Chillicothe, on the 28th day of 
April, 1839. 



BOBERT LUCAS, the immediate suc- 
cessor of Duncan McArthur, was born 
in Shepherdstown, Va., April 1,1781, 
and was a direct descendant of Will- 
iam Penn, the founder of the commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania. His father bore a distin- 
guished part in the war of the Revolution, 
serving thoughout that struggle as captain in 
the American army, and was a trusted friend 
of Gen. Washington. Robert Lucas spent his 
youthful years in his native state, and about 
the beginning of the present century removed 
to Ohio, where in due time he became major- 
general of the state militia. Subsequently he 
was commissioned captain in the Ninteenth 
United States infantry, and in February, 181 3, 
became lieutenant-colonel of the same, serving 
as such until June of the same year, when he 
resigned. Immediately after leaving the gov- 
ernment service Mr. Lucas was made brigadier- 
general of Ohio militia, and as such served from 
July, 18 1 3, till the following September, in 
defense of the frontier. In 1 8 1 4 he was elected 
to the Ohio legislature, in the deliberations of 
which he took a prominent part, and in 1832 
presided over the democratic national conven- 
tion which nominated Andrew Jackson for a 
second term. In 1S32 General Lucas was 
elected governor of Ohio, was re-elected in 



140 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



1834, and in 1S38 was made first territorial 
governor of Iowa, at which time the now state 
of that name was erected into a territory, in- 
cluding Minnesota and the Dakotas, and De- 
cember 28, 1846, as a state. He was a man 
of marked ability, possessing great energy, and 
was noted as a man of strong impulses and 
strict integrity. He died February 7, 1853, in 
Iowa City, at the advanced age of nearly sev- 
enty-two years. 




! OSEPH VANCE, governor of Ohio for 
one term, 1837-3S, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, born March 21, 1 781, in 
the county of Washington, of Scotch- 
Irish descent. While quite young he was taken 
by his parents to Kentucky, where he grew to 
manhood, after which he removed to Ohio, 
locating at Urbana, where he became a suc- 
cessful merchant and married Miss Mary 
Lemen, of that city. Subsequently he turned 
his attention to farming and stock raising, in 
which he also met with success and financial 
profit, in the meantime becoming conversant 
with public affairs. Gov. Vance, becoming 
quite popular, was elected to and served in the 
legislature in 1S12-16, and in 1822 was elected 
to the congress of the United States, in which 
he served by successive re-elections until 
March, 1835. Originally Gov. Vance was a 
democrat, and as such was elected to the 
aforesaid offices, but later he became a whig, 
"which party sent him to congress in 1842. He 
served through two terms, during one of them 
as chairman of the committee on claims. In 
the meantime, 1836, he was elected governor, 
and as chief executive of the commonwealth 
his record will compare favorably with those of 
his illustrious predecessors and successors. He 
was a delegate to the whig national conven- 
tion of 1848, and while attending the consti- 
tutional convention of 1850 was stricken with 



paralysis, from which he suffered extremely 
until his death, August 24, 1852, near the city 
of Urbana. 




■VINSON SHANNON, the eleventh 
governor of Ohio whom the people 
elected, was born February 24, 1803, 
in Belmont county, and was the first 
white child born in Mount Olivet township, 
that county. He was also the first governor 
of Ohio who was a native of the state. His 
parents crossed the Alleghany mountains from 
Pennsylvania and settled in Belmont county, 
Ohio, in 1802. In January of the next year 
the father of the future governor, whose name 
was George Shannon, and who had settled on 
a farm, upon his arrival in that county went 
out hunting. Late in the day, while returning 
home, he lost his way, became bewildered and 
wandered round and round, finally sitting down 
by a large maple tree and freezing to death. 
His tracks were plainly visible next morning 
in the deep snow that had fallen during 
the night. 

Upon the farm his father had selected 
young Wilson Shannon was reared. When 
fifteen years old he attended the Ohio univer- 
sity at Athens, remaining one year, and for 
two years afterward was a student at the 
Transvlvania university at Lexington, Ky. 
Returning home, he began the study of law in 
the office of Charles Hammond and David 
Jennings, completing his studies with them in 
Saint Clairsville, which town became the 
county seat. There he practiced for eight 
years. In 1832 he was the democratic nomi- 
nee for congress, but was defeated by a small 
majority. In 1834 he was elected prosecuting 
attorney, and was so assiduous in the perform- 
ance of his duties that his party elected him 
governor of the state in 1838 by a majority of 
3,600. At the close of his first term he was 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



141 



again a candidate, but was defeated by his 
opponent, Thomas Corwin, the whig candi- 
date, who was opposed to slavery, while Gov. 
Shannon, together with the entire democratic 
party, favored it. The most remarkable thing 
about this election was that the democratic 
candidate for president carried the state by 
about 25,000 majority. Gov. Shannon then 
returned to Belmont county to the practice of 
the law. In 1842 he was again elected gov- 
ernor of the state over Gov. Corwin, both of 
whom during the campaign had thoroughly 
canvassed the entire state, as they had done 
in 1840. 

In the spring of 1843 President Tyler 
offered Gov. Shannon the appointment of 
minister to Mexico, which he accepted, resign- 
ing his governorship and going to the city of 
Mexico, where he remained two years, when 
he was compelled to return home, because 
Mexico, on account of difficulties between the 
two countries over the annexation of Texas to 
the Union, severed all diplomatic relations 
with the United States. After being then en- 
gaged for several years in the practice of the 
law, Gov. Shannon was elected to congress by 
a majority of 1,300. In congress, by the man- 
ner in which he performed his duties, he 
attracted the attention of President Pierce, 
and was appointed territorial governor of 
Kansas, the most difficult position he had tried 
to fill. The contest on the soil of Kansas was 
more bitter and persistent than anywhere in 
the country, both pro-slavery and anti-slavery 
partisans being determined to carry out their 
own views in that state. It was therefore 
impossible for any man to preserve peace 
within her borders, especially as the weight of 
the administration at Washington was in favor 
of the pro-slavery party. Shannon, therefore, 
after fourteen months as governor in Kansas, 
was superseded by John W. Geary, who gave 
but little better satisfaction than had Gov. 



Shannon. The following year Gov. Shannon 
removed his family to Lecompton, Kans., the 
capital, and began the practice of the law in 
that turbulent state. His reputation soon 
gained for him a very large and profitable 
practice, as there was much litigation under 
the pre-emption laws of the United States. 

When Kansas was admitted to the Union, 
Topeka became the capital, Lecompton rap- 
idly declined, and Gov. Shannon removed his 
office and residence to Lawrence, where he 
resided until his death, highly regarded by all 
who knew him as having been a faithful public 
servant, and as a most conscientious man. 
His death occurred in September, 1877. 




HOMAS CORWIN, the twelfth gov- 
ernor of Ohio elected by the people, 
was born in Bourbon county, Ky., 
July 29, 1794. In 1798 his father, 
Matthias Corwin, who subsequently became a 
judge, removed to what afterward became 
Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio, and there, in 
a log school-house, taught by a school teacher 
named Dunlevy, young Corwin obtained what 
was then considered a thorough English edu- 
cation. When he was seventeen years old he 
drove a wagon-load of provisions for the army 
to the headquarters of Gen. Harrison, and this 
event had a potential influence upon his sub- 
sequent career. In 1817, after having studied 
law one year, he was admitted to practice, and 
in March, 18 18, was elected prosecuting attor- 
ney of his county. In 1822 he was elected to 
the legislature, having become by this time a 
well-read lawyer and a fluent speaker. Re- 
turning to his law practice he was again elected 
prosecuting attorney. In 1829 he was again 
elected to the Ohio legislature, and the follow- 
ing year to congress on the whig ticket. By 
subsequent re-elections he was kept in congress 
for ten years. In 1840 he was elected gov- 



142 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



ernor of Ohio, serving one term. In 1845 he 
was elected to the United States senate, and 
discharged his duties there with great ability and 
faithfulness until 1 850. It is on his attitude 
while in this body that his memory will be per- 
petuated to posterity, for he showed the great- 
est courage imaginable, and took the true 
ground in reference to the war with Mexico, 
which is now generally recognized as a wholly 
unnecessary and unwarranted war, begun with- 
out proper authority from congress, and solely 
for the purpose of conquest, in order that 
slavery might be extended into free territory. 
His speech against that war was bold, pa- 
triotic and high-toned, and it is probable that 
had he subsequently been consistent in the 
attitude he then assumed his party would have 
made him its candidate for the presidency in 
1852, but he became an advocate of the Wil- 
mot proviso, which by many is believed to 
have sealed his political career, so far as 
national promotion is concerned. For his ac- 
tion, however, in connection with this proviso, 
he was appointed, by President Fillmore, sec- 
retary of the United States treasury, a position 
which he held until 1852, when he resigned, 
and returned to private life among the hills of 
Warren county. 

Not long afterward he opened a law office 
in Cincinnati, and was again elected to con- 
gress in 1858 and i860. By President Lincoln 
he was appointed minister to Mexico, and on 
April 11, 1 86 1, he embarked for Vera Cruz, 
whence he went to the city of Mexico, where 
he served his country efficiently until the close 
of the war, returning to the United States in 
April, 1S65, opening a law office in Washington, 
D. O, but had no more than settled down to 
practice there than he was stricken with apo- 
plexy, and died after an illness of three days. 

While he was in congress he never rose to 
speak unless he had something to say; hence 
he always commanded the attention of that 



branch in which he was serving. His great- 
ness in oratory is beyond question, his patriot- 
ism no one ever doubted, and in his private 
life, from boyhood until his death, every one 
recognized the integrity and purity of his char- 
acter, which, during his whole public career, 
took on the form of the highest sense of honor, 
and through which he always maintained his 
reputation among his countrymen. 

November 13, 1822, he married Miss Sarah 
Ross, a sister of Hon. Thomas R. Ross, who 
served three terms in congress. By his mar- 
riage he had no children, so that he left noth- 
ing to his country but his labor therefor and 
his great and his everlasting fame. 




HOMAS WELLES BARTLEY, who 
succeeded Gov. Wilson Shannon as 
governor of Ohio, upon that gentle- 
man's resignation, as mentioned in his 
life above inserted, was born February 11, 
1812, at the home of his parents, in Jefferson 
county, Ohio. His ancestry emigrated from 
Northumberland county, England, in 1724, 
and settled in Londoun county, Va., but sub- 
sequently removed to Fayette county, Pa. , 
where his father, Mordecai Bartley, was born. 
His mother was Elizabeth Welles, and Gov. 
Bartley was named Thomas Welles, from her 
father, Thomas Welles, of Brownsville, Pa. 
Having received a liberal education under his 
father's care and guidance, and having grad- 
uated with the degree of bachelor of arts 
from Washington & Jefferson college, a Pres- 
byterian institution of learning located at 
Washington Pa., and founded in 1802, Mr. 
Bartley studied law in Washington, D. C, 
and was licensed to practice at Mansfield, 
Ohio, in 1834. The following year he had 
conferred upon him by his alma mater the 
honorary degree of master of arts. Having 
taken a high position at the bar he was elected 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



H3 



attorney-general of Ohio and served as such 
four years; being afterward appointed United 
States district attorney, he served in that po- 
sition also four years. Subsequently he was 
elected to the lower house of the general as- 
sembly of the state, served therein one term, 
and was then elected to the state senate, in 
which he served four years. While president 
of the senate of Ohio, in 1844, he became 
governor of the state, through the resignation 
of Gov. Shannon, who had been appointed, 
by President Tyler, minister to Mexico, and 
he administered the affairs of the office until 
he was succeeded therein by his father, Mor- 
decai Bartley, in December of that year. 

In 1 85 1 he was elected judge of the su- 
preme court of the state, served two terms in 
this high position, and then resumed the prac- 
tice of the law, in Cincinnati, continuing there, 
thus engaged, for several years, when, owing 
to the ill health of his family, he removed, in 
1869, to Washington, D. C., where he followed 
his profession until his death. 

Gov. Bartley was a sound attorney, a faith- 
ful public official, a wise judge and a most 
courteous gentleman, and his removal to the 
capital of the nation placed him in a field 
where he enjoyed full scope for the exercise of 
his powers, untrammeled by local politics, for 
in that city, where the people have no vote, 
politics does not enter into their business and 
their profession as it does elsewhere in the 
United States. Gov. Bartley is well remem- 
bered by many of the leading men of the state. 




ORDECAI BARTLEY, who suc- 
ceeded his son Thomas W. Bartley 
as governor, was born in Fayette 
county, Pa., December 16, 1783. 
He was reared to manhood on his father's 
farm, attended school at intervals during his 
minority, and in 1809 moved to Ohio. He 



tendered his services to the government in the 
war of 1812, served as captain and adjutant 
under Gen. William Henry Harrison, and on 
leaving the army settled, in 18 14, in Richland 
county, where he remained until his removal 
to the city of Mansfield in 1834. For some 
years Mr. Bartley was engaged in mercantile 
pursuits in Mansfield, but previous to locating 
there, had served as a member of the Ohio 
state senate, to which he was elected in 18 17. 
In 18 18 he was chosen, by the legislature, 
registrar of the land office of Virginia Mili- 
tary school-lands, which position he held until 
1823, when he resigned in order to take his 
seat in the congress of the United States, to 
which he had been elected in the meantime. 
He served in congress until March, 1831, and 
in 1844 was elected, on the whig ticket, gov- 
ernor of the state, the functions of which office 
he discharged in a very creditable manner 
until 1846, declining a renomination and retir- 
ing to private life. After the nomination by 
the whigs for governor of Mordecai Bartley, the 
democrats in their convention, in the same 
year, came within one or two votes of placing 
his son Thomas once again in the field as his 
opponent. Gov. Bartley was very decided in 
his opposition to the Mexican war, but when 
the president issued a call for troops, he 
promptly responded and superintended the 
organization of the Ohio forces in person. 
Politically Gov. Bartley affiliated with the 
whigs until the disruption of that party, after 
which he espoused the cause of the republican 
party. He died in the city of Mansfield Oc- 
tober 10, 1 770. 



*ILLIAM BEBB, lawyer and judge, 
the fourteenth governor elected by 
the people of Ohio, was born in 
Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1804, and 
died at his home in Rock River county, 111., 




144 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



October 23, 1873. His father emigrated from 
Wales, Great Britian, in 1795, and first located 
in the Keystone state. Traveling across the 
mountains to the valley of the Miami on foot, 
he purchased in the neighborhood of North 
Bend an extensive tract of land, returned to 
Pennsylvania and married Miss Robert, to whom 
he had been engaged in Wales, and, with his 
bride, riding in a suitable conveyance, again 
crossed the mountains and settled on his land 
in what was then but a wilderness. He was a 
man of sound judgment, and, in common with 
many of his countrymen, of a joyous and ever 
hopeful disposition. His wife was a lady of 
culture and refinement, and her home in the 
valley of the Miami, with few neighbors except 
the wild, unshorn, and half-naked savages, 
was a great change from her previous life. 
There were of course no schools there to send 
her children to, and this was a matter of grave 
concern to the parents of our subject, who was 
in consequence taught to read at home. In 
those years the Western Spy, then published 
in Cincinnati, and distributed by a private post- 
rider, was taken by his father, and William 
read with avidity its contents, especially the 
achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte. His 
education advanced no further until a peripa- 
tetic schoolmaster, passing that way, stopped 
and opened a school in the neighborhood, and 
under him our subject studied English, Latin 
and mathematics, working in vacation on his 
father's farm When twenty years old he him- 
self opened a school at North Bend and resided 
in the home of Gen. Harrison. In this em- 
ployment he remained a year, during which he 
married Miss Shuck, the daughter of a \yealthy 
German resident of the village. Soon after- 
ward he began the study of law while continu- 
ing his school, and as a teacher was eminently 
successful, and his school attracted pupils from 
the most distinguished families of Cincinnati. 
In 1 S3 1 he rode to Columbus on horseback. 



where the supreme court judges examined him 
and placed him in the practice of the state. He 
then removed to Hamilton, Butler county, and 
opened a law office, where he continued quietly 
and in successful practice fourteen years. Dur- 
ing this period he took an active interest in 
political affairs, and advocated during his first 
(called the " Hard Cider ") campaign, the claims 
of Gen. Harrison, and no less distinguished 
himself during that "Tippecanoe and Tyler, 
too, " campaign, in which the persons indicated 
were successful, and the whigs in 1840, for the 
first time, succeeded in electing their candi- 
dates. Six years afterward he was elected 
governor of the state, and the war with Mexico 
placed him, as the governor of Ohio, in a very 
trying position. As a whig he did not person- 
ally favor that war, and this feeling was greatly 
entertained by the party who made him their 
leader in the state, but he felt that the ques- 
tion was not one of party but of cordial support 
of the general government, and his earnest 
recognition of this fact eventually overcame 
the danger that had followed President Polk's 
proclamation of war. His term of office 
(1846-48) was distinguished by good money, 
free schools, great activity in the construction 
of railroads and turnpikes; the arts and in- 
dustry generally were well revived, and high 
prosperity characterized the whole state. 

In 1844 Gov. Bebb purchased 5,000 acres 
of land in Rock River county, 111., of which 
the location was delightful and the soil rich; 
500 acres were wooded and constituted a 
natural park, while the remainder was pasture 
of the best quality, with a stream of water fed 
by perpetual springs. No man of moderate 
ambition could desire the possession of a more 
magnificent portion of the earth's surface. 
Three years after making this purchase he re- 
moved to it, taking with him fine horses, and 
a number of the choicest breeds of cattle, and 
entered upon the cultivation of this fine prop- 



QOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



145 



erty. Five years afterward he visited Great 
Britain and the continent of Europe. In the 
birth-place of his father he found many de- 
sirous to immigrate to America, and encourag- 
ing the enterprise a company was formed and 
a tract of 100,000 acres purchased for them in 
east Tennessee, where he agreed to preside 
over their arrangements in the settlement of 
this land. In 1856 a party of the colonists 
arrived on the land and Gov. Bebb resided 
with them until the war of the Rebellion began, 
when he left the state with his family. The 
emigrants, discouraged by the strong pro- 
slavery sentiment, scattered and settled in va- 
rious parts of the northern states. 

On the inauguration of President Lincoln 
Gov. Bebb was appointed examiner in the pen- 
sion department at Washington, and held this 
position until 1866, when he returned to his 
farm in Illinois and the peaceful pursuits of 
agriculture. His scale of farming was the cul- 
tivation of 2,000 acres in a season, while an- 
other 1,000 formed his cattle pasture. He 
took an active part in the election of Gen. 
Grant, and the first sickness of any conse- 
quence he ever experienced was an attack of 
pneumonia following an exposed ride to his 
home from Pecatonica, where he had addressed 
the electors. From this he never recovered, 
and although he spent the following winter in 
Washington, occupied mainly as a listener to 
the debates in the senate, he felt his vital forces 
declining. Returning home the next summer, 
and feeling that he was no longer able to su- 
perintend his farm operations, he resided at 
Rockford until his death. 



EABURY FORD, the fifteenth gov- 
ernor of Ohio elected by the people, 
was born in Cheshire, Conn., in 1S02. 
John Ford, his father, was a native 
of New England, but of Scotch descent, while 




his mother, Esther Cook, was of English 
Puritan ancestry. She was -a sister of Nabbie 
Cook, the wife of Peter Hitchcock, the first 
chief justice of Ohio. In 1805, John Ford 
explored the Western Reserve in search of 
lands and a home in the west, purchasing 
2,000 acres in what is now the township of 
Burton, Geauga county, Ohio, and removing to 
this land in the fall of 1807. Seabury was 
then but five years old, but even then gave in- 
dications of superior intelligence. He pre- 
pared for college at the academy in Burton, 
entering Yale college in 1821, in company with 
another young Ohioan, named D. Witter, they 
two being the first young men from Ohio to 
enter Yale. Graduating from Yale in 1825, 
he then began the study of the law in the 
office of Simon W. Phelps, of Painesville, 
completing his course in the office of his uncle. 
Judge Peter Hitchcock, in 1827. Being ad- 
mitted to practice he opened an office in Bur- 
ton, and grew rapidly in popular favor. He 
was always interested in military affairs, in ag- 
ricultural pursuits and in politics, and was in 
1835 elected by the whigs to the legislature 
from Geauga county. Being twice re-elected, 
he served three terms, during the latter term 
acting as speaker of the lower house. In 1841 
he was elected to the state senate from Cuya- 
hoga and Geauga counties, and remained a 
member of that body until 1844, when he was 
again elected to the lower house. In 1S46 he 
was again elected to the senate and was chosen 
speaker of that body. In 1848 he was elected 
governor by a small majority, retiring at the 
close of his term to his home in Burton, much 
broken in health. On the Sunday after reach- 
ing his home he was stricken with paralysis, 
from which he never recovered. 

During twenty years of his life he was an 
honored member of the Congregational church, 
and was always a highly respected citizen. As 
a representative of the people he was faithful 



U6 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



to their interests, and was possessed of the 
most rigid integrity. A private letter, pub- 
lished in a Cleveland, Ohio, paper, said of him, 
in 1839, that he was one of the most useful 
men in the legislature and that in a few years 
he had saved the state millions of dollars. 

September 10, 1828, he married Miss Har- 
riet E. Cook, a daughter of John Cook, of 
Burton, by whom he had five children, three 
of whom reached mature age, as follows: 
Seabury C. , George H., and Robert N. Gov. 
Ford died May 8, 1S55. 



SEUBEN WOOD, the successor of 
Seabury Ford, was born in Rutland 
county, Yt., in the year 1792. He 
was reared to manhood in his native 
state, served with distinction in the war of 1 8 1 2 
as captain of a company of Vermont volun- 
teers, and afterward studied law and began the 
practice of his profession in Cleveland, Ohio. 
From 1S25 till 1828 Mr. Wood served in the 
state senate; in 1830 was appointed president- 
judge of the Third district, and in 1833 was 
elected associate judge of the state supreme 
court, which office he held until 1845. 

In 1848 Mr. Wood was the democratic 
nominee for the governorship, to which office 
he was elected by a handsome majority, and 
with such ability and satisfaction did he dis- 
charge his official functions that in 1850 he 
was chosen his own successor, being the first 
governor under the new constitution. Gov. 
Wood was prominently spoken of in 1852 as 
an available presidential candidate, but the 
party, while admitting his fitness for the 
high position, finally united upon Franklin 
Pierce. In addition to the honorable positions 
above mentioned, Gov. Wood served eighteen 
months as United States consul at Valpa- 
raiso, Chili, resigning at the end of that time and 
retiring to private life. The death of this 



eminent jurist and statesman occurred in Rock- 
port, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, October 2nd, 
1864, in his seventy -second year. 



^y W I LLIAM MEDILL, the seventeenth 
m B governor of Ohio elected by the 

\_3^/^ people, was born in New Castle 
county, Del., in 1801. He gradu- 
ated from Delaware college in 1825, and stud- 
ied law with Judge Black, of New Castle city. 
Removing to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1830, he 
began there the practice of the law, being regu- 
larly admitted to the bar by the supreme court 
in 1832. In 1835 he was elected to the lower 
house of the general assembly from Fairfield 
county, and served several years with great 
ability. In 1838 he was elected to congress 
from the counties of Fairfield, Perry, Morgan 
and Hocking, and was re-elected in 1840, 
serving to the satisfaction of his constituents. 
In 1841; he was appointed by President Polk 
second assistant postmaster-general, perform- 
ing his duties with marked ability. The same 
year he was appointed commissioner of Indian 
affairs, and as such commissioner introduced 
many needed reforms. Indeed, he was one 
of the few men holding office under the gov- 
ernment of the United States who have treated 
the unfortunate sons of the forest with any 
semblance of justice. Both these offices he 
held during President Polk's administration, at 
its close returning to Ohio and resuming the 
practice of the law. In 1849 he was elected 
a member of the constitutional convention that 
gave us the present constitution of the state of 
Ohio, serving with impartial ability as presid- 
ing officer of that body. In 1851 he was 
elected lieutenant-governor, and in 1853 as 
the second governor under the new constitution. 
In 1857 he was appointed by President Bu- 
chanan first controller of the United States 
treasury, holding that office until March 4, 1861, 



GOVERNQRS^OF QHLCL 



147 



when he retired to private life in Lancaster, 
Ohio, holding no office afterward. 

Gov. Medill was a man of great ability, a 
true patriot, of spotless character, a faithful 
friend and an incorruptible public servant. He 
never married, and died at his residence in 
Lancaster, Ohio, September 2, 1865. 



•""V*ALMON P. CHASE, the eighteenth 
*\^^%T governor of Ohio elected by the peo- 

h^_J pie, was born at Cornish, N. H., Jan- 
uary 13, 1808. His father, Ithaman 
Chase, was descended from English ancestry, 
while his mother was of Scotch extraction. 
Ithaman Chase was a farmer, was a brother of 
the celebrated Bishop Philander Chase, and 
died when his son, Salmon P., was yet a lad. 
In 1 8 1 5 his father removed his family to 
Keene, Cheshire county, N. H., where young 
Salmon received a good common-school edu- 
cation. Bishop Chase, having removed to 
Ohio, invited his young nephew to the state, 
and in Worthington, Franklin county, he pur- 
sued his studies preparatory to entering col- 
lege, becoming a student at Dartmouth in 
1825, and graduating in 1826. He then went 
to Washington, D. C, where for some time he 
taught a classical school, which did not prove 
successful. For this reason he made applica- 
tion to an uncle of his, in the United States 
senate, to secure for him a position in one of 
the government offices, but was met with the 
reply from that uncle that he had already 
ruined two young men in that way, and did 
not intend to ruin another. Young Chase then 
secured the patronage of Henry Clay, Samuel 
L. Southard and William Wirt, who placed 
their sons under his tuition, and he in the 
meantime studied law with William Wirt. 

In 1830, having been admitted to the bar, 
he settled down in Cincinnati to the practice 
of the law, but meeting for some years with 



indifferent success, he spent his leisure time in 
revising the statutes of Ohio, and introduced 
his compilation with a brief historical sketch 
of the state. This work, known as Chase's 
Statutes, in three octavo volumes, proved of 
great service to the profession, and its sale was 
so great a success that his reputation as a 
lawyer of ability was at once established. 

In 1834 he became solicitor of the branch 
bank of the United States in the city of Cin- 
cinnati, and soon afterward of one of the city 
banks, and in 1837 he distinguished himself 
by defending a negro woman who had been 
brought by her master to Ohio, and who had 
escaped from his possession. This gave him 
considerable prominence as an abolitionist, and 
by some it was thought he had ruined his pros- 
pects, especially when he enhanced that repu- 
tation in the defense of James G. Birney, whose 
newspaper, the Philanthropist, had been de- 
stroyed by the friends of slavery. Mr. Chase 
had always looked upon things from the moral 
standpoint, believed ever in freedom, and that 
if Christ died for any man he died for all men, 
and hence Mr. Chase was always the friend of 
man. The position he took in the defense of 
slaves who had escaped to or were brought to 
free soil, was that by that act alone, even 
under the constitution of the United States, 
they obtained their freedom. 

In 1846 Mr. Chase, in the supreme court 
of the United States, defended Van Zandt 
(who was the original of John Van Trompe, in 
" Uncle Tom's Cabin "), who was prosecuted 
for harboring fugitive slaves, taking the ground, 
as before, that, even though the constitution 
contained a provision for the return of such 
fugitives, no legislative power on the subject 
had been granted to congress, and that there- 
fore the power to devise legislation thereon 
was left to the states themselves. The bold 
statements and forcible arguments of Mr. 
Chase in his management of such cases, 



148 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



alarmed the southern states, and ultimately 
led to the enactment of the fugitive slave law 
in 1850, as a portion of the compromise meas- 
ures of that period. 

In 1 84 1 Mr. Chase united with others op- 
posed to the further extension of slavery, in a 
convention for which he was the principal 
writer of the address to the people on that 
subject. He also wrote the platform for the 
liberty party when it nominated James G. 
Birney as its candidate for the presidency. In 
1842 he projected a convention of the same 
party in Cincinnati, the result of which was 
the passage of a resolution declaring the ur- 
gent necessity for the organization of a party 
committed to the denationalization of slavery. 
In 1848 Mr. Chase presided over the Buffalo 
free soil convention, which nominated Martin 
Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams for 
president and vice-president. On the 22d of 
February, 1849. Mr. Chase was elected to 
the United States senate by a coalition of 
democrats and free soilers, who had declared 
slavery to be an evil, but when the Baltimore 
convention in 1852 approved of the compro- 
mise measures of 1850 he withdrew from 
their ranks, and advocated the formation of an 
independent democratic party, which should 
oppose the extension of slavery. In 1855 Mr. 
Chase was elected governor of Ohio by the 
newly organized republican party by a ma- 
jority of 15,651 over Gov. Medill, and in 1857 
he was elected governor, the second time, over 
Henry B. Payne. 

At the national republican convention in 
i860 Mr. Chase received on the first ballot 
forty-nine votes, in a total of 375, and im- 
mediately withdrew his name. By President 
Lincoln he was appointed secretary of the 
treasury of the United States, holding this 
position until July, 1864, when he resigned. 
His management of the nation's finance was 
marked with consummate ability, and con- 



tributed largely to the success of the govern- 
ment in its efforts to suppress the Rebellion. 
In November, 1864, he was nominated by 
President Lincoln as chief justice of the 
United States, to succeed Chief Justice Tanty, 
who had then recently died, and he filled this 
great office until his death. 

In 1868 he permitted his name to go be- 
fore the democratic national convention as a 
candidate for the presidency, but received only 
four votes out of 663, Horatio Seymour of 
New York securing the nomination. The most 
valuabe public service rendered the nation by 
Mr. Chase, as secretary of the treasury, was 
the origination by him of the bill under which, 
in 1863, state and private banks became na- 
tional banks, and under which the govern- 
ment of the United States became responsible 
for the circulation .of national bank notes, 
the government being secured by a de- 
posit of bonds equal in amount to the pro- 
posed circulation, plus ten per cent. While 
this law was at first opposed by many public 
men, yet in time it won its way into their 
judgment long before Mr. Chase's death, and 
he had the satisfaction of realizing that its ad- 
vantages were such that the people of the 
United States were more greatly benefited 
by this than by any previous monetary meas- 
ure, as under it the money of the banks was 
made equally valuble in all parts of the United 
States. 

Mr. Chase was married three times, and of 
six children born to him, two accomplished 
daughters survived him at his death, which 
occurred of paralysis, May 7, 1S73. 



ar 



ILLIAM DENNISON, Jr., nine- 
teenth governor of Ohio, was born 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 23, 
1815. His father and mother emi- 
grated from New Jersey to Ohio, settled in the 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



149 



Miami valley about 1805, gave their son a 
liberal education, and he graduated from 
Miami university in 1835 with high honors in 
political science, belles lettres and history. 
After his graduation he became a law student 
in the office of Nathaniel C. Pendleton, father 
of Hon. George H. Pendleton, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1840. The same year he 
married a daughter of William Neil, of Co- 
lumbus, to which city he removed and applied 
himself with energy and diligence to the prac- 
tice of the law. In 1848 he was elected to 
the Ohio senate as a whig for the district com- 
posed of Franklin and Delaware counties. At 
that time the slavery question was a promi- 
nent one in politics, men taking positive posi- 
tions on one side or the other, and a desperate 
struggle was made throughout the state for the 
control of the general assembly. After failing 
by a small adverse majority to be elected 
president of the senate he was appointed to a 
leading position on a committe having in charge 
the revisal of the statutes, which had become 
in the opinion of most of the people a disgrace 
to the state, especially those laws which pro- 
hibited black men and mulattoes from gaining 
a permanent residence within the state, and 
from testifying in courts against white persons. 
Mr. Dennison warmly advocated the repeal of 
these laws, and with complete success. He 
was equally opposed to the extension of slaverv, 
with its blighting effects, into new territory. 
From 1850 to 1852 he was engaged in the 
practice of the law, and in the latter year, as 
a presidential elector, he cast his vote for 
Gen. Winfield Scott. From this time on for 
some years he took great interest in the sub- 
ject of railroads in the west, and was elected 
president of the Columbus & Xenia Railroad 
company, and was very active as a director of 
all railroads entering Columbus. In 1856 he 
was a delegate to the republican national con- 
vention at Pittsburg, and voted for Gen. John 



C. Fremont for president. In 1859 he was 
elected governor of Ohio by the republican 
party, and in his first message to the general 
assembly took the position that "The federal 
Union exists by solemn compact voluntarily 
entered into by the people of each state and 
thus they became the United States of- Amer- 
ica, e plaribus iiiium, and this being so, no 
state can claim the right to secede from or 
violate that compact." 

When the war was begun he exerted all the 
authority of his office to aid the general govern- 
ment to suppress the Rebellion, and as the first 
war governor of Ohio his name will go down 
to posterity as one of the most patriotic of men. 
When Gov. Magoffin, of Kentucky, telegraphed 
to President Lincoln that Kentucky would fur- 
nish no troops for such a wicked purpose as 
the subduing of the sister southern states, 
Gov. Dennison telegraphed that if Kentucky 
would not fill her quota, Ohio would fill it for 
her, and in less than two weeks, under the in- 
fluence of her patriotic governor, Ohio raised 
enough soldiers to fill the quota of three states, 
and it was not long before the attention of the 
entire country was directed to Ohio as the 
leading state in the suppression of the Rebel- 
lion, a position which she proudly maintained 
all through the war. The people of West 
Virginia owe to Gov. Dennison the fact of their 
separate existence as a state, the story of 
which is well known and too long for publica- 
tion here. 

At first Gov. Dennison opposed Sec. Chase's 
national banking system, but as its beneficial 
effects became apparent he gave it his unquali- 
fied support, and it is well known that Ohio 
took the lead in the establishment of national 
banks, a system of banking which, among its 
other features, has done much to cement the 
union of the states since the war. After his 
term of office as governor had expired he be- 
came a favorite speaker in defense of the Union. 



150 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



As a delegate to the national republican con- 
vention, in 1864, he did much to secure the 
renomination of Abraham Lincoln, and suc- 
ceeded Montgomery Blair as postmaster-gen- 
eral, but resigned his office when President 
Johnson had defined his "policy." For several 
years after this Gov. Dennison lived in retire- 
ment, but was called on by President Grant, 
in 1875, to act as one of the commissioners of 
the District of Columbia, a position which he 
filled until 1878. 

By his marriage to Miss Neil he became the 
father of three children, the first-born dying in 
infancy, and the others being named Neil and 
Elizabeth. He died June 15, 1882, respected 
by all people as an able, patriotic and good man. 



^V^V AVID TOD, Ohio's twentieth elect- 
I ed governor, was born in Youngs- 
/^^.J town, Mahoning county, February 21, 
1805, received a good literary educa- 
tion, and after studying for the legal profession 
was admitted to the bar in the year 1827. He 
practiced about fifteen years at Warren, where 
his talents soon won him recognition among 
the leading lawyers of the northeastern part of 
the state, and while a resident of Warren was 
elected, in 1838, a member of the state senate. 
Gov. Tod soon took high rank as a successful 
politician, made a brilliant canvass for Martin 
Van Buren in 1840, and in 1844 was nominated 
for governor, but was defeated by a small ma- 
jority. One of the issues of the gubernatorial 
campaign of 1844 was "hard" and "soft" 
money, the democrats representing the former 
and the whigs the latter. In a speech David 
Tod, the democratic candidate, said that 
sooner than adopt " soft " or paper money, it 
would be better to go back to the Spartan idea 
of finance and coin money from pot-metal. 
His opponents seized upon this expression, 
dubbed him "pot-metal" Tod, and insisted 



that he was really in favor of coining pot-metal 
into currency. Medallions of Mr. Tod about 
the size of a silver dollar were struck off by his 
opponents by the thousands, being composed 
of pot-metal and circulated throughout the 
state. The "pot-metal" cry doubtless had 
much to do in bringing about his defeat by a 
slender margin, showing that small things are 
often effective in political campaigns, if the 
people happen to be in the humor to be influ- 
enced by them, which not infrequently hap- 
pens to be the case. In 1847 ne was ap- 
pointed, by President Polk, minister to Brazil, 
and represented his government until 1852, 
when he returned to the United States and 
took an active part in the campaign which re- 
sulted in the election of Franklin Pierce to the 
presidency. In i860 he was chosen delegate 
to the Charleston convention, of which he was 
made vice-president, and after the withdrawal 
of the southern wing of the democratic party, 
presided over that body until its adjournment. 
Upon the breaking out of the Civil war. Gov. 
Tod was earnest in his advocacy of a compro- 
mise between the north and south, but with 
the commencement of hostilities he became a 
firm supporter of the Union and did much to 
arouse enthusiasm in the prosecution of the 
struggle. In 1861 he was the republican nom- 
inee for governor, and at the ensuing election 
defeated his competitor by an overwhelming 
majority of 55,000 votes. He proved a very 
popular and capable executive, and during his 
term of two years, greatly aided the national 
administration. 



WOHN BROUGH, the twenty-first gov- 
m ernor of Ohio elected by the people 
A 1 of the state, was born at Marietta, 
Ohio, September 17, 1811. His father, 
John Brough, was a companion and friend of 
Blennerhassett, both coming to the United 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



151 



States in the same ship in 1S06. They re- 
mained in close friendship for many years, but 
Mr. Brough was not connected with the unfor- 
tunate complications between Blennerhassett 
and Aaron Burr. John Brough died in 1822, 
leaving his wife with five children, and with 
but small means of support. 

John Brough, who became governor of Ohio, 
was sent to learn the trade of printer in the 
office of the Athens Mirror before he was four- 
teen. After a few months he entered the Ohio 
university at Athens, reciting with his class in 
the day time, and setting type mornings and 
evenings to support himself. He was a good 
compositor and also a good student, and was 
distinguished for his skill in athletic games. 
Having completed his education at the univer- 
sity he began the study of law, but soon after- 
ward went to Petersburg, Va., to edit a news- 
paper. Returning to Marietta, Ohio, in 1831, 
he became proprietor of the Washington county 
Republican, a democratic paper, which he con- 
ducted until 1833, when he sold out, and in 
partnership with his brother, Charles H., pur- 
chased the Ohio Eagle, published at Lancas- 
ter, Ohio, and while he was a strong partisan, 
yet he had no patience for any kind of under- 
hand work in either party. In 1835 he was 
elected clerk of the Ohio senate, and retained 
this position until 1838. He was chosen rep- 
resentative from Fairfield and Hocking coun- 
ties in 1838, and the next year he was chosen 
by the legislature to fill the office of auditor 
of state. To this latter office he was again 
elected and served six years. Many evils then 
existed in the finances of the state, but, not- 
withstanding much opposition and many em- 
barrassments, he succeeded in finding remedies 
therefor, and the pecuniary affairs of the state 
were placed on a solid foundation. The re- 
ports he made upon the state's financial sys- 
tem are among the ablest and most valuable of 
our state papers. 



During his second term as auditor of state 
he purchased the Phcenix, a newspaper in Cin- 
cinnati, changed its name to the Enquirer and 
placed it in charge of his brother, Charles H., 
and at the close of that term removed to Cin- 
cinnati, opened a law office and wrote edi- 
torials for his paper. He also became a power- 
ful and effective public speaker, and while he 
was becoming a distinguished leader in the 
democratic party he was also becoming with 
equal rapidity thoroughly disgusted with party 
politics. In 1848 he retired from partisan 
strife, sold one-half interest in the Enquirer, 
and devoted his attention to railroads. Being 
elected president of the Madison & Indiana 
Railroad company, he removed to Madison, 
Ind., but later, at the invitation of one of his 
friends, Stillman Witt, of Cleveland, Ohio, 
he accepted the presidency of the Bellefon- 
taine Railroad company, which, under his man- 
agement, became one of the leading railroads 
of the country. In 1861 he removed to Cleve- 
land, and during the first two years of the war 
was untiring in his efforts to serve the govern- 
ment by the prompt transportation of troops to 
the front. 

In 1S63, that portion of the democrats of 
Ohio that was opposed to the further prose- 
cution of the war nominated C. L. Vallandig- 
ham for governor of the state, and Stillman 
Witt, having urged Mr. Brough to take an ac- 
tive part in politics, generously offering to per- 
form the duties of the president of the railroad, 
and permit Mr. Brough to draw the salary, 
Mr. Brough was at length nominated by the 
republican party as its candidate in opposition 
to Vallandigham. The result of the election 
was that Mr. Brough was elected by a majority 
of 101,099, the total vote being 471,643. It 
was at the suggestion of Gov. Brough that an 
extra force of 100,000 men was raised to aid 
Gen. Grant in his arduous campaign of 1 864, 
Ohio's quota of this 100,000 being 30,000. 



152 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



Within ten days Ohio raised 38,000 men, the 
result being due largely to Gov. Brough's ener- 
getic action, which called out the warmest 
commendation from both President Lincoln 
and Gen. Grant. 

While Gov. Brough lived to see the war 
brought to a successful close, yet he died -be- 
fore the close of his term, on August 29, 1865. 
He was of the honest men in politics, just in 
all his motives and acts. Though not a 
member of any church, yet he took a deep in- 
terest in religion and died in the hope of an 
eternal life. Gov. Brough was twice married — 
first to Miss Acsah P. Pruden, of Athens, 
Ohio, who died in 1838 at the age of twenty- 
five years, and second, to Miss Caroline A. 
Nelson, of Columbus, Ohio, whom he married 
in 1843 at Lewiston, Pa. By this latter mar- 
riage he had two sons and two daughters. 



a 



HARLES ANDERSON was put in 
nomination as lieutenant-governor of 
Ohio on the ticket in 1S63, with John 
Brough for governor and elected. The 
death of the latter transferred Col. Anderson 
to the office of governor in August of the same 
year. 

Charles Anderson was born June 1, 18 14, 
at the residence of his father, called Soldiers' 
Retreat, or Fort Nelson, near the falls of the 
Ohio, and which locality is about nine miles 
from the city of Loaisville, Ky. His father, 
Col. Richard Clough Anderson, a gentleman 
of high character, who was an aid-de-camp to 
Lafayette, removed to Soldiers' Retreat from 
Virginia in 1793, and there, in the capacity 
of surveyor-general of the Virginia military 
land grant, made his residence three years be- 
fore Kentucky was recognized as a territory. 
His mother was a relative of Chief-Justice 
Marshall, and his eldest brother, Richard 
Clough Anderson, represented his district in 



congress, was the first United States minister 
to the republic of Columbia and commissioner 
in congress at Panama. Robert Anderson, 
another brother of Gov. Anderson, was the 
Major Anderson commanding Fort Sumter in 
April, 1 86 1. 

Charles Anderson graduated from Miami 
university at Oxford, Ohio, in 1833, began the 
study of law in Louisville in his twentieth year 
in the office of Pirtle & Anderson, and in 1835 
was admitted to practice. He then went to 
Dayton, Ohio, and September 16th married 
Miss Eliza J. Brown, a young lady of that 
place. He remained a resident of Dayton, 
Ohio, varying his professional engagement by 
working the farm during the following ten 
years, having in that time been elected prose- 
cuting attorney of the county, and in 1 844 was 
elected to the state senate. His vote in this 
body in favor of bills to give to the colored men 
the privilege of testifying in court caused him 
the enmity of all the pro-slavery element among 
his constituency, but of this he took no notice. 
He resolved that at the close, of his term he 
would recuperate his health by a protracted 
sea voyage, and, descending to New Orleans, 
he took a vessel for Havana, and there took 
passage on a vessel bound for Europe, and 
with much advantage to his health returned 
by the way of Paris and Liverpool. Arriving 
in Cincinnati, he entered into a law partner- 
ship with Rufus King, Esq., and for eleven 
years practiced his profession. Then his 
original love of farming still influencing his 
life, he went to Texas in 1859, and found the 
people greatly excited on account of the polit- 
ical condition of the country. Demagogues 
had advocated dissolution of the Union there 
as elsewhere, and the establishment of a new 
southern states' government of a monarchical 
form, its foundation-stone human slavery, and 
under the protectorate of Great Britain, to 
which people their cotton would be exchanged 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



153 



for goods of British manufacture exclusively. 
He soon saw that this treasonable project had 
taken deep root among the ignorant masses of 
the south. There was no term that had been 
uttered that could be more opprobrious than 
abolitionist, and his well-known love of free- 
dom prompting him to boldly address the 
people, he did so at a great gathering at San 
Antonio November 20, i860, advocating, in 
the most stirring and patriotic language, the 
perpetuity of the national Union. Though the 
recipient subsequently of letters threatening his 
life, he continued to reside in San Antonio in 
spite of the forty-day resident act passed by 
the Confederate congress at Montgomery, Ala. , 
and was therefore confined as a political pris- 
oner in the guard-tent of Maclin's battery of 
artillery. By the assistance of two persons, 
who subsequently were maltreated for so assist- 
ing him, he escaped to the north. It was not 
reasonable to suppose that Mr. Anderson, born 
in Kentucky, and from infancy surrounded by 
and breathing the atmosphere of slavery, could 
have regarded that institution as it was looked 
upon by the millions who had not been simi- 
larly situated. Hence the original idea of the 
war, restoring the Union as it was, caused him 
to offer his services to Gov. Tod, and he was 
appointed colonel of the Ninety-third Ohio 
regiment, in command of which brave body of 
men he was seriously wounded in the battle of 
Stone River. After his term of service as 
lieutenant-governor and governor of Ohio he 
removed to a large iron estate on the Cumber- 
land river, in Lyon county, Ky. , where he 
spent the remainder of his life. 



>-j*ACOB DOLSON COX, the twenty-sec- 

M ond governor of Ohio elected by the 

{• J people, was born in Montreal, Canada, 

October 27, 1828, to which city his 

parents, who were natives of the United States, 



and who were then residents of New York, had 
gone for a temporary purpose, Mr. Cox being 
a master builder, and having in charge in Mon- 
treal the erection of the frame work, roofing, 
etc., of the church of Notre Dame. The fol- 
lowing year they returned to New York, where 
were spent the childhood days of the subject 
of this sketch. In 1846 he eatered Oberlin 
college, from which he graduated in 185 1, and 
in 1852 he removed to Warren, Ohio, where 
for three years he was superintendent of the 
high school. In the meantime he studied law 
and was admitted to the bar, and in 1859 he 
he was elected, from the Trumbull and Mahon- 
ing district, to the legislature, where throughout 
his term he was regarded as a "radical," not 
only on account of the section of the state from 
which he came, but also on account of his hav- 
ing married the daughter of President Finney 
of Oblerlin college. He took his seat in the 
senate on the first Monday in January, i860. 
After the enactment of the fugitive slave 
law of 1850 the state of Ohio passed a law 
providing penalties for carrying free blacks out 
of the state without first having recourse to 
judical proceedings. The democrats in the 
legislature earnestly desired to repeal this law, 
and Mr. Cox, as chairman of the judiciary com- 
mittee, made a minority report against its re- 
peal, to which report the support of the entire 
republican party was given. While Mr. Cox 
was not in favor of any unnecessarily harsh 
measures to grieve the southern states, yet he 
was always uncomprisingly in favor of support- 
ing the government in its efforts to suppress 
the Rebellion. Ten days after President Lin- 
coln's first call for troops, Mr. Cox was com- 
missioned, by Gov. Dennison, a brigadier-gen- 
eral of Ohio volunteers for the three months' 
service, and placed in command of Camp 
Jackson, which was established for the re- 
ception of troops. A larger camp being nec- 
essary, President Lincoln commissioned him 



154 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



brigadier-general of volunteers, and with 
the assistance of Gen. Rosecrans he laid out 
Camp Dennison. On the 6th of July, 1861, he 
was ordered by Gen. McClellan to take a posi- 
tion at the south of the Great Kanawha, whence 
he drove the rebels under Gen. Wise out of the 
valley of that river, and took and repaired the 
bridge at Gauley, and other bridges; and it is 
owing to the success of these early military 
maneuvers that West Virginia became an inde- 
pendent state. In August, 1862, he was as- 
signed to the army of Virginia under Gen. 
Pope, and when Gen. Reno fell succeeded to 
his command, that of the Ninth corps, which 
he commanded at the battle of Antietam, in 
which battle his troops so distinguished them- 
selves that he was appointed to a full major- 
generalship. On April 16, 1S63, Gen. Cox 
was in command of the district of Ohio, and 
also of a division of the Twenty-third army 
corps, with headquarters at Knoxville, Tenn. 
In the Atlanta campaign he led the Third di- 
vision of the Twenty-third army corps, and in 
the engagement at Columbus had entire com- 
mand, as he had also at Franklin, November 
30, where he felt the full force of Hood's at- 
tack. On reaching Nashville Gen. Thomas 
assumed command of the army, Gen. Scho- 
field of the Twenty-third corps, and Gen. Cox 
of his division — his division in this battle cap- 
turing an important rebel position and eight 
pieces of cannon. In January, 1865, Gen. 
Cox, with his division, performed important 
service in North Carolina, aiding in the cap- 
ture of Kingston, and then he united his forces 
with Sherman's army. Gen. Cox had charge 
of the details connected with the surrender of 
Gen. Johnston's soldiers. In July, 1865, he 
was placed in command of the district of Ohio, 
and while in charge of the discharge of Ohio 
soldiers was elected governor of the state, and 
was inaugurated January 15, 1866. Through- 
out the war Gen. Cox was steadily pro- 



moted, and won golden opinions from all pa- 
triots, but after the close of the struggle he 
supported President Johnson's " policy," which 
gave great dissatisfaction to loyal people. In 
1869 President Grant appointed him secretary 
of the interior, which position he resigned 
after a few months, and returned to Cincin- 
nati, where he was appointed receiver of the 
Toledo, Wabash & Western railroad, and re- 
sided temporarily at Toledo, where, in 1875, 
he was elected to congress from the Sixth dis- 
trict. He was appointed a member of the 
Potter committee, which investigated the man- 
ner in which the presidential election of 1876 
had been conducted in the "disputed states," 
South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. Sub- 
sequently he removed to Cincinnati, where 
he died. 



«V~\ UTHERFORD B. HAYES.— For a 

I ^Z sketch of the life of Rutherford B. 
P Hayes, the twenty-third governor of 
Ohio elected by the people and elec- 
ed to succeed himself, and also elected to 
succeed William Allen, the reader is referred 
to that portion of this work which is devoted 
to the lives of the presidents of the United 
States. 



eDWARD FOLLANSBEE NOYES, 
twenty-fourth governor of Ohio elect- 
ed by the people, was born in Hav- 
erhill, Mass., October 3, 1832. His 
parents, Theodore and Hannah Noyes, both 
died before he was three years old, and he was 
reared by his grandparents, Edward and Han- 
nah Stevens, who resided at East Kingston, 
Rockingham county, N. H. His- grandfather 
Stevens having died, he was taken when 
twelve years of age by his guardian, Joseph 
Hoyt, of Newton, N. H. For two years he 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



155 



worked on his guardian's farm in summer and 
attended schools in winter, and at fourteen he 
was apprenticed to the printer's trade in the 
office of the Morning Star at Dover, N. H., 
the organ of the Free Will Baptist church. 
In this office he remained four years. Though 
his apprenticeship required him to remain un- 
til he was twenty-one, yet his employer 
released him at eighteen, in order that he 
might secure an education. He prepared 
himself for college at the academy at Kingston, 
N. H., and entered Dartmouth college in 1853, 
graduating at that institution in 1857. In the 
winter of his senior year he began to read law 
in the office of Stickney & Tuck at Exeter, 
N. H., and before leaving Dartmouth he had 
become really an abolitionist. Being a good 
speaker, he was appointed by ihe republican 
state executive committee of New Hampshire to 
traverse the state in the interest of Gen. John 
C. Fremont for the presidency. The next win- 
ter he entered the law office of Tilden, Raridan 
& Curwen, and attended lectures on law at the 
Cincinnati Law school during the winter of 
1857—58, being admitted to the bar during the 
latter year, and not long afterward established 
himself in a profitable practice. Giving atten- 
tion to the political crises then impending, he 
became convinced that secession, if accom- 
plished, would finally disrupt the Union, and 
on the 8th of July, 1S61, converted his law 
office into a recruiting station, and was com- 
missioned major of the Thirty-ninth regiment 
Ohio volunteer infantry. On August 20, 1861, 
the Twenty-seventh and the Thirty-ninth regi- 
ments were transferred from the eastern to 
the western army, the latter being officered 
as follows: John Groesbeck, colonel; A. W. 
Gilbert, lieut. -colonel, and, as stated above, 
Edward F. Noyes, major. Early in 1862 this 
latter regiment joined the army of the Mis- 
sissippi, then commanded by Gen. Pope, and 
took part in the capture of New Madrid and 



Island No. 10. From that time until Gen. 
Pope was assigned to the command of the 
Potomac, Maj. Noyes was on that general's 
staff, and when the colonel and lieutenant-col- 
onel of the Thirty-ninth, as named above, re- 
signed, Maj. Noyes was commissioned colonel, 
and took command of his regiment in October, 
1862. In 1864 his regiment was one of those 
composing the First division of the Seven- 
teenth army corps, and on July 4, of that year, 
took part in the assault on Ruff's Mill, in which 
he was shot in the leg, which had to be am- 
putated on the field of battle. The operation 
not proving successful, the colonel was taken 
to Cincinnati, and operated on by Dr. W. H. 
Mussey, and in the following October he re- 
ported for duty to Gen. Hooker, who assigned 
him to the command of Camp Dennison. Upon 
the recommendation of Gen. Sherman he was 
promoted to the full rank of brigadier. 

He was soon afterward elected city solicitor 
of Cincinnati, and in 1871 was elected gov- 
ernor of Ohio by a majority of 20,000, while at 
the election of 1873, when he was again a can- 
didate, he was defeated by an adverse majority 
of 800. In the presidential campaign of 1876 
he was an active participant, and was later 
appointed by his old friend, President Hayes, 
minister to France. He remained in Paris 
four years, in the meantime, however, making 
an extensive tour through the countries along 
the Mediterranean sea for the purpose of inves- 
tigating the condition of the laboring classes, 
making an able report to the government. He 
resigned in 1881 and resumed his law practice 
in Cincinnati. He was very enthusiastic and 
cheerful in his disposition, and kindly in his 
manner. In February, 1863, on a leave of 
absence, he married Miss Margaret W. Proc- 
tor, at Kingston, N. H., with whom he be- 
came acquainted while in the academy in his 
youthful days. He died September 4, 1 890, 
nearly fifty-eight years of age. 



156 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 




>ILLIAM ALLEN, twenty-fifth gov- 
ernor of Ohio elected by the peo- 
ple, was born in Edenton, Chowan 
county, N. C, in 1807. His par- 
ents both died within a few months of each 
other before he was one year old, and he was 
cared for by an only sister, who soon afterward 
removed with her .husband to Lynchburg, Ya., 
taking young William with her. This sister 
was the wife of an itinerant Methodist minis- 
ter and the mother of Hon. Allen G. Thurman. 
She was a very superior woman, and was well 
fitted for the task of rearing two of Ohio's dis- 
tinguished statesmen, whose names are given 
above. About 1821 Mrs. Thurman, with her 
husband and family, removed to Chillicothe, 
Ohio, leaving her brother to attend an acad- 
emy at Lynchburg, Va., but he rejoined her 
two years later, and attended the academy in 
Chillicothe, and later read law in the office of 
Edward King, the most gifted son of Rufus 
King, of Revolutionary fame, and a popular 
statesman for many years. Having been ad- 
mitted to the bar in his twentieth year, he be- 
came a partner of his preceptor, and early in 
his career manifested that forensic ability to 
which he was mainly indebted for his success. 
This, together with his tall, commanding fig- 
ure and powerful, penetrating voice, attracted 
people to him, the latter giving him the name 
of the "Ohio Gong," and all together secured 
his nomination to congress, he being elected 
by the democrats in 1832, in a whig district, 
by a majority of one vote. While he was the 
youngest man in the Twenty-third congress, 
yet he was recognized as a leading orator, tak- 
ing part in the most important discussions in 
that body. 

In January, 1837, on what was called 
"Saint Jackson's Day," at a supper given in 
Columbus, Ohio, he made a speech which un- 
expectedly led to his election to the United 
States senate, to succeed Hon. Thomas Ewing. 



He remained in the senate twelve years, or 
until 1849, during which time he was at the 
full measure of his powers. 

In 1845 Senator Allen married Mrs. Erne 
(McArthur) Coons, a daughter of ex-Gov. Mc- 
Arthur, who had been, in 1830, elected gov- 
ernor of Ohio. She inherited from her father 
the old homestead, "Fruit Hill" farm, upon 
which Gov. Allen resided with his only daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Scott, his wife having died in Wash- 
ington soon after the birth of her daughter. In 
August, 1873, Mr. Allen was elected governor 
of Ohio, being the only man on the demo- 
cratic ticket not defeated. As governor he 
recommended the reduction of taxation and 
economy instate affairs. He was the first demo- 
cratic governor of Ohio after the war, and though 
his administration gave general satisfaction, he 
was defeated with the rest of the democratic 
ticket in 1875. It has been said of him that 
he originated the political catch-word, "Fifty- 
four forty, or fight," in reference to the 
boundary question between the United States 
and the British dominions, from which posi- 
tion the democratic party so ignominiously 
backed down. Gov. Allen died at Fruit Hill 
farm in 1879. He was a man of high charac- 
ter, cordial manners, and above all political 
chicanery of every kind, and his name will 
long be an honored one in American history. 




HOMAS L. YOUNG, ex-officio gov- 
ernor of Ohio, succeeding to the 
office by the election of Gov. R. B. 
Hayes to the presidency of the United 
States, taking possession of the office in Feb- 
ruary, 1877, was born December 14, 1832, on 
the estate of Lord Dufferin in the north of 
Ireland. Of Lord Dufferin it may perhaps be 
permissible, parenthetically, to remark that as 
governor-general of Canada, in 1874, he made 
a remarkable report on the loyalty of the peo- 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



157 



pie of Canada to the British government, which 
appeared to him so "wholesome and satisfac- 
tory." This estate of Lord Dufferin was in 
Down county, Ireland. When Mr. Young was 
twelve years old his parents brought him to 
this country, and he was educated in the com- 
mon schools of New York city. When he was 
sixteen years old he enlisted in the regular 
army, serving in all ten years. At the expira- 
tion of his enlistment he visited the home of 
his parents, in the northern part of Pennsyl- 
vania, on one of the upper tributaries of the 
Susquehanna river, where he engaged in the 
business of country merchant until 1859, when 
he removed to Cincinnati, and took charge of 
the house of refuge, a youths' reformatory in- 
stitution, which position he retained until the 
breaking out of the war of the Rebellion. 
Having, while in the regular army, spent sev- 
eral years among the people of the south, he 
knew that they had determined upon war, and 
in March, 1861, he wrote to Gen. Scott, whom 
he personally knew, offering to assist in organ- 
izing volunteers for the defense of the govern- 
ment. Gen. Scott thanked him for his loyalty, 
but expressed bis incredulity as to the southern 
people entertaining any such purpose. 

In August, 1 86 1, Mr. Young was commis- 
sioned a captain in Gen. Fremont's bod}' guard, 
serving in that capacity until the following 
January, when that organization was disbanded 
by Gen. Halleck. For some months after- 
ward Capt. Young was engaged in editing a 
democratic paper in Sidney, Ohio, in which he 
severely condemned the indecision manifested 
in the conduct of the war. In August, 1862, 
he was appointed to raise a company for the 
One Hundred and Eighteenth regiment Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and became the first major 
of the regiment. In Februarv, 1863, he was 
promoted to lientenant-colonel, and com- 
manded his regiment in the Tennessee cam- 
paign. In April, 1864, he was commissioned 



colonel of his regiment and served as such 
until the 4th of September following, when he 
was honorably discharged on account of phys- 
ical disability resulting from his services, • and 
exposures in the field. At the battle of Rq- 
saca, Ga., Col. Young led the first charge on, 
the enemy's works, the severity of the contest 
being indicated by the fact that he lost 1 16 
men out of 270 engaged. For this and other, 
acts of bravery the president brevetted hirn< 
brigadier-general of volunteers, March, 13, 1865.1 
Upon leaving the service he engaged in the 
study of law, and was admitted to the bar in 
April, 1865, being in the same month appointed 
assistant city auditor of, Cincinnati. In Oc- 
tober, 1865, he was elected to the Ohio house 
of representatives for Hamilton county, and in 
December, 186S, was appointed, by President 
Johnson, supervisor of internal revenue for the 
southern district of Ohio. This position he re- 
signed at the end of one year. For some time 
afterward he was engaged in the purchase and 
sale of real estate, and in 1871 was the only 
republican elected to the state senate from 
Hamilton county. In 1873 he formed a law 
partnership with Gen. H. B. Banning and 
Jacob McGarry, and in 1875 he was elected 
lieutenant-governor. Upon the resignation of 
Gov. Hayes he became governor, serving the 
remainder of the term. In 1878 he was elected 
to congress by the republicans of the second dis- 
trict, and died July 19, 1 888, thoroughly admired 
for his integrity of character and manliness. 



5>^\ ICHARD M. BISHOP, the twenty- 
I <^T sixth governor of Ohio, was born No- 
P vember 4, 18 12, in Fleming county, 
Ky. His parents, who were of Ger- 
man and English lineage, removed from Vir- 
ginia in 1 80c. They were members of the 
regular Baptist church, of which he also be- 
came a member in 1828. 



158 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



At this lime the Baptist churches in Ken- 
tucky were greatly excited in consequence of 
the criticisms made by Mr. Campbell, and his 
co-laborers, upon the religious corruption of 
the age. This excitement continued to in- 
crease in the immediate neighborhood of the 
Bishop family until 1832, when they and 
others were excluded from the Baptist church 
on account of " Campbellite heresy." Since 
then Mr. Bishop has been associated with 
the church of the Disciples or Christians. 
Mr. Bishop began his business career in Flem- 
ing county, Ky. , at the age of seventeen, and 
before he was twenty-one he became a part- 
ner in the store which he had entered as a 
clerk From 1838 to 184 1 he was engaged 
with his brother in the pork business, which 
proved unfortunate in consequence of the sud- 
den depression in prices, and the failure of the 
Mississippi banks, in which state they sold 
largely. They were compelled to suspend, 
but this temporary embarrassment did not dis- 
courage him, for he soon resumed business in 
the same place, where he continued until 1847. 
He then removed to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, 
where he established a branch house, his 
brother remaining at the old stand. In 1848 
he removed to Cincinnati and commenced the 
wholesale grocery business under the style 
of Bishop, Wells & Co. This firm continued 
until 1855, when the business was reorganized 
and conducted under the firm name of R. M. 
Bishop & Co. The firm was composed of 
himself and three sons, and at one time did 
the largest business in the city, the sales 
amounting in some years to nearly $5,000,- 
000. In April, 1857, he was nominated for 
council in the Second ward and was elected 
by a large majority. At the end of the second 
year he was elected presiding officer. In 
1859 he was elected mayor of Cincinnati by a 
handsome majority, holding the same office 
until 1 86 1, when he declined the renomination 



tendered him by each of the political par- 
ties. In January, i860, when the Union was 
threatened by the leaders of the Rebellion, 
the legislatures of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky 
and Tennessee visited Cincinnati to encourage 
each other to stand by the old flag. At a 
grand reception given them at Pike's opera 
house, Mayor Bishop delivered an address of 
welcome amid a storm of applause. In the 
September ensuing his Royal Highness, the 
Prince of Wales, visited Cincinnati at the in- 
vitation of the mayor and received from him 
a cordial welcome. In February, 1861, when 
President Lincoln was passing on his way to 
his inauguration through Cincinnati, he was 
received in a speech by the mayor. During 
his administration the laws were rigidly en- 
forced, of which the Sunday ordinance, and 
those against gambling houses, were notable 
examples. Liquor selling and various other 
forms of Sabbath desecration were in the main 
suppressed. He inaugurated, amid much op- 
position, most important reforms in the man- 
agement of the city prison, work-house and 
the police. 

Mr. Bishop has become widely known for 
his liberality and devotion to the Christian 
church. From 1859 to 1867 he was president 
of the Ohio State Missionary society, and was 
the successor of the late Dr. Alexander Camp- 
bell in the presidency of the general Christian 
Missionary conference, which office he held 
until 1875. He was president of the board of 
curators of Kentucky university from its or- 
ganization until 1S80, when he declined a re- 
election; he was also one of the curators of 
Bethany college; also for many years trustee 
of the McMicken university. He was director 
of the First National bank for many years, 
and of several other business enterprises, as 
well as philanthropic institutions. He was a 
member of the Ohio state constitutional con- 
vention held in 1873 and 1874, and was presi ■• 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



159 



dent of the great national commercial conven- 
tion held in Baltimore in 187 1. He was one 
of the prime movers in that great enterprise, 
the Southern railway, the building of which 
he so successfully managed, having been a 
trustee from the beginning, and the laborious 
work of obtaining charters for the road is 
largely his. 

In 1877 he was elected governor of Ohio 
by a majority of nearly 23,000 over the domi- 
nant party, and served two years with entire 
satisfaction to all parties. His first annual 
message was well received and complimented 
by the press generally. Upon his return to 
Cincinnati he was given a cordial and enthu- 
siastic reception at Lytle hall, where a large 
number of ladies and gentlemen had assembled 
to welcome him home. Since the expiration 
of his term as governor he has been urged by 
his friends to accept the nomination for various 
important offices, but always declined. 

Few men in the state can point to so many 
substantial benefits conferred upon society as 
the results of their single labors. Prompt de- 
cision, constant industry, sound judgment, and 
a desire to benefit his fellow-men, are his 
chief characteristics. 



aHARLES FOSTER, twenty-seventh 
governor of Ohio elected by the peo- 
ple, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, 
April 12, 1828. His parents, Charles 
W. Foster and wife, the latter of whom was a 
daughter of John Crocker, were from Massa- 
chusetts, reaching Seneca county, Ohio, in 1827. 
Charles Foster received only a common- 
school education, and went to Rome, now 
Fostoria, Ohio, when he was fourteen years 
old, where he was compelled to take charge of 
his father's store, and thus failed to secure a 
liberal education, which his father intended he 



should receive, and for which he had prepared 
himself at the Norwalk seminary. His success 
in the management of the store was very 
marked, and he soon became sole manager. 
The town of Fostoria, named from the Foster 
family, was the result of the consolidation of 
Rome and Risdon, which lay but a mile or two 
apart. In 1870 Mr. Foster was induced to 
accept the nomination for congress at the 
hands of the republicans of his district, and he 
was elected by a majority of 776 over Hon. 
E. F. Dickinson. In 1872 he was again elected 
to congress by a majority of 726 over Rush R. 
Sloane. In 1874 he was elected by a majority 
of 159 over Hon. George E. Seney, and in 
1876 he was elected by a majority of 271. In 
1878, the democratic party having secured a 
majority of the state legislature, in order to 
defeat Mr. Foster most outrageously gerry- 
mandered his district, and he was defeated by 
a majority of 1,255. I n 1879 he was elected 
governor of Ohio over Hon. Thomas Ewing, 
by a plurality of 17,129, and in 1881 he was 
again elected, by a plurality of 24,309, over 
John W. Buchwalter. 

Upon the death of the secretary of the 
United States treasury, William Windom, Mr. 
Foster was appointed his successor by Presi- 
dent Harrison, February 27, 1891, and served 
until the close of the Harrison administration, 
March 4, 1893. The successful adjustment of 
the four and one-half per cent, loan was one 
of the notable events of his first year's admin- 
istration of the treasury department of the 
government. Of the $50,869,200 of the four 
and one-half per cent, bonds, July 1, 1891, 
$25,364,500 were presented for continuance at 
two per cent., the rest being called in for re- 
demption. No other financial officer of the 
general government has ever negotiated a 
public loan at so low rate of interest. Since 
retiring from the national treasury, Mr. Foster 
has been engaged in arranging his own financial 



160 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



affairs, which were thrown into confusion, 
while he was in public office by those whom he 
had trusted. 



^^EORGE HOADLY, who was the 
■ f7\ twenty-eighth governor of Ohio, was 
\^^f born in New Haven, Conn., July 31, 
1826. He is the only son of George 
and Mary Ann (Woolsey) Hoadly'. Mary Ann 
Woolsey was a daughter of William Walton 
and Elizabeth (Dwight) Woolsey of New York, 
and she was a great-granddaughter of Jonathan 
Edwards, the famous New England theologian. 
She was a niece of President Dwight of Yale 
college, and the eldest daughter in a family 
containing among its members President Wool- 
sey of Yale college. Theodore Winthrop was 
her nephew and Sarah Woolsey, known in 
literature as "Susan Coolidge," her niece. 
George Hoadly, Sr. , was at one time mayor 
of New Haven, Conn., removed in 1830 to 
Cleveland, Ohio, and resided there the re- 
mainder of his life, serving as mayor of that 
city five terms, from 1832 to 1S37, and again 
one term, 1846-47. 

George Hoadly, the subject of this sketch, 
received his preliminary education in Cleve- 
land, and when fourteen years old was sent to 
the Western Reserve college at Hudson, Ohio, 
where he was graduated in 1844. He then 
spent one year in the Harvard law school 
under the tuition of Judge Story and Prof. 
Simon Greenleaf, and after studied a year with 
Charles C. Convers, of Zanesville, Ohio, then 
removed to Cincinnati and entered the office 
of Chase & Ball as a student. He was 
admitted to practice in 1847 and in 1849 be- 
came a member of the firm of Chase, Ball & 
Hoadly, the senior member of which was Sal- 
mon P. Chase. In 185 1 he was elected judge of 
the supreme court of Cincinnati, and in 1853 
formed a co-partnership with Edward Mills. 



In 1 85 5-56. he was city solicitor of Cincinnati, 
and in 1859 succeeded Judge W. Y. Gholson 
as judge of the new superior court, holding 
this office uutil 1866, when he resigned, in 
order to form the firm of Hoadly, Jackson & 
Johnson. He was a member of the constitu- 
tional convention of 1873-74, and served as 
chairman of the committee on municipal cor- 
porations. For eighteen years he was profes- 
sor in the law school at Cincinnati, trustee 
of the university, and of the Cincinnati mu- 
seum. He was one of the counsel in behalf of 
the board of education in its famous case of 
resistance to the attempt to compel Bible 
reading in the public schools, in which the 
victory was with the board. 

Originally a democrat, he left that party 
and became a republican on the question of 
slavery, but during the campaign of 1876 sup- 
ported Tilden as against Hayes. In 1877 he 
appeared as counsel before the electoral com- 
mission and argued in favor of the democratic 
electors from Florida and Oregon. In 1880 
he was temporary chairman of the democratic 
national convention which nominated W. S. 
Hancock for president. In 18S3 he was 
elected governor of Ohio, and in March, 1887, 
he removed to New York city, became the 
head of a law firm there, and has resided there 
ever since. 

In 185 1 he married Mary Burnet Perry, 
third daughter of Capt. Samuel Perry, one of 
the earliest settlers of Cincinnati. He and his 
wife have had three children, viz: George, 
Laura and Edward Mills. 



>-j*OSEPH BENSON FORAKER, ex-gov- 

3 ernor of Ohio and United States senator, 

/» 1 elect, was born near Rainsborough, 

Highland county, Ohio, July 5, 1846. 

His parents, who are still living, represent the 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



161 



agricultural class of the population of this 
country, and upon their farm he spent his 
earlier years. 

When the war of the Rebellion broke out 
young Foraker enlisted in company A, Eighty- 
ninth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, being 
then but sixteen years of age. With this regi- 
ment he served until after the fall of Atlanta, 
at which time, by successive promotions, he 
had risen to the rank of first lieutenant. Im- 
mediately after the fall of Atlanta he was 
detailed for service in the signal corps as a sig- 
nal officer on the staff of Maj.-Gen. Slocum, 
commanding the left wing of the army of 
Georgia. After the marches through Georgia 
and the Carolinas he was promoted brevet 
captain of United States volunteers, and as- 
signed to duty as aid-de-camp on the staff of 
Gen. Slocum, holding this position until he was 
mustered out of service at the close of the war. 

Returning home and resuming his studies, 
he graduated from Cornell university, Ithaca, 
N. Y. , in 1869. To gain time lost while in 
the service of his country in the army he read 
law while attending the university, and was 
admitted to the bar in Cincinnati, October 14, 
1869, and he at once began in that city the 
practice of his profession. He was married 
October 4, 1870, to Miss Bulia Bundy, a 
daughter of Hon. H. S. Bundy, of Wellston, 
Ohio, and they have five children, two sons 
and three daughters. 

In April, 1879, he was elected judge of the 
superior court of Cincinnati, Ohio, and held 
this position until May 1, 1882, when he re- 
signed on account of ill health. Recovering 
his health he resumed the practice of the law 
in Cincinnati, and in 18S3 was nominated for 
governor of Ohio, but was defeated by his 
opponent, Judge George Hoadly. In 1884 he 
was a delegate to the national convention of 
the republicans which met in Chicago, and as 
chairman of the Ohio delegation, placed Hon. 



John Sherman in nomination before the con- 
vention for the presidency. In 1885 he was 
again a candidate for governor of Ohio, and 
this time was elected, defeating his former 
opponent, Judge Hoadly, and in 1887 he was 
re-elected governor of the state. In 188S he 
was again a delegate to the republican national 
convention and was again chairman of the 
Ohio delegation, placing Hon. John Sherman 
again in nomination before the convention for 
the presidency of the United States. In 1889 
he was again nominated for governor of Ohio, 
but through the persistent cry of " third term- 
ism " he was defeated by James E. Campbell. 
In January, 1892, he was a candidate for 
United States senator, receiving thirty-eight 
votes, but was defeated by Senator John Sher- 
man. That year he was a delegate at large to 
the national republican convention, which met 
at Minneapolis, serving in that body as chair- 
man of the committee on resolutions. The 
state convention held at Zanesville, May 28, 
1895, unanimously endorsed him as the repub- 
lican candidate for United States senator to 
succeed Hon. Calvin S. Brice, whose term 
of office expired March 4, 1897, and at the 
November election, 1895, a republican legisla- 
ture was chosen by a majority of nearly 100,- 
000, which was practically instructed by the 
people to elect Mr. Foraker to the position 
named above. In obedience to these instruc- 
tions the legislature of the state on January 
14, 1896, elected Mr. Foraker United States 
senator from Ohio, for six years from March 
4, 1897, by a majority, on joint ballot, of 
eighty-five, the majority in the senate being 
twenty-three, and in the house of representa- 
tives being sixty-two, the entire legislative ma- 
jority being, as stated, eighty-five. Mr. For- 
aker is, therefore, the people's choice for this 
high position, in which it is confidently pre- 
dicted he will confer honor on his native state, 
even as he has had honor conferred upon him. 



162 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



In his speech accepting the office Mr. Foraker 
used the following language : 

" I go there (to the United States senate) 
as a republican. I belong to that party. I 
believe in that party. I believe in its past ; I 
believe in its present; I believe in its future. 
I believe it the most acceptable agency we can 
command in the administration of national 
affairs. I believe it is better calculated than 
any other political organization to contribute 
to the strength, power, dignity, happiness and 
glory of the American people. " After speak- 
ing in favor of American marine interests 
and of the construction of the Nicaragua ca- 
nal he then referred to financial questions as 
follows : "I believe in bi-metallism. I be- 
lieve the world made a mistake when it de- 
monetized silver. I sincerely hope some safe 
way may be found for the restoration of silver 
to its rightful place alongside of gold as a 
money of ultimate redemption. I shall favor 
every measure calculated in my judgment to 
bring about that result, subject always, how- 
ever, to the condition that it provides for the 
maintenance of the parity of the two metals." 



>~>AMES EDWIN CAMPBELL, ex-gov- 
M ernor of Ohio, was born in Middletown, 
a 1 Ohio, July 7, 1843. He is a son of 
Dr. Andrew and Laura P. (Reynolds) 
Campbell, the former of Scotch and the latter 
of English descent. John P. Reynolds, the 
father of Mrs. Laura P. Campbell, was at one 
time a publisher of the state of New York, but 
later a resident of Madison, Ohio. The Rey- 
nolds family came originally from Devonshire, 
England. Jonathan Reynolds emigrated from 
Plympton Earl, in that country, in 1645, to 
America, taking up his residence near Plymp- 
ton, in the colony of Massachusetts bay, and 
n Jonathan Reynolds Mr. Campbell is of 
the sixth generation. By another branch of 



his family on his mother's side he is a descend- 
ant of John Parker, who commanded the 
American troops at the battle of Lexington, 
the first battle of the American Revolution. 
Both his grandfathers were in the war of 1812. 

Upon reaching his maturity Mr. Campbell 
began reading law. In the summer of 1863 he 
became a master's mate on the gunboats Elk 
and Naiad, and took part in several engage- 
ments, but on account of ill health he was dis- 
charged at the end of one year's services. 
During the winter of 1864-65 he was a law 
student in the office of Doty & Gunckel at 
Middletown, Ohio, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1865. Beginning practice in 1867, he was 
elected prosecuting attorney of Butler county 
in 1875 and again in 1877. In 1S79 he was 
defeated for the state senate by twelve votes. 
Up to 1S72 he was a republican, but then voted 
for Greeley, and has since acted with the demo- 
crats. He was elected to the Forty-eighth, 
Forty-ninth and Fiftieth congresses, and in 
1889 was elected governor of Ohio. In 1891 
he was again a candidate, but was defeated by 
Maj. McKinley. In 1895 he was the third 
time a candidate, but was defeated by the 
present incumbent of the office, Hon. Asa S. 
Bushnell, by a plurality of 92,622 votes. 

On January 4, 1870, Mr. Campbell was 
married to Miss Libbie Owens, a daughter of 
Job E. and Mary A. (Price) Owens, the former 
of whom was a native of Wales, and the latter 
of Welsh descent. 



m. 



ILLIAM McKINLEY, who succeed- 
ed James E. Campbell in the guber- 
natorial chair, and who served out a 
well-administered term of office, on 
retiring filled a higher position in the esteem of 
the people of Ohio than he had ever before 
enjoyed, and this measure of esteem was also 
supplemented by that of the people of the na- 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



163 



tion at large, who, in November, 1896, elected 
him chief magistrate of the United States. In 
that portion of this volume devoted to the bi- 
ographies of our presidents, that of Mr. Mc- 
Kinley is given in full, and to it the attention 
of the reader is respectfully invited. 



HSA S. BUSHNELL, governor of Ohio 
at the present time, is, without doubt 
and without qualification, one of the 
ablest men in the state. In many 
respects his career has been an exceptional 
one. His education and training have been 
those of a practical man of affairs, and to-day, 
at the age of sixty-two, having been born at 
Rome, Oneida county, N. Y. , in 1834, he is 
one of the most clear-headed business men in 
the country. 

At the age of eleven he left his home in 
the Empire state, to begin his career in the 
Buckeye state, reaching Cincinnati in 1845, 
where he spent six years in the public schools, 
paying his own expenses by working out of 
school hours and in vacation seasons. At the 
end of the six years spent in Cincinnati he re- 
moved, in 1 85 1, to Springfield, Ohio, in which 
city he has since lived and in which city he has 
acquired a princely fortune. His first three 
years in the "Champion City" were spent as 
a dry-goods clerk, during which time he be- 
came a thoroughly practical bookkeeper, and 
at their expiration he was given a position as 
bookkeeper with the old and well-known 
water-wheel firm of Leffel, Cook & Blakeney, 
which was even then doing an extensive busi- 
ness. This position he retained until 1857, 
when he formed a partnership with Dr. John 
Ludlow in the drug business, a partnership 
which lasted ten years, or until 1867. The 
only break in the continuity of his labors here 
was while he was engaged as captain of com- 



pany E, One Hundred and Fifty-second Ohio 
volunteer infantry, in 1864, in the Shenandoah 
valley. Here his bravery and his kindly man- 
ner won for him the admiration of and made 
him very popular among his fellow-soldiers of 
the entire regiment. While he was in the army 
he was somewhat slight in build and light in 
weight, and he was not much given to physi- 
cal exercise, while at the present time he is 
unusually active and weighs fully 200 pounds. 

In 1867 Capt. Bushnell purchased an in- 
terest in the large manufacturing firm of what 
is now known as the Warder, Bushnell & 
Glessner Co., of which the late Benjamin F. 
Warder was then the head, and of which the 
junior member was J. J. Glessner, now a 
prominent capitalist of Chicago. And it is in 
connection with this concern, which Mr. Bush- 
nell has so long and so successfully managed, 
that he has made the fortune which he to-day 
possesses. 

Hon. Asa S. Bushnell has long been closely 
identified with the republican party in Ohio, 
though his attempt to become governor of the 
state was the first he ever made to secure pub- 
lic office. He became chairman of the repub- 
lican state executive committee in 1885, and 
from 1886 to 1890 he served the state as 
quartermaster-general, having been appointed 
by Gov. Foraker, who was largely instru- 
mental in securing for him the nomination for 
governor in 1895, at Zanesville. In the fall of 
1888 he was assaulted in the streets of Spring- 
field by political enemies, and through that as- 
sault came near losing his life. This assault 
still remains a mystery, and no one has been 
brought to punishment. He was chosen as 
a delegate at large to the republican national 
convention which met at Minneapolis in 1892, 
and which nominated President Harrison for 
re-election, and on November 2, 1895, he was 
elected governor of Ohio by a plurality of 
92,622, over Hon. James E. Campbell, the 



164 



GOVERNORS OF OHIO. 



democratic candidate, this plurality being the 
largest ever given to a governor with the ex- 
ception of that given Gov. John Brough, dur- 
ing the progress of the Civil war, when the 
soldiers at the front voted almost unanimously 
for Brough as against Vallandigham. He was 
inaugurated governor on January 13, 1896. 

In the affairs of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, Gov. Bushnell has long been a prom- 
inent participant, being a member of Mitchell 
post, of Springfield, Ohio. He is also an ar- 
dent Free Mason. Among other of Gov. 
Bushnell's benefactions may be mentioned the 
Ohio Masonic Home, which was in all proba- 
bility preserved to Springfield by his unsolicited 
contribution of $10,000, at a time, too, when 
he was not a Mason. 

Dr. John Ludlow, with whom Mr. Bushnell, 
as a young man, found employment, had at 
that time a pretty daughter named Ellen, and 
these two young people were eventually mar- 
ried. Several children blessed the union, three 
of whom survive, as follows: Mrs. J. F. Mc- 
Grew, Mrs. H. C. Dimond, and John Ludlow 
Bushnell, the latter of whom graduated with 
honors from Princeton in 1894. Mrs. Bushnell 
is an ideal woman in every relation. While 
she is a society woman, yet she is not so in the 
ordinary sense of the phrase, her principal 
strength lying in her domestic qualities. Her 
two daughters are as happily married as is she 



herself. Mrs. McGrew is the wife of one of 
Springfield's most promising young attorneys, 
and is the mother of two children, Ellen and 
Fanny, while Mrs. Dimond is the wife of a 
prominent young physician and also the mother 
of two children, Asa Bushnell and Douglas 
Marquand Dimond. 

Brief reference can be made to the inau- 
gural address of Gov. Bushnell. Among other 
things he commended was the proposition of 
home rule or local option in matters pertaining 
to taxation — which means that counties should 
provide their own systems of taxation for their 
necessary expenses ; that double taxation should 
be avoided, and that such taxation as is nec- 
essary should be distributed as to lighten the 
burden of government, and so as to retain and 
attract capital to the state. He also favored 
a purchasing board for state institutions, and 
the providing of some means by which the state 
could supply employment to such of its prison- 
ers as are now compelled to remain perpetually 
idle. He also favored the limitation by statute 
of local indebtedness to ten per cent of the tax 
duplicate, and in closing said: "Time only can 
tell how much or how little I shall merit your 
commendation, but it will be my constant aim 
and purpose to serve you as faithfully and as 
wisely as there is light given me to show the 
path of right, and I shall ever remember that 
I am the servant of the people." 





From "Early Dayton." 

CEN. ROBERT C. SCHENCK. 



DAYTON, OHIO. 



THE GEM CITY. 



y^-^EN. ROBERT C. SCHENCK, de- 
■ (j\ ceased, one of Ohio's most distin- 
^L^J guished sons, and one whom the 
people of Dayton take pride in claim- 
ing as their fellow-citizen, was born in Frank- 
lin, Warren Co., Ohio, October 4, 1809, and 
was the son of Gen. William C. Schenck. 

Gen. William C. Schenck was a native of 
New Jersey, born in January, 1773. He came 
to Cincinnati in 1795, and served for a time in 
the land office under Gen. James Findlay, and 
afterward under John Cleve Symmes, as a sur- 
veyor, which became his profession. In 1798 
he married Betsey Rogers, of Huntington, 
Long Island, N. Y., and reached Cincinnati, 
Ohio, with his wife, January 1, 1799. They 
resided in that city until about 1803, when 
they removed to Franklin, Ohio, of which 
place, as well as of Newark, Licking county, 
he was the founder and proprietor. His death 
occurred in January, 1821, on the forty-eighth 
anniversary of his birthday, at Columbus, 
where he was serving as a member of the leg- 
islature from Warren county. His eldest son, 
James Findlay Schenck, was rear admiral of 

the United States navy. 
1 



After the death of his father, Robert C. 
Schenck was placed under the guardianship of 
Gen. James Findlay. In November, 1824, he 
entered the sophomore class at Miami univer- 
sity, and in [827 was graduated from that in- 
stitution, but remained in Oxford, the seat of 
the university, employing his time in reading, 
and as tutor of French and Latin, until 1830, 
when he received the degree of master of arts. 
In November, 1830, he entered the law office 
of Thomas Corwin, at Lebanon, Ohio, and in 
the following January was admitted to the bar. 
He then located in Dayton and commenced 
the practice of law, which he continued with 
success until the commencement of his public 
life. In 1 84 1 he was elected to the lower 
house of the Ohio general assembly. In May, 
1843, he was elected to congress, and was re- 
elected for each succeeding term until 1850, 
when he declined a renomination. In 185 1 
he was appointed by President Fillmore as 
United States minister to Brazil. In April, 
1852, while in Brazil, he received instructions 
to proceed to Buenos Ayres, and to Monte- 
video, and with the charge d'affaires to the 
Argentine confederation, to propose treaties of 



172 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



commerce with the latter government, and 
with the oriental republic of Uruguay. He 
was also empowered to negotiate with any 
person authorized to represent the republic of 
Paraguay. He returned from Brazil in 1854, 
and for some years took no active part in pol- 
itics, spending his time in attending to import- 
ant law cases and in managing, as president, a 
line of railroad from Fort Wayne, Ind., to the 
Mississippi river. In 1859, at a meeting of his 
fellow-citizens of Dayton, he delivered an ad- 
dress upon the political questions of the day, 
and was on this occasion the first to suggest 
the name of Abraham Lincoln as the next 
president. 

When the attack was made on Fort Sum- 
ter, Mr. Schenck at once tendered his services 
to the government, and was commissioned 
brigadier-general of volunteers. On June 17, 
1 86 1, Gen. Schenck was ordered to take pos- 
session of the London & Hampshire railroad as 
far as Vienna. On reaching Vienna he was 
unexpectedly attacked by a body of rebels in 
ambush under Gregg, in greatly superior num- 
bers. Gen. Schenck, with great coolness, 
rallied his few men, and behaved with so 
much courage that the rebels withdrew. At 
Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he commanded a 
brigade in Gen. Tyler's division, and when 
the order for retreat was given, Gen. Schenck, 
forming his brigade, brought off the only por- 
tion of that great army that was not resolved 
into the original elements of a mob. Gen. 
Schenck was next assigned to the command of 
a brigade in West Virginia under Gen. Rose- 
crans, and was actively engaged in the cam- 
paign on the Kanawha and New rivers. From 
Cumberland, he, with a small force, was or- 
dered to move up the south bank of the Poto- 
mac river, did so, and successfully occupied 
and held Moorefield, Petersburg, Franklin and 
other important points. At the battle of Cross 
Keys he was assigned to the right of the line, 



and the rebels, in heavy force, attempted to 
flank his position, but the attempt was prompt- 
ly repulsed. From that time until the second 
battle of Bull Run the General was actively 
engaged in all the fatiguing marches along the 
Rappahannock. Gen. Pope abandoned this 
point, and on August 22, 1862, Gen. Schenck's 
division was ordered toward Bull Run. In the 
two days' fight that ensued his division took an 
active part. His orders were given with great 
promptness and judgment, and he himself was 
active in seeing them executed. Gen. Polk's 
report mentioned his conduct in highly com- 
mendatory terms. On the second day of the 
battle he was severely wounded, and was car- 
ried from the field and conveyed to Washing- 
ton. Shortly afterward he received his ap- 
pointment as major-general of volunteers, and 
accompanying it a letter from Secretary Stan- 
ton, in which he stated that no official act of 
his was ' ' ever performed with more pleasure 
than the forwarding of the inclosed appoint- 
ment." For some time Gen. Schenck's wound 
was critical, and he recovered very slowly, 
with his right arm permanently injured. His 
service in the field closed with the second bat- 
tle of Bull Run. Over six months elapsed 
before Gen. Schenck was again fit for duty. 
In the meantime his great reputation and ex- 
perience in civil affairs had suggested him as 
the fit commander for the troublesome Middle 
department, and accordingly he was, on De- 
cember 11, 1862, assigned to that command, 
Eighth army corps, with headquarters at Bal- 
timore, where he assumed command on the 
22nd of the month. His administration of the 
Middle department was what might have been 
expected from one of his known executive 
ability and firmness. He was warmly praised 
by the president and the war department, and 
had the unqualified endorsement of all Union 
men within the Middle department for his 
course while in Maryland and Delaware. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



173 



On December 5, 1863, Gen. Schenck re- 
signed his commission to take his seat in con- 
gress, to which he had been elected from the 
third congressional district of Ohio. He was 
appointed chairman of the committee on. mili- 
tary affairs, a position of much responsibility, 
involving continuous and exhaustive labors. 
A history of his course in the thirty-eighth and 
thirty-ninth congress would be a complete his- 
tory of the military legislation of the country 
through the most eventful years of the war and 
after its close. Upon the organization of the 
fortieth congress Gen. Schenck was appointed 
chairman of the house committee on ways and 
means, thus becoming the leader of the house, 
which position he held until near the close of 
the forty-first congress. His services during 
that period were of great benefit to the coun- 
try. From 1 87 1 to 1876 Gen. Schenck ably 
represented the United States as minister to 
the Court of St. James, by appointment from 
President Grant, previous to which appoint- 
ment he had served as a member of the high 
joint commission for the settlement of questions 
then in dispute between the United States and 
Great Britain. On his return he located in 
Washington, D. C. , and resumed the practice 
of law. Subsequently the department of state 
placed in his hands the codification of interna- 
tional laws, upon which task he was employed 
for several years. 

Gen. Schenck's death occurred in Wash- 
ington City in March, 1890, and his remains 
were brought to Dayton for interment. 



'y-rf ENDERSON ELLIOTT, jurist, was 
[^\ born in Perquimans county, N. C, 
I , r August 17, 1827, son of Jesse and 
Rachel (Jordan) Elliott. His ances- 
tors on both sides were Irish, his grandparents 
being Quakers. His first American ancestor, 
Col. William Elliott, emigrated from Ireland 



toward the close of the seventeenth century. 
Young Elliott came in 1830 with his parents to 
Ohio, where the family engaged in farming. 
The father died in 1839, and at sixteen the 
son T who had early shown some taste for me-' 
chanics, apprenticed himself to learn the cabi- 
net trade. He relinquished this at the end of 
six months, and after some two years devoted 
to mechanical employments, all his spare time 
being meanwhile given to reading and study, 
he entered upon active preparations for teach- 
ing. His opportunities for even a common- 
school education were limited, hence he 
worked by day and studied by night, until 
he was able to pass an examination qualifying 
him to teach in the county schools. After 
some years of alternately teaching and attend- 
ing school, he in 1845 entered Farmers' col- 
lege, near Cincinnati, Ohio, where he had the 
benefit of the instruction of the foremost edu- 
cators of that day, such as President Freeman 
G. Cary, the venerable R. H. Bishop, D. D., 
Dr. John Scott and others. At the close of 
his collegiate career Mr. Elliott resumed teach- 
ing, and at the same time commenced the 
study of the law with Gen. Felix Marsh, of 
Eaton. He was admitted to the bar by the 
supreme court of Ohio in 1851, his examina- 
tion having been made by Hon. William Den- 
nison, afterward Ohio's war governor. In all 
his efforts in school and in the study of the 
law Mr. Elliott had no assistance from others, 
but made his own way, paying his entire ex- 
penses by teaching. He opened an office in 
Germantown, Ohio, in the spring of 1852, but 
business not proving so profitable as he had 
hoped, he in 1855 removed to the city of Day- 
ton. Here, with the exception of three years 
spent in editorial work, he continued the prac- 
tice of his profession, until elevated to the 
common pleas bench in 187 1. In this position 
he served continuously for twenty-five years, 
in which time he performed an immsnse 



174 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



amount of judicial labor. He presided in 
every class of cases in the nisi prius courts, 
criminal and civil, equitable and legal. His 
predilection was always toward the equity side 
of the court, and notwithstanding that he sat 
in about 800 felony trials, and in many hun- 
dreds of civil jury trials, Judge Elliott is best 
known for his trial of equity, corporation and 
ecclesiastical cases. He gave especial atten- 
tion to railroad law, while his experience in 
the trial of church disputes and contests was 
considerable. Of these thousands of cases, 
adjudged by him in the ccurt of common 
pleas, his decisions in less than half a dozen 
civil cases, and in but one criminal case, were 
reversed by the supreme court, and in the lat- 
ter case the law was so clearly with Judge 
Elliott that the legislature ultimately amended 
the statute to correspond with his views of the 
criminal law. In a recent work, entitled "The 
History of Dayton," the author of the depart- 
ment allotted to the "Bench and Bar, " the 
Hon. Geo. W. Houk, himself an accomplished 
lawyer, makes this highly complimentary state- 
ment: "No judge ever so long discharged 
judicial functions in Montgomery county since 
its organization as Judge Elliott. The judicial 
qualities of mind, possessing a strong sense of 
natural justice, and well learned in the ele- 
mentary principles of the law, have been de- 
veloped by long experience and conscientious 
devotion to duty into rare excellence." In 
politics Judge Elliott was always a democrat, 
although during his service on the bench he 
was not actively identified with party politics. 
Judge Elliott always took a deep interest in 
educational matters, serving with much ability 
on the board of education of Dayton for the 
period of six years. In religion he was both 
by education and by inclination a Methodist, 
which church bestowed upon him its highest 
honors. He was a member of every electoral 
conference of his jurisdiction after the intro- 



duction of lay-representation, and also served 
as a member of the general conference of the 
church. In 1844, at the request of the bish- 
ops, he attended the centennial of Methodism, 
at Baltimore, as the representative of the laity 
of the Cincinnati conference. Judge Elliott 
was especially prominent in the organization 
of the State Bar association. Upon the death 
of the lamented Gen. Durbin Ward, he suc- 
ceeded that eminent lawyer as chairman of the 
committee of this association on judicial ad- 
ministration and legal reform, in which posi- 
tion, as elsewhere, he did much toward ad- 
vancing law reform in Ohio. In this capacity, 
too, he wrote and submitted to the State Bar 
association, in 1885, an elaborate report in 
favor of codification, which report was en- 
dorsed by the association. He had much to 
do with preparing the bill for the organization 
of the new circuit court. At the meeting of 
the State Bar association, held at Put-in-Bay, 
July, 1S90, Judge Elliott was elected, by a 
unanimous vote, president for the ensuing year. 
In May, 1888, he attended a convention called 
at the national capital for the purpose of or- 
ganizing a national bar association, in which 
body he was likewise active. In 1850 Judge 
Elliott was married to Rebecca, daughter of 
John and Rebecca Snavely. Of the five chil- 
dren born to them but two daughters are now 
living. 

Judge Elliott died June 25, 1896, having 
continued for months, even under the burden 
and distress of failing health and increasing 
feebleness of body, to give conscientious and 
laborious attention to the duties of his office. 
After a quarter century of faithful and devoted 
service, in which he had won the love and re- 
spect of the bar and of the community, he 
passed away full of years and of honor. His 
fine record as a jurist, his pure personal char- 
acter, his never-failing sympathy for the 
younger members of the bar, his certain in- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



175 



terest in every movement for the public weal, 
the goodness and usefulness of his life, these 
will long remain fresh in the memory of the 
people to whom Henderson Elliott gave the 
fullness of his intellectual strength and of his 
moral nature. 



<y^\ OBERT W. STEELE, deceased, was 
I /<^ one of the foremost citizens of Day- 
P ton, Ohio, and did much toward the 
advancement of the literary, educa- 
tional and social interests of the city. He was 
a native of Dayton, born on July 3, 1819, and 
was a son of James Steele, who came to Day- 
ton from Kentucky in 1805. 

James Steele was a native of Rockingham 
county, Va., born October 28, 1778. He was 
of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his family having emi- 
grated from the north of Ireland to Virginia in 
1737. Robert Steele, father of James, re- 
moved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1788, 
settling in Fayette county. In 18 12 James 
Steele married Miss Phebe Pierce, a sister to 
Joseph Pierce, with whom he was engaged in 
merchandizing in Dayton for many years. 
Isaac Pierce, father of Mrs. Steele, was a 
member of the Ohio company, and came to 
Marietta, Ohio, from Rhode Island in 1788, 
with the first colony that settled in this state. 
During the war of 18 12 a company of soldiers 
was led by James Steele to the relief of the 
people in the vicinity of Piqua, who were sup- 
posed to be in danger from the Indians assem- 
bled in council n«ar that place. With a por- 
tion of this company, Capt. Steele was retained 
in the service by order of Gen. Harrison, and 
was sent to St. Mary's, where a block house 
was erected and commanded by Capt. Steele 
for several weeks. 

In 1824 Capt. Steele was a presidential 
elector, and cast his vote for Henry Clay. He 
served as associate judge for Montgomery 



county for fourteen years, and as state senator 
for four years. He was one of the original 
stockholders of the Woodland Cemetery asso- 
ciation. In 1 S 1 5 he was a director in the 
Dayton bank, and in 1822 was elected presi- 
dent of that institution, a position he held the 
remainder of his life. He died August 22, 
1 841. 

Robert W. Steele was prepared for college 
in the old Dayton academy, and entered Miami 
university in 1836. In 1857 he was appointed 
a trustee of Miami university, a position he 
held for nine years. After leaving college, Mr. 
Steele read law in Dayton, but on account of 
delicate health was advised by his physician 
against a continuance of those studies. Upon 
the organization of the public schools of Day- 
ton, under the first charter of the city, Mr. 
Steele was appointed a member of the board 
of education, and served as such for a period 
of thirty years, during twelve of which he was 
president of the board. In 1847 he was one 
of the founders of the Dayton Library asso- 
ciation, and was for many years a director and 
president of the same. In i860, when the 
Library association was united with the public 
library, he was appointed, by the board of ed- 
ucation, chairman of the library committee, 
and served in that capacity until 1873. In 
1876 Mr. Steele was appointed a member of 
the board of city examiners for the public 
schools, and in 1888 a member of the library 
board, then made an independent body. In 
1866 he was appointed by Gov. Cox a member 
the state board of charities, and served for five 
years. In 1844 Mr. Steele was one of the in- 
corporators of Cooper Female seminary, and 
served as a member of the board of trustees as 
long as the institution existed. He was secre- 
tary of Woodland Cemetery association from 
1853 to 1858, being elected president of the 
association in the latter year and continuing as 
such until his death. He was one of the ear- 



176 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



liest members of the Montgomery county Ag- 
ricultural association, and an active member 
of the several horticultural societies which 
were established in the county, and was elected 
a member of the state board of agriculture. 
In 1853 he had charge of the first state fair 
held in Dayton. He was active in promoting 
the interests of early railroads entering Day- 
ton, and was especially active and patriotic 
during the Civil war. 

Mr. Steele served as a member of the mili- 
tary committee of Montgomery county, was a 
member of the sanitary committee, and chair- 
man of the citizens' committee to assist in 
raising the Ninety-third regiment of Ohio vol- 
unteers. He aided in the organization of the 
Young Men's Christian association, and was its 
first president. He served six years as trustee 
of the Children's home, beginning with its 
establishment in 1867. He was a member of 
the Presbyterian church from 1841, and an 
elder in the Third Presbyterian church from 
1854 until his death, which occurred Septem- 
ber 24, 1 89 1. He left a widow, and four 
daughters and two sons, as follows: Mary D. , 
who died February 25, 1S97; Sarah S., Agnes 
C, Charlotte, William and Egbert. 



^V^V AVID ANSLIE SINCLAIR, secre- 
I tary of the Young Men's Christian 
/^^J association of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born near Edinburg, Scotland, in 
May, 1850, and at the age of three years was 
brought to America by his parents, who set- 
tled in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Until 
twelve years of age, young Sinclair attended 
the public schools of the city of Hamilton, and 
then relinquished his studies in order to devote 
his time and attention to the support of the 
family, who needed his assistance. In Sep- 
tember, 1870, he united with the Presbyterian 
church, and in 1871 became general secretary 



of the Young Men's Christian association of 
Hamilton; in August, 1874, he accepted the 
position of general secretary of the Young 
Men's Christian association of Dayton, which 
position he has acceptably filled up to the pres- 
ent time. 

It is worthy of note that when Mr. Sinclair 
assumed the duties of his present office the 
association consisted of 300 members only, 
possessed no property, and was burdened with a 
debt of $1,800. It now has a membership of 
over 1,800, has property valued at $82,000, 
and is free of debt or other incumbrance; and 
it is largely through the efforts of Mr. Sinclair 
that this prosperous state of affairs has been 
reached. He is foremost in promoting the 
best interests of the young men of the city, 
and the powerful influence for good now wield- 
ed by the association is largely due to his wis- 
dom, strong judgment and broad conception 
of the possible usefulness of the organization. 



K*f\ ENJAMIN and WILLIAM VAN 
I /"^ CLEVE. — Among the original settlers 
JK^J of Dayton, were Benjamin and Will- 
iam Van Cleve, who, with their moth- 
er, Mrs. Catherine Thompson, her husband, 
Samuel Thompson, and their two daughters, 
Sarah and Martha, left Cincinnati in March, 
1796, for Dayton. All the family save Will- 
iam made the trip by water, he coming by land 
with other settlers, in order to drive the fam- 
ily cow. The pirogue containing the family 
landed at the head of St. Clair street (now 
Van Cleve Park) on Friday, April 1, 1796. 
Mrs. Thompson was the first to step ashore, 
and she was the first white woman to set foot 
on Dayton soil. Samuel Thompson, second 
husband of Mrs. Van Cleve, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, who removed to Cincinnati soon 
after its settlement, and there married the 
widow of John Van Cleve. ■ Mr. Thompson 




Bj Permission Copyright, 1MI5; W. J. Shuey. 
BENJAMIN VAN CLEVE. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



177 



was drowned in Mad river in 1 8 1 7. His widow 
died in Dayton, August 6, 1837. 

Benjamin and William Van Cleve were 
born in Monmouth county, N. J., the former 
in 1773 and the latter in 1777, and were the 
sons of John and Catherine (Benham) Van 
Cleve. The father served with the New Jer- 
sey militia during nearly the whole of the Revo- 
lution. In 1785 he emigrated from New Jer- 
sey to Pennsylvania, where he lived on a farm 
near Washington until 1789, when he removed 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, making the journey down 
the river in a boat. He was killed by the In- 
dians in Cincinnati June 1, 1790. After the 
death of his father, Benjamin Van Cleve, then 
seventeen years of age, tried as best he could 
to take the place of the head of the family. 
Much of the time from 1791 until 1794 he was 
employed in the quartermaster's department, 
at Washington. He branded and herded gov- 
ernment horses and cattle, brought up boat 
loads of salt and provisions from Kentucky, 
accompanied brigades of loaded pack horses to 
the headquarters of St. Clair's army in the In- 
dian country; carried orders, kept accounts, 
acted as hostler for his uncle and himself, 
often walking many miles over icy roads or 
through snow, slush and mud, earning his 
wages of fifteen dollars per month by hard, 
rough work. He was present at St. Clair's 
defeat. In making the retreat with the army 
to Cincinnati he lost his clothing and his horse. 
In the spring of 1792, he was sent off from 
Cincinnati at midnight, at a moment's notice, 
by the quartermaster-general to carry dis- 
patches to the war department at Philadelphia. 
In the spring of 1794, he went with Hugh 
Wilson, commissary, William Gahagan, and 
others, down the Ohio to Fort Massac, in 
charge of two contractors' boats, loaded with 
provisions and accompanied by a detachment 
of troops. In the fall of 1795 he accompanied 
Capt. Dunlap's party to make the survey for 



the Dayton settlement. When not surveying 
he wrote in the recorder's office. In the fall 
of 1796 (the year of the settlement of Dayton) 
he went with Israel Ludlow and Gen. William 
C. Schenck to survey the United States mili- 
tary lands between the Scioto and Muskingum 
rivers. From this time on he farmed in sum- 
mer, and in winter he also studied surveying, 
or assisted the clerk of the Ohio legislature, or 
made out the list of taxable persons and their 
property. On August 28, 1800, he married 
Mary Whitten, daughter of John and Phebe 
Whitten, who lived in Wayne township. In 
the winter of 1 799-1 800 he taught the first 
school opened in Dayton. From the organi- 
zation of Montgomery county, in 1803, until 
his death, in 1821, he was clerk of the court. 
He was the first postmaster of Dayton, serving 
from 1804 until 1821. In 1805 he was one of 
the incorporators of the Dayton library. In 
1809 he was appointed by the legislature a 
member of the first board of trustees of Miami 
university. He was also an active member of 
the First Presbyterian church. 

William Van Cleve, brother of Benjamin, 
was twice married, and by his first wife, Effie 
Westfall, had several children. At the first 
call for troops, in 18 12, he raised a company 
of riflemen in Dayton and went to the front with 
the company, as captain, in June of that year. 
From the close of the war until his death, in 
1828, he kept a tavern at the junction of War- 
ren and Jefferson streets in Dayton. 



1 •£! 
WUDGE DANIEL A. HAYNES 
J was one of the ablest jurists of Ohio, 
(• 1 and one of the most prominent mem- 
bers of the Dayton bar. He was born 
in Chatham, Columbia county, N. Y. , Sep- 
tember 9, 181 5, a son of Daniel and Magda- 
lena (Simmonds) Haynes, the former a native 
of Hampden county, Mass., and the latter of 



178 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



New York. The former was a physician of 
more than ordinary skill and note in his com- 
munity. 

Judge Haynes was graduated from Union 
college, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1835. Soon 
afterward he came to Ohio, locating in Day- 
ton. The first year in Dayton he spent as 
teacher of the Dayton academy, after which 
he began the study of law, and was admitted 
to practice in 1839. In 1840 he began prac- 
tice in partnership with the late Henry Stod- 
dard. In 1843 he was elected prosecuting 
attorney for Montgomery county, and was re- 
elected in 1845. In 1844 he was elected to 
the Ohio legislature. In 1856 the superior 
court of Montgomery county was created, and 
Judge Haynes was elected judge of the same, 
was re-elected to that bench in i860 and again 
in 1865, and resigned in 1870, after having 
held the position for fourteen years. Upon 
retiring from the bench Judge Haynes associ- 
ated himself in the law practice with Hon. 
Clement L. Yallandigham, which partnership 
was terminated by the death of Mr. Yal- 
landigham in 187 1. In 1875 Judge Haynes 
was again elected to the bench of the supe- 
rior court and served another full term, retir- 
ing in 1 88 1. His death occurred in 1895. 
Judge Haynes was at one time a director 
in the Dayton & Western Railroad com- 
pany, and was also, for a time, president 
of the Dayton bank, the leading banking house 
of its day in Dayton. He was also president 
of the Dayton Insurance company. On June 
13,1 848, Judge Haynes was married to Emily, 
daughter of Gen. Sampson Mason, of Spring- 
field, Ohio. Her death occurred September 
2, 1848. 

This outline of the professional and judicial 
career of Daniel A. Haynes gives no hint of 
his great ability as a lawyer or of his excep- 
tional equipment as a judge. His knowledge of 
legal principles seemed almost intuitive; his 



mind had a broad grasp and a keen power of 
analysis; his memory was both retentive and 
accurate, enabling him to carry without confu- 
sion the questions of law and of fact involved 
in a score of cases reserved for his decision at 
the same time. No judge in the history of 
Ohio has ever surpassed Judge Haynes in the 
clearness, sound reasoning and inherent justice 
of his decisions. 



WOHN H. PATTERSON, a prominent 
■ manufacturer of Dayton, Ohio, is the 
(% 1 son of Jefferson and Julia (Johnston) 
Patterson, and a grandson of Col. Rob- 
ert Patterson, a pioneer in the settlement of 
Kentucky, and, later, one of the three original 
proprietors of Cincinnati. 

Mr. Patterson was born on his father's 
farm, the original homestead, which lay south 
of Dayton, and early in life developed the hab- 
its of industry and perseverance which have 
enabled him to carry great enterprises to a 
successful termination. In his early years he 
spent his leisure hours in assisting in his fa- 
ther's sawmill and gristmill, and in the general 
work of the farm, until he was eighteen years 
of age. The next three years were spent at 
Miami college, Oxford, Ohio, where he pur- 
sued a classical course of study. His senior 
year was passed at Dartmouth college. After 
he was graduated, he returned to his native 
place, where he secured a position as collector 
of tolls on the Miami canal. Three years later 
he gave up this position and engaged in the 
retail coal business in Dayton. He then be- 
came interested in coal mining at Coalton, in 
Jackson county, Ohio, and assisted, in com- 
pany with John H. Winters, George Harsh- 
man and others, in pushing to completion the 
D. & S. E. railroad, which was built for the 
purpose of introducing Jackson coal into south- 
ern Ohio. He continued in the mining busi- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



181 



ness for several years, after which he accepted 
the position of manager for the Southern Ohio 
Coal & Iron company, with offices located 
at Dayton. 

Mr. Patterson's real life work has been the 
perfection and introduction of cash registers. 
He became interested in this great industry in 
1882, and from that time he has been inti- 
mately connected with its development. The 
National Manufacturing company was organ- 
ized in 1882 for the manufacture of these 
machines, with a capital stock of $10,000, 
held by Dayton citizens. In 18S3 Mr. Patter- 
son became a director in the company, and the 
capital stock was increased to $15,000, the 
added shares being taken by Mr. Patterson 
and his brother. Little progress was made 
until 1 88 5, when the company was reorgan- 
ized. Mr. Patterson then gave up all connec- 
tion with the coal business, and, with his 
brother, Frank J. Patterson, devoted his en- 
tire attention to the cash register industry, 
becoming the president and manager of the 
company. In 1886 the capital stock of the 
National Cash Register company, as it is now 
called, was increased to $100,000, and in 1891 
was again increased to $500,000. The factory 
covers five and three-fourths acres of ground; 
it turns out a cash register every fifteen min- 
utes, and the number of machines in use has 
long since passed the one hundred thousand 
mark. 

Mr. Patterson is the captain of an indus- 
trial army of 1000 men and 200 women in the 
factory at Dayton, and 300 agents scattered 
over nearly all the world. The factory is gov- 
erned, not by a superintendent, but by a com- 
mittee of five expert mechanics of the broadest 
experience in the manufacture of cash regis- 
ters. Under this committee are a number of 
sub-committees, which absorb a vast amount 
of detail work, making the running of the plant 
almost automatic, so far as the necessity for 



the personal attention of its officers is con- 
cerned. A new building, 350 feet long and 
four stories high, has recently been erected, 
making the plant one of the finest factories in 
the world. 

The company's policy is to promote from 
the ranks and reward merit wherever found. 
Mr. Patterson's plan creates enthusiasm in his 
little army; this is his chief aim, for he finds 
that enthusiasm is as neccessary to success in 
business as in battles. The people employed 
form a particularly intelligent and industrious 
community, embracing, with their families, 
thousands of Dayton's most hardworking and 
prosperous citizens. A number of those in the 
employ of the company are college graduates 
and professional people, and the standard of 
education among the rank and file is con- 
stantly being raised. 

Mr. Patterson is known, not only in his 
own state, but in the east also, as a persistent 
advocate of co-operation between employer 
and employe, and the establishment of the 
"new factory system," of which his own 
factory is the embodiment. He has spoken 
and written forcibly upon labor questions, and 
also upon questions of municipal and legislative 
reform, and is universally recognized for his 
public spirit. Out of a ripe business experi- 
ence, he has learned the secret of sharing 
prosperity with those who work for him, while 
steadily and materially building up a great 
business. 



^y^VEWITT C. SPINNING, now living 
I in retirement at No. 401 West First 
/^^_^ street, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of 
this city, and was born May 14, 1821. 
His parents were Benjamin R. and Maria 
(Simpson) Spinning, the former of whom was 
a native of New Jersey, was a contractor and 
builder by occupation, settled in Dayton in 



182 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1 8 14, and here died at the early age of thirty 
years, in 1823, his wife following him to the 
grave one year later. Of the four children 
born to these parents DeWitt C. was the 
youngest and is the only survivor. The eldest, 
Charity Ann, was married to Caleb Birchell, 
and died at about sixty years of age, in Spring- 
field, 111.; Eliza Jane became the wife of Na- 
than Allen, and died in Dayton, Ohio; and 
Alexander, a cabinetmaker, died in Braid- 
wood, 111., when about seventy-four years old. 
DeWitt C. Spinning has no recollection of 
his parents, but remembers that, after their 
death, he lived for a short time with his mater- 
nal grandparents, and then with strangers, 
working on a farm from the age of twelve until 
sixteen, and that, although he did a man's 
work, his compensation was very meager. At 
the age of sixteen he began an apprenticeship 
at the carpenter's trade in Dayton, and fol- 
lowed that calling for about fifteen years, and 
then embarked in the lumber trade in partner- 
ship with Daniel Beckel, now deceased. After 
a period of five years spent in this connection, 
Mr. Spinning bought out the interest of Mr. 
Beckel, continued the business alone for fifteen 
years, and thus laid the foundation of his later 
success. Disposing of his lumber interests, 
Mr. Spinning and two associates purchased 
the gas works at Urbana — his partners being 
Joseph Light and Charles Kiefer. Later Mr. 
Light and DeWitt C. Spinning purchased the 
Piqua, Ohio, gas plant, Mr. Spinning being 
president of both companies for about eighteen 
years. These two companies realized consid- 
erable profit, and although the Piqua plant has 
been disposed of, Mr. Spinning is still the pres- 
ident of the Urbana company, which is carried 
on under the style of the Urbana Gas Light & 
Coke company. Beside attending to the duties 
pertaining to his present position, Mr. Spin- 
ning has spent much of his time, in recent 
years, in managing his real estate in Dayton, 



comprising numerous residences and out-lot 
property, all of which represent the result of 
his foresight and prudence, as he began his 
business life with no capital excepting a strong 
physical constitution and indomitable energy. 

Mr. Spinning has been twice married. His 
first wife, whom he married in 1846, bore the 
maiden name of Hannah Eliza Wright, and 
with her he lived thirty-six years, her death 
occurring in 1 882. Of the two children born to 
this union, Edgar died in infancy, and Frank, 
a young man of great promise — an architect 
and draftsman, of Chicago, 111. — died of con- 
gestion of the brain. The second marriage of 
Mr. Spinning was solemnized March 20, 1883, 
with Miss Annie Corson, a native of Wapello, 
Louisa county, Iowa, but most of whose child- 
hood and early womanhood was passed in 
Washington, D. C, where she was residing 
with her parents at the time of her marriage. 
Her father and mother, John and Clara (Lan- 
ston) Corson, are now residents of Dayton, 
although they were for many years residents of 
the national capital, where the father held va- 
rious positions under the United States govern- 
ment. 

Mr. Spinning was made a Mason in Dayton 
in May, 1842, and two years later became an 
Odd Fellow, and still retains his membership 
in both orders. In Masonry he is a member 
of St. John's lodge, No. 13, in which he has 
held all the official positions, as well as in the 
chapter; the consistory degrees were conferred 
upon him in Cincinnati in 1867, he having now 
attained the thirty-second degree in this grand 
fraternity. In politics he was a whig until 
the organization of the republican party, 
since when his adherence to the latter has 
been unswerving. 

The Spinning family is of Scotch origin, 
and the Simpson family of German extraction, 
and both the grandfathers of Mr. Spinning 
were patriots of the Revolutionary war. The 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



183 



Corson family is also of Scotch descent. John 
Corson, the grandfather of Mrs. Spinning, 
was born in Dumfries, Scotland, emigrated to 
this country in 1807, and was married to a 
daughter of Selah Benton, who was a captain 
in the Revolutionary war. Mr. Corson died 
in New York city in 181 2. 



eLIAM E. BARNEY, deceased, promi- 
nent educator and manufacturer of 
Dayton, Ohio, was a native of Adams, 
Jefferson county, N.. Y., and was 
born on October 14, 1807. He was the son 
of Benjamin and Nancy (Potter) Barney, the 
former a native of Guilford, Vt. , and the lat- 
ter of Connecticut. Benjamin Barney was a 
strong advocate of education, and was one of 
the founders of Union academy at Belleville, 
Jefferson county, N. Y. For more than fifty 
years this academy has been a successful insti- 
tution of learning, and has reflected much 
credit upon its founders. Eliam E. Barney 
acquired his elementary education in the com- 
mon schools, following which he taught school 
during one or two winters. He was prepared 
for college at Lowville academy, New York, 
and at Union academy at Belleville, that state, 
and entered the sophomore class at Union 
college, Schenectady, from which institution 
he was graduated in 1831. After teaching for 
a brief period in a family boarding-school at 
Sand Lake, N. Y. , Mr. Barney became princi- 
pal of the Lowville academy, where he re- 
mained two years. In the year 1833 he came 
to Ohio and taught for six months in Granville 
college (now Dennison university), filling the 
place of one of the professors who had been 
elected but had not yet arrived. In the spring 
of 1834 he came to Dayton and was principal 
of the Dayton academy from 1834 to 1838. 
During the following two years he taught a 
private school for both sexes, when, on 



account of poor health, he relinquished teach- 
ing and for four years was engaged in the 
lumber business. In the meantime the Cooper 
Female academy had been established, and 
Mr. Barney was called to the charge of it as 
principal in 1845, an< ^ so continued until 1851. 
This closed his career as a teacher. His teach- 
ing from first to last was attended with great 
success, and he attained a high reputation as 
an educator. His education and the range of 
his information were ample, and he possessed 
a rare faculty of communicating knowledge to 
his pupils. He seemed without difficulty to 
reach the understanding and to compel a ready 
apprehension of all he sought to teach. His 
discipline was strict, but his kindness at the 
same time was so manifest that he secured 
alike the pupils' respect, affection and obe- 
dience. 

In the summer of 1850, in company with 
E. Thresher, Mr. Barney established the Day- 
ton Car works. Their capital was limited, 
and the business was carried on upon a small 
scale, and prudently, but successfully. In 
1854 Caleb Parker succeeded Mr. Thresher 
in the firm, and from that time on until 1854 
the business, which had greatly increased, was 
conducted under the firm name of Barney, 
Parker & Co. Mr. Parker then sold out to 
Mr. Preserved Smith, the firm becoming Bar- 
ney, Smith & Co., and was so continued until 
1867, when a joint stock company was formed 
under the name of Barney & Smith Manufac- 
turing company, of which Mr. Barney became 
the president, and so continued until his death. 
To Mr. Barney is due in a great measure the 
wonderful growth and success of the business 
of the above concern. He was a man of great 
ability, bold but prudent, clear-headed, far- 
sighted, energetic, practical and thoroughly 
familiar with business in general and in detail. 

Mr. Barney had varied and important 
business interests aside from the car works. 



184 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



He was president of the Dayton Hydraulic 
company from from its organization until his 
death, and vice-president and director of the 
Second National bank of Dayton. For twenty 
years he was a member of the board of trus- 
tees of Dennison university, to which institu- 
tion he gave liberally to endow two memorial 
professorships. He was for many years prom- 
inently connected with the First Baptist church 
of Dayton. 

On October 10, 1834, Mr. Barney was 
married to Julia, daughter of Dudley Smith, of 
Galway, Saratoga county, N. Y., and they 
became the parents of the following named 
children: Mrs. Agnes E. Piatt, Eugene J. 
Barney, Mrs. Mary L. Piatt, Albin C. Barney 
and Edward E. Barney (deceased). 



ISAAC VAN AUSDAL, representative 
citizen and merchant of Dayton, Ohio, 
is a native of the Buckeye state, having 
been born at Eaton, in Preble county, 
Ohio, February 13, 1821. He is the son of 
Cornelius and Martha (Bilba) Van Ausdal, 
both natives of Virginia. Cornelius Van Aus- 
dal was born in Berkeley county, Va., on 
October 2, 1783, and was there reared toman- 
hood. At about the time that he attained his 
majority he came west to Ohio and spent the 
winter with his brother Peter, who had shortly 
before settled in the wilderness in what is now 
Lanier township, Preble county. Being much 
pleased with the west, and finding an oppor- 
tunity, Cornelius determined to make his start 
in life in the above section. In the spring of 
1805 he returned to his home in Virginia, and 
the following spring he again turned his face 
toward Ohio, reaching what is now Preble 
county during that summer, with a wagon 
loaded with plain, substantial goods. The 
town of Eaton was then being laid out, and 
was already talked of as the prospective seat of 



the county, which must some day be erected 
from the western portion of Montgomery coun- 
ty. Our young merchant decided to open a 
store in Eaton, but before he could find a build- 
ing he had customers, selling his goods direct 
from the Canestoga wagon in which they were 
transported from the seaboard. He opened the 
first store in Eaton in a log cabin. His second 
wagon load of goods he got from Cincinnati. 
His reputation as a good business man and 
wide-awake merchant grew from the very 
first day he began business. There was very 
little money in the country at that time, and 
he received in exchange for his goods the 
various products of the country, such as furs, 
skins, beeswax, maple sugar, ginseng and pearl- 
ash. With these articles, or the money which 
they brought, he secured more goods, and as 
the settlement of the county increased, he en- 
larged his trade, and within a few years was 
considered one of the most substantial business 
men in northwestern Ohio. Mr. Van Ausdal's 
reputation won for him more than a local field 
of custom, and for many 3 T ears he carried on a 
wholesale as well as a retail business. During 
his early career he dealt largely with the In- 
dians, who dwelt in or roamed through south- 
western Ohio and that part of Indiana adjoin- 
ing. Among them was Tecumseh, the famous 
Shawnee war-chief, with whom the store- 
keeper was as intimately acquainted as with 
any white man in the county. In 18 10 Mr. 
Van Ausdal was appointed United States dep- 
uty marshal, and in that capacity took the 
first census of Preble county. In the war of 
1 8 1 2 he was a paymaster of the army, and a 
large amount of public money was disbursed 
by him. He faithfully discharged his duty, 
and upon the close of the war, when his 
accounts were examined at Washington, they 
were allowed without delay or expense. In the 
year 18 19 he was elected to the Ohio legisla- 
ture, in which body he served with entire sat- 





ax^joy QJUyiy ( 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



187 



isfaction to his constituents. Gen. William 
Henry Harrison was a colleague of Mr. Van 
Ausdal in that session of the legislature, and 
the two became intimate friends. During the 
campaign of 1840 Gen. Harrison was present 
at a political meeting held in Eaton, at which 
time he was the guest of Mr. Van Ausdal. At 
about the time Mr. Van Ausdal entered the 
legislature he became the owner of the West- 
ern Telegraph, a weekly paper published at 
Eaton, which he subsequently sold. From 
1828 until 1833 Mr. Van Ausdal was engaged 
in the wholesale dry-goods business on Main 
street in Cincinnati, the firm name being Van 
Ausdal, Hatch & Gray, and during that period 
he passed the greater part of his time in New 
York city as purchaser for his house. Be- 
tween the years 1828 and 1832 he was also a 
partner in the pork business with his brother- 
in-law, Judge Curry, in Hamilton, Ohio. In 
1846 he became interested in business with his 
son Isaac in Dayton, the firm name being C. 
Van Ausdal & Son. This continued until 
1863, when Cornelius withdrew from the firm 
and retired to private life, and his death 
occurred on August 10, 1870. Mr. Van Aus- 
dal was a broad, public-spirited man, and as 
much concerned in advancing the welfare of 
the community as in forwarding his own inter- 
ests. His reputation for honesty and fair 
dealing was unexcelled. It was this reputa- 
tion, constantly extending, which drew to him 
the enormous business from which he accumu- 
lated an independence, and which made him 
one of the first merchants in this section of 
Ohio. He was rigidly moral in all the rela- 
tions of life, and thoroughly and conscien- 
tiously religious, and he practiced his religion 
in all walks of life. 

The marriage of Mr. Van Ausdal and Mar- 
tha Bilba took place on July 24, 18 12, and 
they became the parents of the following chil- 
dren: John, born October 16, 1814, now 



deceased; Sarah, born January 17, 18 17, now 
deceased; Lucinda (Donohoe), born Septem- 
ber 3, 181 8; Isaac, born February 13, 1821;. 
Julian, born June 29, 1824, deceased; Rufus 
Leavitt, twin brother to Harvey Buell, born 
June 1, 1830, deceased; Harvey Buell, born 
June 1, 1830; Emily (Gould), born February 
17, 1835, and Sarah Ann (Nelson), born May 
29, 1840. An infant was also born that died 
unnamed. 

Isaac Van Ausdal, the subject of this biog- 
raphy, acquired his early education in the com- 
mon schools of Eaton, afterward attending 
Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio, from which 
he graduated in 1842. In 1845 he came to 
Dayton and embarked in the dry-goods busi- 
ness, in partnership with Daniel McCleary, of 
Rossville, Ohio, that gentleman having been 
his class-mate at Oxford. This co-partnership, 
under the firm name of Van Ausdal & McCleary, 
lasted for only one year, when Mr. Van Aus- 
dal purchased this partner's interest. During 
the same year, however, his father, Cornelius 
Van Ausdal, became a partner in the business, 
the firm becoming C. Van Ausdal & Son, and 
continuing so until the withdrawal of the senior 
member in 1863. Up to 1886 several changes 
were made in the firm, but in the year last 
named, the style of the firm was changed to 
that of the present time, I. & C. Van Ausdal, 
Charles Van Ausdal, son of Isaac, becoming 
a member. When the house was first estab- 
lished only dry goods was dealt in. Later it 
was merged into the carpet trade, being the 
first to engage in that specialty in Dayton, and 
to this was added from time to time almost 
every article needed for fitting up a household. 
As far back as 1859 the dry-goods department 
was entirely abandoned. In its line, this is 
the leading house in Dayton, and enjoys a 
trade of large and increasing proportions. Its 
reputation for sound business principles is well 
known throughout all this section of the state,. 



II 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and draws its trade, not only Irom Dayton and 
Montgomery county but from the adjoining 
counties and territory. Aside from the above 
interests Mr. Van Ausdal is connected in a busi- 
ness way, as a stockholder and director, with 
several of the large and important corporations 
of the city. He is a stockholder in the Third 
National, Fourth National, and Teutonia Na- 
tional banks, three of the leading banking cor- 
porations of Dayton, and is a stockholder in 
the Firemans, the Ohio, and the Columbia 
Insurance companies, also of Dayton. He has 
other financial interests, whose general nature 
is indicated by those cited. 

Mr. Van Ausdal was married in June, 1855, 
to Mary C, the daughter of Orlistus Roberts, 
of Preble county, Ohio, and to this union seven 
children have been born, as follows: Robert, 
who died at the age of seventeen years; Cor- 
nelius, who died at the age of seven years; 
Mary, a graduate of Smith college, Mass., and 
now living at home with her parents; Charles, 
who graduated from Princeton university, and 
is now a member of the firm of I. & C. Van 
Ausdal; Laura, a graduate from Bradford's 
seminary, Mass., and who is now Mrs. Charles 
G. Stoddard, of Dayton; Thomas E. , who was 
also a collegian and was for a long time a busi- 
ness associate with his father, but whose death 
occurred in 1895, he leaving a widow (Margaret, 
the daughter of George L. Phillips, of Dayton) ; 
Catherine C, who is a graduate of the Corn- 
stock school, of New York city, and is now at 
home with her parents. 

For over fifty years Isaac Van Ausdal has 
been a citizen and business man of Dayton, and 
during all that time his success has been uni- 
form. His mercantile career has been not 
only a successful, but an honest one. While 
he has confined himself closely to business, yet 
he has not neglected the duties incumbent 
upon all good citizens. He has always been 
found on the right side of public questions and 



movements looking towards the betterment 
and building up of Dayton, and he has ever 
been ready to lend his aid and influence to help 
along such movements. As a business man 
and financier he is regarded as one of the most 
able in the city. Shrewd, sound and conserv- 
ative, he has made but few mistakes in a long 
and active career. As a man he is possessed of 
sterling traits and characteristics which have 
won for him a large circle of warm friends who 
stand ready to testify to his worth and excel- 
lence. 



aHARLES VAN AUSDAL, merchant, 
and member of the firm of I. & C. Van 
Ausdal, of Dayton, was born in Day- 
ton, Ohio, on July 26, 1863, and is 
the son of Isaac and Mary C. (Roberts) Van 
Ausdal. He was educated in the Dayton pub- 
lic schools and at Princeton university, gradu- 
ating from the latter place in 1885. In 1886 
he became associated with his father in busi- 
ness in Dayton, becoming the junior member 
of the firm of I. & C. Van Ausdal. He is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. 

He was married on January 31, 1888, to 
Susie, the daughter of H. H. Weakley, pro- 
prietor of the Dayton Daily Herald. Mr. and 
Mrs. Van Ausdal have three children: Char- 
lotte, Herbert Weakley and Catherine. 



,/^EV. WILLIAM JOHN SHUEY, 

I ^T financial agent of the United Brethren 
P Publishing House, and a representa- 
tive citizen of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
at Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
February 9, 1827, and is the son of Adam and 
Hannah (Aley) Shuey. The father was born 
in Pennsylvania and in 1S05, when six years 
of age, came with his father, Martin Shuey, to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



189 



Montgomery county. His death occurred in 
Dayton in 1881. The mother was born in 
Maryland, and in 1805, at the age of six years, 
came to Montgomery county with her father, 
Isaac Aley, who settled near Dayton. 

Rev. William J. Shuey was educated in the 
common schools, and at an academy in Spring- 
field, Ohio, near which city he subsequently 
taught school for a time. He was converted, 
and became a member of the United Brethren 
church in 1843, received license to preach from 
the Miami conference in 1848, and was or- 
dained in 1 85 1 by Bishop Erb. He was pas- 
tor at Lewisburg, Ohio, from 1849 to 1851; at 
Cincinnati from 1851 to 1859, and at Dayton 
from i860 to 1862. From 1862 to 1864 he 
was presiding elder. In 1 8 54 he was appointed 
the first missionary of the church to Africa; and 
in 1855, in company with Rev. D. K. Flick- 
inger and Dr. D. C. Kumler, he made a voy- 
age to the "Dark Continent" for the purpose 
of selecting a site for a mission. 

In 1864 Mr. Shuey was appointed assistant 
agent of the publishing house at Dayton, Ohio, 
and in 1865 was elected senior agent, and by 
the successive resignations of two assistant 
agents, became sole agent in 1866, a position 
he has since occupied. Rev. Shuey has been 
a delegate to seven general conferences and 
the secretary of one; a member of the board 
of missions twenty-six years ; one of the 
first directors of the church erection society; 
for twelve years from its organization, the 
superintendent of the General Sabbath-School 
association, and, since 1880, has been its 
treasurer. For four years he was a mem- 
ber of the board of education; for fourteen 
years a trustee of Otterbein university; a 
member of the executive committee of Union 
Biblical seminary; a member of the church 
commission, and since 1889 one of the newly 
incorporated board of trustees of the church. 
He has been a trustee of the First United 



Brethren church of Dayton for many years, a 
member of the Montgomery county Bible so- 
ciety and a president of the Dayton United 
Brethren Minister's association. 

In 1859 Rev. Mr. Shuey became the joint 
author, with Rev. D. K. Flickinger, of a vol- 
ume entitled "Discourses on Doctrinal and 
Practical Subjects." He has been the editor 
of the year books of the church, with the ex- 
ception of a few numbers, since their first pub- 
lication in 1867, and of the general conference 
minutes since 1865. He has contributed an 
article on the United Brethren church to 
McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia, has issued 
a number of pamphlets, and has written con- 
stantly for the Religious Telescope. In 1880 
the title of doctor of divinity was conferred 
upon him by Hartville university, but was de- 
clined. 

Rev. Mr. Shuey has served as a member of 
the Dayton board of education and on the 
board of trade for a number of years. He is 
a director of the Fourth National bank, and 
vice-president of the Union Safe Deposit & 
Trust company, of Dayton, and has occupied 
other positions of trust in the city. In 1 848 Mr. 
Shuey was married to Miss Sarah Berger, of 
Springfield. Those of their children who are 
still living are Edwin L., who has charge of 
the book department of the United Brethren 
Publishing company, and William A., who is 
editor of book literature of the same establish- 
ment. Mr. Shuey's prominence and usefulness 
in the community of which he is an honored 
citizen cannot be estimated from the mere re- 
cital of the official positions he has filled, either 
in the church, in business circles, or in public 
life. He is an active power for good in every 
educational and philanthropic movement in 
Dayton, and his integrity of character, his wise 
judgment, his strong common sense, inspire 
the confidence and win the sincere respect of 
good citizens of every class and creed. 



190 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



'ILLIAM P. CALLAHAN, banker 
and manufacturer, of Dayton, Ohio, 



a\ 

\JL>1 wa s born in county Armagh, Ire- 
land, on February 10, 1833, and is 
the son of James and Jane Callahan. The 
Callahan family came to the United States in 
1848, and settled at Shippensburg, Pa., 
where the parents resided for many years. Be- 
fore leaving Ireland, William P. Callahan had 
acquired the foundation of a common-school 
education, and to this he added by attending 
the common schools of Shippensburg. Before 
completing his schooling, however, he left 
school to serve an apprenticeship at the trade 
of cabinetmaking, which trade he mastered. 
Before attaining his majority, young Callahan 
began to dream of what he might accomplish 
in the west, and in 1853 he left his home in 
Pennsylvania, coming to Ohio, and settled in 
Dayton, then considered a western town by 
the people of the east. Here he found em- 
ployment in the furniture factory of M. Ohmer, 
where for a time he and Judge Dennis Dwyer 
worked together at the same bench. In 1854 
these two young men — Callahan and Dwyer — 
went west to Iowa, where they worked at their 
trade for about eight months, when they re- 
turned to Dayton. Mr. Callahan then entered 
the shops of Chapman & Edgar, of Day- 
ton, where he learned the trade of pattern- 
making. He left that firm in 1855 to 
accept the foremanship of the pattern shops of 
Thompson, McGregor & Co., on Third street, 
by which firm he was employed for two years. 
In 1857 he became a member of the above 
firm by the purchase of John Clary's interest 
therein. In 1862 the senior member of the 
firm died, and in 1868 Mr. Callahan bought 
out the interest of McGregor and became sole 
proprietor of the works. In 1876 Mr. Calla- 
han admitted as a partner Thomas DeArmon, 
and the firm became that of W. P. Callahan 
& Co. In 1885 William K. Callahan, son 



of W. P. Callahan, was admitted to the firm, 
the firm name remaining as above. This busi- 
ness was originally founded in 1841 on Shaw- 
nee street, between Wayne and Wyandotte 
streets, on a very small scale, and gradually 
grew into its present large proportions. In 
1856 it was removed to its present location on 
East Third street, where the company has one 
of the largest and most important manufactur- 
ing plants in Dayton or the state of Ohio. In 
February, 1865, Mr. Callahan made a second 
business venture, becoming one of a party of 
five gentlemen who established the Miami Val- 
ley Boiler & Sheet-Iron works, under the firm 
name of McGregor, Callahan & Co. A few 
years later Mr. Callahan purchased the interest 
of Mr. McGregor, but later sold his own inter- 
est and retired from the firm. 

In 1873 W. P. Lewis and Mr. Calla- 
han built what is known as the Lewis paper- 
mill, on Monument avenue, which has been a 
success, and is now owned by Mr. Callahan. 
In 1883 Mr. Callahan bought a controlling in- 
terest in the Ohio Paper company, at Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, which has been running success- 
fully ever since. He has been a stockholder 
and director of the Cooper Insurance company 
since its organization, and since the death of 
Col. D. E. Mead has been its president. He 
has also served as a director in the Dayton 
Gas Light & Coke company for twenty years. 

For many years Mr. Callahan has been 
identified with many of the leading financial 
institutions and insurance companies of Day- 
ton, either as an officer, director or stockholder. 
He was for some years a director and large 
stockholder of the Dayton National bank, 
which position he resigned a few years since, 
becoming associated with the City National 
bank, with which he had been identified since 
its organization, and on January 10, 1894, he 
became its president. For many years Mr. 
Callahan has been a holder of valuable city 




^■^L*w. 



<^^<__ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



193 



real estate, improved and unimproved. His 
first notable purchase of real estate was that 
of the Main street business and office property, 
on Main street between Second and Third 
streets. In 1890 he began the erection of 
the Callahan bank building on the corner of 
Third and Main streets, which was completed 
in 1 89 1, and is to-day one of the most con- 
spicuous business buildings in the city. In 
1859 Mr. Callahan was married to Elizabeth 
Keifer, who was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 
1834, and is the daughter of Philip Keifer. 
Her father is one of the oldest living pioneers 
of Dayton. He was born in Maryland in 1801, 
and came to Dayton at a very early date in 
the history of the city. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Callahan the following 
children have been born: Will K., Charles, 
Lillie and Cora, the latter daughter deceased. 
The business career of Mr. Callahan is one 
most worthy of record and is a marvel in its 
way. Greater fortunes have been accumu- 
lated, but few lives furnish so striking an ex- 
ample of the wise application of sound prin- 
ciples and safe conservatism as does that of 
W. P. Callahan. The story of his success is 
short and simple. It contains no exciting chap- 
ters, but in it lies one of the most valuable se- 
crets of the prosperity which it records. Be- 
ginning with no capital save brains, energy, 
integrity and rugged health, and building up 
the great business which bears his name, his 
business life is pregnant with interest to the 
public. He is truly a self-made man in the 
broadest sense of that often misapplied term. 
When he came to Dayton forty-three years ago 
he was only a young, inexperienced cabinet- 
maker, with no money and few friends. Yet 
he has in that time built up one large and suc- 
cessful manufactory, and has contributed to the 
success of a dozen other enterprises. To-day 
he is the head and controlling spirit in one of 
the leading manufacturing plants in the state, 



and president of one of the leading and most 
substantial banking houses in the city, and is 
prominently identified with other important 
concerns, all of which have been of great ben- 
efit to Dayton in a material and lasting way. 
Mr. Callahan's life has been a most active and 
busy one, but he has not permitted business to 
interfere with his duties as a citizen. He has 
always been found on the right side of public 
questions having for their aim and object the 
building up and beautifying of his adopted city. 
His views on public matters have always been 
broad and liberal, tempered with conservatism. 
While progressive, he is prudent, ambitious, 
yet cautious. As a man, Mr. Callahan pos- 
sesses characteristics which have won for him 
the friendship of the leading citizens of Dayton, 
and the admiration of all who know him. Per- 
sonally he is pleasant, agreeable and always 
approachable, fond of humor, and with a de- 
sire to make life enjoyable for himself and all 
with whom he comes in contact. Though in 
his sixty-third year, and after a life of activity 
and constant business occupation, Mr. Calla- 
han is in the enjoyment of all his physical and 
mental faculties, and is a striking example of 
the well-preserved, progressive and represent- 
ative men of Dayton. 



>-j*OHN A. McMAHON, one of the lead- 
m ing members of the Dayton bar, and 
(9 I ex-member of congress from the Third 
Ohio district, was born in Frederick 
county, Md., on February 19, 1833. His fa- 
ther, John V. L. McMahon, of Baltimore, was 
a distinguished lawyer, ranking among the lead- 
ers of the Maryland bar. John A. McMahon, 
at an early age, was sent to St. Xavier's col- 
lege, Cincinnati, where he graduated in 1849, 
after a full collegiate course. He remained at 
that institution as a teacher until June, 1850. 
In 1S52 he came to Dayton and became a law 



194 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



student in the office of the Hon. C. L. Val- 
landigham, who married the sister of his fa- 
ther. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, 
and immediately formed a partnership with Mr. 
Vallandigham. Thorough preparations and 
diligence as a student enabled him at once to 
achieve a high position at the bar, and a gen- 
eral reputation in the community that secured 
a large and important practice. He was not 
infrequently, before he was twenty-five years 
of age, opposed in the trial of causes to some 
of the most able lawyers of the state; upon 
one occasion, in the year 1859, trying an im- 
portant case at Dayton in opposition to Judge 
Thurman, then in the zenith of his reputation 
at the Ohio bar, in which Mr. McMahon was 
successful. After Mr. Vallandigham's en- 
trance into official political life, Mr. McMahon 
practiced alone for a time, and in 1861 formed 
a partnership with the late George W. Houk, 
which continued until January, 1 880. On the 
23d of January, 1861, Mr. McMahon married 
Miss Mollie R. Sprigg, of Cumberland, Md., a 
lady belonging to one of the oldest families in 
that state. 

Mr. McMahon persistently declined all po- 
litical preferment up to the year 1872, when 
he was elected a delegate at large by the 
democratic state convention of Ohio to at- 
tend the democratic national convention held 
at Baltimore in that year. He several times 
refused a nomination for congress from the 
Dayton district, but in 1874, after he had 
been nominated in spite of his declination, his 
acceptance was so strongly insisted upon that 
he consented to make the canvass. The dis- 
trict at that time was largely republican, but 
he was elected by a majority of nearly eleven 
hundred votes. In the first session of the first 
term (Forty-fourth congress) he was one of the 
managers of the Belknap impeachment pro- 
ceedings, and upon the organization of the 
management of the conduct of the trial Mr. 



McMahon was selected chairman of the sub- 
committee to try the case. During the same 
session he was appointed upon a special com- 
mittee to investigate the St. Louis whisky 
frauds. He was afterward appointed by the 
house one of the committee of fifteen to in- 
vestigate the presidential election in the state 
of Louisiana prior to the counting of the elect- 
oral vote, of which committee Mr. Morrison, 
of Illinois, was chairman. 

Mr. McMahon was renominated without 
opposition for a second term by the demo- 
cratic party, and was re-elected to the Forty- 
fifth congress. Upon the organization of the 
session Mr. McMahon was assigned to a position 
upon the judiciary committee on accounts. 
During the session he was also selected as one 
of the Potter investigation committee. During 
the congress the undetermined questions con- 
nected with a distribution of a remainder of 
the Geneva award fund, amounting to nearly 
ten millions of dollars, were referred to the 
house judiciary committee. It soon became 
apparent that there would be so wide a differ- 
ence of opinion in the committee as to neces- 
sitate two reports, one from the majority and 
one from the minority. The minority report 
was drawn and reported by Mr. McMahon, and 
was signed by Fry, of Maine; Butler, of Mas- 
sachusetts; Conger, of Michigan; and Lapham, 
of New York. It was adopted by the house, 
and the principle of this report was subse- 
quently enacted into a law. 

In 1878, though desirous of retiring from 
public life, Mr. McMahon was again unani- 
mously renominated and elected to the Forty- 
sixth congress. During his third term he was 
a member of the committee on apportionment. 
At the expiration of his last term, in 1881, he 
resumed his practice in Dayton, at which he 
has been continuously engaged ever since. 
After the election of a democratic state legisla- 
ture in 1889, Mr. McMahon was a candidate 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



195 



for the nomination, by a caucus of his party, 
for United States senator, receiving the vote 
next highest to that of Hen. Calvin S. Brice, 
who was chosen and elected. 

Mr. McMahon's political service was char- 
acterized by ability and a broad scope of use- 
fulness, reflecting credit upon himself and honor 
upon his constituents. As a lawyer his career 
has been abundantly successful. The secret of 
his prominence in the profession does not lie 
alone in his strong natural endowments, his 
breadth of mental grasp and intellectual vigor. 
It may be found in the fact that he has always 
been a close and conscientious student, not 
only of text books, but of the reported de- 
cisions of both English and American courts, 
so that he is to-day familiar, in a marked degree, 
with case-law, as well as the underlying legal 
principles. Industry, method, thoroughness, 
intense application — these are the habits which 
Mr. McMahon has brought to the practice of 
the law, and which, exerted upon the opera- 
tions of a keen and alert intellect, have placed 
him in the front ranks of the lawyers of Ohio. 



WOHN C. REEVE. M. D., one of the 
m oldest and most prominent physicians 
A 1 and surgeons of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in England, June 5, 1826. When 
six years of age he came with his father's fam- 
ily to America, their residence being taken up 
in Cleveland, Ohio. At the age of twelve 
years young Reeve was thrown upon his own 
resources by the death of his mother, and by 
financial reverses to the family. Up to this 
time he had enjoyed good school privileges in 
the common schools of Cleveland. Following 
the death of his mother he apprenticed himself 
to become a printer, and spent several years 
in the office of the Cleveland Advertiser and 
Herald. While thus employed he fitted him- 
self for teaching school, which occupation he 



followed for a time as the means of improve- 
ment and education. He read medicine with 
Dr. John Delamater, professor of obstetrics in 
the medical department of Western Reserve 
college, Cleveland, from which institution he 
graduated. In 1849 Dr. Reeve began the 
practice of medicine in Dodge county, Wis. 
Some years later he visited Europe for the 
purpose of further study of his profession, and 
after passing the winter in London and a sum- 
mer at the university of Gottingen, Germany, 
he returned to this country, and in the fall of 
1854 located in Dayton, where he has since 
practiced. Dr. Reeve is a member of the 
Montgomery Medical society, of which he has 
several times been president. He is also a 
member of the Ohio State Medical society, the 
American Medical association and the Ameri- 
can Gynaecological society, of which he was 
one of the founders. He has made numerous 
reports of important professional cases, and 
has been a frequent contributor to the leading 
medical journals of the country. On August 
10, 1849, Dr. Reeve was married to Emma J. 
Barlow, of Cleveland, Ohio. To this union 
two sons and two daughters have been born, 
namely: Charlotte E., now the wife of Frank 
Conover. attorney, of Dayton; John C, Jr., 
practicing physician and surgeon, of Dayton; 
Mary S., now the wife of Robert E. Dexter, 
architect, of Dayton; and Sidney A., professor 
of mechanical engineering in Worcester Poly- 
technic school, Worcester, Mass. 



* w * ON. LEWIS B. GUNCKEL, prom- 

I^^V inent lawyer and ex-member of con- 

r gress, was born in Germantown, 

Montgomery county, Ohio, October 

15, 1826. His grandfather, Judge Philip 

Gunckel, and his father. Colonel Michael 

Gunckel, were among the first settlers of 

Montgomery county. Mr. Gunckel graduated 



196 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



at Farmers college in 1848, and from the Cin- 
cinnati Law school in 185 1, and in the same 
year was admitted to practice. In his early 
professional life he was associated with 
Hiram Strong, and laid the foundation of a 
practice which, through his fidelity, industry, 
and ability, has grown to be as important as 
any ever enjoyed at the Dayton bar. In 1862, 
Mr. Gunckel was elected to the Ohio state 
senate. He served there during the years of 
the war, was chairman of the judiciary com- 
mittee, and during the entire period especially 
distinguished himself in furthering legislation 
favorable to the soldiers and their families. 
He introduced a bill for the establishment of 
a state soldiers' home, another for a bureau of 
military statistics, and in all that concerned 
the welfare of the soldiers in the field he was 
especially conspicuous and efficient. In 1864, 
he was a presidental elector, and canvassed 
the state for Mr. Lincoln. He was influen- 
tial in the inauguration of measures for the 
establishment of the soldiers' home in Day- 
ton, and was appointed one of its first board 
of twelve managers. He held this position for 
twelve years, during ten of which he was sec- 
retary of the board and local manager. 

In 1 87 1, Mr. Gunckel was appointed by 
President Grant special commissioner to inves- 
tigate frauds upon the Cherokee, Creek and 
Chickasaw Indians, upon which subject he 
made a valuable report, which led not only to 
the detection and punishment of the guilty 
parties, but to important reforms in the Indian 
service. In 1872 he was elected to congress, 
served on the military committee, voted to re- 
peal the salary-grab law of the preceding con- 
gress, and declined to accept the increased pay 
to which he was entitled under that law. Since 
Mr. Gunckel's retirement from congress he has 
been more especially identified with his pro- 
fession and devoted to its practice. He was 
for three successive years a delegate from the 



Ohio state bar to the National Bar association, 
and was for the same period treasurer and 
member of the executive committee of the lat- 
ter. In 1884 he was nominated by his party 
for congress, but persisted in his refusal to 
accept the nomination, thus making another 
convention and nomination necessary. 

Mr. Gunckel's public services have been 
varied and important; and those most highly 
appreciated by the community, as well as most 
satisfactory to himself, were rendered in con- 
nection with the soldiers' home. He has been 
long known as one of the leading members of 
the Dayton bar, and so recognized throughout 
the state. 

In his latter years, as he has gradually be- 
come less absorbed in the routine of profes- 
sional work, he has given much thought and 
study to the improvement of municipal con- 
ditions in Dayton, and to the moral and mate- 
rial advancement of the city. He is prominent 
in all movements looking to the public good, 
and in these activities is rounding out a most 
useful public career. 

Mr. Gunckel was married in i860 to Kate, 
daughter of Valentine Winters, a prominent 
capitalist and banker of Dayton. 



at 



ILLIAM HAVE LOCK CRAW- 
FORD, president of the Dayton 
Last works, and one of the city's 
representative manufacturers, was 
born on West Second street, Dayton, Novem- 
ber 22, 1863. His father was the late Charles 
H. Crawford, a sketch of whom appears else- 
where in this work, and his mother was Sarah 
(Thresher) Crawford, a daughter of the late 
Ebenezer Thresher, and a sister to E. M. 
Thresher, of Dayton. Mrs. Crawford's death 
occurred in 1880. She was one of Dayton's 
well-known and beloved women, and her 
death was universally regretted. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



199 



William H. Crawford was reared in Day- 
ton, and received his preliminary education at 
the Second district school. Subsequently he 
attended the Cooper academy, and later took 
a course at the Miami commercial college. In 
1883 he began working in the last factory of 
Crawford, Coffman & Company. During the 
first four years of his service in the factory, he 
filled various positions, working in all the de- 
partments of the factory and acquiring a general 
knowledge of the business. Having become 
thoroughly familiar with all details of the work 
in the factory, young Crawford was taken into 
the office of the company as book-keeper. 
While employed in this capacity he had charge 
of the sales of the goods to a considerable ex- 
tent. Later he traveled in the interest of the 
firm. Upon the death of the father, in 1887, 
Mr. Crawford succeeded to his interests and 
took general charge of the business, which dur- 
ing the past nine years has increased some ten- 
fold, a fact which indicates clearly the posses- 
sion of fine business ability by Mr. Crawford. 

In 1886 the firm of Crawford, Coffman & 
Company sold out to the firm of Crawford, 
McGregor & Canby, which partnership con- 
tinued until April, 1896, when the company 
was incorporated under the firm name of the 
Crawford, McGregor & Canby company, con- 
sisting of W. H. Crawford, as president; John 
McGregor, vice-president and general manager, 
and W. J. Blakeney as secretary and treasurer. 
The other members are Edward Canby, W. H. 
Kemper, and O. A. Woodruff. In 1884 Mr. 
Crawford was instrumental in organizing the 
Last Makers' National association, consisting of 
thirty-seven members, and of this association 
he was the first president and was three times 
re-elected to that position. Mr. Crawford is a 
director of the Dayton Computing Scales 
company, is a director of the Dayton board 
of trade, and a director of the Homestead 
Aid association. He is a member of the 



Y. M. C. A., and of the First Baptist 
church. Mr. Crawford was married on Novem- 
ber 4, 1 886, to Mary A., daughter of D. O. 
Cunningham, a prominent glass manufacturer 
of Pittsburg, Pa., and to their union the fol- 
lowing children have been born: Marie Made- 
leine, Charles Henry, and William Harelock. 
W. H. Crawford is recognized as one of 
Dayton's most successful manufacturers and 
most useful citizens. The enterprise of which 
he is the head and guiding spirit, is one of the 
city's most important industries, as well as the 
largest plant of its kind in the United States, 
and is well known wherever the manufacture 
of shoes is carried on. Though comparatively 
a young man Mr. Crawford has demonstrated 
that he is a man of more than ordinary busi- 
ness ability, the best evidence of which is the 
uniform success that has been enjoyed by the 
Dayton Last works under his management. As 
a citizen Mr. Crawford is active, liberal minded, 
and public spirited. He is to be found always 
on the side of progress, and always ready to do 
his full snare towards the building up and de- 
velopment of the Gem City and the advance- 
ment of its welfare. 



a APT. EPHRAIM MORGAN WOOD, 
a prominent business man of Dayton, 
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Janu- 
ary 24, 1838. His father was Dr. 
William Wood, an eminent member of the 
medical profession, a writer upon professional 
and general subjects and a distinguished edu- 
cator, occupying a chair in the Cincinnati 
Medical college. Capt. Wood's mother was 
the daughter of Ephraim Morgan, a well- 
known citizen of Cincinnati, one of the origi- 
nators of the Cincinnati Gazette, and a lineal 
descendant of Capt. Miles Morgan, one of the 
founders of Springfield, Mass., in 1636, and 



200 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



a brave officer in the Indian wars, to whom 
a statue has been erected in the most promi- 
nent square of Springfield. 

Capt. Wood graduated from Yale college 
when nineteen years of age. He studied law 
with the late Justice Stanley Matthews, of the 
U. S. supreme court. Soon after his admis- 
sion to the bar, he was appointed by President 
Lincoln a captain in the Fifteenth United States 
infantry and served in the war of the Rebellion 
on the Mississippi until the breaking down of 
his health compelled his resignation from the 
army. He married Miss Victoria H. Clegg, 
of Dayton, Ohio, and after his retirement from 
the army returned to this city, with which he 
has since been prominently identified in busi- 
ness and public affairs. 

For six years Capt. Wood was president of 
the board of education, and for seven years 
occupied a similar position in the city council. 
Upon the reorganization of the municipal gov- 
ernment he accepted the office of president of 
the board of police directors. During his term 
in the board of education, in conjunction with 
Robert W. Steele and other leading members, 
he introduced the office of superintendent of 
schools and established the Normal school. 

Capt. Wood is a director of the Winters 
National bank and of several large manufac- 
turing corporations. He holds a number of 
the most prominent offices in the Episcopal 
church in the diocese of southern Ohio ; is an 
officer in the Ohio Society of Colonial Wars 
and of the Sons of the Revolution, and is a 
Companion of the Loyal Legion. 

In every official relation sustained toward 
the city of Dayton, Capt. Wood's services 
have been marked by sound judgment, strong 
business sagacity and a broad and public-spir- 
ited conception of official duty. His services 
upon the board of police directors, of recent 
date, were most valuable in the reorganization 
of that most important municipal department ; 



while his earlier labors upon the board of 
education and in the city council reflected great 
honor upon himself and were of most marked 
benefit to the community. He is actively in- 
terested in every movement looking to the 
betterment of municipal conditions, and is 
recognized as one of Dayton's most influential 
citizens. Capt. Wood is an able and accom- 
plished public speaker. Many of his addresses, 
delivered in this city and elsewhere, have 
been published and widely circulated. 



Vj»UDGE JOHN ALLEN SHAUCK, of 
■ Dayton, Ohio, is a native of the Buck- 
et 1 eye state, and was born in Richland 
county, March 26, 1841. His parents, 
Elah and Barbara (Halderman) Shauck, were 
born in Pennsylvania — the father in York 
county in 1806, and the mother in Lancaster 
in 1802, and both were children when brought 
to Ohio by their respective parents, who set- 
tled in Richland county, in that particular por- 
tion which was afterward selected, in 1848, to 
become a component part of Morrow county. 
The marriage of these parents took place in 
Richland county in 1829, when they at once 
settled on a farm, on which they passed the 
remainder of their days, the death of the 
mother occurring in January, 1862, and that 
of the father in October, 1875. The six chil- 
dren born to this marriage were named, in or- 
der of birth, as follows: Jacob, who is now a 
merchant of Kendallville, Ind. ; Mrs. Rebecca 
Coe, of Morrow county, Ohio; Moses, in the 
insurance business at Newark, Ohio; John A., 
the subject of this memoir; Sarah, who died 
after reaching the years of maturity, and Mar- 
tha Johnstone, of Ringgold county, Iowa. In 
politics, the father was a strong republican, 
was utterly inimical to the institution of slav- 
ery, and died an honored and respected citi- 
zen, his philanthropic principles having gained 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



201 



for him the esteem of the most enlightened 
residents of Morrow county, which was, in its 
early days, a cradle of abolition. 

The early education of John Allen Shauck 
was acquired in the common schools of Johns- 
ville, Morrow county, and was supplemented 
by a classical course of five years at Otterbein 
university. In 1865 he entered the law de- 
partment of the university of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, from which he graduated in April, 1867. 
Soon thereafter he located in Dayton and for 
two years practiced law on his own account, 
establishing in this brief period an enviable 
reputation in his profession. He then formed 
a partnership with Judge Samuel Boltin, and 
this firm, which long stood in the front rank of 
the legal profession, continued until February 
8, 1885, when Judge Shauck was called upon 
to assume his duties on the bench of the cir- 
cuit court. Here he served with eminent abil- 
ity until February, 1895, when his strong judi- 
cial qualifications and fine reputation were 
recognized and rewarded by his elevation to the 
office of judge of the supreme court of the 
state of Ohio. 

Judge Shauck was most happily united in 
wedlock, at Centralia, 111., June 1, 1876, with 
Miss Ada May Phillips, who was born in Bond 
county, HI., May 26, 1855, a daughter of 
Charles W. and Eliza D. (Marshall) Phillips, 
natives of Fayette county, Pa. To this union 
two children have been born, of whom one, 
Helen C, still lives to bless the home of her 
parents, but Perie, the younger of the two, is 
deceased. 

Politically, Judge Shauck is a republican. 
As an attorney and as a jurist he has few 
equals in the state of Ohio, and as a man his 
life has been so pure, simple and unostenta- 
tious as to win the respect of all who have ever 
met him. In the short term of his service, up 
to this time, upon the supreme bench, the 
strength, clearness and courage of his decisions 



have won him the admiration of the entire bar 
of Ohio. They give evidence of a broad and 
safe knowledge of legal principles and of a fine 
discrimination in their application. The char- 
acteristic style of Judge Shauck's opinions, 
their virile, nervous English, the absence of 
doubt or compromise in their conclusions, mark 
their author as one of the ablest judges known 
to the history of Ohio's highest tribunal. 



kS~\ ENJAMIN B. CHILDS, member of 
|(^^ the board of water-works trustees of 
£*^_J Dayton and general foreman of the 
Barney-Smith Car works of the same 
city, was born in Livermore, Androscoggin 
county, Me., August 29, 1825. He is a son of 
Godney and Mary (Marsh) Childs, both of whom 
are now deceased. Receiving his early educa- 
tion in the district schools, he left home when 
ten years old and hired out to work on a farm. 
In 1 841 he left his home in Maine and went to 
Worcester, Mass., where he again was em- 
ployed on a farm, and there he remained thus 
engaged, working on different farms, for two 
years, and then began to learn the carpenter 
trade in Worcester. In 1845 he began work- 
ing at car building, and in 1856 removed to- 
Dayton, Ohio, where he became employed in 
the car shops of Barney & Parker, now the 
Barney & Smith Car Co. From that time up 
to the present day, a period of forty years, he 
has been continuously in the employ of thi& 
same company. At first he was made fore- 
man of the freight car department, being sub- 
sequently promoted to the position of foreman 
of the passenger car department, and for the 
past twenty-five years he has been general fore- 
man of the shops. 

Mr. Childs was married at Worcester, 
Mass., January 12, 185 1, to Annis E. Howe, 
a native of Leicester, Mass., who died in June, 
1894, leaving three children, as follows: Ed- 



LMI-2 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ward E. , who is engaged in railroading; Ada- 
line M., who married Will D. Huber, of Day- 
ton, and Charles, draughtsman in the car shops 
of the Barney & Smith Car Co. 

Mr. Childs was elected to the water-works 
board of Dayton in April, 1890, was re-elected 
in 1893, and again in 1896, and during his 
last term has served as president of the board. 
He is a member of the Knights of Honor, and 
is in every way a man worthy of the highest 
regard and esteem. 



WOHN W. STODDARD, a prominent 
• citizen and president of the Stoddard 
/• J Manufacturing company, of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in this city on the first 
day of October, 1837, and is the son of the 
late Henry Stoddard, a pioneer citizen and dis- 
tinguished lawyer of Dayton, of whom a sketch 
appears on another page of this volume. 

John W. Stoddard was prepared for college 
in the private schools of Dayton, and spent 
his freshman and sophomore years at Miami 
university. He next entered the junior class 
at Princeton college, where he was graduated 
in the class of '58. Determining to adopt the 
legal profession as a calling, Mr. Stoddard en- 
tered the Cincinnati Law school, from which 
he was graduated in i860. He practiced law 
in Dayton for two years, with every probabilty 
of success, after which he decided to abandon 
the legal profession for a business career, and 
in 1862 began the manufacture of linseed oil 
in partnership with his brother Henry, and 
Charles G. Grimes, under the firm name of 
Stoddard & Grimes. That business was con- 
tinued for three or four years when it was en- 
larged, and the manufacture of varnishes was 
added, the firm also dealing by wholesale in 
paints, oils, window glass, etc., under the 
name of Stoddard & Company (which business 
is continued at the present time by the Lowe 



Brothers' company). Mr. Stoddard retired 
from connection with the above business in 
1869, disposing of his interest to his brothers, 
Henry and E. Fowler Stoddard, and in the 
same year began the manufacture of agricul- 
tural implements in partnership with John 
Dodds, under the firm name of John Dodds & 
Company. This firm continued business for 
five years, and was succeeded by that of J. W. 
Stoddard & Company, the other members of 
which were E. Fowler Stoddard and William 
A. Scott. This firm was followed, in 1884, by the 
incorporation of the Stoddard Manufacturing 
company, of which Mr. Stoddard became, and 
has ever since been, the president and princi- 
pal stockholder. This is one of the principal 
manufacturing plants of Dayton, and one of 
the largest in its line in the world. 

Mr. Stoddard is also president of the Amer- 
ican Stoker company, of Dayton; president of 
the Milburn & Stoddard company, of Minne- 
apolis; vice-president of the Milburn Wagon 
company, of Toledo; and vice-president and 
acting president of the Pasteur Filter com- 
pany, of Dayton. He holds a directorship in 
the following corporations: The Fourth Na- 
tional bank, the National Improvement com- 
pany, of which he is president; the American 
Carbon company, the Davis Sewing Machine 
company, all of Dayton, and in the Indiana 
Iron company, of Muncie, Ind. He is also 
president of the Dayton club, the leading social 
organization of the city. 

Mr. Stoddard was married in May, 1861, 
to Susan, daughter of Daniel Keifer, one 
of the old citizens of Dayton, and to this 
marriage the following children have been born: 
Charles G., vice-president and superintendent 
of the Stoddard Manufacturing company; Mrs. 
Charles M. Nash, and Misses Alice and Flor- 
ence. 

John Williams Stoddard was named for his 
grandfather, John Williams, a pioneer of Day- 






■ 



%*~ 





Vfc&£&f*^e 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



205 



ton. His ancestry comprises a long line of 
prominent names, in, many instances distin- 
guished in the history of this country. 

As a business man Mr. Stoddard has been 
cautious, conservative, but courageous. He 
possesses to a marked degree what is known in 
the commercial world as "nerve." This ele- 
ment in his character has been wisely tempered 
with sagacity and most excellent judgment. 
He commenced his business life most admir- 
ably equipped. Educated in the best schools 
of this country, and with that further legal 
training which so thoroughly disciplines the 
mind, few men have enjoyed better preparation. 
To-day the sixtieth milestone is nearly passed 
and the period of retrospect has arrived. The 
future in Mr. Stoddard's business life is assured, 
and the pages of the past disclose a career of 
unvarying success. President and principal 
stockholder of one of the largest manufactories 
of its kind in the world, and identified with the 
management of many of Dayton's largest in- 
dustries and financial institutions, he may in- 
deed view the present and review the past with 
feelings of becoming pride. 

Socially those who know Mr. Stoddard well 
know him with ever increased attachment. 
His long, assiduous attention to business left 
little time for him to cultivate extended social 
relations. The formation of the Dayton club 
within the last few years has brought Mr. Stod- 
dard more prominently in contact with his fel- 
low-citizens and he has become one of its most 
popular members. His social qualities have 
thus become more generally known and recog- 
nized. Strong in his attachments, firm, de- 
cided and sincere in character, he well deserves 
his position of prominence and influence in his 
native city. 

He enjoys a beautiful home on a hillside of 
Dayton, from which is presented a kaleide- 
scopic view of progress and development, in 
which he is and has been a prominent factor. 



* yy w M LLIAM M. MILLS, vice-president 
Mm and general manager of the Globe 

vJLyJ [ron Works Co., of Dayton, Ohio, 
is one among the old and well- 
known citizens of the Gem City. Mr. Mills 
was born in Wythe county, Va., of French- 
Welsh origin, and is of the fourth generation 
since the first of his ancestors settled in Albe- 
marle county, Va. His grandfather, Menan 
Mills, was an ensign during the Revolutionary 
war, and was with his regiment at the sur- 
render of Yorktown, Va. He lived to reach 
the age of eighty-nine years, and during the 
last year of his life rode horseback from Lex- 
ington, Ky., to the western part of Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, intending to remain in this 
county during the winter. But about three 
months after his arrival he was taken sick, and 
after a few days' illness died. 

The father of William M. was the Rev. 
John I. T. Mills, who married Maria Galladay, 
daughter of Maj. Galladay, of Augusta county, 
Va., and a few years later removed to Lexing- 
ton, Ky., whither he had been preceded a few 
years by his father and two brothers. Rev. 
Mills began the realities of life as a minister of 
the M. E. church and a teacher, in both of 
which callings he became one of the most suc- 
cessful in Kentucky. He was a man of fine 
physique, and exceedingly fond of athletic 
sports, taking part with his pupils at play dur- 
ing recess. Although very strict during study 
hours, he was the idol of his students. Dur- 
ing the cholera epidemic of 1833 he suffered 
from a very severe attack of that disease, from 
which he never fully recovered, and died 
eighteen months afterward, at the age of forty- 
six years, in the full promise of his manhood. 
At the time of his death and for several years 
prior thereto, he was professor of Greek and 
Hebrew in the seminary at Harrodsburg, Ky., 
a school which he had founded on his own 
account. Rev. Mills was considered one of 



206 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the leading educators in the state of Kentucky. 
He was a natural orator, a close student, a 
fine instructor, and withal a true type of the 
Christian gentleman. After the death of Rev. 
Mills his widow, with her five children, two 
sons and three daughters, removed to Jackson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, where 
she purchased a farm and began farming, al- 
though her eldest son, Jewette M. Mills, was 
but seventeen years of age, and her youngest, 
William M., was not yet fourteen. These two 
boys took charge of the farm, and so success- 
fully did they manage it that they greatly sur- 
prised the neighbors. Fortunately for his 
family, Rev. Mills was very fond of farm life, 
and had for many years owned and cultivated 
a good farm, so his boys were no strangers to 
their new duties. 

W. M. Mills remained with his mother until 
he reached his eighteenth year, and having by 
that time made up his mind that farming 
was not his choice of business, with the 
consent of his mother and brother, he went 
to learn the carpentering trade with a neigh- 
bor. After working as an apprentice for 
about two years young Mills concluded that 
he would be something more than a country 
carpenter, and consequently came to Day- 
ton to finish his trade. After completing his 
apprenticeship and working as a carpenter for 
a few years Mr. Mills determined to seek em- 
ployment in some branch of manufacturing, 
where there would be an opportunity of ad- 
vancement, and so obtained a place as pattern- 
maker. A few years later he purchased an 
interest in an iron foundry and machine busi- 
ness, forming what afterward became the firm 
of Stout, Mills & Temple, the successor to 
which firm is now the Dayton Globe Iron 
Works Co., which was formed in 1890, at 
which time Mr. Mills was made secretary. In 
1891 he was made vice-president and general 
manager. Mr. Mills was made an elder in the 



Presbyterian church when he was thirty-five 
years of age. He is now one of the ruling 
elders of the Third street Presbyterian church. 

Mr. Mills was married on October 28, 1845, 
to Margaret Bowersock, daughter of David 
Bowersock, who was of German descent, born 
in Northumberland county, Pa., and settled in 
Miami county, Ohio, at an early date. Mrs. 
Mills was born in Miami county in December, 
1822, and Mr. and Mrs. Mills have lived to cel- 
ebrate their golden wedding anniversary. To 
Mr. and Airs. Mills the following children have 
been born: Annie M., widow of Samuel 
Steele, son of the late Dr. Steele, of Dayton ; 
David T. , now engaged in the wood pulp man- 
ufacturing business in the state of Maine; Belle 
W.; William H., who died in his thirteenth 
year ; Edna L., now Mrs. E. P. Matthews, of 
Dayton, and Gussie L. 

When Cincinnati was menaced by Gen. 
Kirby Smith, Mr. Mills organized a company 
of 103 men, two lieutenants and a drum corps, 
was commissioned captain by Gov. Tod, and 
assisted in repelling the rebel invader. 

In about 1870 Mr. Mills was elected to the 
Dayton city council, and was chosen president 
of that body. He has also served a number 
of times as chairman of county conventions. 



HLVAN A. SIMONDS, manufacturer 
of machine knives, Dayton, was born 
at Fitchburg, Mass., January 28, 
1 841 . His father was Abel Simonds, 
a scythe manufacturer of that place. Alvan 
grew to manhood in his native state, and when 
sixteen years of age, learned the trade upon 
which his present business is based. He 
worked at it for four years, and then, in com- 
pany with his brother, George F., opened a 
shop at home, remaining in business there for 
ten years. The firm was known as Simonds 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



207 



Brothers, and subsequently was organized into 
a joint-stock company, under the name of 
the Simonds Manufacturing company, of 
which Mr. Simonds became the trusted and 
efficient treasurer. 

The firm of Simonds Brothers commenced 
business with ten men in their employ, and in 
1874, when Mr. Simonds resigned his position 
as treasurer of the company, the force had 
been increased to 125 employees, and the 
amount of business to $200,000 annually. In 
the year last named Mr. Simonds came west, 
seeking a location for the establishment of a 
new plant of the same character. On his 
arrival at Dayton, he was so impressed with the 
industrial outlook that he determined to locate 
himself in this city. He erected his present 
shops in Dayton View, and his success has fully 
justified his decision. 

In 1 86 1, Mr. Simonds enlisted in company 
B, Fifteenth regiment Massachusetts volun- 
teer infantry, and served in the Second corps, 
army of the Potomac. After a term of three 
years in defense of the Union, he was honor- 
ably discharged and returned home. He is a 
member of the Old Guard post, G. A. R., of 
Dayton. 

Mr. Simonds was married, in 1865, to Miss 
Marcella C. Willard, a native of Leominster, 
Mass. Of the five children born to them, four 
are living — Caroline J., Cora B. , Herbert R. , 
and Ethel G. ; Bessie E. being deceased. 

Mr. Simonds, in starting, upon a modest 
scale, the knife manufacturing plant which has 
grown into a large and prosperous industry, 
introduced a new feature into the business 
activities of Dayton. To every detail of its 
development he gave the most watchful care 
and judicious direction, and in a few years of 
residence here, he took place among the sound 
and reliable business men of the city. At the 
time of his retirement, by reason of ill health, 
from the personal and active management of 



his business, he was recognized in the com- 
munity not only as a prominent and influential 
factor in the industrial life of Dayton, but as 
one of her most useful and liberal citizens. 
The establishment of the Deaconess hospital 
was largely due to the untiring labors of Mr. 
Simonds, who was the first president of the 
board of trustees and so continued until 1896, 
when the failure of his health precluded his 
further service. He has been identified with 
very many of the charitable and benevolent 
movements in Dayton, wherein his good judg- 
ment and his generosity have been equally ap- 
preciated. 



^yn^ILLIAM HENRY NEGLEY, M.D., 

mm whose office is at No. 137 West 

\JL/I Third street, Dayton, Ohio, is ,1 
native of the Buckeye state, and 
was born in Germantown, Montgomery county, 
July 16, 1863, a son of William Henry and 
Eleanor A. (Schultz) Negley. 

John C. Negley, his grandfather, was born 
near Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pa.., July 
21, 1783, and when about twelve years of age 
accompanied his father and other members of 
the family to Mercer county, Ky., where he 
grew to manhood. In 1805 he came to Ohio 
and entered a section of land in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, just east of German- 
town, that village then consisting of a post- 
office, store, tavern, and a few houses. In 
181 1, he married Miss Mary Shuey, a daughter 
of John Martin Shuey, the marriage resulting 
in the birth of five children, viz: Christiana, 
Caroline, Elizabeth, Catherine and William 
Henry. Shortly after his marriage, John C. 
Negley volunteered for the war of 18 12, enter- 
ing the army with the commission of ensign, 
and later, for brave and gallant conduct, was 
promoted to be captain. 



1'O.S 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



William Henry Negley, the only son of 
John C. and the father of Dr. Negley, was born 
in Germantown, Ohio, December iS, 182S, 
was reared on his father's farm, and in 1857 
married Miss Eleanor A. Schultz, a native of 
Baltimore, Md., this union being blessed with 
two children — Frank Herwood and Dr. Will- 
iam H. Mr. Negley, like his father, was a 
brave soldier, and served his country through 
the war of the Rebellion; in 1869 he removed 
with his family to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there 
Dr. W. H. Negley was educated. 

Dr. Negley received his elementary educa- 
tion in the public schools of Cincinnati, and 
passed through all the intermediate grades until 
he reached the Woodward high school, from 
which he was graduated in 1882. In 1883 he 
entered the Miami Medical college at Cincin- 
nati, to prepare himself for his chosen profes- 
sion, and from this institution he graduated in 
March, 1886. In October, 18S6, he was ap- 
pointed acting assistant surgeon at the National 
Military Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers 
near Dayton; January 1, 1887, was promoted 
to the position of second assistant surgeon, and 
July 1, 1S89, was promoted to first assistant 
surgeon. 

June 9, 1891, Dr. Negley was most happily 
united in marriage with Miss Anna Poyntz An- 
derson, daughter of Charles B. and Belle 
(Bradford) Anderson, of Campbell county, Ky. 
March 1, 1892, the doctor resigned his position 
in the Military home, near Dayton, in order to 
go to Europe, and further to prosecute the 
study of his profession in the hospitals of the 
old world. Returning to Dayton in November 
of the same year, he opened his present office 
January 1, 1893. In March, 1894, he was 
appointed attending physician to Saint Eliza- 
beth hospital, which position he has filled with 
marked credit and ability. Two children — 
Eleanor Bradford and William Henry, Jr. — 
have been born to Dr. and Mrs. Negley. 



^-j»OHN R. McINTIRE, capitalist, banker 
g and wholesale merchant, of Dayton, 
(9 1 Ohio, is a native of the Reystone state, 
having been born at Lancaster, Pa. , 
and is the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Mcln- 
tire. The Mclntire family was one of the 
early ones in Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Samuel Mclntire was a native of Scotland, 
born of Scotch-Irish parents. Before attain- 
ing his majority he came to the United States 
and settled in Lancaster county, Pa. There 
he was married, his wife having, when a child, 
gone with her parents to that state from her 
native place in Virginia. In the spring of 
1840 Samuel Mclntire brought his family to 
Montgomery county, making the entire trip by 
wagon, the journey consuming twenty-one 
days. Upon arriving in this county he located 
temporarily at Harshmanville. His death oc- 
curred four years later. His widow survived 
him until 1885, her death occurring in Dayton, 
where she had resided for a number of years. 
After securing a common-school education, 
John K. Mclntire came to Dayton in the fall 
of 1846, and took a position as clerk in the 
grocery store of George W. Rneisley, continu- 
ing in that capacity with the same house until 
January 1, 1854, when he purchased an inter- 
est in the business, and became a partner in 
the firm of Kneisley, Mclntire & Co., whole- 
sale grocers. In 1861 the firm became that of 
Rneisley & Mclntire, with Mr. Mclntire an 
equal partner. In 1876 Mr. Mclntire retired 
from the above firm, and in the same year 
established the wholesale grocery house of J. 
R. Mclntire & Co., on East Third street, 
which, on May 1, 1894, was removed to No. 
116 North Main street. This is the largest 
and the leading house in its line in Dayton, 
and one of the largest in Ohio. 

Mr. Mclntire has other large and important 
business interests in Dayton. For the past 
twenty-one years he has been a stockholder 





{^1^1- -J 



/i/i^<Ll 




V 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



211 



and director in the Third National bank, and 
since 1888 has been president of that institu- 
tion. He has been a director in the Miami 
Insurance company since its incorporation in 
1862, he being one of the original members, 
and is vice-president of the company at the 
present time. He is also a director in the 
Fireman's Insurance company, director in the 
Dayton Gas Light & Coke company, direct- 
or in the Dayton Spice mills company, vice- 
president and director in the Weston Paper 
company, and is in one way or another inter- 
ested in other enterprises. He is also a large 
owner of valuable business property and real 
estate in the city. Mr. Mclntire was one of 
the original members of the old volunteer fire 
department of Dayton, and for three years was 
a member and for one year president of the 
Dayton board of fire commissioners. In 
this direction he has always taken a most act- 
ive interest, and to him as much as to any 
other man does Dayton owe the credit for the 
establishment of the present very efficient city 
fire department. Mr. Mclntire is a prominent 
member of the Masonic fraternity, being both 
a thirty-second degree and knight templar 
Mason. He is also a member of and director 
in the Dayton club. 

In 1858, at Romulus, on Seneca lake, in 
New York state, Mr. Mclntire was married to 
Evaline Van Tuyl, who died in Dayton in 
1887, leaving the following children: Stella, 
who married George W. Elkins, of the well- 
known Philadelphia family of that name, and 
who resides in that city; Ada, who married 
Frank T. Huffman, of Dayton, and John S. 
and Edward M., both of whom are among the 
well-known and rising young business men of 
Dayton and members of the firm of J. K. Mc- 
lntire & Co. 

The career of Mr. Mclntire has been an act- 
ive and busy one, and has been one of almost 
uniform success. Beginning life in a subordi- 



nate position in a mercantile house, it was his 
industry, energy and determination to rise 
above the common level which brought him into- 
favor with his employers and made his ad- 
vancement possible at a time in the history of 
the business of this city when promotions were 
slow. Once given an opportunity to advance, 
he was active in making other opportunities. 
It was but natural that when such a man be- 
gan to have surplus capital, beyond the re- 
quirements of his regular business, he should 
seek for it profitable investments. It was. 
natural, too, that in the hands of a man of his 
shrewdness and sagacity, capital should con- 
tinue to accumulate with accelerating rapidity, 
and be distributed in a diversity of channels. 
In this respect his history is not different from 
that of many other financiers, nor has suc- 
cess in business been allowed to change the 
man. He is the kind and constant friend, the 
pleasant and genial acquaintance, and the 
broad and liberal-minded citizen. In the prime 
of his mental and physical vigor, Mr. Mclntire 
has won a place in the front rank of the solid, 
progressive and public-spirited citizens of Day- 
ton. His success has not only been of benefit 
to him and to his immediate family, but the 
city of Dayton has shared in it, his business 
operations having been on such lines as mate- 
rially aid the community. The traits of char- 
acter of Mr. Mclntire are such as to have won 
for him a wide circle of friends and acquaint- 
ances not only in Dayton but away from home. 



BEV. CHARLES J. HAHNE, pastor of 
Emanuel church, the leading Catholic 
congregation of Dayton, was born in 
the city of Schleswig, in the province 
of Schleswig, Germany, March 12, 1833. His 
father and mother were devout Catholic?, but 
were not in affluent circumstances, his father 
beint; a shoemaker. To his 'mother he owes 



212 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his earlier religious instruction, and to her 
pious influence he owes gratitude for her en- 
couragement of his desire to become a servant 
of the church. He was educated at Mount 
St. Mary's seminary, at Cincinnati, and was 
ordained priest on May 29, 1863, by Arch- 
bishop PurceU, of that city. 

Rev. John F. Hahne, elder brother of 
Father Charles J. Hahne, was born in Schles- 
wig, April 19, 1 8 1 5 . While yet a mere boy 
he announced his intention to devote his life to 
the church, and as he advanced in years this 
determination was strengthened. His parents, 
however, were too poor to permit him to de- 
vote all his time to the necessary study, but he 
nevertheless availed himself of every oppor- 
tunity for obtaining books through loan and 
otherwise, and devoted himself assiduously to 
their study. He also laid aside from his earn- 
ings all the funds he could possibly spare, 
until, having learned his trade, he was able to 
visit various parts of Prussia, working as he 
journeyed and saving his earnings, for the pur- 
pose of forwarding his life object — that of 
reaching the priesthood. Having accumulated 
sufficient means, he began his theological stud- 
ies at Freyburg, in Switzerland. He was em- 
ployed as a private tutor for some time in 
Hanover, Prussia, and continued to devote 
himself to stud} - under the supervision of mem- 
bers of the Society of Jesus. Eventually he 
was ordained priest in the city of Osnabruck, 
Germany, December 23, 1848, whence he went 
to Alfhausen, and some time afterward was 
appointed chaplain to the army at Schleswie, 
his native city. In September, 185 1, he came 
to America, and proceeded at once to Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, where he was appointed assistant 
pastor of the church of Saint Philomena, and 
a short time afterward was transferred to the 
assistant pastorate of St. Paul's church, in 
which he continued until May, 1857, when he 
was transferred- to Dayton. Here Father 



Hahne soon secured the confidence and love 
of those among whom his lot was cast, and 
through his efforts some of the most im- 
portant Catholic organizations in the city were 
established. He was regarded as one of the 
most energetic and zealous clergymen in the 
diocese of Cincinnati, and in private life was 
universally beloved for his warm-hearted dis- 
position and truly amiable character. His 
death occurred February 21, 1882, and his 
memory is sorrowfully cherished by many 
hundreds of his loving and admiring friends. 

Emanuel's Catholic church, on Franklin 
street, Dayton, is the result of Father John F. 
Hahne's devotion to and zeal in the cause of 
the holy faith. The corner stone of the edi- 
fice was laid September 8, 1871, the anniver- 
sary of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 
according to the church calendar. It is the 
largest church building in Dayton, its outside 
measurement being 166x68 feet, with two tow- 
ers in front, each 212 feet high; the auditory 
has a seating capacity for 1,500 persons, and 
the children's gallery will seat 600. The cost 
of the edifice was $100,000, and the interior 
is in full keeping with the exterior, both being 
chaste and elegant in design and finish. 

Father Charles J. Hahne came to America 
December 22, 1854, and since 1S63 has been 
connected with Emanuel's church, having of- 
ficiated as assistant pastor from that date un- 
til the demise of his brother, when he suc- 
ceeded to the pastorate, a position he has since 
most ably and zealously filled. He has labored 
hard in the service of his flock, which numbers 
over 3,000 souls, and whom he considers first 
in all things, excepting only his allegiance to 
the faith. He is self-sacrificing, is filled with 
kindness, charity and love, and is not only 
venerated by his own immediate people, but is 
honored and respected throughout the entire 
citv of Dayton, and by those of every class and 
creed. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



213 



WAMES MANFORT WEAVER, M. D., 
J physician and surgeon, of Dayton, 
f» 1 Ohio, has been a resident of this city 
since 1880, removing hereto from the 
National soldiers' home, where he had been 
filling an appointment as surgeon and medical 
adviser since 1874. He was born in Decatur 
county, Ind., near Greensburg, April 9, 1838, 
and is a son of Rev. John S. Weaver, who was 
born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1802. The fam- 
ily originated in the German district of Alsace- 
Lorraine, which, however, prior to 1871, had 
been in the possession of France, the great- 
grandfather of Dr. Weaver being the first mem- 
ber of the family to emigrate to the United 
States. John Weaver, his son, and the grand- 
father of Dr. Weaver, was a shipbuilder in the 
United States navy for many years, and late 
in life came to Ohio and engaged in farming. 
His wife was Mary Smallwood, of Philadelphia, 
and they reared a family of eight or ten chil- 
dren, who scattered abroad throughout the 
country, some going south, others west, and 
engaging in various occupations. 

The father of Dr. Weaver was a graduate 
of Miami university, being a member of the 
first class sent out by that institution, and he 
was afterward a tutor at Oxford for some time. 
He entered the ministry of the Presbyterian 
church about 1828, beginning his work at Bell- 
brook, Greene county. Some time afterward he 
was transferred to Franklin, Warren county, and 
thence to a charge in the vicinity of Greensburg, 
Ind., returning to Ohio about 1838. Herefor 
some time he had charge of a church near the 
village of Millville, Butler county, remaining 
there for two or three years, after which he 
took charge of the New Jersey church in War- 
ren county, which church is now called the 
Carlisle church. Here he remained until 
about 1858, when he assumed charge of Dick's 
Creek church, his home being the village of 
Blue Ball, along the line of Butler and War- 



ren counties, Ohio. Continuing here in charge 
until 1865, he then removed to Springfield, 
Ohio, where also he engaged in ministerial 
work, though not having any special charge. 
His last sermon was preached in Bellbrook, 
Ohio, the same place in which he began his 
work in the ministry, his death occurring in 
Springfield, Ohio, in 1872. He was a man of 
considerable literary attainments, and was a 
contributor to several religious journals. His 
entire life was given to the work of the church, 
and in a most unselfish manner did he perform 
every duty that devolved spon him. 

He married Miss Amanda Hurin, a daugh- 
ter of Silas Hurin, one of the early settlers of 
Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio. Silas Hurin 
was a native of New Jersey and came to Ohio, 
settling in Warren county, at a very early day. 
By trade he was a tanner. He married a Miss 
Ludlow, who was also of one of the earliest 
families of Ohio. The mother of Dr. Weaver 
was born in Lebanon and died in 1882. She 
and her husband were the parents of seven 
children, as follows : Susan A., deceased ; 
Kate C. , wife of Capt. James H. Robinson, of 
Springfield, Ohio ; James M. ; Mary Agnes, 
widow of Capt. A. M. Robinson, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio ; John S., who has always been engaged 
in educational work, and who is now principal 
of the high school at Springfield, Ohio ; Geor- 
giana D., wife of R. E. Naylor, a farmer of 
Kansas ; Walter L. , a well-known attorney at 
law, of Springfield, Ohio. 

James M. Weaver was reared in the south- 
ern part of Ohio, and received his elementary 
education in the district schools, attending 
school during the winter season and working 
on the farm in the summer. He then attended 
an academic school some two years, and taught 
school one winter. In 1857 he entered the 
office of Drs. Firestone & Robison, of Woos- 
ter, Ohio, and attended his first course of lec- 
tures at Cincinnati, in the winter of 1859-60. 



214 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



His second course he attended at the medical 
department of the Western Reserve college, at 
Cleveland, Ohio, graduating there in the class 
of 1861. 

He began practice at Jackson, Wayne 
county, Ohio, remaining there until August, 1862, 
when he entered the service of the government 
as assistant surgeon of the Ninety-third Ohio 
volunteer infantry, being promoted to the office 
of surgeon in 1S64, and serving in the field un- 
til the close of the war, or until June, 1865. 
Part of the time he was on the operating staff 
and in charge of the hospital of the Third di- 
vision, Fourth army corps. 

After severing his connection with the army 
Dr. Weaver located at Wooster, Ohio, and 
practiced medicine there in partnership with 
Dr. J. D. Robison, following a general prac- 
tice until 1874, when he was appointed sur- 
geon to the central branch of the National 
soldiers' home, at Dayton. This position he 
filled until 1S80, when he removed to the city 
of Dayton, and has ever since been here engaged 
in general practice as a physician and surgeon. 
His house and office are at No. 1 1 1 South 
Ludlow street. Here he has built up a most 
extensive practice in the city and immediate 
vicinity, and is well known as a skillful and 
conscientious practitioner. While in Wooster 
he served as a member of the board of pension 
examiners, and since locating in Dayton has 
served in the same capacity from 1881 until 
1884, and again from 1890 until 1893. He 
also served as health officer of Dayton from 
1886 to 1891, and has been a member of the 
consulting staff of St. Elizabeth's hospital since 
1882, and surgeon of the Big Four railroad 
since 1881. His entire attention is given to 
his profession, as that affords him the greatest 
interest, as well as being the most profitable 
manner of spending his life. 

Dr. Weaver is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society, of the Ohio state 



Medical association, of the American Medical 
association, of the state association of railroad 
surgeons, and of the National association of 
railroad surgeons. He is a member of Day- 
ton lodge No. 147, F. & A. M. ; of Unity chap- 
ter No. 16; of Reese council No. 9, and of Reed 
commandery No. 6. He is a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, of the Scottish rite. He is a 
member of the Old Guard post No. 23, G. A. 
R., and is in good standing in all these various 
societies and orders. He was elected to the 
board of education in the spring of 1896, and 
is one of the most valued and efficient members 
of that body. 

Dr. Weaver was married September6, 1865, 
to Miss Sarah J. Jacobs, of Fort Wayne, Ind. , 
a daughter of William Jacobs of that city. 
She was born, however, in Wooster, Ohio. 
Dr. and Mrs. Weaver are the parents of four 
children, as follows: Anna L. , who died at 
the age of sixteen; Mary M. , who died in in- 
fancy; Frederick C. , a practicing physician of 
Dayton, in partnership with his father, and 
Mima J., living at home. The family are 
members of the Presbyterian church of this 
city. 

Frederick C. Weaver was born December 
16, 1870, and received his literary education 
at the Wesleyan university, at Delaware, Ohio. 
He read medicine with his father, and attended 
the Miami Medical college at Cincinnati, grad- 
uating therefrom with the class of 1894. He is 
assistant surgeon of the Third regiment, O. N. 
G. , and is one of the attending physicians of 
St. Elizabeth's hospital at Dayton. He was 
married, in 1 891, to Miss Mary E. Bridge- 
man, of London, Ohio. The Drs. Weaver 
are considered by the citizens of Dayton, gen- 
erally, as one of the strongest medical and 
surgical firms in the city, their skill and suc- 
cess being quite marked and widely recognized,, 
not only in the city itself, but throughout a 
wide circuit of the surrounding country. 



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OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



217 



>^EFFERSON A. WALTERS, M. D., of 
M Dayton, is now living in retirement and 
/• 1 devoting his leisure to the study of his- 
torical and philosophical literature, hav- 
ing long since acquired a competency and 
being now one of the solid capitalists and finan- 
ciers of the Gem City. He descends from one 
of the oldest of American families, was born in 
Fayette county, Pa., October 19, 1810, and 
has been a resident of Ohio since 1830. His 
father, Ephraim Walters, also a native of Fay- 
ette county, was born in 1776, was reared a 
farmer, and, while still a young man, also en- 
gaged in trading, and as early as 1 800 floated 
flour to New Orleans, La., on a keel-boat. In 
1803 he married Miss Elizabeth Ache, daugh- 
ter of a Dunkard preacher, and thenceforward 
confined himself to agricultural pursuits, and 
died at the ripe old age of ninety-one years. 

Ephraim Walters, grandfather of Dr. Wal- 
ters, was born about 1737, and when fourteen 
years of age was captured by the Shawanese 
Indians on the south branch of the Potomac 
river, in Virginia. His father, mother, and six 
children beside himself, were also the victims 
of this onslaught, and the father was shot dead 
on the spot. While crossing the mountains 
westwardly the Indians seized a nursing babe 
from its mother's arms and dashed out its 
brains against a stump, and then tied the mother 
to a tree and slowly tortured her to death with 
fire. Young Ephraim, with the other prison- 
ers, was taken to an Indian village on the Mo- 
nongahela river near Pittsburg (as it is now 
known), where he was adopted by the chief, 
Yougashaw, and was kindly treated. He be- 
came an expert hunter and a brave warrior, 
and was present at Braddock's defeat and at the 
subsequent fall of Fort Duquesne in 1758. He 
was of course among the Indians who sided 
with the French, and in 1759 was exchanged, 
and so passed into the hands of the English, 
who then controlled the colonies. But the ar- 



rogance of the British officers was to him un- 
bearable, and he soon rejoined his Indian as- 
sociates and with them came to Ohio, where 
he passed two years on the Muskingum river 
and its tributaries. In 1761 he returned to 
Pennsylvania and made his home on the Mo- 
nongahela river in the village of the renowned 
Indian chief, Cornstalk, in what is now Fay- 
ette county. In 1770 he located a "toma- 
hawk" title to about 7,000 acres of land in 
that county, most of which is to-day very valu- 
able and a great portion of it in the possession 
of his descendants. The same year he married 
Miss DeBolt, of French descent, to which 
union were born seven sons and three daugh- 
ters, and of these ten children three lived to 
reach the age of ninety years, six to be sev- 
enty-five, and one to be fifty-five years old. 
During the Revolutionary war Mr. Walters 
raised a company for the defense of the settle- 
ment, and during the war of 181 2, his young- 
est son having been drafted, he offered himself 
as a substitute and was accepted, although he 
was then seventy-five years old. He was ever 
prominent in local affairs and for many years 
was a justice of the peace. His death took 
place in 1835 at the age of ninety-four years, 
and his memory is still cherished and vener- 
ated in the western part of the Keystone state. 
Dr. Jefferson A. Walters, on coming to 
Ohio in 1830, was the first student to enter 
the Eclectic Medical college, just organized at 
Worthington, and from this institution he 
graduated in 1834. The first three years of 
practice he passed in Perry county, and in 
June, 1837, he settled in Dayton. December 
24, 1840, he was united in marriage with Miss 
Lucetta E. Brooks, only daughter of James 
Brooks, and to this union were born one son 
and one daughter. In the summer of 1841 the 
Doctor opened a drug store and for twenty-five 
years did a very successful business, but in 
1866 had the misfortune to be thrown from his 



■2 is 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



buggy, sustaining a serious injury to his spine, 
from which he suffered for six years before 
finding permanent relief, since when he has 
enjoyed very fair health. For many years he 
has been living in retirement, passing his time 
in the perusal of standard works of philosophy 
and antiquarian research. He is well pre- 
served for his age and adds to his longevity by 
maintaining an equable temper and the exer- 
cise of an unusual degree of sociability. He 
has always been a democrat in politics, but 
has never aspired to public office nor cared to 
burden himself with official cares, being satis- 
fied with his lot as an honored and quiet 
citizen of the republic. 




IHOMAS P. GADDIS, vice-president 
and general manager of the Dayton 
Malleable Iron works and one of the 
Gem City's representative manufac- 
turers and citizens, was born in this city June 
5, 1850. His father was the late Rev. Max- 
well Pierson Gaddis, who for years was one of 
the well-known ministers of the Cincinnati M. 
E. conference, and was the author of that val- 
uable and interesting autobiographical work, 
"Footprints of an Itinerant." Rev. Gaddis 
was born in Lancaster county. Pa. , on Sep- 
tember 9, 181 1. His parents, Robert and 
Mary Ann (Frazier) Gaddis, who were natives 
of Ireland, were married in 1789, and became 
the parents of thirteen children, seven of whom 
were born in that country. In 1801 the fam- 
ily sailed from Ireland on the ship Stafford, 
and after a perilous voyage of thirteen weeks, 
reached this land. They first located on a 
small farm in Delaware, but in 1803 they re- 
moved to Pennsylvania, and in 18 17 came to 
Ohio. Rev. Gaddis was educated principally 
by his mother. Before he had reached his six- 
teenth year he had passed the necessary exam- 



ination, had been pronounced competent to 
teach, and had taught his first common school. 
By teaching he earned means to go to college, 
which he entered in 1830, but soon afterward 
was forced to abandon his studies on account 
of poor health. In 1832-33 he was engaged 
in mercantile business. In 1824 he was con- 
verted to religion; in 1835 he was authorized 
to exhort in the M. E. church, and during that 
year he received his first appointment to a cir- 
cuit. His first appointment to a station was in 
1838, when he was placed in charge at Fulton, 
Ohio. In the fall of 1841 he was appointed 
agent for the Worthington Female seminary and 
Asbury academy at Parkersburg, Va. In 1852 
he was compelled to abandon active work, 
on account of ill health, and the following year 
he severed his connection as pastor at Piqua, 
and went east to recuperate. He recovered 
his health to a slight degree, but continued 
weak, and was compelled to take a superan- 
nuated relation with the church. Following 
this he located in Dayton, and here resided 
until his death, which occurred in 1878. His 
widow still resides in Dayton. 

Thomas P. Gaddis was reared in Dayton, 
first attended the public schools, and then An- 
tioch college, at Yellow Springs, Ohio. In 
1869 he went to Colorado, where he served in 
the U. S. engineering corps under Maj. John 
E. Clark. In 1872 he was in Wisconsin and 
Michigan with the engineering corps of the 
Northwestern Railway company, and in 1873 
he returned to Dayton and entered the Malle- 
able Iron-Works as a partner, holding first the 
position of shipping clerk and subsequently 
that of foreman of the foundry, then superin- 
tendent and general manager. In 1884 he 
became vice-president and general manager. 
For a time he was president of the company. 

In 1878 Mr. Gaddis was married to a 
daughter of the late Col. John G. Lowe, of 
Dayton. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



219 



HDMIRAL JAMES FINDLAY 
S CHE NCR, deceased, was born 
at Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, on 
June ii, 1807, and was the son of 
Gen. William C. Schenck, a pioneer of Ohio, 
of whom extended mention is made in the biog- 
raphy of Gen. R. C. Schenck, on another 
page of this volume. In 182.2, James Findlay 
Schenck received an appointment as cadet at 
the United States Military academy, at West 
Point, N. Y. , where he remained for about 
two years; but in consequence of some trouble 
with one of the tactical officers, resulting from 
certain reports which had been made against 
cadets by that officer, and of his subsequent 
actions respecting these cadets and deemed by 
them to have been conducted in a spirit of in- 
justice. Cadet Schenck and several others ten- 
dered their resignations. On March 1, 1825, 
Mr. Schenck received an appointment as mid- 
shipman in the United States navy, and in the 
following August was ordered to the sloop 
Hornet, of the West India squadron. In 
March, 1827, he was detached and ordered to 
the Natchez, which vessel had been fitted out 
at the Norfolk navy yard, under special in- 
structions from the navy department, to join 
the West India squadron for service against 
pirates, which infested those waters at that 
time. While serving with the vessel on the 
south side of the island of Cuba, in July, 1828, 
two schooners and a sloop were fitted out to 
aid the Natchez in her operations against the 
pirates. The latter vessel, the Surprise, with 
thirty men, was for some time under the com- 
mand of Mr. Schenck. In November, 1828, he 
was detached from the Natchez and ordered to 
the Peacock, of the same squadron, and in 
December, 1829, he was ordered to the Bran- 
dywine, then lying at the New York navy yard, 
under orders to join the same squadron, which 
vessel reached Havana on April first following. 
In July, 1830, Mr. Schenck was detached from 



the Brandy wine and placed upon " waiting 
orders," and on June 4, 1831, he was pro- 
moted to passed midshipman, and in the fol- 
lowing month ordered to the receiving-ship at 
Norfolk, Va., but in October following was 
detached and granted leave. In January, 
1832, he was ordered to the frigate United 
States, then fitting out at the New York navy 
yard, whence he sailed to join the Mediterra- 
nean squadron on the 3d of July of that year, 
touching at Funchal, Lisbon, Gibraltar, and 
arriving at Port Mahon on the 26th of the 
following August. Here Mr. Schenck was 
transferred as the acting master to the frigate 
John Adams, she being short of officers. After 
the usual services upon this station he was, in 
March, 1834, detached and granted leave. He 
was commissioned lieutenant on December 22, 
1835, ar, d in June, 1836, was ordered to the 
Boston, then fitting out at Boston, Mass. The 
Boston sailed for Pensacola on July 10 of that 
year, for services in the West India squadron. 
From that vessel Lieut. Schenck was detached 
in September, 1836, and ordered to the St. 
Louis, and to the Constellation in July, 1837, 
and in May, 1838, he was detached and 
granted leave. In August, 1839, he was or- 
dered to the Dolphin, Brazil squadron, where 
he served until July, 1840, when he was de- 
tached and granted leave. In November, 
1 84 1, he was ordered to the receiving-ship at 
New York, and in July, 1842, detached to the 
razee Independence, of the home squadron, and 
in December, 1843, was detached to the Preble, 
which vessel sailed from Boston for Pensacola 
and the West India squadron on January 24, 
1844. On the 28th of June of that year Com- 
mander Freelon forwarded, with a very favor- 
able and flattering indorsement, an application 
of Lieut. Schenck for leave of absence, and 
the following month he was detached and 
granted leave. In August, 1845, ne was or- 
dered to the frigate Congress, Pacific squad- 



220 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ron, Commodore Stockton commanding, and 
as chief military aid to that officer, Lieut. 
Schenck landed and took possession of Santa 
Barbara and San Pedro, in California, and in 
the same capacity marched upon and was at 
the first capture of Los Angeles. This was 
during the war of the United States with Mex- 
ico. As the second lieutenant of the Congress, 
Lieut. Schenck was at the bombardment and 
capture of Guaymas, and at the taking of 
Mazatlan, in Mexico. In October, 1848, he 
returned from the Pacific squadron as bearer 
of dispatches, and was granted leave. In May, 
1849, he was ordered to the command of the 
Pacific mail steamer Ohio, in which service he 
remained until granted leave of absence in 
December, 1852. He- was promoted to the 
rank of a commander on September 14, 1855, 
and in April, 1857, was ordered to the com- 
mand of the receiving-ship at New York. In 
June, 1858, he was placed on waiting orders, 
and in July, 1859, was ordered to the com- 
mand of the Saginaw, of the East India squad- 
ron. In June, 1861, Commander Schenck 
was ordered by Flag Officer Engel to proceed 
with the Saginaw to Quim-hon bay, in Cochin 
China, in the execution of certain duties, in the 
performance of which, after his vessel had 
thrice been fired upon from the fort at that 
point, he was compelled to reduce the Chinese 
fortifications. In February, 1862, after an ap- 
plication had been made by him to the secretary 
of the navy to be relieved from the command of 
the Saginaw, which vessel was not considered 
seaworthy, Commander Schenck was ordered 
home. This order was anticipated by him, 
however, and he arrived in New York on 
March 11 following, and on the 19th of the 
next month was placed in command of the 
frigate St. Lawrence, and at once proceeded 
to Hampton Roads, and assumed command of 
his ship on May 3, 1862, proceeding to join 
the West gulf blockading squadron. This 



vessel was soon found to be of little value for 
such duty, and was converted into a store ship 
and stationed at Key West. At his own re- 
quest, made some months before, he was 
relieved from the command of the St. Law- 
rence on April 14, 1863. On October 6, 1864, 
he received the notification of his promotion 
to the rank of commodore, his commission dat- 
ing back to January 2, 1863. October 6, 
1864, he was ordered to command of the 
Powhatan, of the North Atlantic squadron, 
and assumed command of that vessel on the 
fourteenth day of the same month. The Pow- 
hatan took a prominent part in the two attacks 
upon Fort Fisher, N. C, under command of 
Commodore Schenck, who, in these attacks, 
also commanded the third division of the 
North Atlantic squadron. In March, 1865, 
Commodore Schenck, still in command of the 
Powhatan, was ordered to proceed to Key 
West. Previous to the departure of the vessel 
from Hampton Roads, however, he applied to 
be relieved from command of the vessel, which 
was done upon his arrival at Key West, and 
he was placed upon waiting orders. In No- 
vember, 1865, he was ordered to command 
the naval station at Mound City, Ills., and in 
the following November was detached and 
placed on waiting orders. This was his last 
assignment to duty, and on June 11, 1869, 
having reached the age of sixty-two years, he 
was, in accordance with the law governing the 
navy, placed upon the retired list. July 18, 
1870, he was promoted to the rank of rear- 
admiral on the retired list, but to date from 
September, 1868, his promotion having been 
unjustly delayed by permitting another officer 
above him to remain on the active list-without 
warrant of law. Upon his retirement Admiral 
Schenck returned to Dayton, where he had for 
many years maintained a home, and here spent 
the remainder of his life, after having devoted 
upwards of forty-four years of it to the service 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



221 



of his country, most of which was spent on 
duty at sea. The death of Admiral Schenck 
occurred on December 21, 1882. 

Admiral Schenck was married at Smith- 
town, Long Island, N. Y., in 1S29, to Doro- 
thy Ann Smith, a descendant of Maj. Richard 
Smith, the patentee of Smithtown, Long 
Island. The issue of this marriage was as 
follows: Sarah Smith, Jane Findlay, Caspar 
and Woodhull Smith. 

During the years passed by Admiral Schenck 
in Dayton, after his retirement from active 
service, his home was the center of attraction 
for many of the city's most prominent men, 
who were drawn to him by those splendid 
qualities of mind and heart which marked him 
both as a fine public character and as a worthy 
private citizen. His personal characteristics 
of bluff speech and uncompromising directness 
of judgment only added strength to his rare 
social attributes. He was the true friend and 
beloved associate of many men of the later 
generation. 

Dayton cherishes the memory of James 
Findlay Schenck, not only as a loyal servant 
of his country, but as a strong man, a good 
citizen and a valued factor in the social life of 
this community. 



\S~\ ANIEL C. LARKIN, chief of the fire 
I department of Dayton, was born in 
A^^J Sandusky, Erie county, Ohio, July 
29, 1849, an d is a son of Thomas 
Larkin, who was born in Connecticut. Thomas 
Larkin was one of six brothers who came west 
together in 1824, three of them settling in San- 
dusky, Ohio, the other three going further and 
locating in Detroit, Mich. Thomas Larkin 
was a locomotive engineer for more than thirty 
years, and lost his life in an accident, his loco- 
motive exploding June 5, 1875, about two 
miles from Sandusky. His wife was Ann Ryne, 



who was born in Ireland, and who came to 
the United States when a child, with her two 
sisters, and died in 1893. 

Daniel C. Larkin was reared in Sandusky, 
and received his education in the public schools 
of that city. After leaving school he learned 
the trade of a machinist, serving an appren- 
ticeship of three years. He then began firing 
a locomotive running between Sandusky and 
Dayton, being promoted to engineer three 
years later, his route lying between Sandusky 
and Dayton, on the C. , S. & C. railroad. For 
three years afterward he ran a locomotive on 
the C, C, C. & I. railroad, between Cincin- 
nati and Dayton. In 1875 he retired from 
the road and took charge of a number of teams 
in Dayton, doing draying for large firms in 
that city, continuing thus engaged until 1880, 
in which year he was appointed chief of the 
Dayton fire department, a position which he 
has held ever since. This was at the time of 
the organization of the present board of fire 
commissioners. 

Mr. Larkin was married May 26, 1875, to 
Hannah A. Hartnett, of Dayton. This lady, 
a daughter of Morris and Julia (Hern) Hart- 
nett, natives of Ireland, was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, January 10, 1856, and has blessed her 
husband with seven children, viz.: Morris D., 
assistant secretary of the Dayton fire depart- 
ment; Thomas, a student of Saint Mary's insti- 
tute of Dayton; John, Alice, Helen, Francis 
and David. Mr. and Mrs. Larkin are mem- 
bers of Saint Joseph's church, and Mr. Larkin 
is a member of Iola lodge No. 83, Knights of 
Pythias, which was instituted March 24, 1875, 
and also of the society of Elks. 

A brief review of the growth and improve- 
ment of the Dayton fire department is appro- 
priate in this connection, as it is in point of 
fact, a history of the great success of the life 
of Mr. Larkin. When he took charge of the 
department in 1880 it had eleven horses, while 



222 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



now it has thirty-six. It then had six hose 
reels, and now has thirteen new, improved 
hose wagons. At that time it had two old en- 
gines, and now has four engines, two of which 
are new. It had then but one hook and lad- 
der truck, where now it has three. There 
were then only thirty-five fire alarm boxes, 
while to-day there are 122, with the Game- 
well fire-alarm system. In 1880 the depart- 
ment owned but 2,000 feet of good hose, and 
4,000 feet of that which was inferior. Now it 
has 25,000 feet of good hose. It had six en- 
gine houses, three of which were unfit for the 
service. Now it has twelve engine houses, 
nine of them new and of modern construction, 
and the appointments for quick hitching to the 
engines are complete, seconds being required 
now instead of minutes as then. At the time 
Mr. Larkin took charge there were eighteen reg- 
ular firemen, and thirteen subject to call; now 
there are seventy regular men and five call 
men. Many other improvements, which it 
would be tedious to enumerate, have been 
made and put in operation in the department, 
all tending to rapid and efficient service. In 
the first year Mr. Larkin had charge of the 
department there were sixty-five fires, and 
during the year 1895 there were 342. In 1875 
there were forty-six; in 1880, sixty-five; in 
1885, 103; in 1S90, 138; in 1895, 34 2 . an d in 
1896, 353- The citizens of Dayton are cer- 
tain that they have one of the best fire depart- 
ments in the country, the improvements in its 
equipment and administration being a source 
of great pride in the entire community. Mr. 
Larkin is treasurer of the International Fire 
Chiefs' association, having held this position 
for twelve years; and in 1895 he was made 
president of the Fire Chiefs' association of 
Ohio. He is likewise a member of the Great 
Britain Fire Brigade union, is president of the 
Firemen's Benevolent society, and secretary of 
the Firemen's Relief fund. 



Chief Larkin's personality is so closely 
identified in the public mind with the recog- 
nized excellence and efficiency of the fire de- 
partment, that it is impossible to discuss the 
latter without giving large praise to the man 
who has given the best years of his life in 
its service. 



m. 



'ILLIAM E. CRUME, vice-president 
and general manager of the western 
department of the Carter-Crume 
Manufacturing company, and a rep- 
resentative citizen of Dayton, is a native of 
Ohio, having been born at Collinsville, Butler 
county, on March 26, 1848. The ancestors of 
Mr. Crume came from Wales to America dur- 
ing the latter part of the seventeenth century 
and settled in Maryland, from which state his 
paternal great-grandfathers, Jesse Crume and 
Mathew Richardson, came to Ohio in 1802 and 
settled in Butler county. Jesse Crume shortly 
afterward removed to Kentucky, where he 
spent the balance of his life, while Mathew 
Richardson remained in Ohio and served in 
the state legislature in 1804 and 1806. The 
great-grandfathers of Mr. Crume on the mater- 
nal side were James Martin, a native of Mary- 
land, and David Steel, a native of Ireland. 
The paternal grandparents of Mr. Crume were 
John C. Crume, who came from Kentucky, his 
native state, to Hamilton county, Ohio, in 
1810, but returning to Kentucky, died therein 
1 81 5; and Sarah Richardson, who came with 
her parents from Maryland to Ohio in 1803. 
The maternal grandparents of Mr. Crume were 
David Steel, a native of Scotland, and Nancy 
Martin, a native of Ireland. The father of Mr. 
Crume was William H. Crume, who was a 
native of Kentucky. He came to Ohio about 
1830, locating in Butler county, where he lived 
many years. His death occurred in Dayton 
in 1882. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



223 



William E. Crume was reared in Butler 
county, Ohio, where he resided until he en- 
listed in the late war, with the exception of 
two years spent at Muscatine, Iowa, where his 
parents removed in 1858. He attended the 
common schools, and secured a good English 
education, his school days being brought to a 
close by his enlistment when he was sixteen 
years of age, on May 1, 1864, in the 167th 
regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry. He was 
mustered out of this regiment in September of 
that year, and February 2, 1865, re-enlisted 
in the 184th regiment of Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry. He was mustered out of service at 
Nashville, Tenn., on October 3, 1865, with 
rank of corporal. Returning to Butler county 
he remained there until the following year, 
when he came to Dayton and learned the trade 
of carpentering and building with Andrew 
Slentz. He pursued that business until 1873, 
when he began the manufacture of wooden 
boxes, which proved very successful, and was, 
in fact, the foundation of the establishment 
with which he is at the present time connected. 
In 1877 he organized the firm of Aulabaugh, 
Crume & Co., the other members of which 
firm were P. M. Aulabaugh and J. W. Sefton. 
After the death of Mr. Aulabaugh in 1880, the 
firm became known as the Crume & Sefton 
Manufacturing company, which continued un- 
til 1893, when it was amalgamated with four 
other concerns, engaged in a like manufactur- 
ing business, and became the Carter-Crume 
company, with works at Niagara Falls, N. Y., 
Toronto, Canada, Saginaw, Mich., and Day- 
ton, Ohio, Mr. Crume holding the position of 
vice-president of the company and general 
manager of the western department of the 
same. Mr. Crume has other business inter- 
ests of importance, and is a director in the 
Fourth National bank. 

Politically, Mr. Crume has always been a 
member of the republican party, and has for 



years been active and prominent in its coun- 
cils. While his career has been a business one, 
and he has in no sense sought public office or 
political honor, yet he has been frequently rec- 
ognized by his party and fellow citizens. In 
1892 he was a delegate to the republican 
national convention at Minneapolis, and in 
1896 was a delegate to the republican national 
convention at St. Louis, and is usually a dele- 
gate to the county, district and state conven- 
tions of his party. In 1876 he was elected to 
the Dayton city council, re-elected in 1878 and 
1880, and was chosen vice-president of that 
body in 1881. He was appointed to a position 
on the board of police directors, of Dayton, in 
1892, for a term of four years, and in 1896 was 
re-appointed for another term of four years. In 
1894 and 1895 Mr. Crume was president of 
the board, where his services have been of 
great value to the city, as during his terms the 
existing efficient police department was in- 
augurated. Mr. Crume is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight 
Templar and a Scottish rite Mason. 

Mr. Crume has long been recognized and 
considered one of Dayton's leading, progressive 
and representative citizens. As a man of large 
business affairs he has exhibited talents of more 
than the ordinary. The business with which he 
is connected and which has enjoyed so pros- 
perous a career, was originated and founded by 
him, and it was by his guiding hand that it 
was made successful. Personally, Mr. Crume 
is one of our most popular citizens, his genial- 
ity, progressive ideas, and liberal views winning 
him a large circle of friends and admirers. In 
the business world he ranks among the sub- 
stantial men of the city. 

On January 18, 1S70, Mr. Crume was mar- 
ried to Mary C. Slentz, who was born near 
Dayton, Ohio, and is a daughter of Andrew 
Slentz, who was a prominent contractor of the 
the city. To Mr. and Mrs. Crume the follow- 



224 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ing children have been born: Enimi I., wife 
of John P. Lytle, of Dayton, Ohio; Lola H., 
wife of Harrie P. Clegg, of Dayton; William 
H., Roscoe A., and Eleanor J. 



^/^\ ICHARD P. BURKHARDT, presi- 

I ^T dent and manager of the Stomps— 

_^P Burkhardt company, Dayton, Ohio, 

was born in the grand duchy of 

Baden, Germany, October 28, 1845, and is a 

son of Joseph Anthony and Theresia (Ber- 

berich) Burkhardt, who came to America in 

1850, with their family of seven children, and 

settled in Dayton, where the mother died July 

9, 1869, and the father August 6, 1880, at the 

age of eighty-three years. 

Joseph Anthony Burkhardt descended from 
a family of business men who held sway for 
generations in Baden as prominent in their 
various callings. For a number of years 
Joseph A. Burkhardt was burgomaster of his 
native city, and on coming to this country fol- 
lowed his business in Dayton, from which bus- 
iness he retired, with a competency, in 1858. 
To Joseph Anthony Burkhardt and wife were 
born eight children, of whom the eldest, 
Frank Stephen, was the first to come to Amer- 
ica, leaving his parents and family of seven 
children to follow, and he still keeps his resi- 
dence in Dayton; Theresa, the second born, 
died in California, the wife of John Huberty; 
Gertrude is the widow of Joseph Burkhardt, 
deceased; August died in California; John V. 
also died in that state; Mary H. is the wife of 
Nicholas Sacksteder, of Dayton; Mark A. is a 
druggist of the same city, and Richard P. is 
the youngest born. 

Richard P. Burkhardt was in his fifth year 
when the family came to Dayton, and was 
educated in the parochial school and in Saint 
Mary's institute until twelve or thirteen years 
old, when he engaged as an errand boy in the 



cabinetmaker's union, at $1.25 per week, for 
one year; he was next apprenticed for two and 
one-half years at the cabinetmakers' trade, 
with Philip Haverstick; he then entered the 
employ of M. Ohmer, as clerk, and remained 
in that position until his employer's place of 
business was destroyed by fire, in May, 1869; 
he next traveled for a few months as an intro- 
ducer of a patent bed bottom, and for five 
months afterward was employed as clerk in 
the dry-goods store of H. V. Perrine. He then 
purchased the interest of Martin Brabec in the 
firm of G. Stomps Brothers & Company. One 
month later the firm name was changed to 
that of G. Stomps & Company, under which 
style business was carried on for twenty-one 
years, when, on January 1, 1890, it was merged 
into a joint stock concern under the title of 
the Stomps-Burkhardt company, Mr. Burk- 
hardt during the interval, having had charge of 
the general office work and finances of the 
firm. On the formation of the stock company 
Mr. Stomps was made its president, and Mr. 
Burkhardt vice-president and general manager; 
the year following this action Mr. Stomps was 
called from business cares by death, and Mr. 
Burkhardt became president; Gustave Stomps, 
vice-president and treasurer; J. M. Kramer, 
secretary; and R. P. Burkhardt, Jr., superin- 
tendent. 

When Mr. Burkhardt first became a mem- 
ber of this concern, its annual financial tran- 
sactions amounted to an average of $30,000; 
the business now done reaches from $250,000 
to $300,000 per year; the plant has a frontage 
of 200 feet on First street aside from the space 
allotted to warerooms, and the number of peo- 
ple employed is 235. The output of the firm 
reaches all points in the United States, Cana- 
da and Mexico, and the superiority of the 
wares is fully shown by the demand for them 
all over this extensive territory. 

The marriage of Richard P. Burkhardt 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



227 



took place November 21, 1871, with Miss 
Mary Adelaide Stomps, daughter of Gustav 
Stomps, and to this marriage were born six 
children, of whom one died in infancy; Richard 
P., Jr., is alluded to in a preceding paragraph; 
William M. is a traveling salesman in the 
factory of which his father is the head; Mary 
A., Catherine T. and Ellanore E. are at home 
with their father. Of these children, the eld- 
est, Richard P. , Jr. , was married, November 
21, 1894, to Miss Emma Bauman, and to this 
union has been born one child — R. Waldron. 
R. P. Burkhardt was bereft of his wife by 
death, May 12, 1893, she being then but little 
over thirty-nine years of age. She was a 
faithful Catholic in her religious faith and all 
the family are members of the same church. 
In politics Mr. Burkhardt is a true demo- 
crat, and was a member of the first board of 
tax commissioners of Dayton. He is what is 
usually called a self-made man in mercantile 
matters — in other words, his knowledge of 
trade and his natural astuteness, industry and 
honesty have led to his present business pros- 
perity; while he is honored and esteemed for 
his breadth of mind and public spirit, by the 
entire community wherein he has earned a 
well-merited success. 



@EN. WILLIAM H. MARTIN, now 
living in retirement at No. 1 15 South 
Dudley street, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born near Boston, Mass., Septem- 
ber 13, 1830. His parents, Edward and 
Betty Martin, were also natives of Massachu- 
setts, and were respectively of German and 
Irish descent. The father died two months 
before the birth of our subject, and when the 
latter was but two years of age he was bereft 
of his mother. Of the four sons and three 
daughters born to Edward and Betty Martin, 



all are now deceased, excepting William H., 
and of the sons, who were all seafaring men, 
John was governor of one of the South sea 
jslands under the British crown at the time of 
his death, Joseph died on an East India island 
on a return trip from Egypt, and James was 
lost at sea; of the daughters, Elizabeth, wife 
of Capt. Thomas M. Fulton, sailed with her 
husband four times around the world and died 
in San Francisco, Cal. ; Mary E. was married to 
Edward Deering, and died in Portsmouth, N. 
H.; and Sarah, wife of a Mr. Mapes, died in 
Saint Louis, Mo. 

While yet a mere boy, William H. Martin 
ran away from his adopted home and followed 
the sea for two or three years as a cabin boy, 
but finally left his vessel at a seaport in Nova 
Scotia, where he attended school for two win- 
ters and worked at farming during the summer 
months. He then returned to Boston and at- 
tended night school for several years. In 1847 
he was employed by the Boston & Worcester 
Railroad company, and in 1850 went to Central 
America with a crew employed to construct the 
Panama railroad; six months later he returned 
north to New York, visited Boston, then again 
returned to New York, and at Delaware, that 
state, was employed on the New York & Erie 
railroad. In 185 1 he was made a conductor, a 
position he held nearly three years; in July, 
1853, he came to Cincinnati, Ohio, with Major 
Seymour; made his first visit to a slave state, 
Kentucky, but was dissatisfied, and returned to 
Cincinnati, where he entered the employ of the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad com- 
pany. He located his home in Dayton, and 
continued with this company until 1881, hav- 
ing a leave of absence during the Civil war. 

On the night of April 14, 1861, Mr. Mar- 
tin signed enlistment papers, in Dayton, in 
the First Ohio volunteer infantry, and went at 
once to Columbus. He was soon appointed 
color-sergeant of his regiment, and carried the 



228 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



regimental flag through the three-months serv- 
ice, and saw active service at Vienna and Bull 
Run. In the latter battle he won his first pro- 
motion for gallant conduct on the battlefield. 
In the excitement of the struggle, when the 
Union troops were sorely pressed, the regiment 
became separated from its color-bearer, who 
had advanced nearer to the enemy than the re- 
mainder of his regiment. This fact was no- 
ticed and reported by the brigade staff of Gen. 
R. C. Schenck, and by order of President Lin- 
coln, Sergt. Martin was promoted to be assist- 
ant quartermaster-general of his brigade, and 
ordered to report to Gen. A. S. Piatt, com- 
manding the mountain department of Virginia. 
He was to rank as captain, but a year passed 
before he received official notice of this action. 
After a service of four months he received an 
honorable discharge. He was at once tendered 
the colonelcy of the Fourteenth Missouri, de- 
clined acceptance, but accepted the lieutenant- 
colonelcy of the Seventy-fifth Ohio; but this 
regiment was soon afterward consolidated with 
the Seventy-first Ohio, which left him a super- 
numerary, and he retired in January, 1862, and 
resumed his old place as conductor on the C, 
H. & D. road. 

But these were stirring times, and Col. 
Martin, in July, 1862, recruited company A, 
Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, many 
enlistments being made with the distinct un- 
derstanding that Col. Martin should remain 
with his men. Two hours after his muster-in 
as captain of this company, he received his 
commission from President Lincoln, before no- 
ticed, for his gallant services on the battlefield 
of Bull Run, but this he was forced to decline, 
owing to the conditions on which his com- 
pany had been organized. The Ninety-third 
regiment was assigned to the Twentieth army 
corps, under Maj.-Gen. McCook, army of 
the Ohio, and was at the battle of Perry- 
ville, Ky., against Kirby Smith; was on the 



flank of the Union army at Dry Ridge, near 
near Harrodsburg; was next at Antioch church, 
Tenn.; next for two days at Triune, Tenn., 
fighting Hardee; next, at the battle of Stone 
river, where the regiment suffered severely — 
Capt. Martin acting as lieutenant-colonel, as he 
had indeed done almost from the beginning. 
Here he was shot through the body,aminie ball 
entering the left clavicle and passing out through 
the shoulder blade, barely missing the main 
artery of the neck. While being treated in hos- 
pital, Capt. Martin was promoted to major, in 
February, 1863, and to lieutenant-colonel in 
March; in April he returned to his regiment 
with his wound yet unhealed, which was aggra- 
vated by the exercise required in mounting and 
riding his horse; he was granted a furlough, 
however, which was extended until August, 
1863, when he rejoined his regiment. At the 
battle of Chickamauga, Col. Hiram Strong 
received a fatal wound, and Lieut. -Col. Martin 
assumed command of the regiment. While 
here leading a charge against a battery he 
was struck in the leg by a spent ball, which 
brought him to the ground, and this fall tore 
open the old wound; but he tenaciously com- 
manded his regiment until the battle was ended. 
It was found necessary to extract from the old 
wound twenty-four pieces of bone at different 
operations, and the Colonel, on two or three 
occasions, tendered his resignation, believing 
that he would never again be fit for service, 
but each resignation was peremptorily rejected. 
He was granted a leave of absence, however, 
and on his return to Dayton a consultation of 
Cincinnati and Dayton surgeons was held, re- 
sulting in the removal of fifteen splinters of 
bone from the wound at one time. Soon after 
this the Colonel again sent in his resignation, 
but, receiving no response for several months, 
he decided to return to the front, and while 
en route received, at Chattanooga, the accept- 
I ance of his resignation. In May, 1865, he was 




GU*^ H 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



229 



honored with a commission as brevet brigadier 
general. 

On returning to Dayton he was incapaci- 
tated, through his wounds, from engaging in 
any business for several months, but finally ac- 
cepted a position as government store-keeper 
at Dayton, and held the position for five years; 
in 1873 he was appointed chief of police, held 
the position two years, and then resigned. As 
a testimonial of the esteem in which their chief 
was held, the police force of Dayton presented 
the General with a fine gold-headed cane on his 
retirement. During all these years of varying 
fortune, his position on the Cincinnati, Hamil- 
ton & Dayton railroad was always open to 
him, and on the publication of a news item of 
his resignation as chief of police, the superin- 
tendent of the railroad company telegraphed 
him that his old train was ready for him; he 
thereupon resumed his former position, and re- 
mained on the road until 1881, as has already 
been stated. 

In 1 88 1 Gen. Martin went to northwest 
Minnesota, leaving a valuable home on Fifth 
street, Boston, which he still owns. He pur- 
chased a quantity of railroad land in Minne- 
sota, on which he resided until November, 
1895, when he returned to Dayton to pass the 
remainder of his life in retirement, although 
he still owns a fine farm in Minnesota. 

Gen. Martin was most happily united in 
marriagej at Dayton, in 1854, with Miss Hen- 
rietta Pierce Carpenter, whose parents settled 
in the city in 1813. Her father, Thomas G. 
Carpenter, was born in Pennsylvania in 1802, 
and was a builder by occupation; her mother, 
who bore the maiden name of Hannah E. 
Heitman, was a native of Maryland, born in 
1803. The only child born to the General and 
his wife, was named Frank P., and died No- 
vember 4, i860, at the age of five years, eight 
months and twenty days. 

Gen. Martin has taken all the degrees in 



the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and all 
the degrees in Masonry excepting the thirty- 
third; he still holds membership in lodge and 
chapter in Dayton and Cincinnati; is a mem- 
ber of Old Guard Post, G. A. R. ; of the Union 
Veteran Legion, and of the Ohio division of 
the Loyal Legion. The religious relations of 
Mr. and Mrs. Martin are with the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In politics Gen. Martin is 
an uncompromising republican, although in 
his earlier years he was a democrat, but found 
occasion to change his political views at the 
ballot box in 1852. Gen. Martin's courage 
upon the field, as well as at the head of the 
police department and in the discharge of his 
railroad duties, has been one of his marked 
characteristics; and his splendid services with 
Dayton's favorite regiment, the old Ninety- 
third, have always endeared him to the people of 
this city. He is held in the warmest regard by 
all who have watched his varied, but uniformly 
honorable, career. 



OSCAR F. DAVISSON, a prominent 
member of the Dayton bar, was born 
in Preble county, Ohio, on June 12, 
185 1, and is a son of Josiah and Han- 
nah (Foos) Davisson. 

His grandfather, also Josiah Davisson, was 
a pioneer of Preble county, whither he removed 
from Virginia in 1812, after having liberated a 
large number of slaves, then owned by him. 
He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and 
for gallant service upon the field of battle dur- 
ing that struggle was appointed sheriff of Rock- 
ingham county, Va. (then comprising all of 
what is now the state of West Virginia), by 
Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia. Mr. 
Davisson's death occurred in Preble county on 
September 9, 1825, in his eighty-first year. 

Jacob Foos, the maternal grandfather, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, and owned a farm near 



230 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



what is now Fairmount park, Philadelphia. 
He was an artilleryman during the Revolution. 
Some time before the twenties of this century 
he removed to Ohio, settling in Warren county, 
whence he removed to Preble county in 1822, 
dying in that county on August 7, 1842, in his 
sixty-first year. 

Josiah Davisson, father of Oscar F. , was 
born in Rockingham county, Va. , and came to 
Ohio in 18 12 with his parents. For many 
years he was a prominent citizen of Preble 
county, holding the office of justice of the 
peace for over thirty years. He was a man of 
more than ordinary attainments, having been 
given a good education, and for years was in a 
manner judicial officer for all the northern por- 
tion of his county. His death occurred in 1 863. 

The mother of Oscar F. was born near 
Waynesville, Warren county, Ohio, on Feb- 
ruary 13, 1 8 19, and removed with her parents 
to Preble county in her third year. She lived 
to the ripe age of seventy-seven years, five 
months and two days, her death occurring on 
July 15, 1896. She was one of the most 
widely known women in Preble county, and 
was an important factor in the development of 
that county. She was a strong character, and 
was always in the front rank of those advocat- 
ing needed reforms and improvements for the 
benefit of mankind. She was endowed by na- 
ture with a very high order of executive abil- 
ity, was a wise counselor, and eminently a 
woman of affairs. She was generous to the 
poor, and kind and sympathetic with those in 
distress. Her marriage occurred on May 12, 
1846, and she survived her husband almost 
thirty-three years, and left the following chil- 
dren: Francis M., Amelia E., Sarah A., all 
of Preble county, and Oscar F. and Dr. E. C, 
of Dayton. 

Oscar F. Davisson was reared on the farm 
in Preble county, where he attended the com- 
mon schools. In 1870 he entered the National 



normal at Lebanon, Ohio, and was there grad- 
uated in 1874. He then entered the law de- 
partment of the university of Michigan, at And 
Arbor. In 1875 he came to Dayton and en- 
tered the law office of Gunckel & Rowe as a 
student, and was admitted to the bar on Jan- 
uary 2, 1877. He remained with the above 
firm until the first of the following June, and 
then opened an office and engaged in the gen- 
eral practice of law by himself. From the 
beginning Mr. Davisson met with success in 
his profession, and year by year his practice 
grew until he took rank among the foremost 
attorneys of the city. His business is general 
and civil practice, and he is attorney for nu- 
merous important corporations. As a lawyer 
Mr. Davisson is able and thorough, strong in 
argument, resourceful and aggressive, and has 
met with unvarying success. As a citizen he 
is progressive and enterprising, and ready to 
lend his aid and endorsement to movements 
having for their object the improvement and 
benefit of the community. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has at- 
tained the thirty-second and knight templar 
degrees. In politics he is a republican, but is 
in no sense a partisan, and has never held nor 
sought public office. 

Mr. Davisson was married in Dayton on 
June 18, 1889, to Jessie M. Leach, who was 
born in Pittsburg, Pa., and is the daughter of 
Richard T. and Mary Ann Leach, residents of 
Dayton. The children of this marriage are 
Richard and Marian. 



m. 



ILLIAM L. CATEN, senior mem- 
ber of the firm known as the South- 
ern Ohio Coal company, in Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Syracuse, N. Y. , 
August 29, 1 86 1, receiving his earlier educa- 
tion in Gloversville, Fulton county, in the 
same state, and graduated from the Saint Law- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



231 



rence university, Canton, N. Y. , in the scien- 
tific course, in 1883. For a short time he 
was engaged in Goshen, Ind., in the lumber 
business, but in 1884 came to Dayton as the 
manager of the Southern Ohio Coal company, 
which corporation ceased to exist in 1892. 
Mr. Caten and his brother, Frederick, then 
purchased the business and are still conducting 
it under the old firm name, operating four 
places of business in the city, handling all vari- 
eties of fuel, and giving employment to forty 
men. In politics Mr. Caten is a republican. 

Frederick Caten, the junior partner, was 
born in Blossburg, Pa., May 21, 1866, and 
was educated at the Clinton Liberal institute, 
Fort Plain, N. Y.', from which he graduated, 
in the scientific course, in 1885. Immediately 
thereafter Mr. Caten came to Dayton and be- 
came associated with his brother in the South- 
ern Ohio Coal company, but in 1890 returned 
to Gloversville, N. Y., and was there engaged 
in the manufacture of glove leather for four 
years, when he disposed of his interest in the 
business and returned to Dayton to rejoin his 
brother William. 

Frederick Caten was united in marriage 
December 8, 1891, in Cortland, N. Y. , with 
Miss Anna B. Cordo, the union being blessed 
with one child — Mary Louise. 



m 



ILLIAM EARNSHAW, D. D., de- 
ceased chaplain of the soldiers' 
home at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., May 12, 1828, 
and was the third son of George and Eliza 
Earnshaw, who had a family of seven sons and 
two daughters. 

William Earnshaw was carefully reared 
within the pale of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and his early years were passed in fit- 
ting himself for the ministry. At the age of 
twenty-five, in 1853, he joined the Baltimore 



conference and entered upon his duties as an 
itinerant minister, and for one year his first 
charge was at Warriors' Mark; the next two 
years he was stationed at Gettysburg, and the 
following two at Hancock, Md. His fourth 
charge was at Mercersburg, Pa. , for two years, 
and his last conference charge was at Ship- 
pensburg Station, Pa., in which he was en- 
tering on his second year, when he enlisted, 
April 16, 1 86 1, in response to the president's 
first call for volunteers. He was assigned to 
the Forty-ninth Pennsylvania infantry and em- 
ployed for several months in home guard duty, 
was then commissioned chaplain of his regi- 
ment, served until the close of the war, and 
thereafter continued his work of love and devo- 
tion until September, 1867. 

Chaplain's Earnshaw's service was first 
with the army of the Potomac, and he was 
present at the second battle of Bull Run, at 
Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
burg; but after the enemy was driven out of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland, he was transferred 
to the army of the Cumberland, where he 
served under Maj.-Gen. George H. Thomas, 
whose cordial friendship and support he earned 
by his untiring zeal in the performance of duty. 
While in the service Mr. Earnshaw was pres- 
ent, as a non-combatant, on nineteen battle 
fields, and, after the final surrender, was ap- 
pointed by Gen. Thomas as superintendent of 
cemeteries at Stone River and Nashville; sub- 
sequently this appointment was so enlarged as 
to include the national cemeteries at Fort 
Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Memphis. In 
the presence of thousands of unreconstructed 
rebels, and of women and children who were 
imbued with the idea that secession was just 
and the northern soldiers usurpers, this duty 
was most arduous; yet, in the face of insult and 
intimidation and personal danger, the bodies 
of 22,000 fallen Union soldiers were gathered 
from their shallow, temporary graves, decently 



232 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



interred, and carved headboards were placed 
at each grave — many, however, being marked 
"unknown." 

About the time Mr. Earnshaw had com- 
pleted this serious task, the national military 
home was established near Columbus, Ohio, 
for which, from many applicants for the posi- 
tion, with strong credentials, Mr. Earnshaw 
was appointed chaplain on the sole recommen- 
dation of Gen. Thomes, which read, " This is 
the best chaplain I have known during the 
war." Mr. Earnshaw entered at once upon 
his duties, and when the home was transferred 
from Columbus to Dayton, continued as its 
chaplain, and was the only one known to over 
3,000 veterans who died and were buried under 
his ministrations. Hon. L. B. Gunckel has 
said that, after watching him for eighteen 
years, he is not sure "they could have made 
a better selection had they searched the whole 
army." But the exposures of camp and field, 
and nearly six years of hard labor, had left 
their impress upon the physical constitution of 
Mr. Earnshaw. A short respite — the first he 
had ever asked for — and a trip to the south 
afforded him temporary relief; but death finally 
claimed him on the afternoon of July 17, 1885, 
his last message being, "Tell the veterans I 
love them all." Grizzled old soldiers and 
youthful employees wept alike, as for a father, 
and they felt that no truer friend of mankind 
had ever lived. The funeral services were 
conducted at the home chapel, concluding with 
the Masonic ceremony of transferring the ring 
from father to son — William, the eldest son, 
being the heir to the emblem the father had so 
worthily worn for years. The remains were 
followed to their final resting place in Wood- 
land cemetery by a large number of citizens, 
soldiers, organizations and civil societies. For 
a time the home flags were displayed at half- 
mast, offices were closed and business entirely 
suspended. 



In the eulogy pronounced over his dead 
body it was said by the orator: "On the 
eighth of June last, it was my sad privilege to 
confer with him and to listen to his words of 
religious faith and hope. I repeat them for 
the comfort of his friends and for the honor of 
his Master. He said, ' Feeble as I am, it is 
not certain that I shall not recover, although 
I do not expect to. I wish to make all prac- 
ticable preparations for the event which I be- 
lieve is near. I am not alarmed about dying. 
I have not been as good as I should have 
been, but my hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
who saved me in my boyhood and who has 
been with me ever since. He will not desert 
me now. Perhaps I am too cheerful and exu- 
berant about it. I have no fears whatever. 
The quiet, beautiful resting-place in Wood- 
land cemetery awaits me. I look back over 
my life with the peculiar satisfaction that I 
have been able to do something for my fellow- 
men and for Christ.' To his wife he said: 
' Dear mother, you were never willing to let me 
die; but can you give me up now? I am going 
— glory, giory. ' These were his last words." 

Chaplain Earnshaw was in appearance tall 
and graceful; of military pose and bearing, he 
looked rather more martial than ministerial; 
yet he never sank the minister into the soldier, 
nor lost the soldierly bearing in the minister. 
He was the soul of honor, truth and nobility, 
and in all undertakings was earnest, laborious 
and persistent. Eminent positions came to 
him unsought. He was grand chaplain of the 
National Grand Army of the Republic, and 
also its commander-in-chief, and was the first 
person below the rank of major-general to hold 
this office. He was also, as has been seen, 
eminent as a Mason, and was a member of 
several local organizations. 

Mrs. Margaret A. Earnshaw, widow of 
Chaplain William Earnshaw, D. D., was born 
at Warriors' Mark, Huntingdon county, Pa., 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



233 



January 28, 1833, and was educated in its 
public and private schools. Her parents, Ben- 
jamin and Rebecca (Wilson) Hutchison, were 
also natives of Huntingdon county, the father 
being a farmer, and both parents died at the 
family homestead in Warriors' Mark. The 
parents of Mrs. Earnshaw were of Irish and 
German descent; the father was accidentally 
killed at the age of fifty-eight years, while the 
mother lived to the advanced age of ninety 
years. Of their seven children, three are still 
living at this writing. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw 
took place in Warriors' Mark, October 10, 
1855. From the opening of the Civil war 
until 1864, Mrs. Earnshaw lived under the 
parental roof, and then joined her husband at 
Murfreesboro, and for twenty-one days was 
shut up in the fortifications of that city. She 
remained at the south until the chaplain had 
completed his work, witnessed a number of 
battles, and then accompanied her husband to 
Ohio, occupying the chaplain's house, first at 
Columbus and then at Dayton, and encounter- 
ing her sad affliction at the latter place, as 
narrated above. To Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw 
there were born five children, viz. : Minnie 
W. , wife of B. F. Hershey, of Dayton, a 
biography of whom will be found on another 
page; William B. , for the past eighteen years 
secretary of the Dayton Malleable Iron-works, 
and married to Miss Louise Stockstill, of Day- 
ton; Margaret H., married to Dr. Grube, a 
practicing physician of Greenville, 111. ; Fred- 
erick S., who died in his fifteenth year, an in- 
telligent lad of great promise; and Louis Put- 
nam, a practicing physician of Dayton. 

Mrs. Earnshaw is not altogether sectarian 
in her religious views, although she has been a 
life-long member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and her rectitude, beauty of character 
and warm impulses have won for her hundreds 
of sincere friends. 



kS~*\ EV. MAURICE EMERY WILSON, 

I t^T D. D., pastor of the First Presby- 

P terian church of Dayton Ohio, was 

born in Baltimore, Md., April 2, 

1855, but was reared in Cannonsburg, Pa. 

Rev. Thomas B. Wilson, father of Rev. 
Maurice Emery, was a native of Cannonsburg, 
Pa., born November 17, 1822, and descended 
from good old ante-American Revolutionary 
families. The paternal grandfather of the Rev. 
Thomas B. Wilson was a native of London- 
derry, Ireland, and the maternal grand- 
mother, who bore the maiden name of Dill, 
descended from Col. Matthew Dill, of York 
county, Pa., a prominent hero of the war for 
American independence, and who traced his 
genealogy to Oliver Cromwell. Rev. Thomas 
B. Wilson was educated at Jefferson college 
and at the Western Theological seminary, and 
his first pastoral charge was that of the Sixth 
Presbyterian church of Pittsburg, Pa., his sec- 
ond, that of the Presbyterian church of Xenia, 
Ohio, and while here engaged in work of the 
ministry, he was taken sick, which caused his re- 
turn to Cannonsburg, Pa. , where he died in Sep- 
tember, 1858. His widow, who prior to mar- 
riage was Miss Margaret B. Sanders, survived 
him until August 31, 1895. She was a native of 
Gettysburg, Pa., and was a daughter of Maj. 
Jacob Sanders, a gallant officer of the war of 
1 8 12, a hero of Lundy's Lane, and an ardent 
friend of Gen. Winfield Scott. The children 
born to Rev. Thomas B. Wilson and wife were 
two in number, Rev. Maurice E. and Rev. 
Calvin Dill Wilson — the latter being the pres- 
ent pastor of the Franklin, Ohio, Presbyterian 
church. These brothers were educated in the 
same schools, and were classmates from the 
time of their entrance upon collegiate work 
until their graduation, so that a brief record of 
the educational course of one is equivalent to 
that of the other. 

Maurice Emery Wilson received his ele- 



■234 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mentary instructions in the public schools of 
Cannonsburg, Pa., and prepared for college in 
the Cannonsburg academy. He entered the 
sophomore class of Washington and Jefferson 
college at the age of eighteen years, graduated 
when twenty-one years old, and immediately 
entered the Western Theological seminary at 
Pittsburg, Pa., where he completed his three- 
years' course in April, 1879. In December of 
the latter year he was ordained to the minis- 
try of the Presbyterian church, having accepted 
a call to the pastorate of the church at Galli- 
polis, Ohio, where he remained two and one- 
half years. His next charge was at Emsworth, 
one of the suburban Presbyterian churches of 
Pittsburg, Pa., where he officiated very ac- 
ceptably for the same period of time, and was 
then called to the pastorate of Westminster 
church, of his native city, Baltimore, Md., 
where he gained celebrity as a pulpit orator 
and a profound interpreter of the Scriptures 
and remained over five years. In March, 
1890, Dr. Wilson was called to his present 
charge in Dayton, where he has established 
himself each year more firmly in the affection 
and esteem of his congregation and has added 
to his character for piety and devotion to the 
cause of religion, a high repute for that good 
citizenship which concerns itself in the every- 
day affairs and interests of the community. 

In June, 1879, Dr. Wilson was united in 
matrimony with Miss Fanny McCombs, who 
comes from two of the oldest and most prom- 
inent families of Washington, Pa., but now of 
Pittsburg. Miss McCombs was highly edu- 
cated in her girlhood and a graduate of Wash- 
ington seminary. The union of Rev. M. E. 
Wilson and wife has been blessed with one 
child only — Anna Quail, a young lady now un- 
der the instruction of private tutors. In his 
politics Mr. Wilson is independent of party 
control, but is a warm and earnest advocate of 
temperance; fraternally, he is a member of 



the Sons of the Revolution and also of the 
Royal Arcanum. The Wilson family have ever 
been eminent in literary pursuits and belles 
lettres generally as well as in the ministry and 
other spheres of usefulness. One, Rev. Dr. 
John R. Paxton, is now in Europe, seeking the 
restoration of his health which has been lost 
through over-exertion in the performance of 
his arduous professional duties, he having for 
many years been eminent as pastor of the 
West Presbyterian church of New York city; 
another member of the family, Prof. Samuel 
J. Wilson, D. D., LL D., was for twenty- 
five years professor of church history in the 
Western Theological seminary of Pittsburg, 
Pa., while the Dr. M. E. Wilson and his 
brother have edited and published a volume, 
entitled "Occasional Addresses and Sermons," 
delivered by this able and eloquent scholar. 



eDMOND STAFFORD YOUNG, de- 
ceased, one of the ablest members of 
the Dayton bar, and one of the most 
prominent citizens of that city, was 
born at Lyme, N. H., on February 28, 1827, 
and was the son of George Murray Young and 
Sibel (Green) Young. 

He was of Scotch-Irish descent, his grand- 
father, Dr. Hugh Murray Young, having been 
an early Irish emigrant to Connecticut. 

His father, George Murray Young, was 
born in Litchfield county, Conn., on April 1, 
1802. He was educated at Exeter and Pough- 
keepsie academies, and then, learning the trade 
of a printer, carried on business for a time as 
a printer and publisher. In 1836 he married 
Sibel Green, daughter of Benjamin Green, 
of Lyme, N. H., and granddaughter of Col. 
Ebenezer Green, a Revolutionary soldier. 

In 1835 he moved with his family to Ohio, 
and located at Newark, where for ten years he 
was extensively engaged in mercantile pur- 




«p^p 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



237 



suits. In 1845 he went to Cincinnati, where 
for six years he carried on the produce and 
commission business. He came to Dayton in 
1851. He was elected mayor of this city in 
1854, and re-elected in 1855, and was subse- 
quently appointed United States commissioner, 
an office which he held until his death. His 
wife died in Dayton in 1865. 

He was grand worthy patriarch of the Sons 
of Temperance, when that order numbered 
30,000 in Ohio. In politics he was a whig, 
and subsequently a republican. During the 
war he was a stanch Union man. He was 
prominent member of the Presbyterian church, 
and was at all times, and in whatever commu- 
nity he resided, honored and respected for his 
integrity and strength of character. He died 
at Dayton on August 30, 1878. 

Edmond Stafford Young attended college 
at Granville, Ohio, and afterward at Cincin- 
nati, graduating from Farmers (afterwards 
Belmont) college near that city in 1845. 

At the latter institution he had among his 
school-mates ex-President Benjamin Harrison, 
Murat Halstead, and Hon. L. B. Gunckel, and 
the late Judge Henderson Elliott, of Dayton. 
He read law in the office of W. J. McKinney, 
of Dayton, and after a term of service in the 
office of the clerk of the court of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, graduated from the Cincinnati 
Law school, and was admitted to the bar in the 
year 1853. 

Mr. Young's professional partners were, 
successively, George W. Brown, Hon. D. A. 
Houk and Oscar M. Gottschall, with the latter 
of whom his partnership continued from 1866 
until 1879. In 1878 his eldest son, George R. 
Young, was admitted to the firm, which, under 
the name of Young, Gottschall & Young, con- 
tinued until the year 1879, when Mr. Gott- 
schall retired. Mr. Young and his son re- 
mained together in the practice under the firm 
name of Young & Young until his death in 1 888. 



In September, 1856, at Philadelphia, Pa., 
Mr. Young married Sarah B. Dechert, daugh- 
ter of Elijah Dechert, a prominent lawyer of 
Reading, Pa., and granddaughter of Judge 
Robert Porter of that city. 

Her mother, Mary Porter, was descended 
from Robert Porter, a native of Ireland, who 
landed at Londonderry, N. H., and afterwards 
purchased a farm in Montgomery county, Pa., 
where he took up his permanent residence. 
His most successful and prominent son (Mrs. 
Dechert's grandfather) was Gen. Andrew 
Porter, who'was born September 24, 1743, and 
served with distinction as an officer during 
the Revolutionary war. After its close he 
was commissioned major-general of militia in 
Pennsylvania, and was tendered the position of 
secretary of war by President Madison, but 
declined. His son, Judge Robert Porter, of 
Reading, Pa., was born January 10, 1768, and 
served during the latter part of the war of the 
Revolution as a lieutenant of artillery. Hav- 
ing entered the army with his father when but 
eleven years of age, he was perhaps the young- 
est soldier and officer of the war. 

In 1789 he was admitted to the bar at 
Philadelphia, and was afterwards appointed 
president judge of the Third judicial district 
of Pennsylvania, a position which he filled for 
over twenty-five years, when he resigned and 
retired to private life. Edmond S. Young was 
a strong Union man and an earnest supporter 
of President Lincoln's administration. He was 
appointed by Gov. Brough commissioner of 
the draft for Montgomery county, and made 
the largest draft of any in the state. He also 
served as a member of the military committee, 
and was identified with the organization of all 
the local companies raised in Dayton and its 
vicinity. He devoted much time and labor to 
the cause, and through his out-spoken and un- 
compromising efforts, was often exposed to 
much personal danger. 



238 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Young was a member of the first non- 
partisan police board of Dayton, appointed in 
1 873, by which the present metropolitan po- 
lice system of that city was inaugurated. He 
was also one of the founders of the Dayton 
Bar association, now known as the Dayton 
Law Library association. 

During the course of his practice he was 
frequently urged to accept a judicial position, 
but declined. Upon the death of Judge W. 
W. Johnson in 1886 he was asked to become 
a candidate for his unexpired term upon the 
supreme bench; and without his knowledge a 
petition for his appointment, signed by the en- 
tire Dayton bar, was presented to Gov. 
Foraker. Learning of the movement, how- 
ever, Mr. Young, for personal reasons, declined 
to permit the use of his name. 

He was a member of the Ohio State Bar 
association, and also of the American Bar asso- 
ciation, and from a biographical sketch of him, 
which appears in the published proceedings of 
the latter organization, for the year 1888, we 
select the following extract, which is truthfully 
descriptive of him, both as a lawyer and as a 
citizen: 

Mr. Young was a man of striking physic- 
al appearance, and of marked mental charac- 
teristics. He was born to be a lawyer. His 
breadth of intellect, his strong, determined 
will, his sound, impartial judgment, his remark- 
able reasoning powers, his gift of nice and cor- 
rect discrimination, made up a mental organi- 
zation distinctively legal, while, at the same 
time, his large and well proportioned head, 
with its high, expansive forehead, set firmly 
on his broad, square shoulders, gave him a 
personal appearance in keeping with his mental 
characteristics. 

He was a strong and pure type of that class 
of American lawyers, who, eschewing outside 
schemes for the promotion of wealth or per- 
sonal aggrandizement, devote to their profes- 
sion the full measure of their powers, and seek 
happiness in the conscientious discharge of 
their professional, domestic and civic duties. 



He died suddenly on the evening of Febru- 
ary 14, 1888, while still in the active practice 
of his profession, leaving his widow, two sons, 
and one daughter, Mary (since deceased), 
surviving:. 



BOBERT I. CUMMIN, one of the solid 
and successful business men of Day- 
ton, was born in Liverpool, Perry 
county, Pa., July 7, 1845, and seven- 
teen years later came to this state, locating at 
Marion, where he spent three years in the dry- 
goods store of Johnson, Uhler & Company. 
After leaving that establishment, he secured a 
clerkship in the old store of Prugh & Rike, who 
were extensively engaged in the dry-goods busi- 
ness in Dayton. Two years were passed in this 
way, when his connection with the firm ter- 
minated by the formation of the house of D. L. 
Rike & Company, of which Mr. Cummin and 
S. E. Kumler were members. This firm carried 
on a most successful business for nearly thirty 
years, when the death of D. L. Rike caused a 
vacancy, which was soon afterward filled by 
his son, Frederick H. Rike. The firm of D. 
L. Rike & Company inaugurated a business 
career that has had a wonderful growth. At 
first they required the assistance of but two 
clerks; but their patronage has continually 
urged every advance that they have made, and 
has poured into their new and extensive estab- 
lishment in so marvelous a way that they are 
now giving employment to one hundred and 
forty clerks. During all these years Mr. Cum- 
min has been an indefatigable worker, alert to 
grasp every new and practical idea, and quick 
to utilize every scheme that promised to pro- 
mote his business or the public interests. He 
was the originator of the design on which the 
Rike Dry Goods company's new store building 
was erected, it being 1 50 x 80 feet in dimen- 
sions, and arranged with every convenience for 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



239 



the expeditious transaction of business, and 
being a model in its attractiveness and comfort 
to patrons. 

Mr. Cummin, while thus attending to the 
promotion of the business interests of his firm, 
has not been unmindful of his duty to the pub- 
lic as a citizen. He was a member of the 
company which constructed the Fifth street 
railroad in Dayton, and was for many years 
one of its directors and a factor in bringing 
about its success; he was also largely instru- 
mental in effecting the legislation which has 
made all the pikes of the county free to the 
use of the public without the imposition of 
tolls, and still finds time and energy to devote 
to the duties of chairman of the good roads 
committee. 

Dr. William Cummin, father of Robert I. 
Cummin, was a native of Ireland, and his 
mother, Mary (Hart) Cummin, a native of 
Tuscarora valley, Pa., was also of Irish de- 
scent. The father was a physician of consid- 
erable ability and reputation. He acquired 
his medical learning in the schools of Edin- 
burg, Scotland ; Belfast institute, Ireland, and 
in Philadelphia, Pa. He practiced his profes- 
sion in Pennsylvania, and died in 1846, at the 
early age of forty-two. His widow long sur- 
vived him, dying in Williamsport, Pa. , at the 
advanced age of eighty-six. 

Robert I. Cummin had the benefit of a 
common-school education that terminated 
when only sixteen years of age. But he 
made the most of it, and has achieved a signal 
success in life. He is a member of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal church, and affiliates with 
the republican party in his political activities. 
He was married June 15, 1881, to Miss Ellen 
P. Church, daughter of Judge Gaylord Church, 
of Meadville, Pa. Four children, three sons 
and one daughter, have been born to them, of 
whom all are now living : Gaylord, Edith, 
Hart and Pearson. 



aHARLES WESLEY DUSTIN, judge 
of the common pleas court of the 
second judicial district of Ohio, and a 
prominent member of the Dayton 
bar, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, and is the 
son of the late Rev. M. and Mary B. (Danna) 
Dustin. Rev. Dustin was a native of Oneida 
county, N. Y. , and was a lineal descendant of 
Hannah Dustin, who during the Indian war 
killed ten Indians with a tomahawk in order 
to preserve the lives of herself and child, after 
two children had already been killed by the 
savages. A monument has been erected to 
her memory on an island in the Merrimac river, 
the scene of the incident. The parents of Rev. 
Dustin came to Ohio during his youth and set- 
tled in Washington county, and it was there 
he was reared. He attended Marietta college, 
entered the ministry of the M. E. church, and 
for fifty years was in active work, first in the 
Ohio and then in the Cincinnati conference. 
He was especially prominent during the anti- 
slavery movement. In 1890 he retired from 
the ministry, and in 1893 removed to Dayton, 
and died in this city during the winter of 1896. 
His wife was born in Washington county, Ohio 
(a full account of her family appearing in Mun- 
sey's Magazine for November, 1896). Her fa- 
ther was William Danna, a son of Capt. Will- 
iam Danna, who was a pioneer of Ohio and an 
intimate friend of the Blennerhassetts, of Blen- 
nerhassett island fame, Capt. Danna having 
lived opposite that island. Five children were 
born to Rev. Dustin and wife, three of whom 
lived to reach maturity, all now being dead 
except the judge, and the mother having died 
during his youth. 

The early education of Judge Dustin was 
secured in the public schools. He attended 
Wesleyan university at Delaware and was 
graduated there at an early age. Following 
this he went west and taught in the Quincy, 
111., and Brookville, Ind., colleges. He read 



240 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



law with the firm of Boltin & Shauck, of Day- 
ton, the junior member of which firm is now 
on the supreme bench of Ohio. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar and engaged in practice in 
Dayton and continued until he was elected to 
the bench in November, 1895. During his 
early years Judge Dustin did considerable 
writing for the press. He was for some time 
an editorial writer for the Daily Journal of Day- 
ton. He also contributed to the Cincinnati 
Commercial Gazette, and during the existence 
of the Cincinnati Graphic, he was on that 
paper's editorial staff. He has traveled ex- 
tensively, having been to Europe on two differ- 
ent occasions and visiting all the countries 
reached by the great body of tourists. He has 
also visited Russia and Finland in Europe, old 
Mexico and Canada, and nearly every section 
of the United States. 

Judge Dustin served six or seven years as a 
member of the Dayton board of education, in 
whose work he took a deep interest. He was 
one of the founders of the Garfield republican 
club of Dayton, and was the first to sign the 
constitution of that organization. He took an 
active interest in the formation of the Ohio 
republican league, serving on the committee to 
draft a constitution for the same, and was a 
delegate to the convention held in New York 
city, which organized the national republican 
league. He is also a member of the different 
Masonic bodies and of the Dayton club. Early 
in his career Judge Dustin was married to Miss 
Alpha Hull Newkirk, of Connersville, Ind., 
who lived only a few years, dying without issue. 



y^^UGENE J. BARNEY, president of 
m I the Barney & Smith Manufacturing 

V_>4, company of Dayton, was born in that 
city on February 12, 1839. His ed- 
ucation was secured in the public schools and 
at Rochester university. In 1866 Mr. Barney 



purchased the interest of S. F. Woodsum in the 
Barney & Smith Car works. In a few years 
he became superintendent of the works, and 
upon the retirement of Mr. Smith was made 
vice-president and superintendent, and in 1880, 
upon the death of his father, was made presi- 
dent of the company. Mr. Barney is also pres- 
ident of the Dayton Manufacturing company, 
and president of the Cooper Hydraulic com- 
pany; and is also a director in the following: 
The Fourth National bank, the Union Safe 
Deposit and Trust company, the National Im- 
provement company, Dayton Street Railway 
company, Wisconsin Central Railroad com- 
pany, New York, Lake Erie & Western Rail- 
road company, Davis Sewing Machine com- 
pany, and other minor local institutions. 

Mr. Barney was married on February 12, 
1862, to Miss M. Belle Huffman, eldest daugh- 
ter of the late W. P. Huffman, of Dayton, and 
they are the parents of the following children: 
Mrs. Anna B. Gorman, Julia Barney (deceased), 
Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Reynolds, and Eugene 
E. Barney (deceased). 

Mr. Barney is essentially a man of business 
affairs, and chiefly absorbed in the direction of 
the great manufacturing enterprise of which he 
is the head. His exceptional business qualifi- 
cations, largely inherited from his father, the 
late Eliam E. Barney, place him among the 
leaders in the financial and industrial life of the 
city of Dayton. 



S^%. EORGE W. HEATHMAN, one of the 

■ ^\ prominent business men of Dayton, 
^L^J was born in Dayton January 13, 1850. 
He is a son of Elias Heathman, who 
was a native of Findlay, Ohio, and removed 
to Dayton in 1844. Elias Heathman was a 
cabinetmaker by trade and followed that trade 
for many years. For some time he was en- 
gaged in the carriage business in Dayton, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



241 



• from about 1S51 to 1885 he was engaged in the 
livery business. Mr. Heathman was a man of 
integrity and highly respected. His death 
occurred in 1885. 

George W. Heathman was reared in Day- 
ton and was educated in the public schools. 
At the age of sixteen he entered the store of 
Van Ausdal, Harman & Co., where he remained 
from 1866 to November, 1869. In that year 
Charles W. Nickurn, George W. and Elias 
Heathman formed a firm then known as 
Nickum, Heathman &Co., with its location on 
Main street, for the purpose of manufacturing 
crackers, biscuits, etc. In the spring of 1870 
this firm removed to Second street, where they 
remained until 1872, when the style was 
changed to G. W. Heathman & Co., Mr. 
Nickum retiring. In 1875 the firm purchased 
a lot on the corner of Second and St. Clair 
streets, upon which they erected a three-story 
and basement brick building, 68 x 100 feet in 
size, which is equipped with a fifty-horse power 
engine and all machinery necessary to the car- 
rying on of a first-class business. The firm 
name of G. W. Heathman & Co. was used 
until the spring of 1890, when the business 
passed into the hands of the United States 
Baking company, of which Mr. Heathman was 
one of the organizers. He is also manager of 
the Dayton business. 

Mr. Heathman was married in 1872 to Ida 
M. Anderson, daughter of Benjamin F., of 
Dayton. Four children have been born to this 
union, as follows : Edward M., Frank B., 
Effie S. and Luella. 



(D 



ORRIS WOODHULL, proprietor of 
the Dayton Buggy and Carriage- 
works, and one of the representa- 
tive men of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in New York city on December 1, 1842, 
and is a son of James and Hannah (Long- 



streth) Woodhull, the former a native of Long 
Island, N. Y., and the latter of New Jersey. 
The Woodhulls originally came from England, 
the first family of the name landing on Long 
Island in 1648, where they laid out the town 
of Setauket, purchasing the land from the In- 
dians, and for three generations a Woodhull 
was the king's magistrate on that island. One 
of the family, a cousin to James Woodhull, 
was mayor of New York city, and William 
Woodhull, grandfather of Morris, was a lead- 
ing merchant of that city in 1800. The grand- 
father of Mrs. James Woodhull was Gov. 
Lambert, of New Jersey. 

Morris Woodhull was reared and educated 
in New York city, and after graduating from 
the city schools entered the university of the 
City of New York. He came to Dayton in 
185S and took a position in his elder brother's 
seed and implement store, where he remained 
as clerk until 1869, when he became a mem- 
ber of the firm of L. & M. Woodhull. This 
firm conducted the seed and implement busi- 
ness until 1878, when they engaged in the 
manufacture of carriages, the partnership last- 
ing continuously for twenty-one years. In 
1890 Morris Woodhull purchased the entire 
interest of his brother Lambert, the firm was 
dissolved, and he became sole proprietor of 
the business. In 1878 Mr. Woodhull was one 
of the first to introduce into Ohio the manu- 
facture of carriages in a wholesale way, out- 
side of Columbus and Cincinnati, and the first 
to start in that line in Dayton and vicinity. 
The original shops were located on Kenton 
street, and were a part of the old Beaver & 
Butt buildings. The business was begun in a 
small way, the intention being to make a trial 
of 300 carriages for the first year. 

The demand for the firm's work was, how- 
ever, so great during the first year that 700 
instead of 300 vehicles were completed, to 
meet the orders. The shops remained on 



242 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Kenton street for two years, and were then re- 
moved to the Dayton & Western shops, on 
West Fifth street, where they were continued 
until 1888, when the present large shops were 
completed at the junction of Fifth street and 
Home avenue. Here the class of work turned 
out is strictly high grade; but Mr. Woodhull, 
early recognizing that grade alone was insuf- 
ficient to insure large success, has, since the 
beginning, made a specialty of attractive and 
meritorious novelties. He successfully mark- 
eted the Woodhull side bar spring, which had 
a ready sale all over the United States, not 
only in the finished vehicle but in parts. Mr. 
Woodhull also invented, in 1890, the Perfec- 
tion jump seat surry, which was very success- 
ful and so popular that in the same year the 
sale amounted to 1,030. Each year he adds 
something new to his line. The year 1895 
was noteworthy in the Woodhull establish- 
ment, from the fact that he then introduced 
and marketed a new style of pleasure vehicle 
known as the trap. Mr. Woodhull's plant is 
one of the finest and most complete for man- 
ufacturing buggies and carriages in the state of 
Ohio, and is by far the largest in the city of 
Dayton. A bit of interesting history is at- 
tached to the ground upon which the plant is 
situated. The grandfather of Mr. Woodhull's 
wife, David Stout, an old Dayton merchant, 
owned 160 acres of land, some fifty years ago, 
a part of which was the ground above men- 
tioned. Desiring to sell the farm, Mr. Stout 
was compelled to cut it up into ten-acre tracts 
in order to realize the value of $19 per acre. 
In March, 1894, Mr. Woodhull sold to the 
City Railway company a piece of ground upon 
which the company's power plant now stands, 
containing less than one-third of an acre, which 
was a part of the original 160 acres,' for $15,- 
OOO cash — quite an increase in valuation in 
fifty years. 

Mr. Woodhull is vice-president for Ohio of 



the National Carriage Builders' association, 
chairman of the electric light committee of 
the board of trade, is a member of the Day- 
ton club and of the Present Day club. He is 
a ready writer and has contributed many in- 
teresting articles to the papers and delivered 
numerous addresses and short talks before va- 
rious conventions and bodies. Mr. Woodhull 
was married, May 23, 1872, to Mary Stout, 
daughter of Elias Stout, of Dayton, and to 
their marriage three sons have been born, as 
follows: Morris G., manager for his father of 
the New York repository of the Dayton Buggy 
works, at No. 366 Canal street, New York city; 
Roger S., a graduate of Yale college, and 
James R. , a student at the Dayton high school. 



**/^\ OBERT MURPHY NEVIN, a well- 
I /«^ known member of the Dayton bar 
W and senior member of the legal firm of 
Nevin & Kumler, was born in High- 
land county, Ohio, May 5, 1850. His ancestry 
on his father's side of the family came originally 
from the north of Ireland, in the vicinity of the 
Giant's Causeway, which, according to a myth- 
ical legend, was the commencement of a road 
to be constructed by giants across the channel 
to Scotland, projecting as it does from the 
northern coast of Antrim into the North chan- 
nel. The first of the name of Nevin to come 
to America settled in Lancaster county, Pa., 
in which locality the grandfather of Mr. Nevin 
was born; and whence he removed to Ohio at 
an early date. 

Robert Nevin, the father of Robert M., 
was born in Ross county, Ohio. He married 
Frances E. Eakin, who was born in Highland 
county, Ohio, and was the daughter of John 
Eakin, a native of Ireland, whose wife was 
Nancy Ross, a native of Manchester, Eng- 
land. Both parents of Mr. Nevin are now 
deceased. The postoffice called Nevin, in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



243 



Highland county, was named after Mr. Nevin's 
father, who was the first postmaster there. 

Robert Murphy Nevin was reared in Hills- 
boro, in his native county, and secured a good 
English education in the public schools of that 
county and in the high school at Hillsboro. 
In the fall of 1864 he entered the freshman 
class of the Ohio Wesleyan university, at Dela- 
ware, Ohio, pursued a four-years' course, and 
graduated there in the summer of 1868. Im- 
mediately afterward he located in Dayton, and 
began reading law in the office of Thomas O. 
Lowe, who was soon afterward nominated and 
elected judge of the superior court of Mont- 
gomery county. Mr. Nevin then entered the 
office of Conover & Craighead, where he fin- 
ished reading law, and on May 10, 1871, five 
days after becoming of age, he was admitted to 
the bar. 

Mr. Nevin remained in the office of Con- 
over & Craighead until the spring of 1876, 
when he formed a partnership with Alvin W. 
Kumler, which partnership was terminated by 
the election of Mr. Kumler to the bench, and 
was the oldest continuous law partnership in 
Dayton at its dissolution. 

Mr. Nevin entered politics as a republican 
about twenty-five years ago, and has since then 
been both active and prominent in the councils 
of the party. During the past fifteen years he 
has attended as a delegate every republican 
state convention in Ohio, save one. He was 
elected prosecuting attorney of Montgomery 
county in the fall of 1S87, holding the office 
for one term of three years, and has served as 
chairman of the republican county committee of 
Montgomery county during many campaigns. 
Mr. Nevin was nominated for congress by the 
republican party in 1896, and after a heated 
campaign was defeated by a majority of 10 1 
votes. Mr. Nevin is an able lawyer and a 
sound politician. He is a Mason, Knight 
Templar and Scottish rite; an Odd Fellow, a 



Knight of Pythias and a member of the society 
of Elks. He was married November 7, 1871, 
to Emma Reasoner, of Dresden, Ohio, and to 
this marriage there have been born the follow- 
ing children: Moile B., Robert R. , Frances 
M. and Lurton Kumler. 

Mr. Nevin is strongly attached to his pro- 
fession, knowing that the law, as he has so 
often said, is a jealous mistress. His reputa- 
tion as an orator is recognized beyond the con- 
fines of his native state, while as a criminal 
lawyer, his thorough knowledge of that branch 
of practice, his marked ability in the trial of 
causes, and his eloquence as an advocate have 
earned for him a most prominent place at the 
Ohio bar. 



^^•AMUEL D. BEAR, member of the 
*^^KT Dayton city council from the Fourth 

K. J ward, was born in Cumberland coun- 
ty, Pa., May 27, 1840. Reared and 
educated in Cumberland county and receiving 
a good common-school education, he engaged 
in the nursery business in i860 and so contin- 
ued until 1866, when he made a tour through 
the western states. He located in Dayton, 
Ohio, in 1867, with the view of carrying on 
here the nursery business, and has ever since 
resided in this city. From the time of his 
arrival in Dayton until 1873 he was employed 
with the Heikes nurseries, and in this latter 
year he was one of the organizers of the com- 
pany bearing that name, of which he has 
served as president since 1878. Mr. Bear 
has always been a successful business man, 
and has won and retains the confidence of the 
business community. 

In 1869 he was married to Anna Rung, by 
whom he had two children, Alice A. and Nor- 
man R., both of whom are living at home. 
Mrs. Bear died in 1887. Norman R. Bear is 
draughtsman with the Stillwell & Bierce Co. 



L>44 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Bear was first elected to the city coun- 
cil in 1876, from the Tenth ward, and in 1891 
he was elected from the Fourth ward, and was 
re-elected from the same ward in 1895, his 
present term expiring in 1897. Politically he 
is a republican. Mr. Bear is a man of strict 
business integrity, well known for his many 
excellent traits of genuine American citizen- 
ship, and has given both faithful and intelligent 
service to the city as its official servant. 



f\ EORGE R. YOUNG, senior member 
■ Cj\ of the legal firm of Young & Young, 
X^_^ and one of the most prominent mem- 
bers of the Dayton bar, was born in 
this city on October 2, 1857, and is the son of 
the late Edmond Stafford Young and Sarah 
(Dechert) Young. 

Mr. Young was educated in the Dayton 
public schools, graduating with honors from 
the Central high school in 1875. He was 
valedictorian of his class, and also received the 
gold medal for best scholarship. After taking 
an additional course from private tutors, he read 
law in the office of his father, until his admis- 
sion to the bar in April, 1S78. He was ad- 
mitted by the court (after passing on the ques- 
tion of his eligibility) some months before he 
reached his majority, and was probably at the 
time the youngest attorney in the state. 

Immediately after his admission to the bar, 
he was taken in as a member of his father's 
firm, which thereupon became Young, Gott- 
schall & Young, and subsequently Young & 
Young, as stated in the preceding sketch of E. 
S. Young. While absent in the east in 1 88 1 , Mr. 
Young was, without his solicitation or knowl- 
edge, nominated by the republican party for 
prosecuting attorney of Montgomery county. 
He made the race against a strong and popular 
candidate, and an adverse majority of over a 
thousand, but was defeated by only a few hun- 



dred votes. In 1885 he received the repub- 
lican nomination for city solicitor, but the city 
then being largely democratic, he was again 
defeated by a small majority. Since this time 
he has never been a candidate for political 
office, attending strictly to the practice of his 
profession, and giving it all his time and atten- 
tion, and he has met with marked and well 
merited success. He has taken a leading part 
in the trial of many important cases, and is 
recognized by the profession both as a sound 
and able lawyer, and as an advocate of superior 
ability. 

In the fall of 1894, Mr. Young's name was 
suggested to the governor as a successor to 
Judge John A. Shauck, about to leave the cir- 
cuit for the supreme bench, and a petition for 
his appointment was circulated. This petition 
was signed by every member of the Dayton bar, 
save one, who, having already recommended 
another aspirant, wrote a personal letter with- 
drawing his support and endorsing Mr. Young. 
Owing to want of time, incase of appointment, 
to close up his private practice, Mr. Young sub- 
sequently withdrew from the contest. 

Mr. Young is a charter member of the Day- 
ton club. He was one of the founders of the 
Dayton Literary union, which flourished for 
many years, and was the first president of the 
present High School Alumni association. 

He has been for years a trustee, and is now 
vice-president of the Dayton Law Library asso- 
ciation, and is a member of the Ohio State and 
American Bar associations. 



St 



March 2 
mond S. and 
cated in the 



ILLIAM H. YOUNG, junior mem- 
ber of the firm of Young & Young, 
and a well-known member of the 
Dayton bar, was born in Dayton on 
i860, and is the son of the late Ed- 
Sarah D. Young. He was edu- 
Dayton public schools. After 




v dkJh^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



249 



leaving the high school, he read law in the 
office of his father and brother. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1884, and upon the death 
of his father, in 1888, became a member of the 
present firm of Young & Young. 

Mr. Young is a republican in politics, and 
has usually taken an active part in campaign 
work. Although he has never held or sought 
political office, his name has frequently been 
mentioned in connection with the congres- 
sional nomination and with other honorable 
positions. He has attained quite a reputation 
for eloquence as a speaker, is an effective 
stumper and jury advocate, and holds an en- 
viable position at the bar as an able and suc- 
cessful lawyer. 



aHARLES FREDERICK SNYDER, 
secretary and treasurer of the Beaver 
Soap company, of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Dayton, December 21, 1848. 
He is a son of Rev. Frederick and Martha Wil- 
son (Henderson) Snyder, both of whom are 
now deceased. The former was born in Lan- 
caster county, Pa., and was the son of George 
Snyder, who came to Ohio, locating in Dayton 
in 1 8 19. Rev. Frederick Snyder was educated 
in Columbia college, N. Y. , a non-sectarian 
institution of learning established in 1754, and 
•one of the best in the country. After leaving 
college he entered the ministry of the Baptist 
church, and from 1843 to 1850 was pastor of 
the First Baptist church in Dayton. He was 
also pastor of a church at Terre Haute, Ind., 
and of a church at Williamsburg, N. Y. , where 
he died in 1852. His life was given entirely 
to the ministry, and to thoroughly prepare 
himself for his work he took a course of study, 
after his marriage, at Rochester Theological 
seminary. His wife died in 1884, at the age 
•of sixty-three. They had a family of five chil- 
dren, two of whom died in infancy. The 



others are Elizabeth A., wife of E. R. Stillwell, 
of Dayton; Harriet A., wife of R. N. King, of 
Dayton, and Charles Frederick, the subject 
of this sketch. 

Charles Frederick Snyder was educated in 
the public schools, graduating from the high 
school of Dayton in 1867. He was then em- 
ployed in the Payne & Holden book store for 
eighteen months, afterward entering the serv- 
ice of the Stillwell & Bierce Manufacturing 
company as a mechanic. Promotion followed, 
and he entered the office of the company as 
bookkeeper, continuing in fhis capacity for five 
years, during which time he also traveled in 
the interest of his employers. He became en- 
gaged for himself, in 1874, in the manufacture 
of extension table slides, upon a small scale, 
on the lower hydraulic, between Third and 
Fourth streets, removing in 1881 to the Wood- 
sum Machine company's building, and in 1884 
to a three-story brick building on Monument 
avenue and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 
railroad, where he continued in the business 
until the fall of 1893, when he sold out to the 
Dayton Table Slide company. He had been 
unusually successful in this enterprise, having 
built it up from almost nothing to an industry 
employing from thirty-five to forty hands, and 
which required his whole attention. 

Having sold his table slide manufacturing 
business, Mr. Snyder became associated with 
the Beaver Soap Manufacturing company as 
its secretary and treasurer, and to the duties of 
this position he now devotes his entire time 
and energies. 

Mr. Snyder was married April 23, 1885, to 
Miss Mary L. Cooper, daughter of David 
Cooper, a native of Springfield. To this mar- 
riage there have been born two children, Lou- 
ise and Leslie. Mr. Snyder is a member of 
the First Baptist church of Dayton, and one 
of its trustees. 

In the social, church and business life of 



250 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Dayton no citizen has won a surer place in the 
respect and confidence of the community than 
that achieved by Mr. Snyder. Upright and 
sincere in his business methods, and of a warm 
and genial nature, he has the faculty of making 
fast friends of a large circle of acquaintances. 



>-j i M. APPLETON, of Nos. 20 and 22 
M East Third street, Dayton, Ohio, is 
(9 J recognized as one of the most skilled 
artists in the state, and merits classifi- 
cation among the representative photographers 
of the Union. Mr. Appleton is a native son 
of Ohio, with whose history that of his family 
has been linked from the early pioneer days, 
while his lineage also goes back in American 
annals to the Revolutionary epoch and thence 
to stanch English and Scotch origin. He was 
born at Millersburg, Holmes county, Ohio, on 
the 3d of September, 1848, being the son of 
Samuel and Catherine (Morris) Appleton. The 
original American ancestor of the Appleton 
family emigrated hither from England early in 
the seventeenth century, and records extant 
show that he bore the name of Samuel and 
that he located in the state of Massachusetts, 
in which and in others of the eastern states the 
family has become a numerous one, its repre- 
sentatives having been principally identified 
with business pursuits of commercial character. 
The parents of our subject became residents of 
Ohio in an early day, and their marriage was 
consummated at Millersburg, Holmes county. 
The maternal ancestry of Mr. Appleton traces 
back to pure Scotch extraction, the line of de- 
scent being clearly defined in its connection 
with the royalty of Scotland. The Morris 
family has been long and closely identified with 
the history of New England. 

J. M. Appleton passed his boyhood days in 
the town where he was born, receiving his 
early education in the public and select schools 



of that place. At the age of fifteen years he 
became a clerk in a local drug store, and after 
acquiring quite a full knowledge of this busi- 
ness he severed his connection therewith and 
learned the painter's trade, in which he was 
engaged for some time. Prior to his majority 
he entered a photographic studio at Akron, 
Ohio, and there remained for a brief time, 
within which he had so thoroughly familiarized 
himself with the processes and details of the 
work that he returned to Millersburg and there 
opened a studio of his own, continuing the en- 
terprise successfully until the year 1876. In 
the centennial year he closed out his business 
in Millersburg and removed to Columbus, Ohio, 
becoming one of the leading photographers of 
the capital city and there successfully conduct- 
ing a studio until 1880, when he came to Day- 
ton, where he has ever since been located, 
conducting the leading studio of the city and 
doing all classes of photographic work, both 
in portraiture and commercial productions. 
He is a member of both the National and the 
Photographers' associations and has held the 
office of president of the national organization. 
A similar honor was tendered him by the state 
association, but he declined the position. 

Mr. Appleton was the projector and prime 
factor in the establishment of the Photographic 
Salon of Ohio, whose object is the advance- 
ment of photographic art and the education of 
those concerned therein. The productions of 
Mr. Appleton's finely equipped studio have 
been exhibited, on various occasions, in compe- 
tition with the work of the leading artists of 
the country, and the high artistic and technical 
merit of his work has gained him many medals 
at these exhibitions. He devotes his attention 
to high-grade work almost exclusively, and 
has been a persistent advocate of the profes- 
sional wisdom of maintaining a high standard of 
art rather than of establishing cheapness of 
price at the sacrifice of fine and effective work. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



251 



He is progressive in his art and in his business 
methods, keeping in close touch with every ad- 
vance made in the field of photography, which 
is both a science and an art. His studio is 
supplied with the most approved mechanical 
appliances and accessories, while in the chem- 
ical manipulations every portion of the work 
is entrusted to competent hands. 

The marriage of Mr. Appleton was solem- 
nized in the year 1869, at Millersburg, when 
he was united to Miss Oellaw E. Courtney, 
daughter of William J. Courtney. Her family 
in the paternal line is of English descent, her 
grandfather having emigrated from the British 
Isles to America. Mr. and Mrs. Appleton are 
the parents of four children, as follows: 
Theresa, wife of Theodore Heinig, of Dayton; 
Katherine, wife of Harold C. Maltby, of this 
city; Margaret L. , at home; and William Court- 
ney, a graduate of the Dayton high-school, 
who is now preparing himself as a scientific 
and practical electrician at Rose Polytechnic 
school, Terre Haute, Ind. Mr. and Mrs. Ap- 
pleton are members of the Central church of 
Christ, where Mr. Appleton renders efficient 
service on its official board. 



aHARLES A. LUCIUS, secretary and 
treasurer of the Bailey Soap com- 
pany, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., April 12, 1S49, and 
is a son of Charles A. and Mary F. (Moser) 
Lucius, natives of Wurtemburg, Germany, 
who came to America prior to their marriage, 
which took place in Philadelphia in 1848. 
The father is now a resident of Kansas City, 
Mo., in which city the mother died in 1895, 
at the age of seventy-three years. They were 
the parents of five children, of whom three 
reached the years of maturity, viz: Charles 
A. ; Emma, Mrs. Eben, now residing in Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. , and Henry A., of Kansas City, Mo. 



Charles A. Lucius, Sr. , father of our sub- 
ject, learned the trade of jeweler in his native 
land, and on coming to America was engaged 
in the manufacture of jewelry in Philadelphia 
for about ten years; he then went to Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, where he filled the position of fore- 
man in the jewelry factory of Duhme & Co., 
until his enlistment, at the second call for vol- 
unteers, in company F, Twenty-eighth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, of which he was at once 
elected lieutenant, and in which he served un- 
til after the battle of Cannifax Ferry, when he 
was honorably discharged because of disease 
contracted while in the service. He then re- 
sumed his position with Duhme & Co., but in 
1 869 went to New York, where he was engaged 
at his trade until 1880, when he went to Kan- 
sas City, where he is still working at the man- 
ufacture of jewelry. 

Charles A. Lucius, the younger, whose 
name introduces this biographical record, was 
educated in the public schools of Philadelphia 
and Cincinnati, and at the age of seventeen 
years entered upon an apprenticeship of two 
years with Duhme & Co., of the latter city; in 
1868 he entered the service of the Cincinnati, 
Hamilton & Dayton Railroad company as mes- 
senger, and passed through the intermediate po- 
sitions to that of chief clerk of the local freight 
department at Cincinnati in 1881. He then 
engaged in the commission business, and in 1883 
came to Dayton as line agent for the Canada 
Southern fast freight-line, remaining in that 
employ for about two years, when he returned 
to the C, H. & D., and served as assistant 
agent at Dayton until 1886. He was then ap- 
pointed superintendent of the weighing and in- 
spection bureau, in connection with which he 
was made the first superintendent of the car 
service bureau. In May, 1893, he resigned his 
connection with the railroad and took an active 
part in organizing the Bailey Soap company, 
of which he was elected secretary and treas- 



252 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



urer, and since then he has devoted his atten- 
tion solely to its interests and has been largely 
instrumental in advancing its prosperity. 

Mr. Lucius was united in marriage, in 1872, 
with Miss Emma B. Huff, a native of Cincin- 
nati, and daughter of John Huff. Since 1873 
Mr. Lucius has been a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church, and is now a trustee and 
steward of the Riverdale congregation, of 
which Mrs. Lucius is also a member. In pol- 
itics Mr. Lucius is a stalwart republican, and 
as a business man he is recognized as among 
the most enterprising in Dayton. He has a 
pleasant home at No. 62 1 North Main street, 
and he and his wife move in the highest circles 
of Dayton society. 



BOBERT R. DICKEY, president of 
the Dayton Gas Light & Coke com- 
pany, has been a citizen of the Gem 
City for over half a century, and for 
the greater part of that time has been closely 
identified with the business interests of the city. 
Mr. Dickey was born near Middletown. in Butler 
county, Ohio, on October 26, 18 16, and is the 
son of Adam and Mary (McKee) Dickey. Adam 
Dickey was a native cf county Antrim, Ireland, 
where he was born in 1768. He came to 
America in about [784, and located near Mc- 
Connellstown, Pa., where in the year 1790 he 
married Mary McKee, who was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and was second cousin to George 
Washington. In 1799 Adam Dickey, with his 
wife and three children, and in company with 
an uncle, whose name was Doyle, came to 
Ohio and settled at Cincinnati, then Fort 
Washington. They made the trip down the 
Ohio river in two flat boats built by Mr. Dickey, 
on which he brought two four-horse teams 
and two wagons. He lived in Cincinnati for 
four years and while there was joined by two 
brothers, who came over from Ireland. While 



in that place he was engaged in making brick, 
and the first brick house erected in Cincin- 
nati was built from brick made by Mr. 
Dickey. In 1803 he removed to Butler coun- 
ty, and settled near Middletown, where he 
engaged in farming, milling and distilling, 
building his own flat boats and shipping his 
produce to New Orleans markets. His death 
occurred in 1828, his wife surviving him until 
1844. 

Robert R. Dickey was but eleven years of 
age when his father died. Although a success- 
ful man, his father, toward the close of his 
life, met with reverses through fires and other 
misfortunes, and left his family in poor circum- 
stances. Thus it was that at the above tender 
age the son was thrown upon his own resources 
and was compelled to begin the struggles of life 
at a time when he should have been at school. 
However, his lack of early schooling was com- 
pensated for by an experience with the world 
and with people, that stood him in good stead 
in afterlife. Following the death of his father 
young Dickey was employed in a brick yard, 
where he worked an average of fourteen hours 
a day, receiving the sum of $4.87 per month 
for his labor. Afterward he worked upon a farm 
for $5 per month. In 1830 he was employed 
upon the public works of Ohio and Indiana by 
his brothers, who were contractors, and at the 
age of seventeen was made superintendent of a 
large gang of men. In 1842 he located in Day- 
ton, and in connection with his two elder 
brothers — John and William — was engaged in 
quarrying stone until 1S53. In 1847 he was 
connected with the firm of Dickey, Doyle & 
Dickey in placing a line of packet boats on the 
Wabash & Erie canal, and later, under the 
firm name of Doyle & Dickey, he built the 
locks at St. Mary's and at Delphos. In 1845 
Mr. Dickey was one of the organizers of the 
Dayton bank, and was for several years one of 
its directors. In 1852 he became a partner in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



255- 



the Exchange bank with Messrs. Jonathan 
Harshman, Valentine Winters and J. R. 
Young. In 1853 he became one of the largest 
stockholders in the Dayton Gas Light & Coke 
company, of which he was elected president in 
1855. Three years later, ill health compelled 
his retirement from the presidency of the com- 
pany, though he continued as a director. At 
the annual election in 1880, however, Mr. 
Dickey was again chosen president of the com- 
pany and has held that office continuously up 
to and including the present time. During the 
years 1854-55-56 Mr. Dickey was president of 
the Dayton & Western Railroad company. He 
was one of the original stockholders of the 
Dayton National bank in 1865, and has been 
one of the directors of that concern since 1868. 
Since January 1, 1894, Mr. Dickey has been 
president of the Dayton Globe Iron works, 
one of the leading manufacturing institutions 
of the city. 

On June 17, 1850, Mr. Dickey was married 
to Martha J. Winters, who was born in Dayton 
and is descended from one of the leading pio- 
neer families of the city. Her father was Val- 
entine Winters, who was one of the most 
prominent citizens and successful financiers of 
the community during his life, and her grand- 
father was the Rev. Thomas Winters, a pio- 
neer minister of the Miami valley. To the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Dickey three sons have 
been born, as follows: William W. Dickey, 
born in 1852, died on July 15, 1S96; Val- 
entine Winters, born in 1855, died March 30, 
1890; Robert R. Dickey, Jr., the only survi- 
vor, is one of the prominent young business 
men of Dayton. 

Both in point of residence and in age Mr. 
Dickey is one of Dayton's oldest citizens. He 
is likewise one of the most prominent repre- 
sentative men of the city. During his resi- 
dence of fifty-five years he has witnessed the 
growth of the Gem City from a small place of 



about 6,000 people into one of the largest and 
most prosperous and beautiful cities in Ohio, 
and towards this growth and development he 
has contributed his full share. His life has. 
been a most active and successful one, and his 
efforts have all been made along lines that 
have proved of material benefit to the entire 
community, so that success to him has meant 
something to the city. His business career 
has been a most remarkable one and points a 
moral, demonstrating what can be accom- 
plished by man's efforts, energy and persever- 
ance when supported by native ability. Be- 
ginning life's battle at the age of eleven years, 
with no capital save his energy, pluck and 
determination to get on in life and better his 
condition, Mr. Dickey has succeeded in gain- 
ing a place in the very front rank among the 
leading and successful citizens of Dayton. All 
of this has been accomplished by his own un- 
aided efforts. As a financier, Mr. Dickey is 
considered one of the ablest and most saga- 
cious in the city. Shrewd and courageous, yet 
careful and conservative, his management of 
the affairs of the concerns of which he has 
been the head has been both strong and wise. 
As a citizen he has always discharged to the 
fullest extent the duties incumbent upon all 
good citizens. As a man he is kind and con- 
siderate, genial in disposition, with a desire to 
do justice to all men, and his many sterling 
traits of character have won for him a large 
circle of warm friends. 



t^\ EV. EDGAR WHITTAKER WORK, 

I <*^ D. D., pastor of the Third street 

P Presbyterian church of Dayton, was 

born in Logan, Hocking county, Ohio, 

November 20, 1862, and is one of the most 

able young ecclesiastics of his denomination in 

the state. His parents, John W. and Ann 



256 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Elizabeth (Fielding) Work, were born respect- 
ively in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1823, and West 
Chester, Pa. , in 183 1, were married in Lancaster 
in 1847, and became the parents of seven chil- 
dren, of whom four are still living, Edgar W. 
being the youngest. John W. Work was a mer- 
chant of Logan, where he passed all his life, 
and died in 1887, and where his widow still 
makes her home. 

Joseph Work, paternal grandfather of Rev. 
Edward W., was a native of county Donegal, 
Ireland, born about the year 1800, was of 
Scotch-Irish parentage, and in 18 19 came to 
the United States and settled in Lancaster, 
Ohio, where he was engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits for the remainder of his life. Robert 
Fielding, the maternal grandfather, was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, was a hatter and mer- 
chant, and passed the latter part of his life in 
Lancaster, Ohio. 

Rev. Edgar Whittaker Work received his 
elementary education in the public schools of 
Logan, and in 1879 graduated from the high 
school of that city; he next passed a year in 
the pursuit of business and in private study, 
and in 1880 entered the university of Woos- 
ter, Ohio, where he pursued a philosophical 
course, and was graduated in 1884. Immedi- 
ately thereafter he entered Lane Theological 
seminary at Cincinnati, completed a full course, 
and graduated from that institution in May, 
1887; on June 7, 1S87, he was ordained to the 
ministry of the Presbyterian church, and at the 
same time was installed as pastor of the Pres- 
byterian church of Van Wert, Ohio; in the 
fall of 1890 he severed his connection with his 
congregation to accept a call to return to the 
university of Wooster and become professor 
of biblical instruction and apologetics, and, in 
conjunction therewith, to officiate as the pas- 
tor of the college church. In these capacities 
he acted until March 16, 1895, when he en- 
tered upon the pastorate of the Third street 



Presbyterian church of Dayton, his installment 
taking place April 23. This church has a mem- 
bership of about 500 of the most enlightened 
people of the city, and the edifice has a seat- 
ing capacity for between 800 and 900 persons. 
It is a fine stone building, erected at a primary 
cost of $100,000, which has been largely in- 
creased by the addition of a chapel, auditorium, 
etc., and has always been considered to be the 
handsomest church structure in western Ohio. 
The marriage of Rev. Dr. Work took place 
June 23, 1887, at Grafton, W. Va., to Miss 
Ellen Blair Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania 
and a daughter of Hon. Henry Stewart and 
Anna (Ennis) Wilson, who were also natives 
of the Keystone state, of Scotch-Irish descent, 
but who are at present residing at Parkersburg, 
W. Va. Hon. Henry Stewart Wilson was a 
lumberman in early life, and is now a very 
prominent man in democratic politics. Mrs. 
Work is a highly educated lady and a meet 
companion for her husband. Her early edu- 
cation was acquired at Harrisburg, Pa., sup- 
plemented by an attendance at the public 
schools of Grafton, W. Va., and completed at 
the university of Wooster, Ohio, where she 
formed the acquaintance of her husband. 
Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Work, the eldest of whom died in infancy. 
The two survivors, Edgar Wilson and John 
Stewart, are the pride and comfort of their 
parents. In politics Mr. Work is a republican, 
but is never hampered by party rule. Frater- 
nally he is a member of the Sigma Chi society 
of his alma mater, to which he has given 
many contributions that have embellished lit- 
erature. He is now a member of the Present 
Day club, of Dayton, a literary society of the 
highest character, and is an alumnus of the 
university of Wooster, and has, beside, the 
distinguished honor of being a member of the 
board of trustees of the Lane Theological 
seminary and of the university of Wooster. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



257 



EON. JOHN L. H. FRANK, ex-judge 
of the probate court, Dayton. — This 
well-known attorney was born March 
31, 1837, in Nordhousene, county of 
Brackenheim, kingdom of Wuitemburg, Ger- 
many, and was the second in a family of five 
children, all of whom are now residents of this 
country. His parents were natives of Kalten- 
westen, on the Necker, Wurtemburg, but at 
the time of their marriage, in 1835, moved to 
Nordhousene, in the same county, where the 
judge's father became proprietor of the Wald- 
horn hotel. Subsequently they moved to Heil- 
bronn, on the Necker. Young Frank had an 
uncle and an aunt living in Leroy, Genesee 
county, N. Y., who requested him to come to 
America, and in March, 1852, when not yet 
fifteen years old, he started by steamboat 
down the Necker to the Rhine, thence through 
France by railroad to Havre de Grace, a sea- 
port in France, where he took passage for 
America. Travel in those days was not made 
easy as it is now, and the boy of fifteen had 
neither friend nor acquaintance on this long 
and strange journey; but he possessed a deter- 
mination to fight his own way through life, 
and this quality, thus early manifested, and 
joined with constant industry and rigid integ- 
rity, helped him in later years'to win success. 
Upon reaching his destination, young Frank 
soon became employed in the cultivation of 
fruit trees in his uncle's nursery, where he 
worked faithfully until 1855, when he removed 
to Rochester, continuing the same business at 
the Mount Hope nursery. The following year 
a branch of the Mount Hope nursery was es- 
tablished at Columbus, Ohio, and here he 
prosecuted his labors, attending at intervals 
Antioch college, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, until 
the summer of 1859. He being then in limited 
circumstances, a kind friend offered to lend 
him money to complete his studies, but, declin- 
ing the generous offer through fear of debt, he 



went to Missouri to work in the Herman nur- 
sery, where he was employed until the spring 
of 1861. 

At the first call for volunteers, he enlisted 
in company B, Fourth Missouri volunteer infan- 
try, in the three-months' service, but severe 
exposure brought on an attack of typhoid 
fever, and he was discharged in the fall of the 
same year. He soon after re-enlisted in the 
Tenth Illinois volunteer infantry, and although 
not perfectly recuperated, he stood the hard- 
ships of one campaign until the fall of 1862, 
when he was again discharged on account of 
physical disability. Judge Frank was soon after 
given a position in the quartermaster's office 
at Saint Louis, where he remained until 1864, 
using his spare moments in reading Black- 
stone and other elementary works furnished him 
by Judge Eaton. About a year after he had left 
Germany, his father died, and in a few years, 
he sent for his mother and the rest of the fam- 
ily, the former dying in Dayton, April 27, 
1877; two of his brothers and one sister reside 
in Dayton and one sister in Mattoon, 111. In 
1864 Judge Frank came to Dayton, where he 
continued his law studies under the tutorship 
of Craighead & Munger, making rapid prog- 
ress, and being admitted to the bar Septem- 
ber 2, 1867, when he at once opened an office 
and practiced his profession successfully for 
several years. He was married August 11, 
1873, to Mary Lutz, a native of Germany, 
who came to this country in childhood with her 
parents and grew to maturity in Dayton. Nine 
children have been the fruits of this union, five 
sons and four daughters, all but two of whom 
are living. 

Politically, the judge has always been a re- 
publican, and in the fall of 1875 was nominated 
and elected to the office of probate judge, 
commencing the duties of his office February 
14, 1876. In 1878 he was re-elected to 
that responsible position, which was one of 



258 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the strongest possible indorsements of his 
official worth and integrity, in view of the 
fact that Montgomery county was then largely 
democratic. Since leaving the bench, Judge 
Frank has devoted himself to his profession, 
his business being largely an office practice, 
and his clients coming, in the main, from 
those of German descent. He ranks high 
among the safe and honorable practitioners 
of Dayton, and well deserves the confidence 
that is reposed in him. 



eLLIS JENNINGS, M. D., of Dayton, 
was born in Wilmington, Ohio, on 
the 29th of December, 1833, being 
the son of Alexander and Ruth (Tay- 
lor) Jennings, his lineage being traced through 
Scotch, Irish and English lines. He was born 
on a farm, and his preliminary education was 
secured in the district schools, after which he 
continued his studies in the high school at Troy, 
Ohio, and subsequently in Antioch college, at 
Yellow Springs, this state. In his early youth 
he had given clear definition to the course 
which he would pursue in life, deciding to 
adopt the medical profession, and with this 
end in view began his technical reading at an 
early age, continuing his studies for some time 
under the effective guidance of Dr. John D. 
Kemp, of Vandalia, Ohio. Later he matricu- 
lated in the Medical college of Ohio, where 
he graduated as a member of the class of 1862, 
having secured the degree of doctor of medi- 
cine, and thus equipped himself for the active 
practice of his profession. Not to this peace- 
ful work, however, was the young man to de- 
vote himself at the start, for a more impera- 
tive duty called, and the loyalty of his nature 
could not but heed the summons. 

In October, 1862, Dr. Jennings identified 
himself with the medical corps of the Union 
army, and continued in active service until 



June, 1865. He was first assigned to the posi- 
tion of assistant surgeon of the Fifth Iowa in- 
fantry, in which capacity he served until De- 
cember of the same year, when he was assigned 
to duty in hospital No. 2, at Nashville, Tenn., 
retaining this place until March, 1S65, when 
he was transferred to Camp Dennison, Ohio, 
where he remained until the close of the war. 
He was post surgeon in turn on the staffs of 
Gen. Noyes, Col. Warner and Col. Andrews, 
and in the exacting and onerous duties which 
fell to his lot he was found always at his post, 
ever faithful in rendering aid to the brave men 
who suffered from the injuries and diseases 
incident to war. 

Dr. Jennings came to Dayton soon after 
his discharge from the service, locating in this 
city in September, 1865, and entering vigor- 
ously upon the practice of his profession. He 
gained a distinctive prestige through his ability, 
his integrity of character and his deep sympa- 
thy with those in affliction, and his practice 
constantly broadened in scope; but he was not 
yet satisfied with his professional acquirements, 
and accordingly, in 1871, he went to Europe. 
During the winter passed abroad he gave his 
attention to the serious study of subjects per- 
tinent to medical science, securing the unex- 
celled advantages offered in the foreign hos- 
pitals and colleges. He then returned to Day- 
ton, which has ever since been his home and 
the scene of his earnest and fruitful professional 
endeavors. From 1870 until 1873 he was in 
partnership with Dr. Thomas L. Neal, their 
practice being of a general character, and since 
the dissolution of this association Dr. Jennings 
has devoted himself to the general practice of 
medicine and surgery. He is an honored 
member of the state Medical society and of 
the Montgomery county Medical society. 

In politics the doctor is a republican of the 
uncompromising sort. In his fraternal rela- 
tions he is identified with the I. O. O. F., being 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



261 



a member of Montgomery lodge No. 5, while 
he is also medical director of the National Ben- 
eficial association of this order, of Dayton. 
The doctor is thoroughly cosmopolitan in his 
tastes, and has been able to indulge these, 
having made a second trip to Europe in 1890, 
visiting the principal cities of the continent and 
divers other points of historical and local in- 
terest. In 1896 Dr. Jennings made his third 
trip abroad and spent two and a half months 
in visiting the Mediterranean ports, Egypt and 
the holy land. If the doctor has a hobby, it 
is the love of travel, and it is his intention, be- 
fore the close of the present century, to start 
on a trip around the world. 

Dr. Jennings has ever been a thorough and 
systematic student, and his intellectual horizon 
has been broadened to include far more than a 
knowledge of the literature of his profession, 
for he has been an indefatigable reader in 
general fields of knowledge and possesses a 
fund of information which cannot but be a 
source of constant satisfaction to him, as it is 
to those with whom he comes in contact in 
either a business or a social way. 



BRANK J. KUNKLE, general manager 
of the Dayton Ice Manufacturing & 
Cold Storage company, was born in 
Chambersburg, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, October 26, 1859. His father, John 
Kunkle, was born in Pennsylvania, and came 
to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Mont- 
gomery county, being among its pioneer fam- 
ilies. The father of John Kunkle was Jacob 
Kunkle, and as one of the early residents of 
this county he was well known and esteemed. 
Frank J. Kunkle passed his boyhood on the 
farm in Butler township, and received hisearly 
education in the public schools at Vandalia. 
At the age of eighteen years he entered Wit- 
tenberg college at Springfield, Ohio, remaining 



a student there for three years. After taking 
a commercial course at Cleveland, Ohio, he 
located at Dayton in 1881, and accepted a po- 
sition as bookkeeper with the firm of C. Wight 
& Son, lumber manufacturers, and remained 
with that firm until August, 1892. He then 
accepted the position of general manager of 
the Dayton Ice Manufacturing & Cold Stor- 
age company, which he still retains, having en- 
tire charge of that company's business affairs 
and property. 

Mr. Kunkle was married in October, 1886, 
in Johnsville, Montgomery county, to Miss 
Susie Furry of that place, and a daughter of 
David Furry. To this marriage there have 
been born two sons, John D. and Robert H. 
Mr. Kunkle is a member of Riverdale lodge, 
Knights of Pythias. He is vice-president and 
director in the Pioneer Tar Soap company, 
and director in the National Plant company, 
and is interested in real estate, having been 
active in building and selling houses, princi- 
pally in Riverdale. When he located in Day- 
ton he was without capital, but by careful and 
industrious management he has been success- 
ful in accumulating a competency, and ranks 
among the young business men of the city 
who have wrought out success through years 
of earnest endeavor. 



OREN BRITT BROWN, attorney at 
law, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of the 
Empire state, having been born at 
Jeddo, Orleans county, N. Y., on the 
22d of June, 1853, a son of Col. E. F. Brown, 
who held the commission as colonel of the 
Twenty-eighth New York regiment during the 
late war of the Rebellion, rendering valiant 
service in upholding the Union arms and pre- 
serving the integrity of the nation. Col. Brown 
removed to Dayton a few years after the close 
of the war, and was made the first governor of 



262 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the soldiers' home, which important office he 
held from 1868 until 1S80. enjoying the respect 
and affection of the veterans over whose inter- 
ests he was thus placed in charge, and proving 
a most able and conscientious executive in 
directing the affairs of this great national insti- 
tution. That his services were held in high 
appreciation by the national government is 
manifest from the fact that he is now an in- 
spector general of the national soldiers' homes 
of the Union, maintaining his headquarters at 
Hartford, Conn. The maiden name of our 
subject's mother was Elizabeth Britt. 

Oren Britt Brown was born on a farm, and 
his early education was secured in the public 
schools at Medina, N. Y. , where he remained 
until the time of his parents' removal to Day- 
ton, in April, 1869. Here he was a student 
in the high school until 1871, when he entered 
Dennison university, at Granville, Ohio, where 
he continued his studies until January, 1874. 
He then entered Princeton college, N. J., 
graduating from this celebrated institution as 
a member of the class of the Centennial year, 
1876, having completed a thorough classical 
course. Thus fortified in a theoretical way for 
the duties of life, he returned to his home in 
Dayton and began the work of practical and 
technical preparation. In September of the 
year mentioned he entered the office of 
Gunckel & Rowe, prominent attorneys of this 
city, and under their effective guidance con- 
tinued the reading of law for two years, and 
was admitted to the bar in September, 1878. 
He remained with his preceptors for one year, 
after which he established an individual prac- 
tice, conducting a successful business until 
1 88 1, when, as the candidate of the republican 
party, he was elected to the office of county 
clerk of Montgomery county, assuming the 
duties of this position in February, 1882. He 
served for one term of three years, having 
proved a most acceptable and efficient incum- 



bent, and then declined to become a candidate 
for re-election, having determined to resume 
the practice of his profession, in which he was 
already enjoying a marked prestige. On the 
9th of February, 1885, he entered into a pro- 
fessional alliance with Oscar M. Gottschall, 
under the firm title of Gottschall & Brown, and 
this association continued until January 1, 

1895, when the firm was changed by the ad- 
mission of Ira Crawford, Jr., to partnership, 
whereupon the title of Gottschall, Brown & 
Crawford was adopted. This firm holds a 
prominent place among the leading legal prac- 
titioners of the county, having been retained in 
much of the important litigation that has come 
before the courts of this and adjoining counties, 
as well as in the state courts. 

Mr. Brown is uncompromising in his advo- 
cacy of the principles and policies advanced by 
the republican party, and he has been promi- 
nent in the councils of the same in Montgom- 
ery county. He was a delegate from the Day- 
ton district to the national republican con- 
vention at Chicago in 1888, when Harrison 
was nominated for the presidency. He was a 
member of the Dayton board of elections, hav- 
ing been one of the republican representatives 
thereon from the time of the formation of the 
board until he went upon the bench. He vvas 
nominated for judge of the third subdivision, 
Second district, in the spring of 1896, and after 
the death of Judge Henderson Elliott, in July, 

1896, he was appointed his successor, having 
already been nominated by his party. He was 
elected in the fall of 1896, and entered upon 
his term of five years on the third Monday of 
November, 1897. 

On the 1 2th of June, 1883, was celebrated 
the marriage of Judge Brown to Miss Jeannette 
Gebhart, daughter of Simon Gebhart, one of 
the old and honored citizens of Dayton. In 
his fraternal relations Judge Brown is promi- 
nently identified with the Masonic order, being 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



263 



a Knight Templar and having attained the 
thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite. He 
is also a member of the Knights of Pythias, the 
Royal Arcanum and the Dayton club, enjoying 
a marked popularity in professional, business 
and social circles. 



>-j'ACOB LINXWEILER, Jr., who has 
■ long been active in a field of enterprise 
/• J which contributes in a large degree to 
the prosperity of any community or 
section — that corporate use of capital whose 
object is to furnish indemnity against loss by 
fire — occupies a distinctly representative posi- 
tion among the business men of Dayton, Ohio, 
and for this reason, as well as that of his char- 
acter as an enterprising and public-spirited 
citizen, it is eminently fitting that he be ac- 
corded due recognition in a biographical rec- 
ord of this community. Mr. Linxweiler is 
secretary of that stanch organization, the Teu- 
tonic Fire Insurance company, and holds offi- 
cial position in connection with municipal 
affairs, being at this time the mayor of the city 
of Dayton. 

Mr. Linxweiler is a native -of the city in 
which he has won his way to success and 
honor. The date of his birth was January 22, 
1843, his parents being Jacob and Caroline 
(Heinz) Linxweiler, both of whom were born 
in Rhenish Bavaria, and were among the early 
settlers in Dayton. Jacob Linxweiler, Sr. , 
emigrated to the United States in the summer 
of 1840, and for a few weeks after his arrival 
here was employed on a farm near Niagara 
Falls, Canada. In August of the same year he 
came to Dayton, which has ever since been his 
home and where he is held in highest esteem 
as one of the honored patriarchs of the city. 
Animated by a strong will, industrious and re- 
sourceful, Mr. Linxweiler was not slow in 
proving his power to attain a due measure of 



success in the land of his adoption. He was 
for a time engaged in the bakery and grocery 
trade in Dayton, and later became actively in- 
terested in horticultural enterprises in Mont- 
gomery county, gaining a wide reputation in 
that important field. He was one of the lead- 
ing members of the horticultural society, and 
a generally recognized authority in this direc- 
tion. He retired from active business in 1869. 
His cherished and devoted wife died in 1868. 
She had been an earnest member of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church, and her character was 
one of signal purity and beauty. 

Jacob Linxweiler, Jr., was reared in Day- 
ton, receiving a good common-school educa- 
tion and profiting by the influences of a refined 
and pleasant home. After leaving school he 
secured a position as clerk in a wholesale no- 
tion house in Dayton, and in 1863 he enlisted 
in the 100-days' service as a member of Col. 
John G. Lowe's regiment, the One Hundred 
and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, serv- 
ing his term and being on garrison duty at 
Baltimore, Md., during the greater portion of 
the time. After the close of the war he re- 
turned to Dayton and entered Greer's com- 
mercial college, where he completed a course 
of study, after which he accepted the position 
of bookkeeper for T. Parrott & Sons, manu- 
facturers of linseed oil, remaining in their 
employ until May, 1867. Mr. Linxweiler was 
then elected secretary of the Teutonic Fire In- 
surance company, which office he has since 
continuously retained, his well-directed efforts 
and marked executive abilitv having been 
large factors in so shaping the policy of the 
company that it to-day stands as one of the 
strongest and most popular insurance organi- 
zations in the entire west. 

Mr. Linxweiler has been prominent in 
Dayton's municipal affairs for a number of 
years, having ever stood ready to do all in his 
power to further its prosperity and substantial 



264 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



upbuilding. In 1874 he was elected a member 
of the board of education, as representative of 
the Sixth ward, being the candidate on the 
democratic ticket and receiving a majority of 
140 votes in a ward distinctively republican in 
its political complexion — the average repub- 
lican majority therein having been 120 in the 
same election. He served in this capacity for 
one term of two years, when he declined again 
to become a candidate for the office. He was 
the second member of the finance committee 
and its acting chairman during his term. When 
the fire department of Dayton was reorganized 
in 1 88 1, Mr. Linxweiler was appointed a mem- 
ber of the fire board, and took an active part 
in the reorganization of the department, doing 
much to bring it to its present high standard of 
efficiency. He was a member of the board for 
about three years. In 18S4 he was appointed 
by Gov. Hoadly as a member of the board of 
trustees of the southern Ohio asylum for the 
insane, in which capacity he served for five 
years. In 1891 he was elected a member of 
the city board of waterworks trustees, being 
his own successor in 1893, m which year he 
served as president. In his first election to 
this board he ran nearly 700 votes ahead of 
his ticket — a fact which furnished marked evi- 
dence of the confidence reposed in him and of 
his great popularity. At the time of his re- 
election the remainder of the ticket, with the 
exception of Mayor McMillen, was defeated, 
the republican majority ranging between fifty 
and 100, while Mr. Linxweiler's majority was 
over 400 votes. He has been a stanch sup- 
porter of the democratic party, and has done 
much to advance its local interests. In his 
fraternal relations he is identified with Steuben 
lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is a charter 
member, and with the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, being also a member of the board of 
trustees of the Old Guard post, G. A. R. He 
has also been, for many years past, an influen- 



tial member and an an officer of the Dayton 
Turngemeinde, an organization for physical- 
culture. 

In February, 1867, Mr. Linxweiler was- 
united in marriage to Miss Bertha Zimmer- 
mann, of Cincinnati, and they became the par- 
ents of five children, namely: Elmer, who is- 
now engaged in horticultural pursuits in south- 
ern Georgia; George, who is a clerk in the office 
of the Teutonic Fire Insurance company; Ed- 
mund, a clerk in the office of the Seybold 
Machine company; and Cora and Otto, both. 
now living at the parental home. 

Mr. Linxweiler was elected mayor of the 
city of Dayton in the spring of 1896, for a term 
of two years, by a plurality of nine votes over 
his republican opponent. He and Ben. B. 
Childs, democratic candidate for trustee of 
the water works, were the only democrats 
elected, the republican candidates for the other 
offices being elected by majorities of from four 
hundred to five hundred votes. Mr. Linx- 
weiler resigned the office of water works trus- 
tee at the request of many citizens, who de- 
sired that his superior executive ability, 
strength of will and sound judgment should be 
utilized in the discharge of the more important 
duties of the mayoralty. In that responsible 
office he has already given evidence of peculiar 
qualities of fitness for the exercise of the ap- 
pointive power which the existing form of city 
government vests in the mayor, and has gained 
friends among all classes and in all parties by 
his faithful and conscientious administration 
of an honorable and responsible civic trust. 



X-^EORGE GOODHUE, M. D., one of 
■ (j\ the leading physicians and surgeons 

\^^J of Dayton, Ohio, was born in West 

Westminster, Vt., May 24, 1853. 

Reared upon the farm he attended the district 

school until he was sixteen years old, when he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



265 



entered the preparatory department of Carle- 
ton college, at Northfield, Minn., and there 
took a three-years' course, with the view of 
entering Dartmouth college, in which he took 
a four-years' course, graduating in the class of 
1876. After this he taught school for two 
years as professor of Greek and physics in 
Miami college, Oxford, Ohio. Having deter- 
mined to follow the profession of medicine he 
entered the office of Dr. John Davis, of Day- 
ton, now deceased. His first course of lectures 
was taken at the college of Physicians and 
Surgeons of New York city, and his second at 
the medical department of Dartmouth college, 
graduating from the latter institution in 1879. 
He then entered the university of New York, 
from which institution he graduated in March, 
1880. Having previously secured a position in 
the Brooklyn city hospital, he held this posi- 
tion for one year, and thereafter spent three 
months in the Manhattan Eye and Ear hospi- 
tal. Being thus thoroughly equipped for suc- 
cessful work in medicine and surgery, he re- 
turned to Dayton and entered into partnership 
with his former preceptor, Dr. John Davis, 
with whom he was associated until the death 
of Dr. Davis, which occurred June 10, 1883. 
Since that time he has carried on his practice 
alone, with the exception of some two and a 
half years, when he was associated with a 
nephew of Dr. Davis. While his practice is 
general, yet Dr. Goodhue gives considerable 
attention to diseases of the eye and ear, and 
also to surgery, the latter being his preference. 

Dr. Goodhue is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society, and also of the 
Ohio state Medical association. He is ac- 
knowledged as one of the progressive physicians 
■of the city, ranking among the foremost in 
both skill and success, and his practice is, as a 
consequence, unusually extensive. 

Dr. Goodhue has, however, in the past, 
given some attention to the business interests 



of Dayton, has aided many enterprises, and is 
a stockholder in several of the prosperous con- 
cerns of the city. He is a member of Dayton 
lodge No. 147, F. & A. M., a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, and a member of the Mystic 
Shrine. He was married at Terre Haute, Ind. , 
to Miss Rose E. Kendall, and both he and his 
wife attend the Protestant Episcopal church. 

Dr. Goodhue is of English ancestry, being 
the seventh in direct descent from William 
Goodhue. He is a son of Horace and Clarissa 
(Braley) Goodhue, both of whom died in Ver- 
mont. They were the parents of nine chil- 
dren, the doctor being the youngest of the 
family, and the only one living in Ohio. He 
has two brothers and one sister living, viz: 
Horace, professor of Greek in Carleton college, 
Minn. ; Harlan, a farmer of Vermont, and 
Electa, also living in Vermont. 

Dr. Goodhue is, at the present time, sur- 
geon of the Panhandle railroad company at 
Dayton, and at different times has held the 
same position with all the railroads entering 
Dayton. He has also been surgeon of the 
Deaconess hospital ever since its foundation, 
and in 1890 was president of the Montgomery 
county Medical society. 



^yy»ILLIAM WEBSTER, M. D., de- 
M M ceased, who for many years was one 

III ofthi leading citi ens and physicians 
of Dayton, was born in Butler coun- 
ty, Ohio, January 12, 1827, and was of Welsh 
descent. He was reared to agricultural pur- 
suits in Butler county, in the rich Miami val- 
ley. In his fourteenth year he entered the 
Monroe academy for the purpose of preparing 
for admission to the Ohio Wesleyan university 
at Delaware, Ohio, where he studied during 
the years 1845 and 1846. He then entered 
Farmers college, near Cincinnati, graduat- 
ing in 1848 with honor. Inheriting from his 



260 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



father a taste for medical studies, he devoted 
his senior year's leisure moments to reading 
medical works, with a view to entering a med- 
ical college, and did enter the Eclectic Medical 
institute at Cincinnati, from which institution 
he was graduated in 185 1. 

Prior to his graduation, on account of the 
spread of cholera in this country, he opened 
an office in Middletown, Ohio, and at once 
entered upon a busy practice, but upon the dis- 
appearance of the epidemic he closed his office, 
returned to college and graduated as above 
narrated. At first he practiced according to 
the principles of the regular school of medicine, 
or what is generally called allopathic treat- 
ment; but during his last term of attendance 
at the Eclectic college the faculty employed Dr. 
Storm Ross, of Painesville, Ohio, to deliver a 
course of lectures on homeopathy, a new the- 
ory of medicine at that time in Ohio, the re- 
sult being the conversion of nearly all the fac- 
ulty and class to the new system. Dr. Web- 
ster made a trial of this new system of medi- 
cine, and after a year or two of practice of 
allopathy, and of investigation and experiment- 
ing with homeopathy, he finally dropped the 
former system and from that time on followed 
the principles of homeopathy during his entire 
professional life. After seven years of practice 
in Middletown, he removed with his family to 
Dayton, Ohio, and remained a citizen of Day- 
ton until his death, which event occurred May 
19, 1894. 

Immediately after locating in Dayton he 
male himself felt in the medical world, being 
one of the organizers of the Miami valley 
Homeopathic society, and was officially con- 
nected therewith for many years. He served 
as secretary and president of the Ohio state 
Homeopathic Medical society for many years, 
and was also connected with the American In- 
stitute of Homeopathy, beside being well 
known as a contributor to the leading homeo- 



pathic journals. He carefully avoided all of- 
ficial positions, excepting such as mentioned 
above, devoting himself closely to his profes- 
sional labors and studies, with the result that 
he attained a position of prominence in the 
medical world which he could not otherwise 
have reached. For fifty-five years he was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and for many years was a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity. 

Dr. Webster was married three times; first 
to Mrs. Catherine Martin, who was born in 
Warren county, Ohio, July 1, 1827, and died 
July 29, 185 1, after about one year of married 
life. His second wife, whom he married May 
28, 1853, was Miss Sarah Harkrader, who 
bore him one son, Frank, and was soon after- 
ward taken from him by death. She died 
August 9, 1854, at the age of nineteen, of 
cholera. She was the daughter of David and 
Nancy (Gallagher) Harkrader, who were among 
the early pioneers of Warren county, Ohio, 
and whose families were of great longevity, 
some of the Gallaghers living to be upward of 
ninety years of age. 

Dr. Webster was married, the third time, to 
Miss Rosalinda Brashear, who still survives. 
She bore him two sons, Edward and William 
H. Edward is a traveling salesman from Day- 
ton, Ohio, representing the Pittsburg Consoli- 
dated Wire & Nail company in the state of 
Ohio. He married Miss Mollie Miller, of 
Grand Forks, N. Dak. The second son, 
William Herr Webster, was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton, and attended the 
Ohio Wesleyan university, at Delaware, for 
four years, reading medicine while there with 
Dr. M. P. Hunt, and subsequently with his 
father, and in 1891 entering Pulte Medical 
college at Cincinnati, Ohio. From this insti- 
tution he graduated in 1894, subsequently lo- 
cating in Dayton, and forming a medical part- 
nership with his half-brother, Dr. Frank Web- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



267 



ster, whose biography will appear below in 
connection with this sketch. William H. 
Webster also took a post-graduate course at 
the Chicago Homeopathic college. While he 
is giving special attention to surgery, he is 
also engaged in general practice. He is a 
member of the medical staff of the Deaconess 
hospital, of Dayton, and is also a member of 
the Ohio state Homeopathic Medical society, 
of the Miami valley Homeopathic Medical so- 
ciety, and is highly regarded as a citizen and 
as a physician. He was married January 12, 
1895, to Miss Mary Isabel Ferneau, a native 
of Ross county, Ohio, who was born near 
Chillicothe. Both he and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Having recited the family history of Dr. 
William Webster, deceased, it is now proper 
to present some of his personal characteristics, 
and to deal briefly with the ancestry of the 
family. The deceased practitioner was a phy- 
sician always welcome in the sick room, be- 
cause of his known professional skill and of his 
genial disposition and cheerful, hopeful pres- 
ence. He made a large circle of warm friends, 
was affable and courteous, and his personality 
was almost as valuable as any medical treat- 
ment, especially to those who were susceptible 
to such personal influences. In his practice he 
amassed a handsome fortune, which he used in 
great part for the benefit of humanity. He was 
devoted to the success of the Young Men's 
Christian association, acting as an official of 
the association and contributing of his means 
to its prosperity. He was a liberal supporter 
of all worthy public enterprises, and to his 
friends was liberal to a fault, but more espe- 
cially to the poor. 

The ancestry of Dr. William Webster is 
said to be of Welsh origin. John Webster, of 
whom the doctor was a direct descendant, 
emigrated to New Jersey in 1691. The grand- 
father of Dr. Webster was also named William 



Webster. He was a native of Essex county, 
N. J., born in 1771, removed to Pennsylvania 
about 1803, became a pioneer in the Miami 
valley in 1806, settling in Butler county, Ohio, 
and died in 1844. His son, Dr. Elias Webster, 
the father of Dr. William Webster, was one of 
a family of nine children. He was born Oc- 
tober 31, 1805, and became a physician of the 
allopathic school when quite young, but after 
about fifteen years' practice embraced the 
doctrines and principles of homeopathy, a sys- 
tem then comparatively new, especially in this 
country, as it was established and announced 
by the celebrated Hahnemann during the clos- 
ing years of the eighteenth century. In 1866 
he removed to Connersville, Ind. , where he re- 
mained in practice until he retired, dying there 
in 1 89 1, when he was eighty-six years old. 

He married Mary Kain, of Lebanon, Ohio, 
who died in 1867. By her he had nine chil- 
dren : William, the subject of this sketch ; 
Samuel, Hugh, James K. , M. D., deceased; 
Joseph R. , a farmer, of Connersville, Ind.; 
Taylor, Daniel, Sarah Ann, wife of Rev. Mr. 
Tevis, of Kansas, and Mary J., all but two of 
whom are now dead. 

Dr. Elias Webster took a deep interest in 
religious matters. In politics he was a pro- 
nounced democrat. He was a man of great 
force of character and much esteemed for his 
honesty and integrity. A wide reader and a 
deep thinker, he was also a close and diligent 
student of the bible, and was always welcome 
among the young, who revered him for his 
many excellent traits of character, all of which 
he strove, with much success, to impart to his 
children. 

His brother, Hon. Taylor Webster, was, 
for nearly half a century, identified with the 
democratic press of Butler county, Ohio; served 
in 1829 as clerk of the general assembly of 
Ohio, and in 1830 was a representative from 
Butler county in the lower house of the gen- 



26S 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



eral assembly and was chosen its speaker. 
From 1832 to 1838 he was a representative 
from the counties of Butler, Preble and Darke 
in the congress of the United States and was 
subsequently clerk of the court of common 
pleas of Butler county, and afterward of the 
supreme court of Ohio. His services in Ohio 
politics were exceedingly efficient during the 
administrations of Presidents Jackson and Van 
Buren. He was modest in manner and indus- 
trious by habit. He died, generally lamented, 
in New Orleans, La., April 27, 1876, at the 
age of seventy-one years. 

Frank Webster, M. D., was, as will have 
been noted, the eldest son of Dr. William 
Webster, and the son of his second wife. He 
was born in Middletown, Ohio, April 6, 1854, 
and was educated in the public schools of Day- 
ton, Ohio, graduating from the high school in 
1874. Afterward he graduated from the Miami 
Commercial college in Dayton, and was for 
some three years engaged in the music business 
in that city. He then engaged in the study of 
medicine with his father, and graduated with 
the class of 1882 from Pulte Medical college. 
Becoming associated with his father in the 
practice of medicine, he so remained until his 
father's death, and has since formed a partner- 
ship with his younger half-brother, William 
H., referred to above. He has confined his at- 
tention to the general practice of medicine and 
has made himself prominent in his profession 
and school, standing to-day as one of the lead- 
ing and best informed physicians of Dayton. 
He served as secretary of the Miami valley 
Homeopathic Medical association for thirteen 
years, and is now its president, and has been 
president of the Dayton city Homeopathic 
Medical society. He has also been a mem- 
ber of the board of censors of Pulte Med- 
ical college. Dr. Webster is a member of 
Dayton lodge No. 147, F. & A. M. He was 
married January 30, 1879, to Miss Anna A. 



Turner, a daughter of Hamilton M. Turner, of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, Mrs. Webster be- 
ing a native of that county. Dr. and Mrs. 
Webster have three children, Howard H., 
Rome M., and Margaret K. Both parents are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



BIELDING LOURY, deceased, was 
born in the city of Dayton, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 9, 1824, and became one of the 
most prominent business men as well 
as one of its most representative citizens. His 
genealogy will be fully traced throughout the 
details of this memoir, as opportunity suitably 
presents itself. For the present it may be said 
simply, that he was the only son of Gen. 
Fielding Loury, who was a native of Spottsyl- 
vania county, Ya., and a civil engineer and 
surveyor, the mother of our subject being the 
second wife of the general, and, at the time of 
her marriage with him, the widow of Daniel 
C. Cooper. She died in Dayton, in 1826. 
The first wife of Gen. Loury was a daughter 
of John Smith, the first United States senator 
from Ohio. 

Fielding Loury was educated in Woodward 
high school, Cincinnati, and Kenyon college, 
Gambier, Ohio, and, having inherited a for- 
tune from his mother, his earlier manhood was 
spent in comparative leisure. He wedded in 
Dayton, in 1847, Miss Elizabeth Richards Mor- 
rison, a native of Dayton and a daughter of 
Joseph and Harriet (Backus) Morrison, who 
were born in Kaskaskia, 111., and there mar- 
ried. 

Col. William Morrison, grandfather of Mrs. 
Loury, was a soldier of the old French-Indian 
wars, and was extensively connected with the 
North American Fur company, so famous in 
its day, was very prominent as a pioneer, and 
died at the old French military post, known as 
Kaskaskia. 




JH 



(^UtAA^es 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



271 



Joseph Morrison, the father of Mrs. Loury, 
was a graduate of an eastern university and of 
the Philadelphia law school, and was a mem- 
ber of the state senate of Illinois; but his brill- 
iant career was brought to an untimely end, 
as he died when Mrs. Loury was still a child. 
Harriet Backus, his wife, also a native of 
Kaskaskia, died at the home of Mrs. Loury, in 
'Dayton, in June, 1890. Mrs. Loury is the 
only survivor of a family of three daughters — 
her sisters having been Mrs. Lucretia DuBois 
(who died in early life, leaving one son, now 
deceased), and Mrs. Eloise Bowen, who died 
in middle age. leaving a son and daughter, who 
are still living. The result of the marriage of 
Mr. Loury with Miss Morrison, which was sol- 
emnized by Rev. Mr. Arnott of Christ's Epis- 
copal church, was three daughters and one 
son, viz: Harriet Sophia; Eloise Peirce; Anne 
Howard, wife of Edward Dana, who resides in 
Cincinnati and is extensively interested in coal 
mining in Virginia; and Charles Greene, em- 
ployed in the office of the National Cash Reg- 
ister company, in Dayton. 

Fielding Loury entered the army in 1861, 
as an aid on the staff of Gen. Schenck, with 
the rank of captain, and took part in the first 
battle of Bull Run. He served, also, on the 
staffs of Gens. Hooker, Milroy and Rosecrans, 
and was wounded at the battle of Chancellors- 
ville. After his recovery he was sent to Pitts- 
burg, Pa. , where he was at the head of the 
bureau for the purchase of cavalry supplies — 
receiving and disbursing an average of $1,- 
000,000 monthly. After a service of about 
five years and a half in the army, he resigned 
his commission, having reached the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel, and returned to Dayton. 
Here he was commissioned postmaster, and 
served eight years. His many years of ardu- 
ous labor, civil and military, at last made 
deep inroads on his health, and death came to 
him, as a welcome relief, November 13, 1882. 



No more fitting words can be used, as to his 
demise, than those of his pastor: " A brave 
soldier, a public-spirited citizen, a loving hus- 
band, a devoted father — early consecrated to 
the Lord in holy baptism — we leave him in 
the hands of that God, who will find in his 
life all that was virtuous, and will mete out the 
tenderest judgment." Mrs. Loury has been a 
member from early life of Christ Episcopal 
church, in which faith her husband died, and 
her grandchildren are of the fourth generation 
reared in that church. 

Both the Loury and Morrison families 
trace their genealogy to Scotch-Irish origin. 
Both have long been established in America, 
and many have attained positions of great 
prominence, one being remembered as chief- 
justice of California. The present inter-state 
commerce commissioner, Hon. William Mor- 
rison, of Illinois, is a second cousin of Mrs. 
Loury; a sister of Joseph Morrison married 
Chief-Justice Breese, of Illinois, who was also 
United States senator from that state; Mrs. 
Loury's mother was a daughter of a Revo- 
lutionary officer, and her only sister wedded 
Judge Nathaniel Pope, a United States senator 
and father of Maj.-Gen. John Pope, of Civil 
war fame. 

Gen. Fielding Loury came to Cincinnati in 
1803, and reached Dayton in 1806, where he 
found a solitary log cabin at the intersection 
of what are now known as Fifth and Main 
streets, and inquired of the occupant the dis- 
tance to Dayton. He continued his duties as 
a surveyor, in the discharge of which he en- 
countered all the dangers of existence on the 
frontier of the entire northwest country, but, 
possessed to a distinguished degree of all the 
manly qualities which marked the typical pio- 
neer of the west, he surmounted every obstacle 
in his way. In his intercourse with the In- 
dians, thousands of whom still remained in the 
country and viewed with jealous alarm the en- 



27 '2 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



croachments of the whites, he manifested a 
character for firmness, tempered with sym- 
pathy, which he maintained to the closing hour 
of his life. About 1808 he occupied a seat in 
the Ohio legislature; in 1S11 he married Mrs. 
Cooper, as previously recorded; in 18 12 he 
was actively employed in various duties con- 
nected with the army; in 1816, he was again 
elected to the state legislature, and in 1835 
was elected for the third time. 

To a personal character of unblemished in- 
tegrity, Gen. Loury united, in an eminent de- 
gree, the dignity and refined manners of a 
gentleman of the old school, and possessed 
that nice sense of honor and generous hospi- 
tality for which the natives of the state of his 
birth are so distinguished. A more affection- 
ate and indulgent husband and father never 
blessed a home circle. In his politics he was 
a pronounced democrat, and was an able and 
fearless exponent of the principles of his party. 
His death occurred in Dayton, October 7, 
1848, and his remains lie interred in beautiful 
Woodland cemetery, the burial spot having 
been selected by himself. 



eMERSON L. HORNER, member of 
the Dayton board of education, and 
principal of the Eighth district school 
in Harrison township, Montgomery 
county, was born at West Baltimore, March 
29, 1 86 1. His parents were James and Re- 
becca (Harp) Horner, the former of whom was 
of English descent and was born at Thorntown, 
Boone county, Ind., while the latter was born 
in Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
They were married in Indiana, and came to 
Ohio in i860, locating on a farm near West 
Baltimore, Montgomery county, where they 
continued to reside until the death of Mr. 
Horner, which occurred in 1882. They were 
the parents of four children, all of whom are 



living, viz: Mrs. Mary Gaskell, of West Bal- 
timore ; Mrs. Emma Ewing, of Farmersville ; 
Edward and Emerson L., of Dayton. 

Emerson L. Horner was reared on the farm 
and received his education in the public 
schools. When twenty years of age he re- 
ceived a certificate to teach school, and taught 
for one year. For six years following he at- 
tended the Northwestern Ohio normal school 
at Ada, Ohio ; the National normal university 
at Lebanon, Ohio, and at Ann Arbor, Mich., 
in the summer season and taught school in the 
winter season. He became principal of the 
Eighth district school of Harrison township in 
1886, and has ever since retained that position, 
enjoying a record for faithful, efficient and 
continuous service unexcelled by that of any 
teacher in the county. 

Mr. Horner has had unusual success as a 
teacher, being a thoroughly progressive educa- 
tor, and standing among the leaders of his 
profession in this county. He has been pres- 
ident and vice-president of the Montgomery 
county teachers' association, and is at present 
a member of its executive committee. In 
April, 1896, he was elected by the people of 
the Fifth ward to the board of education of 
Dayton. In this body he soon took rank 
among its most active and efficient members, 
and has rendered valuable and intelligent serv- 
ice to the cause of education. 

He is a republican in politics, but his per- 
formance of the duties of public trust has been 
so free from mere partisan bias as to win for 
him the esteem and confidence of his constitu- 
ents of all parties. 

Mr. Horner is prominent in Odd Fellow 
circles, being a past grand of Fraternal lodge ; 
a past chief patriarch of Fraternal encamp- 
ment, and a member of Galilee Rebekah lodge. 
He is a member of Summit street U. B. church, 
which, since its organization in 1871, has been 
a great power for good. In all of the relations 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



273 



of life Mr. Horner has been prompt and faith- 
ful in the discharge of his duties, individual, 
social and professional, and has earned an as- 
sured place in the regard of the entire com- 
munity in which he resides. 



ST 



ILLIAM CRAIGHEAD, one of the 
prominent attorneys of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in that city on Sep- 
tember i, 1835. His fatherwas the 
late Dr. John B. Craighead, who for many 
years was a leading physician of Dayton. 

Dr. Craighead was.born near Carlisle, Cum- 
berland county, Pa., on April 22, 1800, and 
was the second son of Thomas and Rebecca 
(Weakley) Craighead. He received a thorough 
classical education at Dickinson college, and, 
choosing medicine as his profession, he became 
a student at the university of Pennsylvania, at 
Philadelphia, from which institution he gradu- 
ated in 1826. In the winter of 1827 he made 
a visit to the west for the purpose of selecting 
a place for the practice of his profession, and 
located at Mansfield, Ohio. He returned to 
Philadelphia and spent the winters of 1827-8 in 
attending medical lectures in that city. Hav- 
ing returned to Mansfield he married Mary 
Wallace Purdy, of that place, and in 1830 re- 
moved from Mansfield to Dayton, where he 
soon took a prominent position in the medical 
profession. He was one of the original mem- 
bers of the Montgomery county Medical 
society. He was twice married. His first 
wife died on December 29, 1839, leaving two 
young sons — John P. Craighead, now a resi- 
dent of New York city, and William. His 
second wife was Rebecca Dodds, whom he 
married in May, 1841. Joseph B. Craighead, 
of Richmond, Ind., and Mary E. Soper, of 
Chicago, 111., are the surviving children of the 
second marriage. Dr. Craighead was a fine 
classical scholar, and the preparation of his 



sons for college, which was accomplished prin- 
cipally under his supervision, afforded him an 
excellent opportunity to review his favorite 
authors. He was a devoted member of the 
First Presbyterian church. His death occurred 
on September 8, 1868. 

William Craighead attended the public 
school on Perry street in this city until he be- 
gan his preparation for college, when he en- 
tered the Dayton Literary institute, which was 
under the management of W. N. Edwards and 
Robert Stevenson. In September, 1852, he 
matriculated at Miami university, where he en- 
tered the sophomore class and graduated June 
30, 1855. In the following fall, in connection 
with Robert Stevenson, his former teacher, 
he opened a private school in Miami City, 
where he taught for two years. While teach- 
ing, his leisure reading was in the direction of 
law, and after giving up teaching he entered 
the law office of Conover & Craighead as a 
student. He was admitted to the bar in 1859, 
and opened an office with Luther Bruen. After 
several years he formed a partnership with 
Warren Munger, thus organizing the firm of 
Craighead & Munger. At about this time Mr. 
Craighead was elected city solicitor of Dayton, 
and served the city in that capacity for four 
years. It was during his administration of that 
office that the riots of the Civil war occurred in 
the city, during which much' valuable property 
on the west side of Main street was burned, and 
a number of suits for heavy damages were 
brought by the sufferers against the city. Mr. 
Craighead represented the city in this litigation, 
and was successful in preventing recovery by 
the complainants. 

Mr. Craighead continued practicing law in 
the firm of Craighead & Munger until 1876, 
when that firm was dissolved, and the firm of 
Conover & Craighead being dissolved at about 
the same time by the retirement of Mr. Cono- 
ver on account of- failing health, Samuel Craig- 



274 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



head and William Craighead became partners 
in the practice of law, and so continued until 
the death of Samuel Craighead. In 1891 
Mr. Craighead was chosen, by the board of 
•city affairs, city solicitor, which position he 
filled with marked ability until the spring of 
1894. Since the death of Samuel Craighead, 
William and Charles A. Craighead, sons of 
Samuel, have constituted the law firm of Craig- 
head & Craighead. 

On December 27, 1865, Mr. Craighead 
was married to Margaret S. Wright, daughter 
t>f Francis M. and Sophia Corwin Wright, of 
Urbana, Ohio. They have but one child, a 
daughter, Sophia. 

Mr. Craighead is one of the most success- 
ful practitioners at the Dayton bar. He is 
essentially and by personal preference an office 
lawyer, although he is also an able and ag- 
gressive trial advocate. Thorough and ex- 
haustive research and examination regarding 
legal principles and judicial decisions charac- 
terize his treatment of every important ques- 
tion arising in his practice. The habit of 
painstaking investigation, aided by a tenacious 
memory, has made Mr. Craighead one of the 
best "case lawyers" ever at the local bar. 
His knowledge of the law of pleading is exact, 
his patience and persistence are a byword in 
the profession, and his opinions as a lawyer 
have the weight and respect to which these 
qualities justly entitle them. 



HBRAM DARST WILT, one of the 
prominent and representative citizens 
of Dayton, Ohio, and principal and 
proprietor of the Miami Commercial 
college, the leading college of the kind in the 
city, was born in Dayton, on September 21, 
1842. His parents were Jacob and Mary 
(Darsti Wilt, early citizens of Dayton. The 
father was a native of Chambersburg, Pa., and 



was a son of Jeremiah Wilt. The mother was 
born in Dayton, and was the daughter of 
Abram Darst, a pioneer citizen of Dayton. 
Jacob Wilt came to Dayton in 1832, and for 
many years was engaged in the manufacture 
of rifle barrels. He died in 1882, his wife's 
death having occurred in 1875. 

Abram Wilt was educated in Dayton, and 
taught school for a time. Following this he 
engaged in merchandizing for several years. 
In 1 86 1 he took charge of the Miami Commer- 
cial college, just established, of which he be- 
came the principal and proprietor in the follow- 
ing year. In 1863 he was connected with E. 
D. Babbitt, of Dayton, in the publication of the 
"Babbittonian System of Penmanship," and 
so continued for several years, during which 
time that system was introduced both in this 
country and in England. In 1882 Mr. Wilt 
was appointed postmaster at Dayton, which 
position he held from February 2 1 of that 
year until September 1, 1886. For five years 
he served as a member of the Dayton board of 
education, during which time he aided in the 
establishment of night drawing schools, and 
was also an active member of the library com- 
mittee. He served as a member of the city 
board of school examiners for five years, at a 
time when Robert Steele and John Hancock 
were also members of that body. In 1883 he 
was president of the National Business Edu- 
cators' association, which met that year in 
Washington city, and for several years was a 
member of the executive committee of that 
association. He has also served as a member 
of the city republican committee. 

On March 19, 1872, Mr. Wilt was married 
to Miss Ella, daughter of William and Eliza 
Bickham, of Riverside, Cincinnati, and sister 
to the late Maj. William D. Bickham, propri- 
etor of the Dayton Daily Journal. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Wilt the following children have been 
born: Mary Dennison, now the wife of Dr. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



27T 



Jerome B. Thomas, Jr.,' a prominent young 
physician of Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Emily B. and 
Abram D., Jr. 

Mr. Wilt's name is prominently associated 
with the educational and moral interests of the 
city. He has been active in every movement 
aiming at the enlargement of the intellectual 
life of Dayton. A ready and versatile writer, 
his pen has contributed many articles, both 
through the press and otherwise, to the store 
of public knowledge. 



SOBEST CUMMING SCHENCK is 
president of the Dayton Malleable 
Iron company and one of the leading 
citizens of Dayton. He was born 
at Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, October 
2, 1845, received his early education in the 
public schools of Franklin, and was graduated 
from Miami university in 1864. He served on 
a gunboat during the Kirby Smith raid and in 
the militia during the John Morgan raid, and 
in May, 1864, enlisted in the One Hundred 
and Forty-sixth regiment, O. N. G., and 
served with that regiment through the cam- 
paign in the mountains of West Virginia. 

In 1S66-67, Mr. Schenck read law in the 
office of Davies & Lowe, Dayton, Ohio. In 
1868 he formed a partnership with S. W. 
Davies in the lumber business, from which he 
retired in 1870. After spending a considerable 
time in Europe, Mr. Schenck, with a number 
of other gentlemen, established the American 
District Telegraph company, which company 
also put up the first telephones in Dayton. 
From 1880 until 1882, Mr. Schenck was in 
the U. S. government service, being chief dep- 
uty and cashier of the third internal revenue 
district of Ohio. In 1880, he formed a part- 
nership with Charles Wuichet in the National 
Cornice-works, of which firm he is still a mem- 
ber. In August, 1882, he became, and has ever 



since been, the president of the Dayton Malle- 
able Iron company, one of Dayton's largest 
and most important manufacturing concerns. 
He is also a director in the Dayton National 
bank, the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 
Railway company, the Columbia Insurance 
company, the Dayton Asphalt Paving and 
Roofing company, a trustee of the Woodland 
Cemetery association, and is identified with a 
number of other important enterprises in Day- 
ton and elsewhere. 

In 1868 Mr. Schenck. was married to Julia 
Crane Davies, second daughter of Edward W. 
Davies, of Dayton. To this marriage four 
children have been born, as follows: Mary 
D. , who married J. Sprigg McMahon, of the 
legal firm of McMahon & McMahon; Graham 
C, who died in 1874; Pierce D. and Ren- 
nelche W., all of Dayton. 

Mr. Schenck is recognized as one of Day- 
ton's most successful and representative citi- 
zens. His enterprise and progressive spirit 
are well known and fully appreciated by the 
public, while his many fine traits of character 
and social nature have won him a large circle 
of warm friends. 



HRTHUR MELVILLE KITTREDGE, 
general superintendent of the Barney 
& Smith Car company and one of the 
representative citizens of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in this city January 9, 1854. 
He is a son of Oliver and Julia (Estabrook) 
Kittredge, who came to Dayton from Massa- 
chusetts in 1838, and both of whom are still 
living, the father being in his eighty-first year 
and the mother in her seventy-sixth year. Oli- 
ver Kittredge was the first agent of the first 
express company in Dayton. He was also a 
clerk in the post-office at a very early date. In 
politics he was a whig. 

Arthur M. Kittredge received his education 



278 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in the Dayton city schools, leaving them at 
the age of sixteen years, after having passed 
successfully the high school entrance examina- 
tion. He began life for himself by serving an 
apprenticeship at the galvanized iron and cor- 
nice-working trade, which trade he followed, 
having in time been made by promotion fore- 
man of the shop, then superintendent, until 
1877, and being out of the city from 1 87 1 to 
1877. Following this he was bookkeeper for 
a wholesale house, and subsequently was trav- 
eling salesman for four years for the H. W. 
Merriam Shoe company, of New Jersey. In 
January, 1884, he became connected with the 
Barney & Smith Car company, and was soon 
made general superintendent of the entire plant, 
which is the largest car- works in the west, and 
one of the largest manufacturing plants in the 
state of Ohio. Mr. Kittredge is a director in 
the Miami Building association of the East End, 
and is also director in the Y. M. C. A. and an act- 
ive member of Memorial Presbyterian church. 
He was married in this city in 1875 to Mary J. 
Broadwell, of the old and well-known family 
of that name in Dayton. Four children have 
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Kittredge, as fol- 
lows: Harry C, Arthur L., Mary J. and 
Helen L. 

Mr. Kittredge, while closely devoted to the 
duties entailed upon him by a responsible posi- 
tion, is interested in public questions and 
movements, and especially in the educational 
and religious fields. 



/'"^V* H. CARR, a prominent citizen and 
*\^^T attorney of Dayton, Ohio, was born 

Av_# in central Ohio. He traces his pa- 
ternal ancestry back to Welsh and 
Scotch-Irish descent, and his maternal ances- 
try back to the old families of Virginia. Mr. 
Carr was educated in the public schools of Ohio 
and Michigan, and graduated in the scientific 



course in the National university in 1874. He 
was for two years principal of the German- 
town, Ohio, high school, and in 1876 came to 
Dayton and entered the law office of Boltin & 
Shauck as a student. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1878. While reading law Mr. Carr was 
for one year principal of the Vandalia, Ohio, 
schools, teaching as a means of livelihood. He 
began practicing soon after his admission to 
the bar, and soon took rank with the leading 
and successful attorneys of Dayton. In his 
practice he has aimed at that character of busi- 
ness which is most remunerative, paying little 
or no attention to criminal cases. He is now 
the senior member of the legal firm of Carr, 
Allaman & Kennedy, one of the strongest in 
the city. Mr. Carr is also identified with sev- 
eral industrial and other enterprises in the city, 
being a director in the Third National bank, 
the Davis Sewing Machine company, the Still- 
well-Bierce & Smith-Vaile company, the Na- 
tional Improvement company, the Cast Steel 
Plow company, Dayton Church & Opera Chair 
company, the National Plant company, and 
the Boda House company. 



EARRY E. FEICHT, manager of the 
Grand opera house and Park theater, 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born in this 
city during the late war, and is the 
son of J. Fred and Eliza (Thomas) Feicht. 
The father is one of Dayton's oldest citizens, 
having resided here for over sixty-five years. 
He is a native of Germany, was a contractor 
and builder by vocation, and now lives a re- 
tired life in the city. His wife was born in 
this country, and is still living. 

Harry E. Feicht was reared in Dayton and 
was educated in the public high school and the 
Miami Commercial college, graduating from the 
latter. His first business position was that of 
secretary of the Dayton Transportation com- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



279 



pany, which he held for about two years. He 
next took a position with the Cincinnati, Ham- 
ilton & Dayton Railroad company, he having 
charge of the through business. Later he was 
promoted to be agent of the Dayton, Fort 
Wayne & Chicago railroad, and next was made 
contracting agent of the O, H. <K: D. Railroad 
company, with headquarters at Dayton. This 
position he resigned in 1 89 1 to take the man- 
agement of the Grand opera house and Park 
theater. As a theatrical manager and pro- 
moter of amateur amusements Mr. Feicht has 
made a brilliant reputation. He put on the 
first " Wild West " show produced in America, 
eight years prior to Buffalo Bill's show. He 
was the originator of the "charity circus," 
which was produced for the first time in Day- 
ton, and was one of the largest and most suc- 
cessful amateur amusement schemes ever at- 
tempted. The performances — two in num- 
ber, afternoon and night — were given under 
a large tent, and were preceded by the usual 
parade of performers, animals, etc., etc. The 
receipts of the two performances amounted to 
$7,336.25. The circus was extensively writ- 
ten up by the leading papers and periodicals 
of the country, Harper's Weekly and Frank 
Leslie's devoting half a page each to the illus- 
trations. During Dayton's centennial cele- 
bration in 1896, Mr. Feicht was the originator 
of the "Noise" committee, which inaugurated 
the centennial. He also had full charge of the 
preparation and production of the amateur 
play, " Daytonia," which was one of the lar- 
gest amateur performances, if not the largest, 
ever held in an opera house. The play ran a 
full week to crowded houses, and the receipts 
reached the amount of $6,300. On the two 
charity circuses and " Daytonia " Mr. Feicht 
cleared a total of nearly $9,000, all of which 
was equally divided between the Deaconess' 
and St. Elizabeth's hospitals, Dayton institu- 
tions. Mr. Feicht was also the originator of 



the carnival of mimics parade held during the 
centennial. 

Mr. Feicht is a member of the K. of P. 
and B. P. O. E. fraternities. On January 8, 
1894, he was married to Miss Noree Leah 
Cory, of Fairfield, Ind. 

Mr. Feicht 's characteristics of originality, 
inventive and imaginative genius and abundant 
energy have given him a unique place in Day- 
ton. No large amateur undertaking in any 
field of amusement is had without invoking his 
assistance, which is never refused. His most 
devoted labor is given to enterprises whose aim 
is to assist charitable and benevolent agencies. 
Mr. Feicht has the faculty of enlisting the 
hearty co-operation of others in his original 
plans, which he carries to success by his en- 
thusiasm and the force of his executive ability. 



£""V AMUEL B. SMITH, president of the 
*^^^kT city council of Dayton, was born in 

h^_y Troy, Ohio, September 4, 1836, and 
is a son of Thomas J. S. and Jane 
(Bacon) Smith, the former a native of Mary- 
land and the latter of Ohio. His maternal 
grandfather, Henry Bacon, was one of the 
early settlers of Ohio, was a leading lawyer, and 
a man of great prominence in public affairs. 
Thomas J. S. Smith was for many years an em- 
inent lawyer of Dayton, and died in 1868. 
He removed to Dayton from Troy when his 
son, Samuel B.\ was quite young. 

The greater part of the life of Samuel B. 
Smith has been spent in Dayton. He read 
law in the office of his father, and in i860 was 
admitted to the bar. At the beginning of the 
late war he entered the Federal service as first 
lieutenant of the Eleventh regiment, Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and later was promoted 
captain, and finally major, of the Ninety-third 
Ohio, in which capacity he served until the 
close of the war. After being mustered out of 



I'M I 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



service Mr. Smith returned to Dayton, and in 
1866 entered regularly upon the practice of 
the law, in which he continued until he was 
appointed assistant adjutant-general of Ohio 
on January 12, 1880, a position he held until 
March 2, 1881, when he was promoted adju- 
tant-general, and as such served until January, 
1884. After retiring from the adjutant-gen- 
eral's office, Gen. Smith removed to Miami 
county, and there spent a number of years en- 
gaged in the stone-quarry business, returning 
to Dayton in 1S92. For many years Gen. 
Smith was interested in the construction and 
extension of railroads. He was at different 
periods president and vice-president of the 
Dayton, Covington & Toledo Railroad com- 
pany. A number of years ago he represented 
his ward in the Dayton city council, and in 
the spring of 1895 he was again elected to 
that body, and in the following year he was 
chosen president of the same. Mr. Smith is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the G. 
A. R. and of the Loyal Legion, being a char- 
ter member of the Ohio commandery of the 
latter. On June 13, 1871, he was married to 
Eliza J. Stoddard, only daughter of the late 
Henry Stoddard, of Dayton. To this union 
two sons have been born — J. McLain Smith 
and Fowler Stoddard Smith. 



^^-w'lLLIAM J. BLAKENEY.— Among 
at the representative business men and 

VjLjl turers of Dayton is William 

J. Blakeney, secretary and treasurer 
of the Crawford, McGregor & Canby company, 
manufacturers of lasts. Mr. Blakeney is a 
native of Canada, having been born in Toron- 
to, Ontario, February 9, 1851, in which city 
his parents were temporarily residing, his fa- 
ther at that time being a member of the firm of 
Mason, Cook & Blakeney, iron founders, who 
had gone from Springfield, Ohio, to establish 



their business in Toronto. In 1853 or 1854 
the parents returned to Springfield, Ohio, 
where the James Blakeney Foundry company 
was a well-known establishment, and it was in 
that city that William J. Blakeney was reared 
and partially educated, he attending both pri- 
vate and public schools. 

At the age of seventeen Mr. Blakeney left 
school and went to Rochester, N. Y. , joining 
an uncle in business in that city. Subsequent- 
ly he became a partner in the business and 
finally purchased the interest of his uncle and 
became sole proprietor. He met with success, 
and, but for a strong desire to be nearer his 
parents and his old home, that would probably 
have been his life work. Mr. Blakeney re- 
mained in business in Rochester until the fall 
of 1878, and then disposing of his interest he 
returned to Ohio. Locating in Columbus he 
embarked in business, but a year later left that 
city and went to Chicago, where he formed a 
partnership for the sale of church supplies. In 
1886 he removed to Dayton and accepted a 
position with the company then doing business 
as Crawford, McGregor & Canby. Mr. Blake- 
ney's first efforts with this company were de- 
voted to the planning and putting into effect of 
an entirely new system of records. He short- 
ly after became the financial and credit mana- 
ger of this concern, and upon its incorporation, 
in 1884, was made a director and secretary 
and treasurer, which position he has since 
held. To Mr. Blakeney .is due, in a great 
measure, the admirable system which is found 
in the numerous records and general methods 
in use by his company. The system of ac- 
counting, with its vast number of statistics ever 
ready at hand in the general offices at Dayton, 
is also the system in use at the mills of the 
company in Michigan, where there is a large 
interest, and is original. The entire business 
is made historical, and comparisons with for- 
mer years, months or days, are easily effected. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



283 



This concern is one of the principal industries 
of Dayton, and one of the largest of its line in 
the world, and Mr. Blakeney, as secretary and 
treasurer of the same, has demonstrated that 
he is possessed of more than ordinary adminis- 
trative talent. He is progressive, energetic 
and enterprising, both as a business man and 
as a citizen, and in both capacities he takes 
rank with the influential and representative 
men of Dayton, where he has a large circle of 
friends and acquaintances. He is a member 
of the Present Day club, in the meetings of 
which he takes a deep interest. 

Mr. Blakeney was married, in 1879, to 
Margaret A., the daughter of Virginia A. San- 
ford, of Dayton. To this marriage two chil- 
dren have been born — Virginia and Sanford. 



aOL. JEROME B. THOMAS, who at 
present occupies the distinguished po- 
sition of governor of the central 
branch of the National Home for Dis- 
abled Volunteer Soldiers, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Luzerne county, Pa., March 26, 1835, 
and is a son of Isaac and Lydia A. (Beers) 
Thomas, the former of whom was born in Ver- 
mont in January, 1809, and the latter in Wash- 
ington county, N. Y. , in 18 16. These par- 
ents, after a married life of over sixty years, 
died in Wyoming, Stark county., 111., in 1895, 
having removed there from the Keystone state 
in 1844. 

Isaac Thomas was of Welsh extraction and 
descended from a family who established a 
colony in New England in the early colonial 
days. His early life was passed on a farm, 
but his maturer years were devoted to mer- 
chandizing. To his marriage were born five 
sons and four daughters, the eldest of whom is 
our subject; Charles C. and Lewis W. were 
gallant soldiers in the late Civil war, and now 

reside in Illinois and Colorado, respectively; 
p 



William D. is a resident of Missouri; Allen E. 
is president of the Ohio Rake company, with 
his home in Dayton, Ohio; Mary W. is the 
wife of Dr. A. M. Pierce, an ex-surgeon of 
the late war and a practicing physician of Wy- 
oming, 111.; Fanny W. is married to Rev. 
W. W. Woolley, of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, Rock Island, 111., district; Olive E. 
resides in Boston, Mass., and Kate A. lives in 
Wyoming, 111. — the last two named being 
unmarried. 

Col. Jerome B. Thomas is an educated 
physician, having first studied medicine in the 
office of Dr. William Chamberlain, of Toulon, 
111. ; he afterward graduated from the Jefferson 
Medical college, of Philadelphia, Pa., and in 
the same year, 1858, entered upon the active 
practice of his profession in Wyoming, 111., 
where success attended him until, at the open- 
ing of the Civil war, he was, on the 3d of 
March, 1862, appointed assistant surgeon of 
the Twenty-fourth regiment, Illinois volunteer 
infantry, and served in the army of the Ohio 
and the army of the Cumberland throughout 
the war. After the first year he was detached 
from his regiment to serve in the responsible 
position of surgeon in charge of government 
hospitals in Bowling Green, Ky., and in Galla- 
tin, Tenn. , where he also served as acting 
medical director on the staff of Gen. Paine; 
later, he was appointed chief executive officer 
of the Cumberland United States army general 
hospital, at Nashville, Tenn. At the close of 
hostilities he engaged in the practice of his 
profession in Wyandotte, Kas., until the fall 
of 1867, when he was appointed treasurer of 
the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol- 
diers, at Dayton, Ohio, which position he 
held until the death of Gen. M. R. Patrick, 
governor, in July, 1888, when he succeeded to 
his present important office of governor of that 
institution. 

Col. Thomas was most happily married, in 



284 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Illinois, in i860, to Miss Harriet N. R. Tasker, 
a native of New Bedford, Mass., and this 
union has been blessed with three children, 
viz: Jerome B., jr., a physician of New York- 
city; Alice and Carlotta W., both at home 
and both liberally educated. The son received 
his literary education in the university of Mich- 
igan, from which famous institution of learning 
he graduated with the degree of A. B. ; his pro- 
fessional education was acquired at Long 
Island (N. Y.) College hospital, where he be- 
came so proficient that he is still retained as an 
instructor therein. 

Col. Thomas stands high in the Masonic 
fraternity, having attained the thirty-second 
degree, beyond which very few Masons ad- 
vance; he is also a member of the military 
order of the Loyal Legion, of the United 
States, and a charter member of post No. 5, 
Grand Army of the Republic, at the home. 
In this connection it may not be improper to 
add a brief historical sketch of this noble in- 
stitution. The central branch national home 
for D. V. S. was first located at Columbus, 
Ohio, in March, 1867, and in the fall of the 
same year was removed to the present location 
near Dayton. It was the second home estab- 
lished under the provisions of the revised 
statutes, section 4830, approved March 21, 
1866. Previous to its becoming a national 
home, it was operated for a short time at 
Columbus under the jurisdiction of the state of 
Ohio, as a state soldiers' home. We believe 
the only officer now connected with the home 
who assisted in the original organization and 
who was transferred to Dayton with it, is Mrs. 
E. L. Miller, the matron, who has spent the 
greater part of her life in ministering to the 
wants of the disabled soldiers, having been 
during the entire war, 1 861-5, connected with 
hospital and sanitary commission work. 

In 1867 the home grounds comprised 3 5 5. 2 5 
acres — costing $45,700. In 1869, 30 acres 



were added, at a cost of $3,600; in 1873, 
101.07 acres were added at a cost of $19, 190; 
in 1879, 44.45 acres were added, at a cost of 
$8,000; in 1880, 31.94 acres were added at a 
cost of $4,791; in 1 88 1, 13.41 acres were 
added at a cost of $3,084. 30; and in 1886, 1.35 
acres were added, at a cost of $1,080. 

The citizens of Dayton contributed $20,000 
as part payment for land, which money was 
applied to general purposes. The total cost to 
the United States, of 577-47 acres, was $85,- 
445.30. The buildings are valued at $1,339,- 
862.17. The average cost per capita, for 
maintenance in the various branches, for the 
year ending June 30, 1894, was $127.45. 

The present official staff of the central 
branch is as follows: Governor, Col. J. B. 
Thomas; treasurer, Maj. Milton McCoy; quar- 
termaster, Capt. James C. Michie; commissary 
of subsistence, Maj. Alvin S. Galbreath; assist- 
ant adjutant-general, Maj. Carl Berlin; in- 
spector, Col. John W. Byron; surgeon, Dr. D. 
C. Huffman; matron, Mrs. E. L. Miller; Prot- 
estant chaplain, Rev. Ezekiel Light, D. D. ; 
Catholic chaplain, Rev. C. S. Kemper, D. D. 

The former governors of the central branch 
were as follows: Maj. E. E. Tracy, first gov- 
ernor, appointed April 12, 1867; Gen. Timothy 
Ingraham, appointed December 6, 1867; Col. 
E. F. Brown, appointed Octobers, 1868, now 
inspector-general of the national homes forD. 
V. S.; Gen. M. R. Patrick, appointed Septem- 
ber 23, 1880, and died in office, in 1888; Col. 
Jerome B. Thomas now being in command as 
his successor. 



* w * ERBERT A. CRANDALL, business 
l^\ manager of the Brownell & Company, 
r and member of the board of educa- 
tion of the city of Dayton, was born 
in western New York, July 3, 1844. He is a 
son of Joseph and Marcella (Putnam) Crandall, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



285 



the former of whom was a native of the state 
of New York and the latter of Vermont. The 
Crandall family were originally from England, 
the first of the name to come to America reach- 
ing here late in the seventeenth century and 
locating in Rhode Island. One branch of the 
family went from Rhode Island into New York 
and another into New Jersey. The branch to 
which Herbert A. belongs were manufacturers 
and merchants. 

The early years of Joseph Crandall were 
spent in the woolen manufacturing business, 
but later in life he embarked in merchandizing, 
continuing to reside in the state of New York 
all his life, and dying in that state in 1872. 
His wife, Marcella Putnam, was a direct de- 
scendant of Gen. Putnam of Revolutionary 
fame. Her ancestors went from Vermont to 
New York. She is still living, and at this 
time, April, 1896, is visiting her son, Herbert, 
in Dayton. 

Herbert A. Crandall first attended the pub- 
lic schools, and afterward received a collegiate 
education. At the age of twenty-two, in 1866, 
he left his home in the state of New York and 
went to Illinois, where he spent two years in 
the newspaper business. Returning to New 
York, he remained in that state for about four 
years, part of the time being employed in 
teaching school, and the remainder in mercan- 
tile pursuits. Locating in Dayton, Ohio, in 
1872, he there engaged in railroading and con- 
tinued thus engaged for five years, since which 
time he has been engaged in manufacturing. 
For fourteen years he was with the Stoddard 
Manufacturing company, and in October, 1895, 
became business manager of the Brownell & 
Co., and a stockholder and director of that 
corporation. 

Mr. Crandall was appointed to the board of 
education in October, 1895, to fill a vacancy, 
and was elected to the same place in 1896. 
He is a member of the Present Day club and 



I of the Garfield club, the latter an association 
of republicans. He was married, in 1869, to 
Miss Alice J. Phillips, of New York. To their 
marriage there have been born two daughters, 
Ella and Jessie. Mr. Crandall is interested 
with several other gentlemen in growing coffee 
in Mexico, they together owning a plantation 
of about 100,000 trees, which began bearing in 
the season of 1896. Mr. Crandall and his 
family are members of the Third, formerly the 
Park, Presbyterian church, and stand high not 
only in religious but also in social circles. 

Mr. Crandall is recognized as one of the 
most progressive and thoroughly qualified mem- 
bers of the board of education. His services 
on behalf of the Dayton schools have been la- 
borious and fruitful of good results, and their 
value is appreciated by all citizens concerned 
in the advancement of the educational inter- 
ests of the community. 



>-V OHN S. BECK, M. D. , one of the promi- 

fl nent physicians of Dayton, was born 
/• 1 May 19, 1842, on a farm three miles 
west of Lancaster, Ohio, of German, 
parentage. His father, Jacob Beck, was but 
eighteen months old when he was brought to 
this country by his parents. He was born in 
1804, and is still living, at the great age of 
ninety-three. In his early life he was a black- 
smith, and served two terms as treasurer of 
Fairfield county, Ohio. After retiring from 
this position he engaged in farming three miles 
west of Lancaster, where he has spent the rest 
of his life, and where he has become the owner 
of 700 acres of land in one body. He has al- 
ways been regarded as one of the most honest 
and capable men of his county, and has been 
called on to act as administrator in the settle- 
ment of many estates. 

Jacob Beck married Miss Susan Kerns, a 
daughter of Jacob Kerns, an old settler of the 



286 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



county, and to this marriage there were born 
seven children, as follows: Mary A., wife of 
Zebulon Peters, who lives two miles west of 
Lancaster; George W. , farmer, living three 
miles west of Lancaster; Jacob K., a farmer, 
living three miles west of Lancaster; Henry S., 
president of Pierce National bank, of Pierce, 
Neb. ; Joseph, a Lutheran minister of Rich- 
mond, Ind. ; John S. ; and Clara, deceased wife 
of William Huges, who lives three miles west 
of Lancaster, Ohio. 

John S. Beck, M. D., worked on his fa- 
ther's farm in the summer time until he was 
sixteen years of age, and parts of the fall and 
spring seasons, attending school in the winter 
months. When sixteen years of age his father 
sent him, with his brother, Joseph, now Rev. 
Joseph Beck, of Richmond, Ind., to the Cap- 
ital university at Columbus, Ohio, where he 
became a member of the freshman class. Re- 
maining in the university in regular attendance 
in his classes, he was in the senior class in 
1862, when the war fever so took possession 
of him that he left school, returned to his fa- 
ther's home at Lancaster, and there, on the 
20th of August, enlisted in company D, Nine- 
tieth Ohio volunteer infantry, then being or- 
ganized at Circleville, Ohio. This regiment 
was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, 
and in this department of the service it re- 
mained throughout the war, participating in all 
the battles that were fought by that organiza- 
tion from August, 1862, to June, 1S65, from 
Louisville, Ky. , to Atlanta, Ga. He was mus- 
tered out at Nashville, Tenn., June 13, 1S65, 
having in the meantime been promoted to the 
position of first lieutenant. 

Returning to peaceful pursuits, he studied 
medicine, beginning in August, 1S65, and 
graduating from the medical department of 
the university of Pennsylvania in the spring of 
1868, and locating in Miamisburg, Montgom- 
ery county, in the spring of 1869. Not being 



satisfied with his location in Miamisburg, he 
removed to Dayton in December, 1870, and 
has now practiced his profession there for 
more than a quarter of a century, his office 
during all that period being on Fifth street, 
somewhere between Jefferson and Ludlow 
streets. For fourteen years he was a member 
of the board of United States pension sur- 
geons, serving through President Cleveland's 
first term by the endorsement and courtesy of 
the influential democrats of the county. He 
has served a term as a member of the board of 
health, has twice been chosen physician to the 
county jail, is a member of the county Medi- 
cal society, and has been twice elected to the 
presidency of that body. He is a member of 
the Ohio state Medical association, of the 
Mississippi valley Medical society, and was a 
delegate from Montgomery county to the ninth 
international medical convention, which met 
in Washington, D. C, in 1887. For five years 
he served as visiting physician to Saint Eliza- 
beth hospital, but resigned this position on ac- 
count of his own very large private practice. 
After this he was given a position on the consult- 
ing staff. Dr. Beck was one of the building com- 
mittee in the erection of the Deaconess hos- 
pital of Dayton, and has put forth every energy 
in forwarding the success of the institution, 
which is one of the great benevolences of the 
city in which the entire community takes pride. 
To Dr. Beck much credit is due for its being 
now in existence. He is at present the chief 
of staff of this hospital, and is also supreme 
medical director of the supreme council of the 
Fraternal Censer of Dayton. 

Dr. Beck was married to Miss Sarah A. 
Work, daughter of John and Mary (Webb) 
Work, of Lancaster, Ohio, she being of Eng- 
lish and Irish descent. Dr. Beck and his wife 
are the parents of two daughters, Clara Lusetta 
and Mary. His family is one among the best 
in Dayton, its members moving in the refined 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



287 



and cultivated circles of society. They are 
highly esteemed and respected for their per- 
sonal and social qualities, and have many warm 
friends among all classes of people. 



at 



TLLARD D. CHAMBERLIN, vice- 
president of the Beaver Soap com- 
pany, of Dayton, Ohio, was born at 
Ketchumville, Tioga county, N. Y., 
August 13, 1S5S. He is a son of Samuel and Car- 
oline (Swan) Chamberlin, the former of whom 
was born in 1827, and lived at Vestal Center, 
Broome county, N. Y. , for some thirty years. 
He was an academic scholar, and taught school 
for twenty-one terms, two or three years of 
which time was in the Titus district at Middle- 
town, Ohio, after which he returned to the 
east. He was otherwise a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and in politics a prominent republican, 
especially in local affairs. He was asked to 
become a candidate for the general assembly 
of the state, but declined. For some thirty 
years he was a deacon in the Baptist church, 
and died in 1892. 

The family, as the name may indicate, is of 
English origin, and is, beside, one of the oldest 
in this country, the great-great-grandfather, 
William Chamberlin, coming from England 
previous to and being a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war. The mother of Willard D. is 
now living in Waverly, Iowa, with a daughter. 
She and her husband were the parents of four 
children, as follows: YVillard D. , AlmaM., 
wife of Dr. Osment, of Waverly, Iowa; Samuel 
S., a manufacturer of table slides, of Dayton, 
Ohio; and Carrie L., the latter dying in early 
childhood. 

Willard D. Chamberlin was educated in the 
district schools of the state of New York, and 
afterward attended the high schools of Bing- 
hamton, N. Y. , where he received a liberal 
education, being also assisted by his father, 



who was not only well educated himself, but 
strongly believed in educating the young. After 
his school days were over he removed west in 
1877, and located in Dayton, taking a clerk- 
ship in the office of the Great Western Dis- 
patch, where he remained until 1881, when 
he accepted a position as traveling salesman for 
Thresher & Co. This position he retained until 
1 885, when he became associated with Mr. Beav- 
er in the manufacture of soap, the name adopted 
by the company being Beaver & Co. Mr. 
Chamberlin took charge of the office business 
and also acted as traveling salesman. In 1893 
this firm was incorporated under the name of 
the Beaver Soap company, and Mr. Chamber- 
lin became the vice-president of the company, 
which position he still holds. He has shown 
himself to be one of the most progressive 
young business men of Dayton, and in politics 
is a stanch republican, though never a seeker 
after office. 

Mr. Chamberlin was married September 5, 
1 888, to Miss Mary Hinkley Sumner, daughter 
of Dr. E. G. Sumner, of Mansfield Center, 
Tolland county, Conn., and to this marriage 
there have been born two children, viz: Mary 
Louise, born September 14, 1889, and Edwin 
Sumner, born November 1, 1894. Mr. and 
Mrs. Chamberlin are members of the First 
Baptist church of Dayton, which was organ- 
ized in 1829, and he is one of its deacons. Mr. 
Chamberlin's residence is at No. 110 Central 
avenue, Dayton, where he and his family are 
surrounded by a great number of friends, all 
of whom entertain for them the highest regard. 



H LINCOLN BOWERSOX, art pho- 
tographer, of Dayton, Ohio, with his 
studio in the Canby building, was 
born in Snyder county, Pa., March 
28, 1 86 1. He is a son of Isaac and Mary 



288 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Anna (Yeisley) Bowersox, both of whom were 
of German descent. His great-grandfather, 
George Adam Bowersox, came from Saxony 
to this country, locating in Snyder county, Pa., 
where the family has since lived, following ag- 
riculture in the main, although some of them 
have adopted the learned professions, as the 
ministry, school-teaching and the law. Isaac 
and Mary A. Bowersox were the parents of 
seven children, as follows : Sabilla, wife of 
William Knapp, of Centerville, Snyder county, 
Pa. ; Serenus, a merchant of Centerville ; A. 
Lincoln, the subject of this sketch ; Jennie, 
wife of Kiefer Trautman, of Mifflinburg, Union 
county, Pa. ; Henrietta, wife of James Spang- 
ler, a teacher, of New Berlin, Pa. ; Emma 
Charilla, wife of John Bolig, of Shamokin, Pa., 
and Clara Verdilla, wife of G. Edward Mohn, 
telegraph operator at Muncy Valley, Pa. 

A. Lincoln Bowersox was reared to farm 
life until he was fifteen years of age. In the 
meantime he had attended the public schools. 
At fifteen he entered the boarding school at 
Selin's Grove, Pa., remained there one year, 
and then attended high school one year at Cen- 
terville. When seventeen years old he came 
to Ohio, locating at Fremont, and there learned 
photography. After thus spending some eight- 
een months, he visited various cities in Ohio 
and Pennsylvania, as well as in the eastern 
states. He then spent some time in Europe, 
gaining knowledge pertaining to his profession, 
and in 1884 located in Dayton, Ohio, opening 
a studio at the corner of Main and Second 
streets, where he remained until 1S94, when 
he removed to his present location. His studio 
occupies the entire sixth floor of the Canby 
building, and is one of the most complete any- 
where to be found. 

Mr. Bowersox was one of the organizers of 
the Ohio Fruit Land company, located in Ft. 
Valley, Ga., the farm containing 1,850 acres 
and being the largest orchard in the country at 



the time the company was formed. He is also 
secretary and treasurer of the Dayton Canning 
and Packing company, having been one of the 
organizers of this concern. He is a director 
of the Dayton Building and Loan association. 
In 1894 Mr. Bowersox served as secretary of 
the Photographers' association of Ohio, in 
1895 was its president, and is at present sec- 
retary of the Photographers' association of 
America. He is in possession of medals earned 
in competing with others in photography, one 
given in Germany in 1894, also one in 1896, 
and had medals awarded him at the semi-cen- 
tennial of photography held in Boston in 1889. 
He also has a prize medal won at Columbus, 
Ohio, in 1894, and another awarded at Saint 
Louis, Mo., by the National association. He 
is recognized as among the leading artists of 
America, his work being reproduced in journals 
and periodicals throughout the United States 
and Europe, as specimens of master-pieces in 
the photographic art. 

Since 1884 Mr. Bowersox has given much 
attention to music, both vocal and instrumen- 
tal. He is a member of the Philharmonic 
society, and as such attended the world's fair 
at Chicago in 1893. Fraternally he is a past 
chancellor of Iola lodge No. 83, Knights of 
Pythias, and also belongs to the Royal Arca- 
num, of which he has lately been honored with 
the collectorship. He has served in the Fourth 
regiment, O. N. G., Hamilton light artillery. 
He is a Royal Arch Mason, and maintains him- 
self in good standing in all the societies and 
organizations to which he belongs. 

Mr. Bowersox was married April 19, 1893, 
to Miss Lizzie Gazell Stern, daughter of Sum- 
ner S. Stern, of Cleveland, Ohio. He and his 
wife are members of the First Baptist church, 
of Dayton. For a period of two years he was 
president of the Berean bible class, and has 
served as superintendent of the Browntown 
Sunday-school, and also of a Sunday-school in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



289 



North Dayton. In the Young Men's Christian 
association he is a most active worker, being 
on the committee of the junior department. 



K m * ORACE A. IRVIN, secretary of the 

|f\ Lowe Bros, company, of Dayton, 

F Ohio, was born in Morrow, Warren 

county, February 17, 1855, and is a 

son ofjames B. and Ellen (Monfort) Irvin. 

Andrew Irvin, grandfather of Horace A., 
came from Londonderry, Ireland, and settled 
in the state of Pennsylvania, where he married 
a lady of German descent, and to this union 
were born thirteen children. By calling he 
was in his early years a farmer, but in later 
life established an inn, or hotel, in which 
enterprise he prospered. He was a soldier in 
the war of 1812, did good and faithful serv- 
ice, and eventually came to Ohio and settled in 
Ross county, where he died at the advanced 
age of eighty-nine years, his wife living to be 
over ninety years old. 

James B. Irvin, father of Horace A., was 
born in Kingston, Ross county, Ohio, in April, 
1827, and there grew to manhood; but, as his 
earlier years were passed in hard toil on the 
home farm, his education was somewhat neg- 
lected until after he had reached his majority, 
when he attended subscription schools and 
academies, and qualified himself for school- 
teaching, having earned the requisite means 
for the payment of his instruction fees through 
his daily labor. He began to follow this pro- 
fession at Morrow, Ohio, and taught also at 
other points in the state until 1856, when he 
came to Dayton, and for six years was princi- 
pal of one of the city schools. He then en- 
tered the employ of Winthrop B. Smith & 
Co., of Cincinnati, as general agent for the 
sale of their school books in Ohio, and with 
this firm he remained, throughout its various 
changes, until his death, which occurred in 



February, 1885. Mr. Irvin had filled during 
his very useful life the office of county school- 
examiner of applicants for the position of 
school-teacher, having been appointed, year 
after year, by both the republican and dem- 
ocratic county officials. He was a knight 
templar in the Masonic order, was a member 
of Saint John's lodge (third degree), and also 
a member of the I. O. O. F. His wife, Ellen 
(Monfort) Irvin, died in 1875, at the age of 
forty-five years, in the faith of the Presbyterian 
church. To Mr. and Mrs. James B. Irvin 
were born four children, viz: Julia, wife of 
William T. Wuichet, of Dayton; Horace A.; 
Obed W., probate judge of Montgomery, coun- 
ty, Ohio, and James M., traveling salesman for 
the Lowe Bros, company. 

Horace A. Irvin graduated from the Day- 
ton high school at the age of sixteen years, 
and entered Miami university, at Oxford, Ohio, 
with the sophomore class; he then taught 
school for a short time, and in the fall of 1873 
went to Chicago, where he was employed as 
bookkeeper for Charles A. Gump & Co. ; in 
the spring of 1874 he returned to Dayton and 
entered the service of Lowe Bros, as assistant 
bookkeeper, passed through various stages of 
employment as general bookkeeper, traveling 
salesman, special partner, and, December 15, 
1887, became a general partner, attending to 
the correspondence of the firm, its advertising, 
etc. On the incorporation of the company, in 
1893, he was elected and has ever since been 
its secretary. In 1896 he was appointed by 
Gov. Bushnell as a trustee of Miami university. 

In his fraternal relations, Mr. Irvin, in 
1878, was made a member of Mystic lodge 
No. 405, F. & A. M., of Unity chapter No. 16, 
Reese council No. 9, and in January, 1879, he 
became a member of Reedcommandery, K. T., 
No. 6; the same year he took all the Scottish 
rite degrees at Cincinnati, and is a charter 
member of all Scottish rite bodies in Dayton. 



290 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



He is now thrice potent grand master of Ga- 
briel lodge of Perfection, and at Buffalo, N. 
Y. , in September, 1895, was elected inspector- 
general, thirty-third degree (the highest), by 
the supreme council of northern jurisdiction. 
Mr. Irvin has been twice married, his first 
marriage having taken place, in 1878, to Miss 
Ella K. Jewell, who died in April, 1880, the 
mother of one child — Ella Marian. His sec- 
ond marriage, which occurred in 1883, was 
with Miss Carrie K. Kneisley, and this union 
also has been blessed by the birth of one child 
— Martha Monfort. Mr. and Mrs. Irvin are 
members of the Third street Presbyterian 
church, of which he is a trustee, and have 
their home at No 213 North boulevard. 



a 



HARLES EDWARD PEASE, presi- 
dent of the Buckeye Iron and Brass 
works, of Dayton, was born at Car- 
rollton, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
on August 20, 1836, and is the son of the late 
Horace and Sarah L. (Belville) Pease. Horace 
Pease was born in Connecticut in 1 79 1 , and 
came to Ohio in 1S16, locating first at Cincin- 
nati. In 1823 he came to Montgomery county, 
locating on Hole's creek, where he established 
a fruit distillery, making peach and apple 
brandy. Subsequently he removed to Carroll- 
ton, where he carried on the distillery and 
milling business for a number of years, and in 
1838 he came to Dayton. Upon locating in 
the city he built the Pease mill on the corner 
of Third and Canal streets, which is now 
owned by Joseph R. Gebhart, and for about 
thirty years the firm of H. & P. Pease, of which 
he was the head, conducted the largest distillery 
and milling business in Ohio. He was one of 
the prominent business men of Dayton during 
his time, and was connected with a number of 
enterprises, among them being the old State 



bank, of which he was a director from the 
time of its organization until it was merged in- 
to the Dayton National bank, and of the latter 
he was a director up to the time of his death. 
Horace Pease took an active interest in public 
affairs, both of the county and state, and rep- 
resented Montgomery county in the Ohio legis- 
lature for a term of years. He also served on 
the board of county commissioners, and was a 
member of that board when the old stone court 
house was erected, the designs for which he 
made, and in the building of which he took a 
deep interest. He was a member of the Old 
School Presbyterian church. He retired from 
active business in about 1854, and died at his 
residence in this city in 1875. His wife, who 
was born at St. George's, Del., in 18 10, was 
the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Her 
death occurred in 1862. Six children were 
born to the parents as follows: Walter B. 
Pease, deceased, who served during the Civil 
war and was a captain in the regular army; 
Charles Edward; Frank, who died young; Jo- 
sephine, who married James Stockstill, of Day- 
ton; Nannie, who married Horace Phillips, of 
Dayton, and Hattie, deceased, who married 
Charles B. Clegg, of Dayton. 

Charles E. Pease grew up in Dayton, his 
parents having removed here when he was but 
two years of age. His boyhood days were 
spent in a manner common to youths of his 
time and station of life. He attended the 
private schools of the late E. E. Barney and 
was also a pupil of the Second district public 
school, when that school was taught by 
Thomas Hood, and of the high school when 
James Campbell was principal and John W. 
Hall, assistant principal. During the years 
1S55 and 1856 he attended the university of 
Wisconsin at Madison, leaving college, how- 
ever, in his senior year. During the years 
1853-54 and part of 1855, young Pease worked 
in the machine shops at the trade of a ma- 






<X-^C-> 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



293 



chinist, leaving the shopsfor college. In 1857 
he made his first venture in a business way by 
engaging in milling at Fulton, on Rock river, 
Wisconsin, where he continued with varying 
success for two years, coming thence to Day- 
ton to pursue a similar business. In 1861 he 
entered the firm of W. B. Pease & Co. (of 
which the Buckeye Iron and Brass works are 
the successors), and took charge of the busi- 
ness of that firm when his brother, Wal- 
ter B., reported with his company to Co- 
lumbus at the beginning of the late Civil 
war. The following year, however, he him- 
self entered the service of his country and 
was assigned to duty in the quartermaster de- 
partment at Nashville, Tenn., under Capt. 
Charles T. Wing, with whom he remained un- 
til the close of the war. In 1865 Mr. Pease 
located in Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged 
in the wholesale grocery business, and so con- 
tinued for three years. In 1868 he was ap- 
pointed to a position as gauger in the United 
States revenue department, with headquarters 
at Cincinnati. He remained in the govern- 
ment service for about two years, and in 1870, 
returned to Dayton and purchased the interest 
of S. D. Graffiin in the firm of Hoglen & 
Grafflin, the firm becoming Hoglen & Pease, 
builders of machinery, especially of tobacco ma- 
chinery. In June, 1876, Mr. Pease purchased 
the business interests of his partner and organ- 
ized the Buckeye Iron and Brass works, which 
company was incorporated with himself as 
president. The other officers of the company 
at the present time are Edward G. Pease, vice- 
president, and William B. Anderson, secre- 
tary. The business operations of the com- 
pany are in the line of the manufacture of 
brass goods for engine builders and steam fit- 
ters, tobacco cutting machinery and linseed oil 
and cotton seed oil machinery, all of which 
are manufactured under patents controlled by 
the company. The Buckeye Iron and Brass 



works rank among the largest and most pros- 
perous industries of Dayton, and of the enter- 
prise Mr. Pease has become an important com- 
ponent part. Under his skillful management 
and guiding hand, the works have grown and 
expanded from year to year from a small and 
unpretentious machine shop into one of the lar- 
gest and most successful manufacturing plants 
in a city noted for its manufacturing and 
industrial interests. Mr. Pease is also a di- 
rector and stockholder in the Dayton Natural 
Gas company, and has other business interests 
of importance. 

Mr. Pease was married in Cleveland, Ohio, 
on October 3, 1855, to Laura G., daughter of 
John Erwin, one of the pioneer citizens of the 
Forest city, and to this union two sons have 
been born — Calvin E. and Edward G. . 

In 1882 Mr. Pease was elected to the city 
council of Dayton, and was again elected to 
that body in 1896. Mr. Pease is a Mason and 
is quite prominent in Masonic circles. He is a 
Master Mason, a Knight Templar, a Scottish 
Rite and a Mystic Shriner. 

The life of Mr. Pease has been an active 
one, and merited success has crowned his 
efforts. Early in life he manifested those 
traits of character which have colored his 
whole career — perseverance, sagacity, foresight 
and pluck — and he has steadily progressed 
along those lines of business which have not 
only brought to him success, but have also 
aided materially in advancing the interests of 
the community. His concern in the welfare, 
growth and prosperity of Dayton, his generous 
contributions of both time and money in be- 
half of all movements looking toward the ben- 
efit of the city, have placed him in the front 
rank of her representative and progressive cit- 
izens, while his liberal views, broad minded- 
ness, genial personality and sterling character- 
istics have won for him a wide circle of warm 
and admiring friends. 



294 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



SEV. JAMES ROWLAND HUGHES, 
the venerable pastor of the Memorial 
Presbyterian church of Dayton, Ohio, 
is a native of Darlington, Beaver 
county, Pa., and was born March 17, 18 19. 
His father, Rev. Thomas Edgar Hughes, was 
born in Washington county, Pa., April 7, 
1769, and on May 2, 1799, married Mary 
Donahey, also a native of that county, born 
August 22, 1770, and of Scotch-Irish descent. 
The Hughes family was probably established 
in America by William Hughes, who was born 
in Wales in 1728, was an early settler in Penn- 
sylvania, and died at the patriarchal age of 
100 years. His son, Rowland, grandfather of 
Rev. James R., was a tanner by occupation, 
and passed nearly his whole life in York coun- 
ty, Pa. The children born to Rev. Thomas 
E. Hughes and wife were ten in number, of 
whom a brief mention is made as follows: 
John D. , the eldest, born July 27, 1S00, was 
a minister of the Presbyterian church of north- 
ern Ohio, where he passed his life and died 
March 3, 1870; William, born May 28, 1802, 
was also a Presbyterian minister, and died 
July 1, 1880; Watson, born September 7, 
1804, was likewise reared to the ministry of 
the Presbyterian church, and died March 25, 
1870; Anne, born October 8, 1806, became 
the wife of Rev. Samuel A. McLean, a Presby- 
terian minister, and died near Chillicothe, Ohio, 
leaving a large family; Eliza was born Septem- 
ber 16, 1 80S, was married to William McKee, 
a merchant, and died at mature years in Mount 
Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio; Joseph, born 
August 16, 1 8 10, was called away at the early 
age of fifteen years; Mary Barr, born August 
13, 1812, became the wife of Samuel Wells, 
and at her death left several children; Robert 
Smiley, born December 29, 18 14, was a farm- 
er of Iowa, in which state he died, after mid- 
dle life; Thomas, born July 14, 1816, also a 
farmer, died in Fairfield, Iowa, June 28, 1879; 



Rev. James R., the youngest, it will be per- 
ceived, being the only survivor of this large 
family. The father of these children was called 
to his final rest May 2, 1838, his widow sur- 
viving him until February 23, 1852. 

Rev. James Rowland Hughes received his 
elementary education in his native town of 
Darlington, and later became a student in Wash- 
ington (now Washington and Jefferson) col- 
lege, at Washington, Pa. , where he attended 
a full course in the classics. Having in the 
beginning determined to make the ministry his 
life work, he immediately after his graduation 
entered Western Theological seminary, at Al- 
legheny City, Pa., completing the course in 
1848, when he began his career as a minister 
of the gospel. The first eighteen months of 
his ministerial life he served as a representative 
of the Presbyterian board of education, and 
traveled in central and western Pennsylvania in 
the interest of the board; in 1850 he was in- 
stalled pastor of the Rehobeth church near 
Belle Vernon, Pa. , of which he had charge for 
fully fifteen years. Toward the end of his pas- 
torate he became principal, in 1864, of a young 
ladies' seminary at Blairsville, Pa., where he 
taught the senior class, in conjunction with his 
ministerial duties, for nearly three years, when 
he was reluctantly compelled to sever his rela- 
tions with the seminary by reason of the pro- 
tracted illness and death of his wife. In 1869 
Mr. Hughes came to Ohio, and was in the 
same year installed pastor of the East Presby- 
terian church of Dayton. The name of this 
church has since been changed to the Me- 
morial, of which he is still the pastor; and that 
he has been a vigorous, capable and efficient 
pastor is evidenced by the fact that during this 
long period he has not lost more than seven 
weeks of service, through sickness or any other 
bodily or mental disability. 

The marriage of Rev. James Rowland 
Hughes took place October 16, 1851, to Miss 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



295 



Ann Caroline Stewart, a native of Huntingdon 
county, Pa., born March 8, 1828, and whose 
death occurred at Blairsville, Pa., May 16, 
1869. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Hughes are Mary Wilson, who married James 
Caldwell, and now resides in Urbana, Ohio; 
Catherine Walker, who died in infancy; Eliza- 
beth Walker, who is now the companion of her 
father; Sarah Stewart, who is the wife of 
Charles J. McKee, of Dayton; Fannie Speer, 
born April 6, 1S63, and who died July 5, 1866; 
and James Rowland, who married Miss Eva Ke- 
naga,of Urbana, where he now resides. These 
children were all born in the parsonage of the 
Rehobeth church, near Belle Vernon, Pa. 

Rev. Thomas E. Hughes, father of James 
R., was the founder of Greersburg academy, 
one of the earliest educational institutions of 
western Pennsylvania. In this academy some 
afterward very distinguished men received their 
early training, and among these may be noted 
the names of Rev. Robert Dilworih, D. D., 
the eminent minister and reformer; Gen. John 
W. Geary, ex-governor of Pennsylvania and 
renowned as a Union soldier; William H. Mc- 
Guffey, D. D., of school-book fame, and one 
of Ohio's most successful educators, and also 
John Brown (Ossawatomie), the anti-slavery 
agitator, of Harper's Ferry fame, who was a 
recognized member of the Hughes family for 
several years. 

The long residence of Rev. J. R. Hughes 
in Dayton has made his name a household 
word, and he is thoroughly identified with the 
religious and educational interests of the city. 
In politics he was formerly a whig, as was his 
father, but since the organization of the repub- 
lican party he has sustained it with unabated 
zeal. He is also a strong and earnest advocate 
of prohibition as the principal auxiliary of tem- 
perance, and has devoted all his long life to the 
promotion of morality by every means within 
his power. 



<*/^\ ANIEL W. ALLAMAN, practicing 
I attorney of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
/^^_J in Butler township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, August 5, 1861. Heisa 
sonof David and Catherine (Zimmerman) Alla- 
man, who removed from Franklin county, Pa., 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, in the early 'for- 
ties. They settled in the vicinity in which 
Daniel was born, where his mother died in 
January, 1863, when he was eighteen months 
old, and the father resided there until Decem- 
ber, 1889, when he died at the age of seventy- 
five. David Allaman was a republican in poli- 
tics, held many of the minor township offices, 
and was one of the oldest Masons in Mont- 
gomery county. 

After his mother's death Daniel W. Alla- 
man was taken into the home of an uncle who 
lived on a farm near Brookville, Montgomery 
county. He received his early education in 
the common schools and afterward attended 
the National normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, 
and still later the college at Oberlin, in the 
meantime teaching schools a number of terms, 
and being principal of the schools at Johns- 
ville, and at Trotwood, Ohio. In 1886 he be- 
gan reading law in the office of S. H. Carr, 
and was admitted to the bar in March, 1888, 
since which time he has practiced law with 
Mr. Carr, with the exception of one year, dur- 
ing which he was in partnership with F. M. 
Compton, under the firm name of Compton 
& Allaman. In 1892 he formed his present 
partnership with Mr. Carr and Mr. Kennedy, 
under the firm name of Carr, Allaman &. 
Kennedy. 

Mr. Allaman has always been a republican 
in politics, and was one of the incorporators of 
the Garfield club, in which he served as a 
director for a number of years. In 1891 he 
was elected as a representative in the legisla- 
ture X)i Ohio, being the first republican mem- 
ber of that body from Montgomery county in 



296 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



fifteen years, with one exception. In this 
office he served two years, was secretary of 
the committee on finance, and also served on 
the committee on public works. 

Mr. Allaman is a Mason and still a member 
of the Garfield club. He was married, in 1885, 
to Miss Iva Cupp, a daughter of Louis and 
Kate H. Cupp, the former of whom is now de- 
ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Allaman have two chil- 
dren, Mary Katherine, aged eleven years, and 
Mildred Louise, aged three vears. 



OSCAR M. GOTTSCHALL is head of 
the firm of Gottschall, Brown & Craw- 
ford. He was born at Newark, Ohio, 
on the 14th day of August, 1843, but 
was brought up in Dayton, to which city his 
parents removed when he was but two years 
old. His parents were John and Abigail Jane 
(Conklin) Gottschall, the former of German 
and the latter of Dutch descent. His paternal 
grandfather was a native of Germany, who 
came to America in the early part of this cen- 
tury and settled in Pennsylvania. His father 
removed in early manhood to Ohio, and has 
since continued to live in that state. Mr. 
Gottschall's mother is descended from Dutch 
stock which settled in New York state in colo- 
nial times. Her grandfather took an honorable 
part in the war for independence, fighting in 
the continental army during that memorable 
struggle. 

Oscar M. Gottschall's early education was 
obtained in the public schools of Dayton, where 
he graduated from the high school in the class 
of 1 86 1. He at once commenced the study of 
law in the office of the late Edmond S. Young, 
one of the most conspicuous members of the 
Dayton bar, with whom he continued for about 
one year. In August, 1862, he laid aside 
his text-books and his personal aspirations to 
take up arms in the defense of his country. 



He enlisted in company K, Ninety-third Ohio 
volunteer infantry. Shortly afterward he was 
promoted to quartermaster-sergeant of his 
company. In January, 1863, he was made 
sergeant-major of his regiment, and in 1864 
was raised to the position of adjutant, which 
place he held until his muster-out, June 25, 
1865. His regiment was first attached to Gen. 
Gilbert's brigade in Kentucky, and later to 
McCook's corps in the army of the Cumber- 
land. He participated with his regiment in 
all the hard fighting of that army, from Stone 
river to Atlanta, and later, under Gen. Thomas, 
in the final defeat of Hood in Tennessee. He 
was twice wounded, first at the battle of Chick- 
amauga, and again at the battle of Mission 
Ridge. His promotion to the adjutancy of 
his regiment was the result of the recommen- 
dation of his superior officer for gallantry and 
meritorious conduct on the battlefield of Chick- 
am auga. 

After the close of the war Mr. Gottschall 
resumed his studies in the office of Mr. Young 
at Dayton, and was admitted to the bar on 
May 12, 1866. He at once entered upon the 
practice of law in partnership with his pre- 
ceptor, under the firm name of Young & Gott- 
schall. In the year 1878 George R. Young was 
admitted into the firm, which became Young, 
Gottschall & Young, and continued until 1879, 
when Mr. Gottschall withdrew. He then 
formed a partnership with R. D. Marshall, 
the firm being Marshall & Gottschall. This 
association continued until September, 1883, 
when the firm was dissolved, Mr. Gottschall 
continuing in practice alone until February, 
1885, when the firm of Gottschall & Brown 
was formed by the admission of O. B. Brown. 
In 1893 Ira Crawford was admitted to the 
firm, which became and is now Gottschall, 
Brown & Crawford. 

Mr. Gottschall, by untiring industry and 
constant application in the practice of his pro- 






^s 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



299 



fession, has become one of the most promi- 
nent and widely-known members of the Day- 
ton bar. His special field of work embraces 
commercial and corporation law, and in these 
he has gained a large and important clientage. 
His success has been achieved through emi- 
nent personal fitness for the exacting duties of 
his profession, and he has brought to the care 
of the weighty and varied interests entrusted 
to him the qualities of clear judgment and 
practical common sense as well as strong intel- 
lectual endowment. 



HLVIN W. KUMLER, judge of the 
court of common pleas of Montgomery 
county, and one of the leading mem- 
bers of the Dayton bar, was born near 
Trenton, Butler county, Ohio, on January 20, 
1 85 1, and is the son of John and Sarah Kum- 
ler. The early education of Judge Kumler 
was obtained in the common schools of his na- 
tive county. In 1870, he entered the An- 
tioch college, at Yellow Springs, where he was 
a student for two years. His general educa- 
tion was completed by one year's attendence 
at Ohio Wesleyan university, at Delaware. 
Following this, he entered the law department 
of the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 
where he was graduated in the class of 1875. 
The same year he located in Dayton and en- 
tered upon the practice of his profession, and 
in 1S77 he formed a partnership with R. M. 
Nevin, which association continued until the 
election of Mr. Kumler to the bench of the 
common pleas court in 1896, the firm at that 
time being the oldest legal firm in the city in 
point of years of partnership. In 1879, Judge 
Kumler was elected city solicitor of Dayton, 
at a time when the political complexion of the 
city was strongly democratic, and in 1881 was 
re-elected. In the spring of 1896 he was 
nominated by the republican party for the 



office of judge of the common pleas court for 
the third sub-division of the second judicial 
district of Ohio, and in November following was 
elected by a large majority, taking his seat on 
the bench in the same month. As a lawyer 
Judge Kumler took rank among the leading 
and successful members of the Dayton bar, 
and as a judge, while having been on the bench 
but a short time, has given evidence of ability 
and promise of a useful career. 



^-VOSEPH W. KENNEDY, secretary and 
S treasurer of the Dayton Cast Steel 
(% 1 Plow company, is a native of Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, and was born on a 
farm four miles north of Dayton, September 
22, 1869, a son of John and Martha (Dorst) 
Kennedy. The excellently equipped plant of 
the Cast Steel Plow company is located at 122 
North Front street. The business dates its 
inception back to 1885, when it was founded 
with the following named gentlemen as inter- 
ested principals: Stephen J. Allen, John Ken- 
nedy, Joseph Kennedy, L. S. Aughe, Joseph 
W. Kennedy, and Grafton C. Kennedy. The 
enterprise was established for the purpose of 
manufacturing cast-steel plows of special de- 
sign and of many points of recognized superi- 
ority, and the success of the venture is the 
best evidence of the character of the products 
turned out. The original executive corps of 
the company comprised Mr. Allen as president, 
Mr. Aughe as superintendent, and Joseph W. 
Kennedy as secretary and treasurer. The cap- 
ital stock is $18,000, while the surplus has now 
reached an aggregate of about $9,000. The 
works afford employment to a body of from 
twenty to twenty-five skilled operatives, and 
the most punctilious care is accorded to every 
detail of manufacture. The present members 
of the company areS. H. Carr, president; J. F. 
Allen, vice.-president; Joseph \V. Kennedy, sec- 



300 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



retary and treasurer; and L. S. Aughe, super- 
intendent. Joseph Kennedy, Sr. , and Grafton 
C. Kennedy have retired from the concern, 
and S. J. Allen is now deceased. The princi- 
pal trade territory covered by the company 
comprises Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, and 
the business is gradually extending its range of 
operations as the merits of its products become 
known. 

Joseph W. Kennedy received his educa- 
tional discipline in the public schools of Day- 
ton, though he continued to reside on the old 
homestead until 1883, when he came to Day- 
ton and accepted a position as clerk in the 
establishment of C. Wight & Son, with whom 
he remained a few weeks, after which he be- 
came bookkeeper for the Parrott Manufactur- 
ing company, manufacturers of plows, contin- 
uing in their employ for two years. He then 
became personally interested in the enterprise 
with which he is at present identified, and has 
done much to insure the marked success which 
has attended the prosecution of the business. 
He is recognized as a representative of that 
progressive young element in the business cir- 
cles of Dayton which is carrying the city for- 
ward to an even more conspicuous place in 
the industrial world than she has yet attained. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Kennedy is a 
member of Miami lodge of the Knights of Pyth- 
ias, and he is also identified with the Garfield 
club, a republican organization. His marriage 
was solemnized in July, 1887, when he wedded 
Miss Daisy A. Macy, a daughter of Davis 
Macy, a prominent farmer of Harrison town- 
ship, Montgomery county. Two children were 
born of this union, but the parents were called 
upon to bear a double bereavement in the 
death of both in the month of January, 1896 — 
Lawrence being seven years of age and How- 
ard M. five. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian church, in whose af- 
fairs they maintain an active interest. 



m. 



L. BLUMENSCHEIN.— The sub- 
ject of this biographical review was 
born in Brensbach, Germany, De- 
cember 16, 1849. He lived for 
many years in Pittsburg, Pa., but has been a 
Buckeye resident since the fall of 1876. Ports- 
mouth, Ohio, was his first point of operations, 
whither he was called to direct the Harmonic 
society. The Ironton choral union was also 
under his direction for a season. In the summer 
of 187S the Dayton, Ohio, Philharmonic society 
extended a call to him, which was accepted, 
Otto Singer, so recently deceased, being his 
predecessor. Since then the Philharmonic 
society has been continuously under his direc- 
tion, and has won for itself and director a far 
more than local reputation. Indeed, the rep- 
ertory of choral works performed in Dayton 
will compare favorably with that of any of the 
prominent choral organizations of the country. 
The directorship of the Indianapolis, Ind., 
Lyra society (male chorus and orchestra) was 
intrusted to him for a season, also the Spring- 
field Orpheus mixed chorus, and, incidentally, 
two Ohio saengerfests in Dayton and Spring- 
field, respectively. The Cincinnati May festi- 
val chorus was given under his direction, su- 
perintended by Theodore Thomas, from 1891 
to 1895. 

Dayton's present musical status is largely 
to be attributed to Mr. Blumenschein's persist- 
ent efforts in the direction of classical culture. 
His pupils in piano-playing and singing have 
won for him a standing as teacher such as any 
musician and artist may be proud of. The 
surrounding towns have also contributed much 
of their best talent to his tutorship. The Third 
street Presbyterian church has claimed his 
services as organist and choir-director since 
October, 1878. 

As composer for piano and voice Mr. Blu- 
menschein hac had the satisfaction of being re- 
warded by favorable criticism in all the prom- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



301 



inent musical journals ot the country. Sev- 
eral of his anthems have been reprinted in 
England, and quite recently a Leipsic, Ger- 
many, musical journal has published a sketch 
of his life and work, illustrated by his portrait. 
Considering that his residence has mostly been 
confined to an inland town, it is surely a credit 
to his ability thus to be a subject of consider- 
ation in other countries. 

What the future may bring to Mr. Blumen- 
schein is a matter of conjecture, of course, but 
as he is just in the prime of life and activity, 
it is reasonable to predict a continuance of the 
good work of the past, coupled with a fair 
measure of success. 



SEV. GEORGE M. MATHEWS, D. D. , 
pastor of the First United Brethren 
church of Dayton, was born in Ham- 
ilton county, Ohio, August 22, 1848, 
and is a son of John and Milchi Ann (Maddux) 
Mathews. 

John Mathews, a native of Westmoreland 
county, Pa., of German descent, was born in 
1805 and in 181 1 came to Ohio, coming down 
the Ohio river from Pittsburg, Pa., and land- 
ing in Cincinnati. He later bought from Gen. 
Taylor a farm which was a portion of the tract 
granted to the latter in recognition of earlier 
military service, and died on this farm, in 
Hamilton county, at the age of eighty-two 
years. Mrs. Milchi Ann Mathews, of English 
descent, was born near Frederick, Md. , in 
1 8 10, and was a daughter of a slave-holding 
father, who, however, liberated his living chat- 
tels before coming to Ohio for his place of 
residence. John Mathews and wife were the 
parents of nine children: James, a farmer, 
died in mature life; Mary was the wife of 
Stephen Markley, and died in Hamilton coun- 
ty, Ohio; Talitha is the widow of William 



Ayer, and Joseph is a farmer, both being resi- 
dents of Hamilton county; William H. is a 
lawyer of Cincinnati; Charles is a farmer of 
Hamilton county; Martha is the wife of 
F. M. Prickett, a contractor at Bethel, Ohio; 
George M. is next in order of birth, and Eliza- 
beth is married to P. McQuain, a contractor 
of Cincinnati. 

George M. Mathews was primarily educated 
in the public schools, and at the age of six- 
teen years entered Otterbein university, from 
the scientific department of which famous in- 
stitution of learning he graduated in 1870. He 
then was employed for several years as princi- 
pal of the graded schools in Hamilton county, 
and also studied law, but never practiced. In 
1878 he entered Lane Theological seminary, 
studied two years, and next entered Union 
Biblical seminary of Dayton, from which he 
graduated in 188 1. At this time he began his 
ministerial labors and organized the High 
street United Brethren church of Dayton, Ohio, 
and served as its pastor for. three years; for 
the next five years he had charge of the Sum- 
mit street church of this city, and was then 
elected presiding elder of the Miami confer- 
ence, in which capacity he served for five 
years. On retiring from the eldership he was 
appointed pastor of the First United Brethren 
church, of- this city, and in this capacity is now 
serving his third year. In 1894 he also be- 
came editor of the Quarterly Review of the 
United Brethren in Christ, a religious organ of 
high standard. 

Dr. Mathews is president of the board of 
trustees of the United Brethren Publishing 
house; he is also a member of the board of 
trustees of the Union Biblical seminary and a 
member of its executive committee; he is like- 
wise an alumnal trustee of Otterbein university. 
He has twice been a member of the general 
conference of his church, and was secretary of 
the committee that made the report which re- 



302 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



suited in the elimination of the so-called secrecy 
law in the church discipline. 

Dr. Mathews was united in marriage with 
Miss Clara Belle Hopper, a native of Hamilton 
county, Ohio, and a daughter of Abram Hop- 
per. One son, Milton H., the offspring of this 
union, is now twenty-two years of age, and is 
a student in the senior class at Otterbein uni- 
versity. In his politics Dr. Mathews is a pro- 
hibitionist, but usually affiliates with the re- 
publican party on national questions. Socially 
he is a member of the Present Day club of 
Dayton, which is composed of the leading pro- 
fessional and business men of the city. 



>-j»OHN HENRY VAILE, manufacturer 
g and inventor, of Dayton, Ohio, was 
A J born in Piqua, Miami county, Ohio, on 
March 31, 1844. He is the son of John 
and Lucy (Sherman) Vaile, deceased, natives 
of Vermont and Massachusetts respectively. 
John Vaile came from Vermont to Ohio and 
for some time was engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits in Piqua, subsequently becoming princi- 
pal of the Piqua high school, a position he was 
holding at the time of his death, in September, 
1844. After the death of her husband, the 
widow returned to her former home in Lowell, 
Mass., where she died in 1873. 

J. H. Vaile was reared in Lowell, and was 
educated in the public schools. After passing 
through the high school he learned the trade 
of machinist and engineer. In 1862 he re- 
ceived an appointment as engineer in the 
United States navy. He served in the navy 
three years, a portion of which time was spent 
in the Monitor service and the remainder on 
vessels in different squadrons. He was prob- 
ably the youngest engineer in the United 
States navy, having received his appointment 
before he was eighteen years of age. He was 
second assistant engineer when he left the 



service. After leaving the navy Mr. Vaile be- ■ 
came associated with a glass manufacturer of 
Philadelphia, and gained his mercantile experi- 
ence while thus associated by selling and con- 
tracting on the road. In 1868 Mr. Vaile came 
to Dayton and entered the Barney-Smith Car 
works as a mechanical engineer. While thus 
engaged he came in contact with Mr. Holly, of 
the noted Holly Manufacturing company, and 
by that gentleman was employed as a mechan- 
ical engineer in Columbus, Covington and In- 
dianapolis. At the latter city he was retained 
as mechanical engineer and later as mechan- 
ical engineer and superintendent of streets for 
the Indianapolis Water Works company. In 
September, 1874, Mr. Vaile returned to Day- 
ton, and in connection with the late Preserved 
Smith and Walter W\ Smith established the 
Smith-Vaile Pump manufactory, under the 
firm name of Smith, Vaile & Co., with which 
he has since been identified. This enterprise 
was begun on a very small scale, only six men 
being employed at the start. The business 
grew from year to year until, in 1893, the works 
employed 450 men. During this time Mr. Vaile 
took out fifteen patents, upon which the busi- 
ness of Smith, Vaile & Co. has been developed. 
In 1 893 Smith, Vaile & Co. and the Stillwell 
& Bierce Manufacturing company were consoli- 
dated under the name of the Stillwell-Bierce 
& Smith-Vaile Manufacturing company, of 
which Mr. Vaile is a director, and is also man- 
ager of the east shops of the company. The 
Stillwell-Bierce & Smith-Vaile company is 
now one of the largest and most important 
manufacturing corporations in the west, its 
business extending all over the United States 
and Canada, and having an established agency 
in London and a growing trade in all foreign 
countries. Mr. Vaile is also identified with 
other enterprises. He is president of the 
American Carbon company, which has its fac- 
tories at Noblesville, Ind., and in which com- 





7 r^x^yC^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



305 



pany are interested such leading Dayton citi- 
zens as John W. Stoddard, E. Morgan Wood, 
Sylvester H. Carr, George W. Shaw and Wal- 
ter W. Smith. 

He is a director in the Merchants' National 
bank of Dayton, a stockholder in the Dayton 
street railway, is a member and stockholder 
in the Dayton club and a stockholder in the 
Miami club. He a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, being a knight templar in that order. 

Mr. Vaile was married in 1878 to Miss 
Alvina, daughter of Hugh Wiggim, of Dayton. 
He is considered one of Dayton's representa- 
tive citizens and successful manufacturers. He 
has established a reputation as a careful, con- 
servative and thoroughly reliable business man, 
yet aggressive and enterprising to a marked de- 
gree. As a citizen he has always exhibited a 
commendable public spirit in matters pertain- 
ing to the growth and development of the city 
and its enterprises. 



>-j* ELLIOT PEIRCE, president of the 
■ Peirce & Coleman company, of Dayton, 
/• 1 Ohio, is a nati*e of this city, was born 
April 17, 1 861, the son of Jeremiah H. 
and Elizabeth (Forrer) Peirce, and was edu- 
cated in the late Cooper academy. 

Jeremiah H. Peirce, father of J. Elliot 
Peirce, and his wife were also born in Dayton 
— the father in September, 1818. His father, 
Joseph Peirce, with his wife, was of the Mari- 
etta party, who effected the first settlement in 
the Buckeye state, the Peirce family settling 
in Dayton near the beginning of the present 
century. The grandfather of J. Elliot Peirce 
was a banker in the early days of this city, in 
which he passed his later years as one of its 
most prominent and influential citizens. Jere- 
miah H. was early connected with the Miami 
Lard Oil company and maintained this con- 
nection until 1876, when he became interested I 



in the business with which his son, J. Elliot, 
is now identified, the title of the original firm 
being Peirce & Coleman. 

The Peirce & Coleman company was in- 
corporated in 1 89 1, Mr. Peirce being then 
elected to his present office, which he has since 
so capably filled, adding each year, through 
his business talent, to the prosperity and pro- 
gressiveness of the concern. The company- 
does a general contracting and building busi- 
ness, including mill work and dealing exten- 
sively in hardwood lumber and finishings, and 
usually employing 150 men, although for the 
past two years the number has been some- 
what less. 

Mr. Peirce was married, in 1885, to Miss 
Fannie Harsh, a native of Findlay, Ohio, 
where her parents passed the greater part of 
their lives, but are now deceased, leaving Mrs. 
Peirce the sole survivor of the Harsh family. 
She is now the mother of three daughters, 
named, in the order of birth, Elizabeth For- 
rer, Virginia O'Neil and Mary Frances. In 
politics Mr. Peirce is a republican. He is a 
scholarly gentleman and a business man of the 
strictest integrity; is public-spirited and ever 
ready to aid all undertakings designed for the 
public good, or calculated to advance the prog- 
ress of his native city and county. 



a APT. JOHN A.' MILLER, cashier of 
the Pasteur Chamberland Filter com- 
pany, of Dayton, Ohio, was born at 
Annville, Lebanon county, Pa., No- 
vember 4, 1839. His. parents were Jacob and 
Lydia (Hershey) Miller, both natives of Leb- 
anon county. The husband and father was 
an elder in the Church of God, and spent his 
life largely in doing missionary work for that 
religious body. He was venerated by those 
best acquainted with him for his genuinely 
religious feeling, and much regarded for his 



306 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



kind and neighborly qualities. The family is 
of Scottish origin, the grandfather of Capt. 
Miller coming directly from Scotland. 

Capt. Miller was the second child in a 
family of seven sons and three daughters, of 
whom seven are now living. His boyhood 
was spent in Lancaster county, Pa., where he 
secured a very good common-school education. 
While still a lad, he came to Dayton, in 1856, 
but remained here only a brief time, accepting 
a good position in a store at Miamisburg, where 
he worked as a clerk until 1862. He found 
himself by that time both unable and unwill- 
ing to resist any longer the flood of patriotic 
devotion that was sweeping Ohio's best and 
bravest young men into the great crusade for 
union and freedom, and he enlisted on the 9th 
day of October in that year, and was assigned 
for duty to company E, First Ohio volun- 
teer infantry. The gallant First was a fight- 
ing regiment, and made itself felt on many a 
desperate and bloody field of battle. It was 
attached to the command of Gen. Rosecrans, 
and its history is part of that of the army of 
the Cumberland. At the battle of Chicka- 
mauga Capt. Miller was taken prisoner on the 
evening of September 19, 1863, and was held 
by the enemy for fourteen months. He was 
in the rebel prisons at Belle Isle, Danville, 
Andersonville, Savannah and Millen, Ga., and 
suffered during these long and dreary months 
untold hardships. Even though offered sev- 
eral details for duty outside, he persistently 
refused to accept, believing that such service 
was inconsistent with the duty he owed to the 
Union. But all things end, and his release 
from suffering and destitution came at last in 
the form of a parole. He was given a fur- 
lough, but soon returned to the front, and, his 
regiment having been mustered out, he was 
transferred to the Eighteenth Ohio volunteer 
infantry. He was with this regiment when 
his discharge from the service occurred, Octo- 



ber 9, 1865. He was an efficient and capable 
soldier, and had already won promotion when 
the regiment was retired to civil life. He was 
appointed sergeant-major of the regiment, and 
had received his commission as second lieuten- 
ant of company E. 

His active military experiences in actual 
war at an end, Capt. Miller made his way 
back to Dayton, and took a position as sales- 
man in a wholesale queensware establishment, 
and in 1867 was appointed deputy county clerk 
under Fred Fox. This position he held for 
only four months, when he resigned it to return 
to the office of his former employers, in the 
capacity of bookkeeper, and continued with 
them for more than ten years. The Ohio Fair 
association called for his services as secretary, 
and offered him such inducements that he did 
not think it wise to remain longer at the book- 
keeper's desk. At this time he was also sec- 
retary of the Home Avenue railroad, and sec- 
retary of the Southern Ohio stock yards, and, 
though a busy man, he found it possible to take 
on a little more work. He was active in the 
organization of the Dayton zouaves, the first 
military company organized in Dayton since 
the war. In recognition of his valuable serv- 
ices in its behalf, as well as in acknowledg- 
ment of his executive ability, he was made its 
captain in May, 1873. Later this organiza- 
tion was designated as company A, Fourth reg- 
iment, O. N. G. This office he resigned in 
1 88 1, and seven years later recruited company 
C, Thirteenth O. N. G., of which he was also 
elected captain. His first company was called 
out to avert a threatened lynching, by guard- 
ing the Dayton jail. It was also out two weeks 
during the great railroad strikes in 1877, and 
guarded the first freight train out when the 
strikes were declared at an end. He com- 
manded this company during a competitive 
drill in Saint Louis in 1879, when its perfect 
drill and soldierly appearance attracted gen- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



307 



eral admiration. With his present company 
Capt. Miller was called again to guard the jail 
at Dayton to prevent another lynching; and in 
1892, during the great coal strikes, was on 
duty eleven days. 

Capt. Miller continued as secretary of the 
Ohio Fair association for about four year's, 
when he resigned this as well as other posi- 
tions, to return for the third time to the em- 
ployment of the old firm, George A. Black 
being now the principal member of it. Here 
he was busy at the bookkeeper's desk for a 
year or more, when he set up business for him- 
self and so continued for a year. He then en- 
tered into partnership with Mr. Barger, and 
the two carried on a very successful wholesale 
queensware business for seven years. In 1890 
he secured his present position, where his faith- 
ful services are thoroughly appreciated by the 
corporation. 

Capt. Miller married Miss Amanda E. 
Chambers, a native of Dayton, whose father, 
R. M. Chambers, is a prominent contractor, 
and is widely known among the city's repre- 
sentative business men. They have one child, 
a daughter, now Mrs. Frank A. Groves, of this 
city. Capt. Miller is prominent in Masonic 
circles, having received the thirty-second de- 
gree in the A. A. S. R. of that order. The 
various Masonic bodies with which he is con- 
nected are all in Dayton, except the consis- 
tory, which is in Cincinnati. He is past mas- 
ter of Mystic lodge No. 405, Dayton ; past 
high priest. Unity chapter No. 16, R. A. M., 
and past thrice illustrious master of Reese 
council No. 9, R. & S. M. He has served 
several years as captain-general of Reed com- 
mandery No. 6, and commanded this organi- 
zation at the prize drill of the triennial en- 
campment at the grand commandery in Chi- 
cago in 1 88 1. He was grand master of cere- 
monies in the lodge of Perfection, Scottish 
rite, for a number of years, and has also taken 



a deep interest in kindred societies, such as 
the Knights of Pythias. He is a member of 
Iola lodge No. 83 of this order, and was cap- 
tain of Iola division when it was instituted, 
serving about four years. As might well be 
imagined, the Grand Army has received from 
him a service of love. He is a member of Old 
Guard post No. 23, of this city, and holds the 
position of P. P. C. He served a term as as- 
sistant inspector-general, department of Ohio, 
and a term as aid-de-camp on the staff of the 
department commander. He is a member of 
the military service institution of the United 
States, an organization composed of officers of 
the United States army and officers of the na- 
tional guard. In his political relations, Capt. 
Miller affiliates actively and earnestly with the 
republican party. While at Miamisburg he 
was a member of the German Reformed 
church, but since his residence in this city he 
has become a member of the First English 
Lutheran church. 



HNDREW FERRIS SMART, a suc- 
cessful business man of Dayton, deal- 
ing in fuel, lime, cement, etc., is a 
native of Ohio, born within a short 
distance of his present location, on the 14th 
of July, 1853. His father was Alexander M. 
Smart, a ship builder of Connecticut, where 
his birth occurred May 10, 1807. Alexander 
M. Smart married Mary J. Slaght, came to 
Dayton about the year 1835, and remained in 
this city until his death, January 25, 1881; 
Mrs. Smart died November 21, 1875. Alex- 
ander and Mary J. Smart were both of Scotch- 
Irish descent; they reared a family of five chil- 
dren, viz: Maggie, who died September 6, 
1872; Geddes, who died when young; George, 
who is secretary of the Dayton Gas Light & 
Coke company; Andrew F. and Harry S. — the 



.'?ns 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



last named employed as clerk in the office of 
his next older brother. 

Andrew Ferris Smart graduated from the 
Central high school of Dayton in the class of 
1 87 1, and commenced business in partnership 
with C. A. Starr, Esq., handling fuel, lime 
and cement, in which branch of trade he has 
since continued. The firm of C. A. Starr & 
Co. existed for a period of ten years, at the 
end of which time, in 1S85, Mr. Smart with- 
drew and engaged in business upon his own 
responsibility at his present location, Nos. 
524-6 South Wayne avenue, where he now 
deals in all kinds of coal and wood, cement, 
sewer pipe, lime, etc. He has a well-estab- 
lished business, and his trade, profitable from 
the beginning, has constantly increased until, 
at this time, his establishment is one of the 
best known and most successful of the kind in 
the city. 

Mr. Smart and Miss Harriet S. Jones, of 
Dayton, were united in marriage December 
15, 1 88 1 ; they have had three children — Alex- 
ander, Emma E. and Roy A. The last named 
died at the age of five months. Mrs. Smart 
was born at Fair Haven, Butler county, Ohio, 
and received a liberal education in the city 
schools of Hamilton. Mr. Smart is promi- 
nently connected with the Masonic fraternity, 
belonging to Saint John's lodge No. 13; Unity 
chapter No. 16, R. A. M. ; Reese council No. 
9, R. & S. M. ; Reed commandery No. 6, K. 
T. ; Gabriel lodge of Perfection, Scottish 
rite; Miami council, P. of J. ; Dayton chapter 
of Rose Croix; Ohio consistory, S. P. S. He 
is also identified with the I. O. O. F., being a 
member of the encampment branch of the or- 
der; the subordinate lodge to which he belongs 
is Wayne No. 10, and his name appears upon 
the rolls of Dayton encampment No. 2. In 
addition to the above orders Mr. Smart belongs 
to lodge No. 32, K. of P., which he has repre- 
sented for the past five years in the grand lodge 



of the state. He is a member of the Dayton 
division No. 5, uniform rank, K. of P., is iden- 
tified with the American Legion of Honor, and 
belongs to May Flower council, O. U. A. M., 
No. 33. In state and national affairs Mr. 
Smart is a democrat, but in local matters he 
refuses to be bound by party ties, casting his 
ballot for the person whom he thinks best qual- 
ified for official position. 



aHARLES J. McKEE, a prominent 
and active member of the Montgom- 
ery county bar, was born at Hillsboro, 
Highland county, Ohio, January 23, 
1856, and is a son of Samuel and Rebecca 
Crawford (Cox) McKee. In April, 1861, the 
family moved to Dayton, and in September of 
the following year Charles J. entered the Perry 
street district school. For thirteen years he 
successfully pursued his studies in the Dayton 
schools, graduating from the Central high 
school June 16, 1875. 

His early inclinations led him to choose the 
legal profession for his life work, and in July, 
1875, he began the study of law with the firm 
of Young & Gottschall, teaching a country 
school at Liberty, Ohio, during the winter of 
1877-78. April 23, 1878, he was admitted to 
the Montgomery county bar, but feeling in 
need of further preparation before beginning 
practice, continued the study of law for a year 
and a half longer, at the same time teaching 
in the Mumma district in Harrison township. 
He opened an office in Dayton September 1 1, 
1 879, .and on November 1, 1881, formed a law 
partnership with Walter D. Jones, a member 
of the Dayton bar. The partnership continued 
up to January 1, 1888, since which time Mr. 
McKee has pursued his legal practice alone, 
confining himself almost exclusively to civil 
practice. 

Though professional duties have claimed 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



309 



his constant attention, he has given some con- 
sideration to other business matters, having to 
a considerable extent been identified with 
building association interests, and is at present 
secretary and attorney for one of the leading 
associations of the city. He was attorney for 
the board of education in 1888-89-90, this 
being the only public office he has ever held. 
On April 23, 1889, Mr. McKee was mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah Stewart Hughes, daughter 
of Rev. J. R. Hughes, and three children have 
been born to them. As a lawyer Mr. McKee 
holds a high rank at the Montgomery county 
bar, with a reputation for ability, learning and 
successful management of legal business. As 
a citizen he is interested in public affairs, and 
especially in the advancement of the cause of 
good government and municipal progress. 



*y-* OWARD F. PEIRCE, a native of 

|r\ Dayton, Ohio, and one of the most 

F popular musicians of the city, deserves 

especial mention in this work, and 

before tracing his genealogy, mention will here 

be made of his career as an artist in music, 

preceded by a brief sketch touching his early 

training. 

Howard F. Peirce was endowed by nature 
with large musical gifts and this inborn faculty 
has been carefully cultivated since his child- 
hood days. His studies of the piano and har- 
mony under his earliest teachers (notably, 
Prof. Huesman, of Dayton) developed so great 
a genius for the art that he was placed under 
the guidance of the accomplished Prof. Blu- 
menschein, also of Dayton, and in 18S6, when 
twenty-one years of age, was sent to Europe, 
that he might improve his already excellent 
practice as a pianist. He spent about three 
years in Munich, under the tuition of Giehrl on 
the piano, and that of Rheinberger in theory. 
At Florence, Italy, he passed eight months 



under the culminating instruction of the great 
pianist, Giuseppe Buonamici, and on his return 
to Dayton his proficiency was at once recog- 
nized and he was awarded a high rank among 
musical artists. Since then, his work as a 
pianist has been made a prominent feature, at 
various times, in leading concerts in Boston, 
Cincinnati, Detroit, Cleveland, and other of the 
principal cities of the United States, and has 
always secured the highest praise from musical 
critics, the press and the public. 

Mr. Peirce has the happy faculty of being 
able always to fall into sympathy with the score 
set before him, and, with a vigorous or delicate 
touch, give forth all the fine shades of mean- 
ings indicated by the composition. He is ever 
conscientious and true to the author, and never 
seeks, by a meretricious display of his own 
power and skill, to substitute himself for the 
maestro; he is content with a correct interpre- 
tation of the composer's thought, and this 
quality has, no doubt, won for him his fame 
with true lovers of music. 

Mr. Peirce, for the past ten years, has 
been organist of Grace Methodist Episcopal 
church of Dayton, and also has regular en- 
gagements as an accompanist to noted singers, 
who make stated tours. 

Howard F. Peirce was born May 4, 1865, 
the son of Jeremiah and Elizabeth (Forrer) 
Peirce, whose parents were early settlers of 
Dayton. Isaac Peirce, father of Jeremiah, 
was a banker and a prominent leader in public 
affairs from the time of his coming to this 
place until his demise. Jeremiah Peirce was 
born in Dayton, was a solid business man and 
a substantial citizen, did a great deal of work 
towards advancing the material and moral wel- 
fare of the community, and died in his native 
city in 1889, honored and beloved by all who 
knew him. Mrs. Peirce died in 1874. 

Samuel Forrer, the maternal grandfather 
of Howard F. Peirce, was one of Dayton's 



310 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



earliest settlers, was a civil engineer, and the 
superintendent of the construction of the 
Miami canal. To the marriage of Jeremiah 
and Elizabeth Peirce there were born, beside 
Howard F., three sons and four daughters, of 
whom Samuel, the eldest, died when about 
seven years of age; Henrietta, the wife of 
Eugene Parrott, resides in Dayton; Edward 
died when he was about seventeen years old; 
Sarah H., who organized the first kindergarten 
in Dayton, is now conducting the principal 
school of that character in the city; Mary died 
in young womanhood; Elizabeth, a trained 
nurse, was educated in this profession in the 
Massachusetts general hospital of Boston; J. 
Elliot is successor to the business of his father. 



>y'OHN CHARLES CLINE, superintend- 
■ ent of Woodland cemetery, Dayton, 
(• J Ohio, was born in Switzerland February 
i, 1844, and in 1851 came to America 
with his parents, who settled in Dayton. 
These parents were John P. and Theresa (Leub- 
ing) Cline, the former of whom was born in 
Edelfingen, ober amt Mergentheim, Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, was a blacksmith, and died of 
cholera, in Dayton, in 1S54; the mother, who 
was a native of Switzerland, died at the same 
time and place. They had two children, John 
Charles, and Catherine, who died in infancy. 
John C. Cline, being thus early bereft of 
his parents, was in 1856 adopted into the fam- 
ily of William W. Lane, then superintendent 
of Woodland cemetery, and in this family was 
reared to manhood, receiving a limited educa- 
tion in the common schools. September 22, 
1 861, he enlisted in company C, First Ohio 
volunteer infantry, then commanded by Capt. 
(afterward Gen.) Gates P. Thurston, and 
served three years with the army of the Cum- 
berland, nniler Gens. Rosecrans, Thomas, 
Rousseau, and other commanding officers. He 



took part in all the general engagements of his 
corps, was off duty sixteen days only during the 
three years, and was honorably discharged at 
Chattanooga September 16, 1864. He then 
returned to Dayton and resumed his labors un- 
der Mr. Lane, as assistant superintendent of 
Woodland, and, on a change of management 
in 1S69, was appointed superintendent. Dur- 
ing this period of twenty-seven years there have 
been 14, 570 interments, the total number being 
20,548 from the time of the founding of the 
cemetery until the date of this sketch, June 9, 
1896. Few cities in the Union have a more 
beautiful resting place for their dead than 
Woodland. It comprises 100 acres and thirty 
men are constantly employed in its care, all 
under the general superintendence of Mr. Cline, 
who gives to it the most constant and intelli- 
gent attention. 

October 4, 1866, J. C. Cline was united in 
marriage in Hanover, Jackson county, Mich., 
with Miss Fannie E. Dew, a native of Spring- 
field, Ohio, the union resulting in the birth of 
four children, viz: Walter, who is a student 
in the Ohio university; Carl, a graduate of the 
Dayton high school; Luther, still a student in 
that institution, and Haidee, deceased. The 
family are members of the Lutheran church. 
In politics Mr. Cline was reared a republican 
by his foster parents, and on attaining his man- 
hood he readily dropped into the ranks of that 
party. 

Fraternally, Mr. Cline is a member of 
Wayne lodge No. 10, I. O. O. F. , of which 
he is a past grand; also of Miami lodge No. 
32, K. of P.; of Old Guard post, No. 23, 
G. A. R., and of Gem City lodge. As a 
republican, Mr. Cline has held various offices 
of trust and responsibility; he served as a 
member of the city council one year, having 
been elected from a strongly democratic ward, 
and while in this position voted for an ordi- 
nance which obliterated his own ward, thus vo- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



311 



ting himself out of office. He was also a mem- 
ber of the board of police commissioners for 
four years, having received this appointment 
from the governor of the state. 

Mr. Cline and his children are the only 
representatives of his family in America. When 
he speaks of the early experience of his parents 
in the new world, with no friends nor even a 
knowledge of the prevailing tongue, his words 
recall the early trials endured by the pioneers 
of the country. His father's untimely death, 
and that of his mother immediately afterward, 
were sad blows to him, thus left to the care of 
strangers; but he has so lived as to prove him- 
self to be worthy of the kindness bestowed upon 
him by Mr. Lane in his childhood, and is to-day 
one of the trusted and respected citizens of the 
community in which he resides. Mr. Cline 
ever speaks of the Lane family with feelings 
of profound respect and gratitude, as, when in 
need, they were his best friends, and did their 
whole duty by him as their adopted son. 



^j* HALE PARDONNER, vice-president 
m and manager of tha John Rouzer Con- 
st 1 tracting & Building company of Day- 
ton, Ohio, is a native of this city and 
was born March 22, 1849, a son of John A. 
and Jane (Van Sandt) Pardonner, the former of 
whom was a native of Germany and the latter 
of Kentucky. The father came to America in 
middle life, was engaged in the shoe business 
in Cincinnati and Dayton, and died in Cler- 
mont county at the advanced age of ninety 
years, his widow still residing in Clermont 
county. It is stated that John Van Sandt, 
father of Mrs. Pardonner, was the man who 
harbored Eliza, the well-known character in 
Mrs. Stowe's famous novel, "Uncle Tom's 
Cabin," and that he appears in the story under 
the name of John Van Tromp. 

John A. Pardonner and family were the 



parents of twelve children, of whom six are 
still living, J. Hale, the second, being the 
subject of this memoir. Hale, as he is best 
known, received his elementary education in 
Dayton, and at the age of fourteen years en- 
listed for six months in the Fourth battalion, 
Ohio volunteer cavalry, being probably next to 
the youngest, if not the youngest, lad in Ohio to 
take up arms in defense of the Union. He 
served in Tennessee, with headquarters at 
Cumberland Gap, and had many skirmishes 
with guerrillas in guarding government stores. 
After fully seven months in this service, he re- 
enlisted, but this time in the One Hundred and 
Thirty-first Ohio infantry, for the 100-day serv- 
ice, and was stationed at Baltimore, Md. 
In each case our subject received an honorable 
discharge. 

In 1867 Mr. Pardonner married Miss Sarah 
Sophia Hinsey, a native of Dayton and daugh- 
ter of John Hinsey, an old resident, well known 
as Esquire Hinsey. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Pardonner are William S., John H., and 
Bertha. Of these the eldest, William S., is 
the assistant manager of the Norfolk Beet 
Sugar company, at Norfolk, Nebr. ; John H. is 
a draftsman for an architect in Dayton, Ohio, 
and Bertha is at home with her parents. 

J. Hale Pardonner, the subject, is a Free Ma- 
son, a past grand of the I. O. O. F. , and a mem- 
ber of Old Guard post, G. A. R., Dayton, arid 
is, beside, a member of several other social and 
beneficial orders of the same city. In politics 
he is a republican, and in religion he and wife 
are members of the First Reformed church. 
The business relations of Mr. Pardonner with 
the Rouzer company began in 1 869, and he has 
passed through every department of the con- 
cern until reaching his present responsible posi- 
tion, although he began as journeyman with 
John Rouzer, and held that relation for several 
years. He then became a partner in the busi- 
ness until the incorporation. On the formation 



312 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of the present company, in 1890, he became 
manager, and at the death of Mr. Rouzer was 
elected vice-president and general manager. 
The capital stock of the company is $100,000, 
and it employs from seventy-five to 125 hands, 
turning out every variety of mill work. 

William S. Pardonner, eldest son of J. Hale 
and Sarah Sophia Pardonner, married Bessie, 
the daughter of Hon. George Wilson, deputy 
commissioner of internal revenue, appointed 
under President Harrison, and still retaining 
the office. 

The brothers and sisters of J. Hale Par- 
donner, who still survive from a family of 
twelve, are Clemma, who is unmarried and has 
her home with her mother in Bethel, Clermont 
county, Ohio; Mrs. George Hughes, who re- 
sides in Dayton; Mrs. McLeod, who is a resi- 
dent of Cincinnati; William and Albert, who 
are partners in a mercantile business in Mid- 
dletown, Ohio. 



HDOLPH NEWSALT, the leading jew- 
eler, of Dayton, Ohio, and owner of 
one of the finest establishments of the 
kind in the state of Ohio, if not in 
the entire west, was born in Prussia, Decem- 
ber 25, 1848. 

The father of Mr. Newsalt died in Ger- 
many, and in 1857, with his mother, Adolph 
came to the United States, landing in New 
York. For a time after reaching this country 
he attended school in the city of New York, 
and then went to La Crosse, Wis., situated on 
the east bank of the Mississippi river, and there 
in i860 he began an apprenticeship at the 
jeweler's trade, serving four years. In 1S64 
he came to Dayton, his mother having, in 
i860, removed to this city from Saint Louis. 
Up . reaching Dayton he went to work in the 
jewelry store of Henry Kline, under the Phillips 
house. He remained with Mr. Kline for one 



year, at the end of which period he went to 
Springfield, Ohio, and there worked for A. 
Aaron, a jeweler, for somewhat more than a 
year. He had now accumulated a little over 
$300, and returning to Dayton he at once es- 
tablished himself in the jewelry business on a 
very small scale on Fifth street. His business 
was at first so small that he was able to do all 
of his work himself, and this was the case for 
about two years; but it was a frequent expe- 
rience for him to be at work at his bench as late 
as one or two o'clock in the morning. 

By degrees his business so increased that 
he was at length compelled to move into larger 
quarters. This necessity was forced upon him 
at several different times, his business extending 
year by year, until at length he prevailed upon 
Mr. John Bosler to tear down his little house 
on Fifth street and erect for him upon its site 
a large store room in which he remained for 
fifteen years. Upon the completion of the 
Davies building at Fourth and Main streets, 
Mr. Newsalt removed into his present quarters, 
which were designed especially for his business, 
he having leased the room in which he is now 
located prior to the. completion of the building. 

The establishment is one of the most com- 
plete and best designed in the country, and it 
is no uncommon thing for parties to come from 
great distances, as from Saint Louis and other 
points, to pattern after it in their respective 
homes. It covers a space 32 X75 feet in size, 
with a basement of the same dimensions un- 
derneath. The entire fronts, on both Main 
and Fourth streets, are of glass, thus making 
it one of the finest show rooms to be found. 
Mr. Newsalt employs twenty men the year 
round, and in business seasons adds to his force 
as occasion requires. 

Mr. Newsalt was married in Dayton, No- 
vember 10, 1870, to Sarah Wise, formerly 
from Paducah, Ky. One son has been born to 
this marriage, T. A. Newsalt, who was edu- 





I 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



315 



cated at Poughkeepsie, N. Y. , and who is now 
in his father's establishment as salesman, an 
excellent position in which to gain a full knowl- 
edge of the business and of the trade of jew- 
eler. Mr. Newsalt is, in point of fact and in 
the best sense of the word, a self-made man, 
and his career should be the means of encour- 
aging the young men of this day to be satisfied 
with small beginnings. 



^y^VHILIP A. KEMPER, importer and 
1 ■ wholesale dealer in materials for art 
embroidery, etc., Dayton, Ohio, was 
born at Wallhausen, not far from the 
beautiful city of Bingen on the Rhine, Ger- 
many, in 1835. In his fifteenth year he came 
to America, landing in Philadelphia, and after 
attending school in that city for eight months 
in order to familiarize himself to some extent 
with the English language, he entered the store 
of an uncle, as an errand boy, and for eleven 
years faithfully did his duty to his employer, 
advancing by successive promotions to the po- 
sition of first book-keeper. 

In August, 1859, at his request the mother 
of Mr. Kemper, with her six remaining chil- 
dren, came to America. In 1861 he came 
to Dayton, Ohio, to establish himself in busi- 
ness, and, having perfected his plans, he re- 
turned to Philadelphia, whence he came back 
in August with his family. In a short time 
after his arrival in the Gem City, Mr. Kemper 
established a dress-trimmings and fancy goods 
store at the northwest corner of Second and 
Main streets, under the firm name of Philip A. 
Kemper & Sisters. Success attended this firm 
for the period of nine years, when Mr. Kem- 
per rented the old Franklin house, on the op- 
posite corner, and remodeled the building for 
store purposes. This store was occupied by 
him until 1880, when he removed to his own 
premises, Nos. 19 and 21 West Second street, 



his present location. His businessconsists prin- 
cipally in furnishing convent schools through- 
out the country with materials for fancy needle 
and embroidery work, as well as supplying 
these articles at wholesale to other dealers. 
His trade, which is altogether wholesale, fills 
a peculiar want in the market, his shipments 
going to all parts of the Union and to Mexico. 

The youngest brother of Mr. Kemper is the 
Rev. Charles S. Kemper, Catholic chaplain of 
the national military home, near Dayton, of 
whom brief mention is made elsewhere. 

Philip A. Kemper is recognized as one of 
the public-spirited and useful citizens of Day- 
ton, and is especially active in forwarding the 
educational and charitable work of the Roman 
Catholic church. 



@EORGE W. BUVINGER, senior 
member of the firm of G. W. & E. E. 
Buvinger, proprietors of the Dayton 
Cornice works, corner of East Third 
and Canal streets, is one of the well-known 
business men and prominent citizens of Day- 
ton. Mr. Buvinger was born in this city, 
within three blocks of his present place of busi- 
ness, on December 26, 1837, and is the eldest 
child born to Henry and Cassandra (Everest) 
Buvinger, of whom fuller mention is made in 
connection with the sketch of E. E. Buvinger. 
With the exception of his time of service in the 
army, Mr. Buvinger has spent his entire life in 
Dayton, and few men are more widely and fa- 
vorably known in the community. He at- 
tended the public schools and acquired a fair 
knowledge of the common English branches, 
which, supplemented by habits of reading, study 
and observation, has made him a broad- 
minded and intelligent man, liberally educated 
in that knowledge of men and affairs which 
schools and colleges alone cannot impart. His 
early life was spent in various employments 



316 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until the war cloud darkened the national hori- 
zon, when he offered his services to his country, 
enlisting in April, 1S61, shortly after President 
Lincoln made his call for 75,000 men. The 
quota being filled before his regiment was 
formed, Mr. Buvinger was not permitted at 
that time to go to the front. In 1862 he re- 
sponded to the call of the governor of the state 
during the Kirby Smith raid, and served in 
what was known as the "Squirrel Hunters" 
brigade in and about Cincinnati. After that 
the National Guard was organized, and he be- 
came a member of company A, of Dayton, and 
continued a member until the final discharge 
in 1S65. In June, 1863, he enlisted in the 
Fourth Independent battalion of Ohio volun- 
teer cavalry. This regiment did duty in south- 
ern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. 
On being discharged from this service on ac- 
count of termination of term of enlistment, in 
February, 1864, Mr. Buvinger returned to 
Ohio, and remained in Dayton until the follow- 
ing May, when company A, O. N. G., was 
called out by the governor and mustered into 
the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio volun- 
teer infantry for 100 days, though it remained 
a longer period, doing garrison duty principally 
in Maryland and Virginia. 

Since the war Mr. Buvinger has been act- 
ively engaged in business in Dayton. The 
Dayton Cornice works, with which he has 
so long been identified, has been in existence 
for thirty years at its present locality, 
and is regarded as one of the important 
enterprises of the Gem City. The business 
consists in the manufacturing of galvanized iron 
cornices, tin, slate, iron, and copper roofing, 
and all kinds of sheet metal work. The fol- 
lowing are a few of the prominent buildings 
in the city on which they had contracts: City 
buildings, new court house, Firemen's build- 
ing, Kuhn's building, Deaconess hospital, 
Ohmer building, Third street Presbyterian 



church, Beckel bank building, and Reibold's 
Jefferson block. 

Mr. Buvinger occupies a prominent posi- 
tion in the business and social affairs of the 
city. He is enterprising, progressive and lib- 
eral-minded in his views, and is fully alive to 
all that tends to the advancement of the pub- 
lic interest, enjoying the confidence and esteem 
of all with whom he is in any way associated. 
In his political views Mr. Buvinger is an ardent 
republican. In 1891-92 he served as a mem- 
ber of the Dayton city council, was vice-presi- 
dent of that body in 1892, and was largely 
instrumental in promoting much important 
municipal legislation. In social and fraternal 
circles Mr. Buvinger is quite prominent. He 
is a member of the F. & A. M., Knights Tem- 
plar, I. O. O. F., K. of P., A. O. U. W., 
National Union, Royal Arcanum, and G. A. R. 
He is also a member of the Dayton board of 
trade. Both himself and family are members 
of Christ Episcopal church. 

Mr. Buvinger was married, in 1867, to Miss 
Jane Smith, a native of Ecton, Northampton- 
shire, England. Mrs. Buvinger's native village 
has some American significance in that it is 
the birthplace of the ancestors of Washington 
and Franklin. Mrs. Buvinger came to Day- 
ton with her parents in 1850, and was educated 
in the city schools. Prior to her marriage she 
was for some time assistant principal of the 
Fourth district school. To Mr. and Mrs. Buv- 
inger the following children have been born: 
Bertha, Emma, George A., and Minnie Ever- 
est, the last named having died in infancy. 
Miss Bertha is a graduate of both the Dayton 
high and normal schools, and has spent two 
years in traveling; George A. is a graduate of 
the Dayton high school, and also a graduate in 
mechanical engineering of Lehigh university, 
at Bethlehem, Pa., and is a young man of 
much promise and bright prospects for future 
advancement. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



317 



BREDERICK W. NEWCOMER, ca- 
terer and confectioner, at the corner 
of Third and Ludlow streets, Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Connellsville, Pa., 
May 1 8, i860, and is a son of Joseph and 
Margaret (Gebhart) Newcomer, who are of 
German descent. 

Joseph Newcomer was born in Fayette 
county. Pa., February 14, 1825, a son of John 
and Barbara (Snyder) Newcomer. His great- 
grandfather Newcomer was the first of the 
family to come from Germany and he settled in 
Pennsylvania. Henry Snyder, maternal grand- 
father of Joseph Newcomer, served eight years 
in the war of the Revolution. Joseph was one 
of a family of nine children, born in the fol- 
lowing order: Lydia, Jacob, Samuel, John, 
Joseph, Polly, Catherine, Barbara and Sarah, 
of whom two sons and one daughter are liv- 
ing at this writing. 

Joseph Newcomer was reared a farmer, was 
educated in the public schools, and when 
twenty-one years of age engaged in mercantile 
business on his own account in Bentleysville, 
Washington county, Pa., but eighteen months 
later removed to Connellsville, Fayette county, 
where he was engaged in mercantile business 
seventeen years. He then moved to Pittsburg, 
was in the wholesale grocery trade ten years, 
and in 1875 came to Dayton, Ohio, and here 
conducted a retail grocer)' for five years. Dur- 
ing the next five years he held a partnership in 
the bookbinding and printing house known as 
the Holden Manufacturing company, and since 
then has lived in retirement, excepting two 
years, when he filled the position of truant of- 
ficer in the public schools. In politics he is 
a republican, and served two years as ward 
assessor. 

He was united in marriage October 1, 1857, 
with Miss Margaret E. Gebhart, daughter of 
Frederick and Catherine (Walter) Gebhart, one 
of the oldest families of Somerset county, Pa., 



where Mrs. Newcomer was born April 17, 
1827. To this marriage have been born six 
children, viz: Kate, wife of Edward F. Cooper, 
of Dayton; Frederick W., whose name opens 
this biography; Mary, deceased; Charles G., 
who is foreman of a bookbindery in Savannah, 
Ga. ; Annie, wife of George M. Lee, of Down- 
er's Grove, a suburb of Chicago, 111., and 
Bessie, deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Newcomer 
are members of the Christian church, and 
reside at No. 122 East Second street, where 
they are surrounded by a large circle of 
warm friends. 

Frederick W. Newcomer was reared in 
Pennsylvania until fifteen years of age, and 
was educated in the public schools. In 1875 
he came to Dayton, Ohio, with his parents, 
and for a time was employed as clerk in his 
father's grocery, and later by C. C. Moses in 
the same capacity, for five years. For the 
next five years he held the position of foreman 
of the jobbing department of the Holden 
Manufacturing company, and was then again 
employed by C. C. Moses as clerk in his gro- 
cery. In 1890 he started in business for him- 
self, as caterer and confectioner, at No. 7 East 
Second street, and there maintained a success- 
ful trade until June 15, 1S96, when he removed 
to the building especially erected for his busi- 
ness at the corner of Third and Ludlow streets, 
where he has greatly enlarged his business, the 
added features being the serving of luncheons 
and the novelty of a modern roof garden. He 
is the leading caterer of Dayton, and his busi- 
ness extends to adjacent or neighboring towns 
and villages. His establishment is neatly and 
handsomely furnished, and the service rivals 
that to be found in large cities. Miss Anna 
Shoup is associated with Mr. Newcomer as 
mistress of the tea-room, looking after the 
comfort of the guests; the firm name, since 
occupying the present quarters, being that of 
The Newcomer. 



318 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Newcomer is married to Miss Jennie 
Moses, daughter of C. C. and Margaret Moses, 
of Dayton, and the two children born to this 
union are named Mabel and Leila. 

Mr. Newcomer is very popular, not only 
in his business, which necessarily brings him in 
contact with hundreds of the best people in 
Dayton, but in social circles as well. 

He and his wife are members of the Lu- 
theran church, and have a most pleasant home 
at No. 330 West First street. 



EARMAN ROGGE was born near 
Hanover, Germany, September 2, 
1845. He is a son of Harman and 
Angel (Mayrose) Rogge, the former 
of whom was a farmer, but is now deceased, 
while the mother still survives. Their children 
numbered eight, of whom Harman was the 
second. He was educated in the excellent 
public schools of his native country and under 
private tutors until eighteen years of age, when 
he came to this country with an uncle, who 
was a citizen of Dayton. After his arrival at 
Dayton he obtained employment at the 
Blanchard & Brown Wheel works, now the S. 
N. Brown Co. After several years of steady 
employment by this firm he entered the service 
of the Barney & Smith Car works. After 
about fifteen years of hard work, he started on 
his own account in the retail grocery business. 
In this he was very successful and was also en- 
gaged in the wholesale grocery trade for a few 
years. In 1887 he first became a stockholder 
in the Zwick & Greenwald Wheel company, of 
which he is now president and general mana- 
ger. Since his connection with this company, 
it has been crowned with success and its finan- 
cial strength has increased threefold. 

Harman Rogge was united in marriage, in 
1S72, with Miss Augusta Kropp, a native of 
Dayton and a daughter of Henry Kropp. This 



union has been blessed with eleven children, 
of whom, eight are still living. In religion the 
family are of the German Lutheran faith, and 
of the church of which they are members, Mr. 
Rogge has for years been a trustee and is at 
present a member of the official board of man- 
agement. In politics he is a democrat, and as 
such served one term as a member of the Day- 
ton city council. Mr. Rogge has done much 
toward advancing the material prosperity of 
Dayton, having erected upward of twenty 
dwellings, and having, by industry and thrift, 
become one of the substantial German-Ameri- 
can citizens to whom the city is indebted for 
much of her prominence and high standing in 
the commercial and manufacturing world. 



eDWARD EVEREST BUYTNGER, 
junior member of the firm of G. W. 
and E. E. Buvinger, proprietors of the 
Dayton Cornice works, and a well- 
known and popular business man of the city, 
was born in Dayton on May 12, 1844, ar >d is 
the son of Henry Buvinger, deceased. After 
attending the public schools of Dayton for sev- 
eral years, young Buvinger entered upon an 
apprenticeship at the tinner's trade. This he 
mastered and followed until 1866, when the 
firm of G. W. & E. E. Buvinger was formed, 
and the Dayton Cornice works established. 
This firm has had an uninterrupted and suc- 
cessful existence of over thirty years. It is 
engaged principally in the manufacture of met- 
allic cornices, in addition to which a general 
tinner's business is conducted, and the Cling- 
man gas machine, a device for lighting and 
heating, is manufactured. In evidence of the 
success with which this firm has met it is nec- 
essary only to refer to the number of years it 
has been in business and the name and charac- 
ter it enjoys in the industrial world. 

During the late Civil war Mr. Buvinger, 





&YVt>OZ^ 




<P ??^' 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



321 



though little more than a boy, saw service in 
the cause of his country. He was with what 
were known as the " Squirrel Hunters " during 
the Kirby Smith raid, this organization having 
been called out in 1862 by the governor of 
Ohio. His next service began in 1863, when, 
as a member of company B, Fourth Independ- 
ent battalion, Ohio volunteer cavalry, he 
served for nine months in Kentucky, Tennes- 
see and Virginia, or until the expiration of the 
term of enlistment in February, 1864, when 
he returned to Dayton. In May, 1864, when 
the Ohio national guard was called out and 
mustered into the One Hundred and Thirty- 
first regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, Mr. 
Buvinger went with it as a member of com- 
pany A, and as such did garrison duty for 100 
days in Maryland and Virginia. 

Mr. Buvinger on September 1, 1870, was 
married to Miss Emily Francis Fisk, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, who was born at Centerville, Ohio, 
in 1848. She was educated in the public 
schools of Dayton, and has passed the greater 
part of her life in this city, having come here 
when a child. Mr. and Mrs. Buvinger's only 
child — Hurd Edward - — died at the age of six 
years. Both Mr. and Mrs. Buvinger are mem- 
bers of Grace Methodist Episcopal church. 
In politics Mr. Buvinger is a strong adherent 
of the republican party. Fraternally he is a 
member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P., Royal 
Arcanum, National Union and G. A. R. 

As a citizen and business man Mr. Buvin- 
ger occupies a prominent place in the Gem 
City. Enterprising, public-spirited and pro- 
gressive, he has contributed his share to the 
building up and development of the city and 
of her enterprises and institutions. 

Henry Buvinger, deceased father of E. E. 
Buvinger, and one of the early citizens of 
Dayton, was born in Hanover, Pa., in 1807. 
The ancestry of Mr. Buvinger is traceable to 
Bavaria, Germany. The founder of the fam- 



ily in America was Killian Buvinger, great- 
grandfather of Edward E., who was a Bava- 
rian of French Huguenot extraction. He 
came to America and settled in Pennsylvania 
in the year 1749. His son, Leonard, was a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war, and did gal- 
lant service for his country at Brandywine and 
elsewhere throughout the great struggle for in- 
dependence. George Buvinger, son of Leon- 
ard, and grandfather of Edward E., was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1781, and took part in the 
war of 18 12, commanding a company of Penn- 
sylvania militia at the battle of North Point. 

Henry Buvinger came to Dayton in 1835, 
but in January, 1837, he returned east and at 
Baltimore was married to Cassandra Everest. 
The same year, however, he and his wife re- 
turned to Dayton and resided here continu- 
ously until their deaths. Mr. Buvinger was a 
shoemaker by trade, which vocation he fol- 
lowed in Dayton for many years, and was one 
of the best known in that line of business in 
the city. He was the oldest Odd Fellow in 
Dayton at the time of his death. He became 
a member of the original lodge of this order in 
Baltimore, and from 1835 to 1888 was a mem- 
ber of Montgomery lodge, I. O. O. F. , of Day- 
ton. For over forty years he was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was 
a democrat up to the time of the firing on 
Fort Sumter, in 1861, when he became a re- 
publican. During the war Mr. Buvinger was 
a volunteer, serving at different times, and was 
at Pittsburg Landing for the purpose of bear- 
ing wounded soldiers off the field. His death 
occurred in 1888, and that of his wife in 1885. 
The Everest family is of English origin, and 
the first mention of the name in the United 
States, so far as known, is made in the annals 
of Maryland about the year 1737. Mr. and 
Mrs. Buvinger became the parents of the 
following children: George W. ; Francis Leon- 
ard, deceased; Hester Ann, deceased; Edward 



322 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



Everest; Eliza B., who became the wife of 
James M. Chancellor, of Dayton; and Amanda 
C, wife of S. Byron Williams, of Dayton. 



*y ■ * ENRY WEBBERT, the well-known 

f~\ contractor and builder, of Fourth 

F street and Broadway, Dayton, Ohio, 

was born in Cumberland county, Pa., 

May 15, 1834, and when a child of four years 

was brought by his parents to Dayton, Ohio, 

of which city he has now been a resident for 

fifty-eight years, living during this entire period 

within one square of his present residence. 

Melchor and Ann (Bosler) Webbert, the par- 
ents of Henry Webbert, were also natives of 
Cumberland county, Pa., where the father was 
a contractor and builder, but died at the early 
age of forty years near Noblesville, Ind., where 
his remains lie interred; the mother died in 
Dayton in her ninetieth year 'and was interred 
in Woodland cemetery. Of the children born to 
Melchor and Ann Webbert, Henry is the only 
son, and Mrs. Rachel Wagner, of Dayton, is 
the only daughter. Mrs. Ann Webbert, had, 
however, prior to her union with Melchor 
Webbert, borne to her former husband one 
daughter, now Mrs. Catherine Long, of Dayton. 

Henry Webbert was educated in Dayton, 
and at the age of seventeen years became an 
apprentice to the carpenter's trade, at which 
he served until he became fully competent to 
superintend the construction of buildings, and 
when twenty years old began his life work, 
which has consisted chiefly in contracting and 
building in Dayton and neighboring cities and 
towns. For eight years past he has been en- 
gaged with his son in the plumbing business. 
For seven years he has been a director in the 
West Side Building & Loan association. 

The marriage of Mr. Webbert took place, 
in 1854, with Miss Cornelia Brooks, a native 
of New Jersey, but, at the time of marriage, a 



resident of Dayton, her parents having settled 
in this city more than half a century ago. To 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Webbert have been 
born three children — Charles is a plumber and 
gas-fitter of Dayton, and is married; Lucy A. 
is the wife of A. G. Feight, auditor of Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio; and William, a brick- 
work contractor, of Dayton, is unmarried. 

Mr. Webbert has been an eye-witness of 
the strong and healthy growth of his adopted 
city within the past half-century, and in this 
substantial growth he has himself been no 
small factor. Being a republican in politics, 
he has served for four years as a member of the 
city council, and has been a judge of election in 
his precinct for the past sixteen years; he was a 
charter member of Miami lodge No. 32, K. of P., 
and also charter member of Fraternal lodge No. 
510, I. O.O. F. Of the latter he is a past grand, 
and he is likewise a member of Gem City lodge 
No. 34, Knights and Ladies of Honor. In this 
fraternal work Mr. Webbert has been active 
and efficient in the performance of his duties. 
Mrs. Webbert is a consistent member of the 
Presbyterian church, while Mr. Webbert is 
liberal in his religious views and does not affil- 
iate with any particular congregation. He 
has, nevertheless, always led a correct and 
upright life, and his name is without stain or 
blemish, either as a business man or a citizen. 



eDWIN S. FAIR is a member of the 
Dayton police force, ranking as ser- 
geant, and has charge of the West 
Side precinct. He is a native of this 
city, born March 9, 1853, and is a son of 
Charles and Annie (Frederick) Fair, the for- 
mer a native of Maryland, and the latter of 
New Jersey. The father came to Dayton in 
1833, and was one of the early settlers. He was 
a carpenter by trade, following that occupation 
here for many years. He put character and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



323 



honesty into his building, and the old residents 
bear testimony as to his genuine worth and 
good qualities. He died February 3, 1894, in 
his seventy-eighth year. He had won Masonic 
honors, and stood well in the estimation of his 
fellow craftsmen. His wife died August 7, 
1889, leaving behind her a fragrant memory. 

Mr. Fair, the subject of this writing, was 
reared in Dayton until he was six years of age, 
when his parents removed to Huntington, Ind. 
Two years later they returned to Ohio and 
settled at Middletown, but the year 1869 saw 
them once more in this city. Mr. Fair was 
educated mainly in the schools at Middletown, 
and when his parents came back to Dayton 
the boy of sixteen thought it was time to care 
for himself. Accordingly he sought for em- 
ployment, finding it with S. N. Brown & Co., 
with whom he remained for six years. In 1875 
he secured a more desirable and profitable sit- 
uation with the firm of Pinneo & Daniels, with 
whom he continued until his appointment on 
the police force of the city, in the month of 
February, 1877. Here he found a field that 
affords room for the exercise of those qualities 
of activity and courage that are so pronounced 
in his make-up. As an officer of the police he 
has displayed great administrative abilities. 
These were recognized by his promotion to a 
sergeancy in 1886, and by his detail to the 
charge of the various precincts of the city in 
succession. He has been in control of every 
precinct except the first. In 1894 he was 
placed in his present position in charge of the 
West Side precinct. 

Officer Fair was married March 9, 1875, to 
Clarabell Arnold, daughter of David and Mary 
Arnold, old residents of this city. By this mar- 
riage he became the father of five children. 
The three elder children are boys, Edwin A., 
LeRoy, and Arthur B. ; the two younger being 
girls, Bessie and Katie. 

Officer Fair has been a faithful worker in 



several of the secret organizations of the city, 
being prominent in the Odd Fellows, which 
order he joined in 1882, and having been a 
member of the Knights of Honor for twelve 
years, and of the Knights of Pythias for eight 
years. He is also a recent member of the 
Modern Woodmen. In church relations he 
and his family are associated with the United 
Brethren denomination. 



eDWIN P. MATTHEWS, attorney-at- 
law, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city March 22, 1858, and is a son 
of Judge Fitzjames Matthews, of the 
superior court of Columbus, Ohio; his mother 
is Frances A., daughter of Thomas Parrott, 
one of the early pioneers of Dayton. 

Edwin P. Matthews was reared in Dayton, 
and received his early education in the public 
schools of that city, and afterward attended 
Kenyon college, being a member of the class 
of 1879. Later he read law in the office of 
Warren Munger, of Dayton, and was admitted 
to the bar May 5, 1880. He then formed a 
partnership with George O. Warrington, the 
firm continuing for about five years, since 
which time Mr. Matthews has practiced alone. 
In 1888 he was elected a member of the city 
council from the First ward, was re-elected in 
1890, and during the years 1889 and 1890 was 
president of the council. In 1892 he was a 
member of the board of deputy supervisors of 
elections of Montgomery county, and was 
appointed city solicitor May 1, 1895. Since 
October, 1894, he has been United States 
commissioner. 

Mr. Matthews was married October 12, 
1883, to Miss Edna M. Mills, a daughter of 
William M. Mills, of Dayton. To this mar- 
riage there have been born four children, 
named as follows: William Mills, Margaret 
A., Fitch James, and Edwin P., Jr. 



324 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



*y ^ ENRY ZWICK, prominent among the 
l'^ representative and progressive citizens 
P of Dayton, Ohio, is secretary and 
vice-president of the Zwick & Green- 
wald Wheel company, of which concern ex- 
tended mention is elsewhere made. Mr. Zwick 
was born in Dayton on July 5, 1855, and is the 
eldest son of the late Ernst and Sophia (Wilke) 
Zwick, of whom a biography will be found in 
this volume. The education of Henry Zwick 
was acquired in the public schools of his native 
city, in the Miami Commercial college, of Day- 
ton, and at the German Baptist college at 
Monee, 111. During the intervals of attending 
school and finishing his education Mr. Zwick 
worked in the factory, assisting his father, so 
as to become entirely acquainted with the busi- 
ness, not only in the manufacture of wheels 
and wheel stock, but also in the purchasing of 
timber, and later in selling the product on the 
road all over this country. After his father 
sold his interest in the Zwick, Pinneo & 
Daniels Wheel company and founded the 
Zwick & Greenwald Wheel company in 1881, 
Henry became a charter member of that com- 
pany, and was elected its secretary, which posi- 
tion he has held ever since, and in 1896 was 
elected vice-president. 

The Zwick & Greenwald Wheel company 
is one of the leading wheel manufactories of 
the country. Its business, founded on a solid 
footing by the elder Mr. Zwick, has continued 
to growand expand from year to year until it has 
reached mammoth proportions. While great 
credit is due and cheerfully given to the elder 
Mr. Zwick, for his sagacious management of the 
concern during its early years, yet much credit 
is also due to the excellent business qualifica- 
tions brought to bear upon the conduct of the 
business of the present time by its able secre- 
tary and vice-president. 

Mr. Zwick is a zealous member of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, and is president of the 



board of trustees of the Second German Bap- 
tist church (of the Regular Baptist denomina- 
tion), of Dayton. He is also president of the 
board of trustees of the German Baptist Pub- 
lication society with headquarters at Cleveland, 
Ohio, and is, as was his father before him, well 
and favorably known among the congregation 
at large. 

On December 26, 1876, Mr. Zwick was 
married to Miss Bertha, eldest daughter of 
Louis and Elizabeth Faul, of Dayton. Mrs. 
Zwick was born in Dayton, and was educated 
in the city schools, in which she was also a 
teacher for five years. To Mr. and Mrs. Zwick 
the following children have been born: Sophie 
E. , named for her grandmothers; Henry L. E., 
named for his father and grandfathers; Will- 
iam S. J., named for all his uncles; and Mary 
B., named for her mother and aunt. 



SEV. LEANDER S. KEYSER, A. M., 
B. D., managing editor of the Lu- 
theran Evangelist, published in Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Tuscarawas 
county, March 13, 1856, and is the eldest son 
of Prof. David and Barbara A. (Biddle) Key- 
ser, also natives of Tuscarawas county, and 
both of German descent. His maternal great- 
grandfather came directly from Germany, and 
settled in Chambersburg, Pa. His grandpar- 
ents came early in life to Ohio and settled in 
Tuscarawas county. 

Prof. David Keyser was educated in his 
native county, and for a number of years fol- 
lowed the vocation of teaching, combined with 
farming. Prior to the war of the Rebellion, 
he moved to Daviess county, Ind. , and there 
enlisted in the Ninety-first Indiana volunteer 
infantry, dying from rheumatic fever in 1863, 
while still in the service. His widow re-mar- 
ried, now bears the name of Wook, and is a 
resident of Elkhart county, Ind. Of the four 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



327 



children born to Prof. Keyser and wife — two 
sons and two daughters — the latter two died 
in infancy ; the survivors are Leander S. and 
his brother, Albert Keyser, who is engaged in 
mercantile business in Elkhart, Ind. 

Rev. Mr. Keyser received his elementary 
education in the district schools of his native 
county, and this was supplemented by a course 
in a select school in Shanesville, Ohio. At 
the age of sixteen he began teaching in the dis- 
trict schools near his home, doing this chiefly 
that he might acquire means more thoroughly 
to educate himself. He was a student at the 
Ohio Normal university, Ada, Ohio ; at the 
Indiana university, of Bloomington, and at the 
theological seminary connected with Witten- 
berg college, Springfield, Ohio, completing 
here a thorough and ample preparation for the 
Christian ministry. From that time he was 
engaged in ecclesiastical labors, until he was 
selected lor the position of managing editor of 
the Lutheran Evangelist in 1894. His first 
pastorate was at La Grange, Ind., where he 
remained two years ; he was then minister at 
Elkhart, Ind., for six years, and at Springfield, 
Ohio, for six years. The Lutheran Evangel- 
ist is one of the three principal publications of 
the Lutheran church of the general synod. 
This publication was established in 1876, and 
is published from Dayton, Ohio, and Wash- 
ington, D. O, the senior editor of the journal, 
Rev. J. G. Butler, D. D., being a resident of 
the latter city. Mr. Keyser has general con- 
trol of the interests of the Evangelist. 

Mr. Keyser has always been allied with the 
republican party, although never aggressive in 
his political views. In this he has followed in 
the footsteps of his honored father, who was 
with that party from the date of its organiza- 
tion. He is a prohibitionist from settled con- 
viction, though he has never thought it wise 
to affiliate with the political movement of that 
name. He has been from a boy earnest and 



strenuous in advocating temperance and so- 
briety, and his voice and pen are still active in 
supporting his views. He received the degree 
of bachelor of divinity from his alma mater, 
Wittenberg seminary, and that of master of 
arts was conferred by both the Ohio Normal 
university and Wittenberg college. Mr. Key- 
ser is a frequent contributor to the public 
press, and his articles are both timely and in- 
teresting. He is the author of three books that 
have been widely read. One is a theolog- 
ical novel, entitled "The Only Way Out," 
which first appeared in 1890. The second is 
called " Bird-Dom," and came from the press 
of the D. Lothrop company, Boston, and a 
third, " In Bird Land," was published in 1894 
by A. C. McClurg & Co.. at Chicago. This 
volume has recently been adopted as the natural 
history text -book by the Ohio Teachers' Read- 
ing Circle, an organization formed among the 
teachers of the state. 

Rev. L. S. Keyser was married at Elkhart, 
Ind., November 18, 1879, to Miss Mary C. 
Foltz, a native of that city. She is a woman 
of character and ability. To this happy union 
have been born three sons — Ort A., Dor- 
ner L., and Teddie S. 



aARL FREIGAU is one of the broad- 
minded and progressive German- 
American citizens of Dayton , who 
have done so much to make south- 
western Ohio rich and prosperous. This sec- 
tion of the country owes lasting and deep obli- 
gations to this enterprising and honorable class, 
and no small share of its debt in certain re- 
gards is due to Mr. Freigau, who is secretary 
of the Poland China Record, and editor of the 
Chester White, a periodical published annu- 
ally. He is a native of the province of Bran- 
denburg, Germany, was born June 17, 1848, 
and was educated at the agricultural college at 



!28 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Wittenberg, in the thoroughly practical and 
efficient methods characteristic of German in- 
struction. 

Mr. Freigau came to this country in 
and devoted some time to travel throughout 
the United States, seeking to know the land 
and to familiarize himself with its habits and 
customs before entering into business. He 
somewhat accidentally drifted into his present 
business, that of sketching live stock and pre- 
paring pedigrees, and in [876 established the 
business of recording thoroughbred hogs. This 
at first included the records of Europe, especi- 
ally of Germany. This part of the business 
was, however, discontinued when a record was 
established across the water. Mr. Freigau lo- 
cated in this city in 1881, previously spending 
his time traveling among the breeders of thor- 
oughbred stock in different sections of the 
country. The Record was established in 1876, 
and the work of gathering data was commenced. 
This work occupied two years and the first 
record appeared in 1878, since which time one 
book has appeared each year. The Chester 
White Record was established in 1885, and a 
volume has appeared biennially since that date. 
In the compilation and publication of this ex- 
tensive and valuable work Mr. Freigau has 
taken the initiative, and has no doubt accom- 
plished more toward the establishment of re- 
liable pedigrees of stock than any other man 
in America. Competent assistants are em- 
ployed, and the publication of these volumes is 
had by contract in periods of five years or less. 

Mr. Freigau was married in this city, in 
1876, to Miss Alice Woodman, a member of 
one of the pioneer families of Montgomery 
county, where she was born. They are the 
parents of five children, all living at home. 
John, the first-born son, is in his father's busi- 
ness, while Earnest, the second son, is an ap- 
prenl il a mechanical trade; Charles is at 
wi irk in a grocery, and Roy and Ivy are still at 



school. Mr. Freigau is liberal in his religious 
views, and was reared in the Lutheran faith. 
He holds himself independent in his political 
associations, and asks for the best men and 
measures, irrespective of party stamp. His 
parents never crossed the ocean, but lived al- 
ways in Germany, where his father was a pros- 
perous dairyman, and lived to round out his 
seventy-fourth year. Mother Freigau survives 
at a ripe old age, full of years and honor. Her 
son, our subject, is the only representative of 
his family that has ever come to this country, 
two brothers and two sisters still living in the 
fatherland. 



aHARLES EUGENE ROWE, secre- 
tary of the Dayton board of water 
works trustees, was born on a farm 
just west of the city of Dayton, May 
12, 1857, being the son of William H. and 
Clarissa S. (Norris) Rowe, both of whom were 
born in Baltimore, Md., where they were 
reared to mature years. After their marriage, 
in their- native city, they turned their faces 
westward, taking up their abode in Cincinnati 
about the year 1845. There the father, who 
was a man of signal business ability and unim- 
peachable integrity, engaged in the pork pack- 
ing business, which he continued until the 
memorable gold excitement, which drew so 
many to California in 1S49, so affected him 
that he became one of the argonauts of that 
year, spending some time in the gold fields of 
the far western state. His first trip was made 
overland, and was attended with the vicissi- 
tudes and dangers incidental to the long and 
wearisome journeys over mountain and plain 
in those early days. He subsequently made a 
second trip by land, and his third trip to the 
Golden state was made by water, via Cape 
Horn. For a time he was engaged in street 
contracting in San Francisco, but finally longed 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



329 



to return to the scenes of an older civilization, 
and accordingly retraced his steps to Ohio. 
He located on a farm near Dayton, devoting 
his attention to its cultivation until 1869, when 
he took up his residence in this city, where he 
was for a number of years engaged in business. 
While still residing on his farm, he was called 
upon to serve in the capacity of justice of the 
peace, and he was also incumbent as infirmary 
director of Montgomery count}' for two terms. 
His patriotism was manifested at the time of 
the Mexican war, in which he rendered loyal 
and effective service. The death of William 
H. Rowe occurred in Dayton on New Year's 
eve of the year 1S86, at which time he was in 
his sixty-fourth year. His life had been one 
of close application and much usefulness, and 
in his demise the community mourned the loss 
of a good man and valued citizen. His widow 
still survives, retaining her residence in the 
city of Dayton. 

Charles E. Rowe passed his childhood days 
in the parental home near Dayton, until the 
age of twelve years, when his parents removed 
to the city. Here he attended the public 
schools, and in 1876 supplemented this train- 
ing by a special course of study in the Miami 
Commercial college located here. Prior to 
this he had assumed practical responsibilities, 
having, in 1872, secured a position as errand 
boy in the dry-goods establishment of Prugh, 
Spielman & Prugh, on Third street. In 1874, 
he entered the employ of Webbert, Jones & 
Co., coal dealers, and held a clerical position 
at their yards, located at the corner of Third 
and Montgomery streets. He remained with 
this firm about three and one-half years, at 
the expiration of which period the business was 
purchased by E. O. Yaile, who was a teacher 
in the public schools of Cincinnati. The pro- 
prietor entrusted the business to the charge of 
Mr. Rowe, who, in 1880, associated himself 
with C. E. Lighthall and effected the purchase 



of the enterprise with which he had so long 
been identified. This association continued 
until 1882, when Mr. Lighthall purchased his 
partner's interest, after which Mr. Rowe was 
in the employ of the Bradstreet Mercantile 
agency about six months. Subsequently he 
again became identified with the coal business, 
associating himself with John A. Murphy, with 
whom he continued until May 1, 1887, when 
he was appointed assistant secretary of the city 
water department of Dayton. This place he 
retained until April 19, 1S90, when he received 
deserved promotion, being chosen as secretary 
to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of 
C. A. Herbig, who was then appointed city 
auditor and who is at the present time city 
comptroller. On May 1, 1896, Mr. Rowe is 
now serving his tenth year as assistant and 
secretary of this- department of municipal af- 
sairs, and within this period the earnings of 
the department have heen increased from $56,- 
000 to $305,000, while the pipe mileage has 
been extended from thirty-seven to 100 miles. 
Mr. Rowe is a member of the American Water 
Works association, and of the American So- 
ciety of Municipal Improvements. 

Mr. Rowe is a stalwart supporter of the 
democratic party, and has been an active 
worker in the cause. He has served as a mem- 
ber of both the city and count}' executive com- 
mittees of his party, having held these two 
places simultaneously, while he is also promi- 
nently identified with several political clubs. In 
his fraternal relations he is a member of Lin- 
den lodge No. 412, K. of P., of which he was 
one of the organizers, and in which he has 
passed all the chairs, having held the offices of 
past chancellor, representative and district dep- 
uty grand chancellor at the same time, and be- 
ing now master of exchequer of the lodge. He 
was originally a member of Iola lodge No. 83. 
He is also a member of Gem City lodge No. 
795, I. O. O. F., of court No. 1000, Inde- 



330 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



pendent Order of Foresters, and of Columbia 
lodge No. 1280, Knights and Ladies of Honor. 

Mr. Rowe was married on the 27th of March, 
1879, to Miss Jennie K. Taylor, daughter of C. 
W. Taylor, of Xenia, Ohio. They are the par- 
ents of four children, two of whom are deceased 
—Harry E. and Helen E. having died in in- 
fancy. The surviving children are Hazel 
Aletha and Mildred Catherine. Mildred re- 
ceived her name under somewhat peculiar cir- 
cumstances. The water board of Dayton was 
assembled in the tower on the American side at 
Niagara Falls, and here decided by vote what 
should be the name borne by the little daughter 
of their popular secretary, the result being as 
noted. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rowe are members of the 
Reformed church, having been identified with 
the First Reformed church from about 1881 
until 1895, when they became members of the 
Memorial Reformed church, upon presentation 
of their letters from the former organization. 
Mr. Rowe was a member of the building com- 
mittee of the Memorial church edifice, having 
acted as treasurer of the committee while the 
building was in progress of erection, and being 
at present the treasurer of the church society. 
He and his wife enjoy a deserved popularity in 
the social circles of Dayton, having a wide 
acquaintance and dispensing a most cordial 
and gracious hospitality at their attractive 
home. 



sr 



'ILLIAM KEIFER CALLAHAN, 
junior member of the firm of W. P. 
Callahan & Co., and one of the 
well-known young manufacturers of 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in this city on Janu- 
ary 8, 1864, and is the son of William P. Cal- 
lahan, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in 
this volume. Mr. Callahan was educated in 
the Dayton public schools and at the Massa- 



chusetts Institute of Technology at Boston, 
taking a course in mechanical engineering at 
the latter. He entered the shops of W. P. 
Callahan & Co. as an apprentice in 1884, and 
the following year, upon attaining his majority, 
he was taken into the firm. Notwithstanding 
his admission to the firm, he continued and 
completed his apprenticeship, and then entered 
the office. He is vice-president of the Gem 
City Building association. In 1891 Mr. Calla- 
han was married to Miss Lida Ohmer, daugh- 
ter of George Ohmer, of Dayton, and they 
are the parents of one daughter — Charlotte. 
Mr. Callahan is a member of the Masonic 
order, including the Knights Templar and 
Thirty-second degree Scottish rite and the 
Mystic Shrine. He is also a charter member 
of the Elks society. 



>-j»AMES B. HUNTER, county commis- 
■ sioner of Montgomery county, was born 
m 1 in Berks county, Pa., September 23, 
1 84 1. His parents were Jacob and 
Matilda (Boyer) Hunter, both of whom were 
natives of Berks county, Pa., and who, in 
1852, brought their family to Ohio, locating in 
Jefferson township, Montgomery county. They 
are now both deceased. Their lives were 
marked by industry and economy, virtues 
which were encouraged and stimulated by the 
surroundings of those days. 

James B. Hunter was eleven years old when 
he came with his parents to Montgomery 
county. Here he grew upon his father's farm 
in Jefferson township, and received his educa- 
tion in the common schools. Remaining on 
the farm until 1861 he then enlisted in com- 
pany D, Thirty-ninth regiment, Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and served in that organization for 
three years in the south and west, being at- 
tached to the army of the Tennessee most 
of the time. His term of enlistment expiring 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



331 



in 1864, he was honorably discharged. Dur- 
ing his war experience he was twice wounded, 
once at Dallas, Ga., in the foot, and again be- 
fore Atlanta, where he received a gun-shot 
wound in the right arm. 

After leaving the army Mr. Hunter spent a 
little over a year in Nashville, Tenn., where 
he war. connected with the railroad commissary 
department. Immediately after the war closed 
he spent two years in Louisiana, engaged in 
the work of constructing levees on the Missis- 
sippi river. Returning then to Montgomery 
county he was engaged for eighteen years in 
teaching school and in farming. In 1887 he 
was elected a member of the board of county 
commissioners, and served for three years. In 
1 89 1 he was again elected for a similar term, 
and in 1984 he was again re-elected, his pres- 
term of office expiring in 1897. 

Mr. Hunter owns a farm in Jefferson town- 
ship. He was married in 1868 to Catherine 
Johnson, who died in 1874, leaving one son, 
Leslie. Mr. Hunter was married the second 
time, in 1876, to Miss Rebecca Beachley, by 
whom he has had two children, Edgar and 
Vernon. He is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias, and of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic. Mr. Hunter has lived in Montgomery 
county practically the whole of his life, is well- 
known by most of its citizens, and being hon- 
ored as he has been by repeated election to re- 
sponsible positions, it is clear that the people 
fully appreciate his integrity and honesty of 
character. 



>-j*OHN McGREGOR, vice-president of 
M the Crawford, McGregor & Canby com- 
/• 1 pany, manufacturers of lasts, was born 
three miles east of Dayton, November 
4, 1836. His father, Thomas McGregor, came 
from Scotland, in 1828, landing in Nova Scotia 
and remaining there two years, and in 1830 



came to the United States, locating in Little 
Beaver, Pa., where he gained employment in 
a paper-mill, he being a papermaker by the old 
hand process. While in this position he 
learned that he could secure a place as fore- 
man for Phillips & Alexander, whose mill was 
one-half mile west of Harries station, and ac- 
cordingly he left Little Beaver in 1834, re- 
moving to Montgomery county. After eight 
years of service with Phillips & Alexander, he 
operated a woolen mill at a point two miles 
from Tippecanoe, Miami county, for two years, 
and returning to Montgomery county pur- 
chased the Phillips & Alexander mill, of which 
he had been foreman, and moved it to Dayton 
in 1848. Mr. McGregor died in Dayton in 
1866, in his seventieth year. 

His wife was Janet Watson, of Scotland, 
their marriage taking place in 1818. Her 
death occurred in 1874, in her seventy-seventh 
year. One of their sons, Thomas McGregor, 
together with Joseph Parrott, under the firm 
name of Parrott & MeGregor, originated what 
is now the W. P. Callahan Co., manufactur- 
ers of cotton seed oil machinery, steam engines, 
etc., Mr. McGregor selling his interest in the 
firm in 1868. He died in 1893. 

John McGregor grew to manhood in Day- 
ton and was educated in the public schools of 
that city. He was a member of the first class 
in the Central high school, which was estab- 
lished under a resolution adopted by the board 
of education, April 5. 1850, and was opened 
on April 15, in the northeastern district school- 
house, with James Campbell as its principal. 
Leaving school at the age of fifteen years, 
young McGregor went to work in his father's 
mill, where he remained for four years, and 
then served an apprenticeship at pattern mak- 
ing with the firm of Thompson, McGregor & 
Co. (now W. P. Callahan & Co.). Following 
his apprenticeship he secured a position in the 
spring of 1859 with the firm of Crawford & 



332 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Stilwell, proprietors of the factory established 
by A. & Z. Crawford. Remaining in the em- 
ploy of this company as a workman until 1870, 
when Mr. Stilwell retired from the linn. Mr. 
McGregor was made foreman of the factory, 
and in 1874 was made a partner in the firm of 
Crawford, Coffman & Co. 

In 1886 Edward Canby became a member 
of the company, purchasing the interest of Mr. 
Coffman, and the title of the firm' then became 
Crawford, McGregor & Canby, and so con- 
tinued until March, 1896, when the company 
was incorporated under the name of the Craw- 
ford, McGregor & Canby company, with Mr. 
McGregor as vice-president and general man- 
ager. In all of the positions which Mr. Mc- 
Gregor has held, he has proved his skill as a 
mechanic and his ability and sound judgment 
as a man of business. 

Mr. McGregor was married in 1861 to Sa- 
rah Doyle, who was born in Shelby, Ohio, in 
1 84 1, and is a daughter of Mrs. Lucy Doyle. 
To this marriage there have been born two 
children — Mary and John Watson. Mr. Mc- 
Gregor is a member of the Memorial Presby- 
terian church, which was organized in 1868 as 
a New School body of that denomination. 
Since 1857 Mr. McGregor has been an Odd 
Fellow, and is now a member of Wayne lodge 
No. 10, which was chartered in 1840. His 
life has been one of untiring industry, and his 
integrity of character and good citizenship 
have earned for him a high place in the esteem 
of the entire community. 



lS~\ ENJAMIN F. HERSHEV, a promi- 
1<^^ nent attorney of Dayton, Ohio, was 
JK^J born in Medway, Clarke county, Ohio, 
August ii, 1853. He is a son of 
John and Christiana (Hocker) Hershey, the 
former of whom was a native of Lancaster 
county, Pa., and came to Ohio with his par- 



ents, Jacob Hershey and wife, in 1835, and 
located in Clarke county. The latter was a 
native of Dauphin county, Pa., and came to 
( »lii' 1 with her parents, John Horker and wife, 
and located in Randolph township, Montgom- 
ery county, being among the early settlers. 
There being no railroad, they were compelled 
to come in wagons, being twenty-three days 
upon the journey. 

When Benjamin F. Hershey was two years 
old, his parents removed to Randolph town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, where they 
had been married, they having lived in Clarke 
county from their marriage to that time. At 
present they are residing on a farm on the 
Dayton and Covington turnpike, near the town 
of Union, purchased by John Hershey in 1866. 
John Hershey in his early days was a miller 
by occupation, but in his later years, since 
purchasing the above farm, has been one of 
the successful farmers of Randolph township. 
In politics he has always been a strong repub- 
lican. John Hocker and Catharine, his wife, 
parents of Christiana, were influential citizens 
of Randolph township, noted for their industry 
and thrift, and for their high moral and chris- 
tian characters. 

Benjamin F. Hershey received his early 
education in the district school at Union, 
Montgomery county, and began teaching school 
when nineteen years of age. He successfully 
followed the profession of teaching for eighl 
years. He then attended the Ohio State uni- 
versity at Columbus and the Ohio Wesleyan 
university at Delaware; began reading law in 
1 S8j with Craighead & Craighead in Dayton, 
passed the junior examination in the Cincin- 
nati Law school at Cincinnati, graduated from 
that institution in 18S4. and was admitted to 
the bar. Soon afterward he began the p 
tice of law in Dayton, and continued for one 
year, when he received the appointment of 
chief deputy under Sheriff Weis, and remained 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



333 



in that position until January I, 1S86. Since 
then he has been continuously engaged in the 
practice of law, and has built up a lucrative 
practice in his profession. 

Mr. Hershey was married in April, 1892, 
to Minnie E., oneof the daughters of Chap- 
lain William Earnshaw, D. D., who was 
chaplain of the National Military home at 
Dayton, Ohio, from September, 1867, until 
his death. Mr. Hershey is a member of the 
board of education of Dayton, a thirty-second 
degree Mason, a Knight Templar, and a mem- 
ber of the Royal Arcanum. 



@EORGE O. WARRINGTON, a prom- 
inent young member of the Dayton 
bar, was born at South Charleston, 
Clarke county, Ohio, March 3, 1855, 
and is a son of Francis Warrington. The 
Warrington family came originally from Man- 
chester, England, near which city is a manu- 
facturing town by the name of Warrington, 
about half way between Manchester and Liver- 
pool, and it is possible at least that there is 
some connection between the name of the fam- 
ily of which Mr. Warrington is a member, and 
the town of the same name. Oswald War- 
rington was the first of the name to emigrate 
to the United States, coming to this country 
about 1 8 19. 

George O. Warrington was reared in South 
Charleston, and there, in the public schools, 
received his preliminary educational training. 
After completing his studies there he entered 
the Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware, 
Ohio, in 1872, and was graduated from that 
institution in 1876. During the first part of 
January, 1877, he located in Dayton and be- 
gan reading law in the office of Warren Munger, 
now deceased, but then one of the leading 
lawyers of Dayton. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1879, remaining, however, with Mr. 



Munger until 1S80, when he formed a partner- 
ship with Edwin P. Matthews, under the firm 
name of Warrington & Matthews. This firm 
continued in existence until 1885, when it was 
dissolved, and since then Mr. Warrington has 
practiced alone, with gratifying success. 

Mr. Warrington is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity. He was married in August, 
1879, to Miss Mary M. Work, of Lancaster, 
Ohio, and a daughter of John Work. To this 
marriage there have been born four children, 
only one of whom, a daughter named Louise, 
now survives. 

Mr. Warrington is a lawyer of ability and 
safe judgment. His professional standing is of 
the highest, and his personal character beyond 
reproach. His colleagues at the bar regard 
Mr. Warrington with a large degree of trust 
and confidence. 



aHARLES WHEALEN, Ohio division 
manager, and manager of the Dayton 
mills, of the American Strawboard 
company, was born in Franklin coun- 
ty, Pa., September 17, 1844, a son of Bernard 
and Catherine Whealen, and was but twelve 
years of age when he came to Huffersville, 
Montgomery county, Ohio. Here, in the 
spring of 1857, he entered the service of Clark 
& Hawes, who established the first strawboard 
mill erected west of the Alleghany mountains, 
and, with the exception of nine months, Mr. 
Whalen has ever since been with this concern, 
the firm name having several times been 
changed. He began at a compensation of 
$2.50 per week, and worked his way upward 
until he became one-third owner, the business 
being then carried on under the title of the 
C. L. Hawes company, which was later merged 
into the American Strawboard company, of 
which organization he became a member in 
July, is;- 



334 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Whealen is one of the most active and 
enterprising business men of the state of Ohio. 
He was one of the organizers of the Dayton 
Ice Manufacturing & Cold Storage company, 
of which he is president, and also of the Crys- 
tal Ice Manufacturing & Cold Storage com- 
pany, of Columbus, of which he is vice-presi- 
dent and director. He assisted in organizing 
the Dayton Brewing company, and is its pres- 
ident; aided in the organization of the Ameri- 
can Casket company, of Cincinnati, and is its 
president; is a stockholder in the Siebold Ma- 
chine company, of Dayton; is president of and 
stockholder in the Heikes Hand Protective 
company, of Dayton, and a director in the 
Teutonia National bank, of the same city. 
Fraternally, he is a member of Montgomery 
lodge No. 5, I. O. O. F., of the B. & P. O. E., 
and of the Social Aid society. 

The marriage of Mr. Whealen was solem- 
nized in Dayton, January 2, 1 872, with Miss Liz- 
zie Corson, daughter of James Corson. Their 
family consists of four daughters — Blanche, 
Glenn, Elizabeth and Rhoda. Mr. Whealen, 
as will have been seen, is the "architect of his 
own fortune;" he is public-spirited and liberal, 
and is one of the most substantial business 
men of the Gem City. 



S^\ RAFTON CLAGETT KENNEDY, a 
■ ^\ prominent attorney of Dayton, Ohio, 

\^^J was born in Harrison township, Mont- 
gomery county, on the farm where 
his grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, settled in 
1807. The Kennedy family came originally 
from Scotland, and settled in South Carolina; 
from that state they removed to Pennsylvania, 
and it was from near Shippensburg, Cumber- 
land county, that state, that Joseph Kennedy, 
the grandfather of Grafton C, came to Ohio, 
settling on a farm of 300 acres, four miles 



north of Dayton, which he had purchased 
from a cousin, the original owner of the land. 
There Joseph Kennedy remained the rest 
of his life, dying about 1854, at the age of 
eighty years. His wife was Nancy Kerr, who, 
like himself, was of Scotch descent, and who 
died in 1 86 1 . To them there were born three 
sons and one daughter, the daughter dying 
about 1855. The eldest son, Gilbert Kennedy, 
was a very prominent lawyer of Dayton and 
Cincinnati, and died sometime during the 
eighties. The surviving sons are John and 
Joseph, both farmers, the latter being the fa- 
ther of Grafton C. 

Joseph Kennedy was instrumental in raising 
a company for the One Hundred and Thirty- 
second regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
drilled his company for some time on the fair 
grounds. The understanding was that the one 
reporting to camp the largest number of en- 
listed men, should receive the colonelcy of the 
regiment. Mr. Kennedy reported the largest 
number of men present, and was thus, as he 
thought, entitled to the commission; but an- 
other reported a larger number of men enrolled 
for his company, though not all enrolled were 
present in person, and this man received the 
commission. The failure of Mr. Kennedy to 
become commander of the regiment was a great 
disappointment to him as well as to the men he 
had raised for his company, but-notwithstand- 
ing this he was willing to serve in any other 
capacity and to go to the front with the regi- 
ment; but the governor of the state, becoming 
aware of the true state of the case, thought it 
best that he be given an honorable discharge, 
and be permitted to return home, and this 
was done. 

Joseph Kennedy married Catharine Clag- 
ett, a native of Maryland, whose father, 
Grafton A. Clagett, was also a native of that 
state. Her death occurred in 1866, she leav- 
ing three children as follows: Grafton Clag- 





-&. 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



337 



ett, Gilbert, now deceased, and Caroline, 
now Mrs. Edward Martin, of Milwaukee. 

Grafton Clagett Kennedy was born March 
ii, 1859, and received his early education in 
the common schools, which he attended dur- 
ing their regular sessions and occupied himself 
during vacations with work upon the farm. 
When he reached his thirteenth year he entered 
the public schools of Dayton, and studied in 
them two years. In his fifteenth year he 
entered the preparatory department of Wit- 
tenberg college, in which institution he spent 
five years, and where he was graduated in 
June, 1879, with the degree of bachelor of 
arts. From this college he subsequently re- 
ceived the honorary degree of master of arts. 
In September, 1879, he entered as a student 
the law office of Conover & Conover. Here 
he remained one year, and then read law two 
years in the office of Warren Munger, now 
deceased. In May, 1882, he was admitted to 
the bar, and in February, 1883, he opened an 
office and began the practice of his profession. 
In March, 1883, he was appointed United 
States commissioner at Dayton for the south- 
ern district of Ohio, and held this position 
until October, 1894, when he resigned. 

Mr. Kennedy practiced law alone until May, 
1888, when a partnership was formed between 
himself and Warren Munger, his former pre- 
ceptor, under the firm name of Munger & 
Kennedy. On January 1, 1893, the firm be- 
came Munger, Kennedy & Munger, Harry 
L. Munger, son of Warren Munger, being 
admitted to the firm. This partnership con- 
tinued until about June 1, 1894, when War- 
ren Munger died, and since that time the 
firm has been Kennedy & Munger. Mr. Ken- 
nedy is an elder in the Third street Presby- 
terian church. He was married April 30, 1889, 
to Miss Louise Achey, a daughter of the late 
John J. Achey. To this marriage there have 
been born one daughter and one son, viz: 



Catherine Louise, and Grafton Sherwood. Mr. 
Kennedy has not yet reached the prime of his 
manhood and his strength, and while his suc- 
cess in the difficult profession of the law has 
been most satisfactory to himself and gratify- 
ing to his friends, it is probable that even 
greater success awaits him in the future. 



eDWARD B. WESTON, president of 
the Weston Paper Manufacturing 
company of Dayion, Ohio, and secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Weston 
Paper company, of the same city, was born in 
Bloomington, 111., October 6, 1863. His 
father, John G. Weston, was born at Calais, 
Washington, county, Me., and was a son of 
Irish parents.' Removing to Dayton, Ohio, in 
the early 'sixties, he was here married to Miss 
Louise M. Aull, a native of Dayton, and a 
daughter of Nicholas and Julia A. G. Aull, 
pioneer citizens of Dayton. From this city 
John G. Weston and his wife removed to 
Bloomington, 111., not many months before 
Edward B. was born. Mr. Weston was a 
printer by trade, and while in Dayton was 
connected with the city's newspapers. He is 
well remembered by the local profession. Fol- 
lowing the newspaper business in Bloomington 
until the close of the war of the Rebellion, he 
then returned to Dayton and died there in 
1867, his widow still residing in Dayton. 

Edward B. Weston received his education 
in the public schools of Dayton, attending the 
Sixth district school and afterward the inter- 
mediate school. When he was eleven years of 
age he went to work in the notion house of 
Ewald &Wiggim, and remained in the employ 
of the successor of this firm, T. C. Wiggim. 
His employer becoming insolvent, Mr. Weston 
then went to work for the Augustus Sharp dry- 
goods store, with which he remained about six 
months, when he left to go with T. C. Wiggim 



338 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



to Emporia, Kan., where Mr. Wiggim was the 
manager for E. C. Nichols. With this firm Mr. 
Weston remained about two years, a part of 
the time in Emporia, a part of the time in 
Wichita, and at the end of this period the con- 
cern was closed out. For a year or so he re- 
mained in the west, in Kansas, in Texas, and 
in the territories, still in the employ of Mr. 
Wiggim, who was conducting a general mer- 
chandise business at various points. 

Returning to Dayton in 1876, Mr. Weston 
entered the employ of R. A. Rogers & Co., 
proprietors of a paper store, and while there 
began to learn the business. After remaining 
with Mr. Rogers for about eight months, he 
went to Hoglen Bros., in the hard wood lum- 
ber, saw-mill and timber business, to take 
charge of their wood department and teams, 
and remained with them two years. At the 
end of this time he retired from their employ 
and went on a farm for one season, and during 
the same fall followed a threshing machine. 
Returning to 1 Jayton he entered the employ of 
the John W. Stoddard Manufacturing com- 
pany, and remained there for about two years. 
Then, going on the road as salesman of 
specialities and general paper lines for R. A. 
Rogers &.Co., he continued thus engaged un- 
til 1S82, when he became connected with Anil 
Bros. , paper dealers, and remained on the 
road for them until Ma) 1 , 1887. At this time 
Mr. Weston entered upon the wholesale paper 
business at No. 136 East Second street, under 
the firm name of E. B. Weston & Co., the 
company being nominal, and here he carried on 
business until 1889, when he removed to No. 
104 North Main street and continued there in 

vholesale paper business and in the manu- 
facture of patented paper specialities. 

In 1893 Mr. Weston organized the Weston 

Paper company, and erected a straw wrapping 

r null at Greenfield, Ind., in the Indiana 

In 1 Sn 1 he secured the incorpora- 



tion of the Weston Paper & Manufacturing 
company, taking in a number of his old em- 
ployees as members of the company, and these 
two companies are still in active operation and 
conducting a successful business. 

Mr. Weston was married in 1886 to 
Blanche Phillips, daughter of Theodore A. 
Phillips, of Dayton. Two daughters have been 
born to this marriage, Irma Delight and Mar- 
guerite Louise. Mr. Weston is a member of 
Hope lodge. Knights of Pythias, and also ma- 
jor of the uniform rank, in the same order. 
He is also a member of the Order of Elks No. 
58, of the Dayton club, arid of the Dayton 
Bicycle club. Mr. Weston served five years 
in the old Harris Guards, of Dayton, as a mem- 
ber of company A. In religion he is a member 
of the Protestant Episcopal church. 

As a republican Mr. Weston has been and 
is quite active in politics, but he has never held 
nor sought office. A successful business man 
of irreproachable character, he enjoys the 
confidence and esteem of all. 




EDWARD E. EUCHENHOFER, a 

member of the firm of Weinman & 
Euchenhofer, machinists, at 20 and 
22 North Canal street, was born in 
Dayton October 3, 1852, and is a son of Fred- 
erick H. and Caroline (Disher) Euchenhofer. 
In 1888, E. E. Euchenhofer, in partner- 
ship with C. ] . Weinman, founded the Novelty 
Machine works, on St. Clair street, Dayton, 
and under that name the business was con- 
ducted seven years, when it was incorporated 
under the name of the Dayton Gas & Gaso- 
line Engine company, but a year later was 
changed to tin: Dayton Gas Engine & Manu- 
facturing company, the concern being con- 
verted into a joint stock company, with a 
capital of $40,000, and officered with E. E. 
Euchenhofer as president. The present firm 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



;;a«i 



of Weinman & Euchenhofer was formed in 
May, 1896. 

Frederick H. Euchenhofer, father of Ed- 
ward E. , was born in Switzerland about the 
year 1812, and at the age of twenty years 
came to America; for a few years he lived in 
one of the eastern states, and in 1S36 came to 
Ohio, established a bakery and confectionery 
in Miamisburg, Montgomery county, carried 
on a successful trade until 1848, and then set- 
tled in Dayton. Here he purchased the old 
Columbus house, and carried on a hotel until 
1863, at the same time operating the Third 
street brewery, which he sold in 1867; for the 
next five years he operated the old Tate mill, 
and then re-purchased the Third street brew- 
ery, which he operated until within a few 
months of his death. He was a thorough 
business man, and always ready to lend his aid 
to enterprises that might benefit not himself 
only, but his fellow-citizens. He was one of 
the charter members of, and a director in, the 
Teutonia Insurance company of Dayton, which 
is one of the most successful, yet conservative, 
financial institutions of the city, having been 
brought to its present strength through the 
sound judgment and business sagacity of Mr. 
Euchenhofer and his associates. 

Fraternally, Frederick H. Euchenhofer 
was an Odd Fellow and a member of the 
Harugari; in religion he was a Lutheran, and 
in politics he was a republican. He had been 
twice married, and to his first union was born 
one child — Albert — who died in February, 
1892. His second marriage took place in 
Dayton with Miss Caroline Disher, who was 
born in Germany, but was only three years of 
age when brought to Fort Jennings, Putnam 
county, Ohio, by her parents. To this union 
were born ten children, in the following order: 
Rudolph, deceased: Edward E., whose name 
opens this memoir; Sabina, deceased; Otto, a 
brewer, of Dayton; Julia, wife of Russell 



Bates, also of Dayton; Katie, married to 
Henry Godle, of Peoria, 111. ; Ida, Hugo and 
Frederick, all three deceased, and Alexander. 
The mother of the family still survives, but 
the father died in Dayton February 7, 1892, 
at the advanced age of eighty years, honored 
by all with whom he had come in contact, 
whether in business or in fraternal and social 
relations. 

Edward E. Euchenhofer was educated in 
the public schools of Dayton until fourteen 
years of age, when he entered the employ of 
Mr. Mueller, first as errand boy, and afterward 
as clerk, until seventeen years old, when he 
began an apprenticeship with Brownell & 
Kielmeier, manufacturers of engines. With 
this firm he remained five years, acquiring a 
full knowledge of machinery and becoming an 
expert in the manufacture and construction of 
steam engines in every detail. His next step 
was to enter into business on his own account, 
but at the end of two years he abandoned this 
to engage in the dry goods and notion trade. 
After a year thus spent, he returned to his 
former employers, for whom he did faithful 
service for several years; was next appointed 
assistant engineer of the city water-works, and 
nine months later was appointed chief engi- 
neer, holding this responsible position for five 
years. While serving in this capacity, Mr. 
Euchenhofer invented and patented an auto- 
matic device for boilers, for feeding boiler scale 
solvents, and this patent has, by reason of its 
acknowledged efficiency, met an extensive sale 
throughout the country. His next step in 
business was the formation of a partnership 
with Mr. Weinman in the enterprises above 
mentioned. Messrs. Euchenhofer & \\ 
man are the inventors and patentees of many 
valuable devices in connection with engines 
and machinery. 

In politics Mr. Euchenhofer is a republican, 
and in societary relations he is a member of 



340 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the Order of Chosen Friends. His marriage 
took place November 9, 1877, to Miss Dora 
Makley, daughter of Frank Makley, and to 
them have been born five children, Adolph, 
Carl, Walter, Clara and Edna. The parents 
and children are all members of the Lutheran 
church. 



>*j* RUSSELL JOHNSTON, representa- 
■ tive merchant of Dayton, Ohio, and 
(• 1 member of the large dry-goods house of 
Elder & Johnston, was born in the year 
1854, in the town of Ayton, Berwickshire, 
Scotland. He began an apprenticeship at the 
dry-goods business as a clerk in a local store. 
He served as an apprentice for a term of five 
years, and continued for eighteen months 
afterward in the same establishment. He then 
came to the United States and entered the dry- 
goods store of Brown, Thompson & Co., of 
Hartford, Conn., where he continued for ten 
years. In 18S3, Mr. Johnston came to Day- 
ton, and in March of that year the present dry- 
goods establishment of Elder & Johnston was 
founded. Their first location was at Nos. 1 14 
and 1 16 East Third street, where they opened 
with a comparatively small stock, the firm's 
capital being limited. Two and a half years 
later the business had grown to such an extent 
that larger quarters were necessary, and the 
firm removed to Nos. 24 and 26 East Third 
street, where they conducted both a wholesale 
and retail business, employing eighty people 
in the establishment. The firm continued at 
the above stand until November, 1896, when 
they removed to the new Reibold building, on 
South Main street, where they occupy two 
floors and the basement with probably the 
largest stock of dry goods in the city. The in- 
tention of the firm is ultimately to develop 
their business into a department store, in which 
event it will be the first of the kind in Dayton. 



Mr. Johnston's success in life has been remark- 
able. He began his life work as a boy of four- 
teen years of age, as an apprentice, and now, 
as a man of only forty-two years, he has 
reached a position as equal partner in one of 
the largest and most successful dry-goods es- 
tablishments in western Ohio. This he has 
accomplished solely by his own efforts, having 
made his way in life unaided, relying entirely 
upon his industry and business ability. His 
life has been a most active one, and his labors 
in every capacity from that of apprentice to 
that of proprietor have met with deserved suc- 
cess. As an apprentice he was industrious, 
ambitious to learn and faithful to his employ- 
er's interests ; as a salesman he was thorough, 
painstaking and conscientious, striving always 
to promote the welfare of his employers and at 
the same time to advance his own. Since 
coming to Dayton and entering a mercantile 
career upon his own responsibility, Mr. John- 
ston has given all his time and attention to the 
upbuilding of his business, and the success that 
he has achieved is the natural result of energy, 
enterprise and splendid qualifications. Mr. 
Johnston is regarded as one of the representa- 
tive and progressive citizens of Dayton. His 
usefulness as a citizen has not been hampered 
by his devotion to business cares, and he has 
always stood ready to lend his aid and influ- 
ence to all movements having for their object 
the growth, development and advancement of 
his adopted city. 

He is a Mason of high degree, being past 
master of Mystic lodge No. 405 ; belongs to 
Unity chapter; is past eminent commander of 
Reed commandery, Knights Templar, and has 
attained the thirty-second degree in Scottish 
rite masonry. 

Mr. Johnston was married in 1877, in Hart- 
ford, Conn., to Miss Lizzie C. Purvis, and 
they are the parents of the following children: 
Edith, Mae and Russell Purvis. 








rrUiJrc-rL 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



343 



u 



'ILLIAM G. ZWICK, assistant sec- 
retary of the Zwick & Greenwald 
Wheel company, is a native of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born May 20, 1863, 
and is a son of Ernst and Sophie (Wilke) 
Zwick, the former of whom was the founder of 
the above named company. The Zwick & 
Greenwald Wheel company, at the corner of 
Huffman and Linden avenues, Dayton, Ohio, 
was established, in 1859, by Ernst Zwick (now 
deceased), at the corner of Wayne and Third 
streets, where it transacted business until 1890, 
when it was removed to its present location — 
the name the company now bears having been 
assumed in October, 1881. In 1892, a joint 
stock company was formed for the conduct of 
the business, although the company did not 
change its title, and the officers elected at that 
time were the following: Harman Rogge, presi- 
dent; Henry Zwick, secretary ; Frederick Rogge, 
treasurer — the stockholders being Henry Zwick, 
Jacob Greenwald, Harman Rogge, F. Kam- 
men, Samuel Zwick, Joseph Zwick and Fred 
Rogge. No change has since taken place 
among these stockholders, excepting that oc- 
casioned by the death of Jacob Greenwald. 

The Zwick & Greenwald Wheel company 
plant covers three acres of ground and employs 
from 140 to 150 people, the president of the 
company, Harman Rogge, being also the man- 
ager. The business has grown from the man- 
ufacture of ten sets of wheels per day to that 
of 1 50 sets per day. The wheels are known 
as the best made in the United States, and are 
sold all over the Union, as well as in other 
countries. 

The elementary education of William G. 
Zwick was acquired in the public schools of his 
native city, and this was supplemented by an 
attendance at the Baptist college, of Roches- 
ter, N. Y. , and at the Miami Commercial col- 
lege, of Dayton, Ohio. He first entered the 
wheel factory as an apprentice, thoroughly 



learned the trade and became familiar with the 
workings of the immense concern in all its de- 
tails, became a stockholder in the company in 
1888, and eventually reached his present re- 
sponsible position, which he has since filled 
with marked ability. 

July 18, 1888, Mr. Zwick was united in 
marriage with Miss Louise A. Bartel, the ac- 
complished daughter of Herman Bartel, of 
Dayton, and this union has been followed by 
the birth of three children: Walter William, 
born May 15, 1889; Helen Louisa, June 3, 1892, 
and Lawrence, October 6, 1893. The parents 
are faithful members of the German Baptist 
church of Dayton, of which Mr. Zwick is a 
trustee and assistant clerk. 



m 



AJ. ALVAN STUART GAL- 
BRAITH, commissary of subsist- 
ence of the central branch of the 
National Military Home for Disabled 
Volunteer Soldiers (a brief sketch of which in- 
stitution will be found in the biography of Col. 
J. B. Thomas), was born near Salem, Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, November 15, 1840, and 
there grew to manhood. 

Soon after the outbreak of the late Civil 
war, Mr. Galbraith volunteered in a battalion 
of cavalry, known as Fremont's body guard, and 
served from July, 1861, until December of the 
same year. His experience, although short, 
served to increase his patriotic ardor, and 
thereafter he became a vigorous, valiant and 
efficient soldier in the defense of his country's 
flag, and was eventually promoted from private 
to brevet major for meritorious conduct in the 
face of the enemy, and for valuable services 
rendered in other capacities, brief mention of 
which is here given: In April, 1862, he en- 
listed in the Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, was elected first sergeant of company 
G, and saw service in Maryland and Virginia, 



344 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



and with the regiment was mustered out of the 
service in September, 1862; his next enlist- 
ment was in company G, One Hundred and 
Twenty-fourth regiment, Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, entering the company as first sergeant, 
which rank was granted him as a recognition of 
his past services as a soldier; with this non- 
commissioned, but honorable title, hs served 
until March, 1863, when his commendable con- 
duct as a soldier was rewarded by a commis- 
sion as first lieutenant of company I, of the 
same regiment. While holding this rank Lieut. 
Galbraith was detailed as a provost-marshal of 
his brigade and was also appointed assistant 
inspector-general on the staffs of Gen. William 
B. Hazen ind Gen. P. Sidney Post. In Aug- 
ust, 1864, he was promoted to the captaincy of 
company I, and his higher rank was reached 
in the regular army of the United States, of 
which mention will be made in a following par- 
agraph. 

While in the volunteer service Capt. Gal- 
braith took an active part as sergeant, lieuten- 
ant and captain, in many severe and sangui- 
nary battles of the Civil war, among which 
may be named, outside of his service in Mis- 
souri, those of Spring Hill and Triune, Tenn. ; 
Chickamauga, Ga. ; Brown's Ferry, Tenn., 
where he was severely wounded and in conse- 
quence was confined in hospital several months. 

He went through the Atlanta campaign and 
was under fire at Jonesboro and Lovejoy; was 
at the fall of Atlanta, and in the battles at 
Franklin and Nashville, Tenn. He also served 
in the campaigns through Kentucky, North 
Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and in other 
states, until mustered out with his regiment at 
Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 1865. He then re- 
turned to his home in Columbiana county, 
Ohio, and on May 11, 1866, was appointed 

nd lieutenant in the Eighteenth United 
States regular) infantry; in 1867 he was pro- 
moted to the rank of first lieutenant, and in 



1868 to that of captain and major by brevet — 
these rapid promotions being awarded him 
chiefly for his gallant and meritorious conduct 
at the battles of Chickamauga and Brown's 
Ferry, while in the volunteer service. 

While in the regular army the work en- 
trusted to Maj. Galbraith was arduous, varied, 
and comprehensive. He was at different peri- 
ods of his service placed on duty at Newport 
(Ky.) barracks; at Governor's, Bedloe's and 
David's islands, New York harbor; at Fort 
McHenry, Baltimore, Md. ; at Washington, D. 
C. ; at Fort Casper and Fort Fetterman, then 
in Dakota territory, but now within the bound- 
aries of Wyoming; at North Platte station, 
Neb. ; at Fort Sedgwick, Colo. ; Fort Omaha, 
Neb. : and at Huntsville, Ala. ; Chattanooga, 
Tenn.; Lancaster, Ky., and Atlanta, Ga., dur- 
ing the reconstruction period. Also, while 
still first lieutenant, with brevet major rank in 
the regular army, he acted as Indian agent for 
the United States government, in charge of 
the interests of the Confederated Flathead na- 
tion in Montana. 

December 18, 1S73, Maj. Galbraith re- 
signed his position in the regular army, rejoined 
his mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, and for three 
years enjoyed a rest, in the meanwhile recu- 
perating his shattered health. In the early- 
part of 1882, he was appointed postmaster at 
the National Military home, near Dayton, in 
which capacity he served until 1892, when he 
resigned in order to accept his present posi- 
tion, wherein he has charge of the entire sub- 
sistence department of the home. 

Nathan and Sarah (Hoover) Galbraith, 
parents of the major, had a family of three 
children, of whom Marius Robinson is a resi- 
dent of Cincinnati, and Celia, unmarried, is a 
resident of Johnstown, Pa. 

Nathan Galbraith, a native of Ohio, died 
at the early age of thirty years, while his 
widow, a native of Pennsylvania, lived to be 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



345 



nty-four years old. In religion they were 
respectively members of the Quaker and Bap- 
tist churches. 

The marriage of Mai. Galbraith took place 
in 1884, to Mrs. Myra (Fonda) Taylor, a native 
of Brooklyn, N. Y. , this union resulting in the 
birth of one child, Stuart, who died in infancy. 
Mrs. Galbraith is a member of the Society of 
the Daughters of the Revolution, by right of 
lineal descent from Asa Priest, her maternal 
great-grandfather, who was a soldier from 
Massachusetts, and took an active part in the 
glorious struggle. Maj. Galbraith is a member 
of Perry lodge, No. 185, F. cS: A. M., as well 
as of the Loyal Legion and the G. A. R. In 
politics he has been a life-long abolitionist and 
republican. 



^|-» EWIS HENRY WEBBER, a well- 
j known cut-stone contractor of Day- 
Ji ton, Ohio, was born in Salem, N. J., 
December 15, 1845, ar >d i s a son °f 
Thomas and Louisa (Green) Webber, also na- 
tives of Salem. 

The Webber family, of English origin, was 
established in New Jersey over 200 years ago, 
but its genealogy cannot be fully traced. Suf- 
fice it to say that John Webber, great-grand- 
father of Lewis, was a sailor, hailing from the 
Sharp Backs state, and was killed by lightning. 
John's son, Henry, served as a musician 
through the war of 181 2, and died at the 
age of eighty-six years. Thomas, the son of 
Henry, and father of Lewis, was a contrac- 
tor in early life, but later engaged in merchan- 
dizing, and in this occupation died in Chris- 
tiana, New Castle county, Del., in 1876, at 
the age of fifty-five years. 

The Green family, equally as old in Amer- 
ica as the Webber family, and also of English 
origin, belonged to the religious organization 



known as Quakers. Great-grandfather Green 
was a farmer, and resided in the vicinity of 
Salem, N. J., during the Revolutionary war. 
As is well known, the Society of Friends 
(Quakers) are people of peace, whose tenets 
forbid the bearing of arms in war or the aiding 
or abetting of war. Nevertheless, feeling that 
the struggle of the colonists was patriotic and 
just, his sympathies were all with their cause, 
and the following incident is related of him, 
touching his latent but ardent patriotism. On 
a certain occasion, when the Continental army 
was in great distress for want of corn, with 
which his cribs were well filled, he was impor- 
tuned by the officers to sell an evident surplus 
of the grain on hand. He declined to do so, 
because, as he said, "That would be encour- 
aging war; but I shall go away from home, and 
if the corn be missing when I return, I shall 
not inquire concerning it." History records 
that the corn was missing. 

Of the five sons born to Thomas and Lou- 
isa Webber, Lewis H. is the eldest, and Albert, 
his next younger brother, is foreman in his ex- 
tensive works; Arthur G. and Henry L. are in 
the grain and coal trade at Christiana, Del., 
and John died at the age of eight years. 

The early life of Lewis H. Webber was 
spent in the states of New Jersey and Dela- 
ware, his education being acquired in the New- 
ark (Del.) academy and Delaware college. In 
1869 he came to Dayton and entered into the 
employ of the Webber & Lehman Stone & 
Marble company, of which company John 
Webber, his uncle, was president. Of this 
company Lewis H. was at first bookkeeper, and 
was then made assistant secretary. After 
three years well spent in this concern, Mr. 
Webber united in partnership with S. T. 
Bryce and with him continued in business for 
five years, when Mr. Webber bought out his 
partner's interest and has since carried on a 
most successful business on his own account, 



346 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in contracting for the construction of stone 
buildings and for the stone work of others not 
composed entirely of stone. His plant, which 
is planned for the reduction of all kinds of 
quarried stone to a condition for practical use in 
building foundations and walls as well, and for 
the smoothing and polishing of rough ashlars, 
is most complete in its appliances, containing 
machinery which is alone estimated at a value 
of $40,000, including ftone saws, planers, and 
all other means necessary for the production of 
solid exterior as well as decorative exterior and 
interior work, and giving employment, on an 
average, to 100 men. One of the first struc- 
tures that attracted attention as the work of 
Mr. Webber was the Montgomery county 
court house, the stone work of which was sup- 
plied, as one of his earliest contracts, from his 
own shops, at a cost of $50,000, in 1878. 
Since that date Mr. Webber has furnished the 
material and assisted in the construction of 
nearly all the substantial stone buildings in the 
city of Dayton, among which may be cited the 
costly Burney and King residences, the U. P. 
and Sacred Heart churches, and the Steele 
high school building. 

The marriage of Mr. Webber took place in 
Christiana, Del., in 1875, to Miss Florence 
Southgate, a native of Baltimore, Md. , and of 
English descent. This union has been blessed 
by the birth of three children — Emma E., 
Florence L., and Willard — the first two of 
whom are now attending the Steele high school. 
The family are connected with the Third street 
Presbyterian church. In politics Mr. Webber 
is a stanch republican, although he has never 
sought public office. He is a Freemason, and 
is also a member of the Dayton club, a social 
organization, and of the political body known 
as the Garfield club. Mr. Webber's energy, 
skill and industry have earned him a place in 
the front rank of the successful business men 
o( Dayton. 




HOMAS ELDER, a leading merchant 
of Dayton, Ohio, and senior member 
and founder of the extensive dry-goods 
house of Elder & Johnston, was born 
in Harrisburg, Pa., in the year 1845. His 
parents were Robert R. and Elizabeth G. El- 
der, both of whom were of Scotch descent. 
The boyhood of young Elder was spent in a 
manner common to boys of his station in life. 
He attended the public schools of Harrisburg, 
securing a good English education. At the 
age of seventeen years he resolved to leave his 
native place and try his fortune in the broader 
field of a large city. Accordingly, in 1862, he 
set out for Philadelphia, which city he reached 
with but few possessions and little money, but 
with sound health, good habits, ambition and 
a determination to get on in the world. He 
was willing to turn his attention to anything 
he could do and soon found employment. He 
remained in Philadelphia eight or nine years, 
engaged in different capacities in various lines 
of business, and in 1872 he went to Boston, 
Mass. In Boston he secured a position with 
the blanket house of Thomas Kelley & Co., as 
a traveling salesman. After remaining with 
the above firm three years, in 1875 he entered 
the service of Jordan, Marsh & Co. , of Bos- 
ton, one of the largest dry-goods houses in the 
world, as general traveling salesman, where he 
remained until 1883. At this time ne decided 
to embark in business on his own responsibil- 
ity, and the same year he came to Dayton and, 
associating himself with Messrs. Johnston & 
Hunter, founded the present business of Elder 
& Johnston, which is now the leading dry-goods 
establishment in Dayton and one of the largest 
in western Ohio. Mr. Hunter retiree 1 from the 
firm in 1886. The. business was begun origi- 
nally upon a very modest basis and with a lim- 
ited capital, at Nos. 114 and 116 East Third 
street. In about two and a half years, how- 
ever, it had grown to such proportions that 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



349 



larger quarters were necessary, and they re- 
moved to Nos. 24 and 26 East Third street, 
where the business was established on a much 
larger scale. From year to year it grew and 
spread, and a wholesale department was added, 
together with other features, until again it be- 
came necessary to find more commodious quar- 
ters, and in November, 1896, they removed 
to the new Reibold building on South Main 
street, where they now occupy two floors and 
the basement. They carry a complete stock 
of dry goods, cloaks, etc., doing both a whole- 
sale and retail business, and employing over 
100 people. Their store rooms are the largest 
and handsomest in the city, and their trade, 
while already the leading one, is constantly in- 
creasing, ft is the firm's intention eventually 
to convert their business into a modern depart- 
ment store, there being no enterprise of that 
character in Dayton. 

fn 1872 Mr. Elder was married to Miss 
Tacie E. Jarrett, who was born in Philadel- 
phia, of Quaker parents. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Elder the following children have been born: 
Mary M., Robert, Elsie, Helen, and two de- 
ceased in infancy. Mr. Elder is a member of 
the Third street Presbyterian church and pres- 
ident of the Y. M. C. A. In the Sabbath- 
school he has also been an earnest worker, 
taking great interest in all of its useful ac- 
tivities. 

Mr. Elder's life has been a busy one, and 
success has come to him through his own ef- 
forts. He may well be termed a self-made 
man, as he began at the bottom, starting in 
life with no capital save that of energy, indus- 
try and ambition, and relying entirely upon his 
own ability and natural resources. Still a man 
in his prime, he has risen from an humble 
clerical position to that of senior member of 
one of the largest mercantile houses in a great 
state, and his prosperity has been well de- 
served. His position in the business world has 



not overshadowed his position in life as a citi- 
zen, friend and neighbor. He has always been 
found ready to lend his aid and influence to 
all worthy movements designed to benefit the 
community at large. He is regarded as a 
broad-minded and public-spirited citizen, rec- 
ognizing and discharging faithfully all the du- 
ties incumbent upon him. 



^y^VROF. CLAUDE MICHELON, in- 
1 m structor in the French, Italian and 
M Spanish languages, with his residence 

at the corner of Third and Perry 
streets, Dayton, was born in Chambery, near 
Lyons, France, December 8, 1869. He was 
a student in the college Louis le Grand, at 
Paris, and at the Lyceum of Lyons, where he 
was educated in literature and philosophy. 
On October 1, 1894, he came to America; on 
the 1 2th day of the same month he was dis- 
patched by Prof. Berlitz, of New York, to 
Cincinnati, Ohio, to become an instructor in a 
French school, and on June 12, 1895, he 
came to Dayton and opened his present poly- 
glot school of instruction, in which he has met 
with success. His classes comprise about 180 
pupils, drawn from the most cultured and 
intellectual circles of the city, and these 
pupils are taught in so simple a manner that, 
at the conclusion of forty lessons, they are 
prepared to conduct a reasonably intelligent 
conversation in the special language acquired. 
Beside his home class, he teaches in the Y. M. 
C. A. school, also in Miss Thomas's academy 
for young ladies, and has a large class at the 
Soldiers' home. 

Prof. Michelon has, in his comparatively 
brief residence in Dayton, awakened a new 
interest in language study, and is now recog- 
nized as the most skillful and accomplished 
teacher of French that has ever conducted 
classes in this city. 



350 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



(D 



ICHAEL WALTER, funeral direc- 
tor and a leading business man of 
Dayton, is a native of Germany, 
born December 17, 1840, in the 
kingdom of Bavaria. His parents, Martin and 
Barbara (Schnabel) Walter, were both natives 
of the above country, where the father, for 
many years, carried on the cabinetmaking 
business, and where his death occurred in 1856, 
at the age of sixty-three; the mother having 
died in 1855, at the age of fifty-six years. 
Their son, Michael, is the youngest of ten chil- 
dren. Three sisters and one brother died in 
America, and one brother and two sisters still 
live in Germany; the only member of the 
family in the United States, with the exception 
of Michael, is Henry, who makes his home at 
Celina, Ohio. 

Michael Walter was educated in the schools 
of his native country and there learned cabi- 
netmaking, which he followed, in connection 
with the undertaking business, until 1863, at 
which time, he came to the United States, lo- 
cating at Dayton, Ohio, where for a period of 
seven years he was in the employ of his 
brother Martin, one of the leading undertakers 
of the city. In 1870, Mr. Walter embarked 
in the undertaking business upon his own re- 
sponsibility on Franklin street and has since 
continued the same with most gratifying suc- 
cess, being at this time the head of one of the 
largest establishments of the kind in the city. 
From a rather limited beginning he has gone 
forward year by year, building up a constantly 
increasing trade, and, at this time, he enjoys 
much more than a local reputation in business 
circles. He has spared no reasonable effort to 
make himself thoroughly familiar with every 
detail of his trade and in 1883 graduated from 
the Cincinnati school of embalming, one of the 
largest and most thorough institutions of the 
kind in the United States. Mr. Walter's place 
.'1 business on Franklin street is fully equiped 



and supplied with all that pertains to the suc- 
cessful prosecution of undertaking and the nec- 
essary equipment and stock of caskets, etc., 
represent a capital of about $10,000. Mr. 
Walter is a member of an undertaking associa- 
tion of Ohio, of which he has served as treas- 
urer during the past ten years. He is a man 
well known in the community where he has 
lived so long and sustains a reputation for in- 
tegrity and honesty surpassed by none. Per- 
sonally Mr. Walter is very popular, a genial 
companion and a good citizen. 

In 1 868 Mr. Walter was united in marriage 
with Miss Philomena Steile, a native of Cin- 
cinnati, but born of German parentage; three 
sons and three daughters have been born of 
this union — Joseph C, who is employed in his 
father's business house; Clara, Leo, Flora, 
Amelia and Edward. The family are mem- 
bers of the Emanuel Roman Catholic church, 
of Dayton, and Mr. Walter affiliates with the 
following societies: Catholic Knights of Amer- 
ica; Catholic Knights of Ohio; Knights of St. 
George; St. Charles Benevolent society; Gesel- 
len society; St. Joseph's Orphan society; the 
Bavarian society and the Cincinnati Life asso- 
ciation. Politically Mr. Walter is a democrat. 



<>^\ ABBI MAX WERTHEIMER, Ph.D., 
I /<^ pastor of B'nai Yeshurun temple, 
W Dayton, Ohio, is a native of Buffalo, 
N. Y. , and was born December 6, 
1864. He was primarily educated in the pub- 
lic schools of the city of his birth, and later 
studied for eight years in the Cincinnati uni- 
versity, from which institution he graduated 
June 14, 1887, with the degree of bachelor of 
letters, and two years later he was graduated 
from the Hebrew Union college, of the same 
city, which conferred upon him the title of 
rabbi. In March, 1889, he was unanimously 
elected by the congregation or synagogue of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



351 



B'nai Yeshurun to his present eminent posi- 
tion, and September 6, 1SS9, he delivered his 
inaugural sermon or lecture, which was recog- 
nized as the result of deep thought and ripe 
scholarship, and of great power and beauty of 
expression. 

Since assuming his pastorate, Rabbi Wert- 
heimer has taken a post-graduate course at 
Martyn college of philosophy, from which he 
was graduated in June, 1895, with the ad- 
vanced degree of Ph. D. The doctor has also 
traveled quite extensively since first locating in 
Dayton, lecturing before many learned socie- 
ties, as well as to popular gatherings, in many 
cities of the west. 

The marriage of Rev. Dr. Wertheimer took 
place in Peru, Ind., December 27, 1893, to 
Miss Hannah Affelder, daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Louis Affelder. 

Mrs. Wertheimer is a lady of rare accom- 
plishments, and is especially talented in instru- 
mental music. She has borne her husband 
one child, Lester Henry, who was born Janu- 
ary 5, 189s. 

Rabbi Wertheimer is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, and was for two years 
chaplain of his lodge; he is also a member of 
the B'nai Brith, or Sons of the Covenant, and 
was formerly president of the Kersher Shel- 
barzel, a Jewish society of Dayton, as well as 
an active member of the Present Day club. 
He is a scholar of unusual literary attainments, 
is a forcible and eloquent speaker, is possessed 
of indomitable energy, and his philanthropic 
disposition has won for him the esteem of all 
who know him. 



\S~\ EV. EDWARD LORENZ, of Dayton, 
I /^ Ohio, German editor for the United 
P Brethern Publishing house, was born 
in Hessen Darmstadt, Germany, No- 
vember 26, 1827. He received his preliminary 



education in the excellent public schools of his 
native land, and learned the trade of shoemak- 
ing, made illustrious by the many great men 
who began life in this calling. At the age of 
twenty-one years he came to America. Sev- 
eral years later he married Mrs. Adam Geil, 
formerly Miss Barbara Gueth, whom he had 
but passingly known in the fatherland. His 
wife had come to America several years earlier 
with her first husband, who died soon after 
their arrival, leaving her a widow with two 
small children, a stranger in a strange land at 
the age of twenty. With characteristic cour- 
age and fortitude she faced the situation, and 
despite the loss of her inheritance in Germany 
by the bad management of friends, supported 
herself and her little ones until her marriage 
with Mr. Lorenz. But she has borne the 
marks of this trying experience in the pro- 
tracted invalidism of nearly half a century due 
to a broken nervous system. Mrs. Lorenz is a 
woman of unusual force and straightforward- 
ness of character, somewhat rese.rved in man- 
ner and of few words, but with a kind heart 
and full of practical helpfulness, fn this she 
resembles her father, whose young manhood 
was spent in Spain in the army of Napoleon. 
Taken captive by the English he was sent to 
England. Released on parole and sent home 
with 400 comrades, their ship was wrecked on 
the coast of Holland and only twenty-six of 
them were saved. He subsequently wrote a 
graphic narrative of this terrible experience, 
the original manuscript being now in the pos- 
session of E. S. Lorenz. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Lorenz were born three 
children, viz: Edmund Simon, Daniel Ed- 
ward, and Justina. Of these a full biographical 
sketch of Edmund S. follows this memoir; 
Daniel Edward is pastor of the Presbyterian 
church of the Good Shepherd, on Sixty-sixth 
street, New York city, and Justina is professor 
of the German language in the Norwich (Conn. , 



352 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Free academy. Rev. Daniel Edward Lorenz 
received his preparatory education in the Day- 
ton high school, graduated from Otterbein uni- 
versity in 1884, became assistant secretary of 
the Young Men's Christian association of New 
York city, attended Union Theological semi- 
nary, of that city, and married Miss Etta, 
daughter of Bishop J. W. Hott. Justina Lor- 
enz married J. O. Stephens, August 14, 1883, 
but her husband died October 18 following of 
typhoid fever, and since his death she has de- 
voted herself exclusively to teaching. Since 
she accepted her present position she has been 
invited to fill important situations in other in- 
stitutions, but has steadily declined to consider 
or accept them. 

Edward Lorenz was converted the year 
after his reaching America (1849). He united 
with the United Brethren church in Canal Ful- 
ton, Stark county, Ohio, in 1859, and at once 
began preaching in the same town. After 
many years spent in the pastorate, preaching 
in most of the important cities of Ohio, he 
was appointed in May, 1889, by the United 
Brethren missionary board, as general mana- 
ger of its missions in Germany, and was lo- 
cated at Berlin for four years, where his 
daughter, Justina, improved the opportunity in 
completing her advanced studies in the Ger- 
man language. During these years Mr. Lorenz 
traveled in all parts of the German empire, 
superintending the extensive missionary efforts 
of his church. On his return to the United 
States, in 1893, he was chosen pastor of the 
Otterbein (German) church on Xenia avenue, 
Dayton, and held the charge for two years, or 
until 1895, during the last year of his pastorate 
filling also the important position he at present 
occupies. He has exclusive editorial charge 
of all the publications issued in the German 
language by the United Brethren Publishing 
house, which include the Froehliche Botschaf- 
ter, weekly; Jugend Pilger, semi-monthly; 



Lektionshefte, quarterly. Beside editing these, 
he reads the proofs of all German publications 
issued from the United Brethren Publishing 
house and also attends to all the German busi- 
ness correspondence of the house. 

Rev. Mr. Lorenz has been a man of won- 
derful vitality, and now, though past sixty-nine 
years of age, is hale and hearty, being remark- 
ably well preserved and still as affable, digni- 
fied and courteous as when he was in his 
prime. He attends to all his manifold and 
taxing duties without fatigue, and, it may be 
added, has lost but one day from illness during 
his forty years of active labor. 



C/^V HILIP E. GILBERT, the prominent 
1 ■ contractor and builder of Dayton, was 
fl born in Miltonville, Butler county, 

Ohio, November 21, 1845, ms father 
and mother having been respectively of Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland parentage. In 1848 
the family settled in Miamisburg, Montgomery 
county, where Philip was educated in the pub- 
lic and select schools, and at the age of thir- 
teen began an apprenticeship of five years at 
carpentering, serving at the trade during the 
intervals between school sessions. The con- 
clusion of his apprenticeship brought hirn up 
to 1864, when he enlisted in company D, One 
Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio national guard, 
under command of Col. John G. Lowe, and at 
the conclusion of his term of enlistment was 
honorably mustered out. In 1865 he moved 
to West Sonora, Preble county, where he was 
engaged in saw-milling and carpentering for 
several years, and during his residence there 
was united in marriage, June 14, 1866, to 
Miss Mary Ann Scharf, of Franklin, Warren 
county. In the spring of 1868 Mr. Gilbert, 
with no considerable means, ventured upon a 
removal with his wife and child to Dayton, for 
the purpose of improving his worldly condition. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



353 



Here, soon after his arrival, he became ac- 
quainted with the late William P. Huffman, in 
whom he found a sincere friend, and from 
whom he received many kindnesses. Through 
him Mr. Gilbert was enabled to enter into 
contracting and building, and this, with the 
manufacture of builders' supplies, has been his 
business up to the present time. That he 
made a success of his enterprise may be shown 
by the fact that, in the spring of 1878, he be- 
gan the year in March with 125 contracts to 
build houses, and by the close of the season 
had erected 165. Among the heavier contracts 
handled by Mr. Gilbert may be mentioned 
those for the construction of the Ninth district 
school-house, Sacred Heart church, the Cen- 
tral Baptist church, the Fourth National bank, 
the Ohmer Canby block; the Barney block on 
Third and Wayne streets and the Barney 
blocks on Fifth street; the Lowe brothers and 
Ware Coffee company's blocks on First street; 
the J. P. Wolf and J. S. Antrim blocks on 
First street; the residences of E. J. Barney, J. 
P. Wolf, Col. F. T. Huffman, George P. 
Huffman and W. H. Crawford, and also many 
of the largest manufacturing plants in the 
city, including those of the Davis Sewing 
Machine company, the Zwick & Greenwald 
Wheel company, the Dayton Manufacturing 
company, the Woodhull Carriage company, 
the Dayton Last company, the Crume & Sef- 
ton factories, the Dayton Spice-mills, and 
scores of other large and substantial buildings. 
In politics Mr. Gilbert is a strong republican 
ond takes an active interest in his party's wel- 
fare, having served as its delegate to its county, 
state and national conventions; he has served 
two terms of two years each on the board of 
education from his ward, was appointed on the 
board of city affairs for a term of four years 
by the tax commissioners in 1892, and was re- 
appointed for four years by Mayor C. G. Mc- 
Millen in 1896. He has been a member of 



the Garfield club since its organization; is a 
member of the Dayton club, of the Old Guard 
post, G. A. R. , of Dayton lodge, F. & A. M., 
is a Knight Templar, and also a member of 
Iola lodge, K. of P. In religion he is a Bap- 
tist and has been a member of the Linden ave- 
nue church since its organization and its Sun- 
day-school superintendent for eleven years. 
Mr. Gilbert has always been a public-spirited 
citizen, devoted to the material interests of his 
adopted city. Of the ten children born to his 
marriage, the following-named still survive: 
Erminie P., now Mrs. Ira Crawford; Florence 
E., wife of J. Frank Kiefaber; Hattie B. ; 
William P., book-keeper for the Huffman 
Stone Co.; Edwin D., a student, and Helen E. 



>-y'OHN CHARLES PATTERSON, son of 
■ Prof. William J. and Anna (Ford) Patter- 
(9 1 son, whose biography is elsewhere giv- 
en, is a native of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and was born July 26, 1862. Hepassedhis 
youthful days on a farm, performing the severe 
physical labor incident to such a life, but by no 
means neglected the cultivation of his mental 
powers. Aided by his father and other com- 
petent teachers he was able, at the age of nine- 
teen years, to assume the duties of a school- 
master, and for three years followed this pro- 
fession as a vocation. He then entered the 
law office of Boltin & Shauck, of which firm 
the junior member is now a judge of the supreme 
court of Ohio. Through diligent study young 
Patterson was soon prepared for the bar, to 
which he was admitted in 1887, when he im- 
mediately entered upon the active practice of 
his profession. His abilities were promptly 
recognized, and in 1890 he was elected prose- 
cuting attorney of Montgomery county, upon 
the democratic ticket, and his performance of 
the duties of that office served to add to his 
reputation as a lawyer. He now holds a prom- 



354 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



inent position among the members of the Day- 
ton bar, being the senior member of the firm 
Patterson & Murphy. 

Mr. Patterson was united in marriage, 
June 19, 1883, with Miss Mary A. Douglass, of 
Oxford, Ohio, and this union has been blessed 
with one son, John M., born August 2, 1885. 



eZRA F. KIMMEL, manager of the 
National Improvement company, and 
among the best known young business 
men of Dayton, was born in this city 
October 20, 1863. His father, Christian Kim- 
mel, was one of the old settlers of Dayton, 
having come here from Germany in 1846. He 
resided in this city the rest of his life, being 
killed in September, 1893, in a railroad wreck 
while on his way home from the world's fair. 
For thirty-five years Mr. Kimmel was superin- 
tendent of the machine shops of the Buckeye 
Iron & Brass works. His widow, who still 
lives in Dayton, was a native of Ashland coun- 
ty, Ohio, and a daughter of Jacob Ecki. She 
was also in the wreck in which her husband 
was killed, and sustained severe injuries. To 
them there were born six children, five of whom 
are still living, and residing in Dayton, as fol- 
lows: William H. , secretary of the Mutual 
Home & Savings association; Mrs. Louise 
Bard, wife of O. J. Bard, attorney at law; 
Mrs. Anna Freehofer, wife of A. O. Freehofer, 
bookkeeper for the John Dodds Manufacturing 
company; Gnstave B., a student in college at 
Napierville, 111., and Ezra F. 

Ezra F. Kimmel was reared in Dayton and 
was educated in the public schools of that city, 
including the high school, from which he 
graduated in 1879. In May, 1880, he began 
working for R. C. Anderson, manufacturer of 
plows, as bookkeeper, in which position he re- 
mained for four years. In March, 1884, he 
entered the office of the Mutual Home & 



Savings association, having charge of that as- 
sociation's books for four years, and being its 
auditor for three years and a half. On July 
15, 1891, he organized the John Dodds Manu- 
facturing company, of which he became vice- 
president and superintendent, in which capa- 
cities he acted until December 1, 1896, when 
he accepted the position of manager for the 
National Improvement company and agent for 
E. J. Barney. At the time he left the Mutual 
Home & Savings association, he >was made a 
director and a member of the finance commit- 
tee of the institution, positions which he still 
retains. He aided in organizing the Walker 
Lithographic & Printing company, and was 
a director of that company until the latter part 
of 1895, when he sold his interest in the 
business. 

Mr. Kimmel was married in November, 
1885, to Miss Ida M. Steffey, daughter of Rev. 
M. W. Steffey, a minister of the Evangelical 
association, formerly of Dayton, Ohio, but 
now of South Bend, Ind. To the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel there have been born 
two children, Florence M. and Russell Ezra. 

Mr. Kimmel is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and of the church of the Evangelical 
association, and is a member of the board of 
trustees of that church. In both fraternity and 
church he enjoys a high slanding and is held in 
sincere esteem by his many friends in the 
community. 



EENRY W. KAISER, one of the com- 
missioners of Montgomery county, 
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 
21, 1850. As the name indicates, he 
is of German antecedents. He was reared in 
Cincinnati and was there educated in the public 
schools, learning both German and English, 
and being confirmed in German. After leav- 
ing school he learned the trade of saddle cov- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



355 



ering and worked at this occupation for a num- 
ber of years. Since November I, 1875, he 
has been a resident of Dayton, to which city 
he removed for the purpose of taking charge of 
the business of the Fleischmann Yeast company, 
as general agent, which position he has held 
ever since, a period of more than twenty years. 
Mr. Kaiser was elected county commissioner 
in the fall of 1893, the term being for three 
years and expiring in the spring of 1897. He 
is a republican in politics, and a popular man 
in Montgomery county. He was married, 
September 17, 1874, in Cincinnati, to Miss 
Emma Rheinhardt, who was born in that city 
October 17, 1855, and who was the daughter 
of Frederick Rheinhardt. She became the 
mother of three children, as follows: Harry 
F. ; Maude N., and J. Edward, and died De- 
cember 22, 1895. Mr. Kaiser is a member of 
the Knights of Pythias and of the Ancient Or- 
der of United Workmen, holding at the pres- 
ent time the presidency of the Grand trustee 
board of Ohio of that order. He is also a 
member of the Knights of Maccabees. He is 
a member of St. John's German Evangelical 
Lutheran church, in good standing, and is one 
of the useful and esteemed citizens of Dayton. 



y^yLIAS LEWIS ACTON, draftsman, 
H 1 and supervising architect, with his 

V«_>A. office in the Callahan Bank building, 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in London, 
Madison county, Ohio, May 21, 185 1, and is a 
son of Richard and Minerva (Lewis) Acton. 
The father, also a native of the Buckeye state, 
was a carriage builder by occupation, and died 
in London at the age of sixty-two years; the 
mother still resides in that city, and is passing 
the closing years of her life in religious work 
in the interest of the Universalist church. 
These parents had born to them four children, 
viz: Lina and Elias L. , who are twins — 



Lina being now the wife of G. P. Cross, of 
Minneapolis; Peyton H., who was a journalist 
at Sioux Falls, Dak., for a number of years, 
and died in that city at the age of thirty-five; 
and Maggie who is still the companion of her 
mother. 

Elias L. Acton left his native city in 1869, 
and went to Cincinnati, where for about seven 
years, he made his home with his uncle, Bolly 
Lewis, and entered upon his business life as a 
clerk or salesman, in a carpet store, in the 
meantime taking lessons in isometric and or- 
nametal drawing, thus laying the foundation of 
his after skill as an architect; he next spent 
two years in New Orleans, La., in a carpet 
store, and also continued the study of drafting. 
In 1878 Mr. Acton returned to his native city, 
where he was engaged, in association with his 
brother, Peyton H., in the publication of the 
Madison County Times. In 1881 Mr. Acton 
came to Dayton, re-engaged in the carpet 
business, and was also employed as a designer 
of ceiling decorations. About 1888 he turned 
his attention to architectural work exclusively, 
and for several months was employed by Will- 
iams, Otter & Dexter as draftsman and de- 
signer. He then embarked in business as an 
architect on his own account, and during the 
past eight years has designed and constructed 
many fine edifices in Dayton and elsewhere, 
notably, the Hotel Atlas, the Armory, and the 
Gem Shirt company's building, besides many of 
the better class of private residences. He is 
at present engaged in the construction, on Fifth 
street, of the Ridgway apartment building, 
which comprises seven distinct structures under 
one roof. Mr. Acton is also superintending 
the erection of an architecturally beautiful 
double stone front building for George Fair, 
costing $16,000, which will be an additional 
evidence of the skill of its designer and an or- 
nament to the city. 

Mr. Acton was married in Dayton, Sep- 



356 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tember 27, 1879, to Miss Anna Nolan, of 
Columbus, Ohio, a native of Madison county. 
Mrs. Acton bore her husband three children, 
but at the early age of thirty-six years was 
laid to eternal rest, dying in Dayton, February 
13, 1895. The three children are: Richard, 
who, now at the age of fifteen years, is an as- 
sistant in his father's office, but is also attend- 
ing school; Thomas, aged twelve years, and 
Minerva, aged nine, are still the companions 
of their father, and are also attending school. 
Mrs. Acton was a conscientious Catholic in her 
religious faith, and her children have been 
baptized in that church. Mr. Acton was 
formerly a democrat, but became a republican 
at about the time of the resumption of specie 
payment by the government. 



EERBERT HENRY WEAKLEY, pres- 
ident and general manager of the 
Herald Publishing company, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born February 1, 1837, 
on the Weakley farm, in the vicinity of Day- 
ton, and is the son of Edward Thomas and 
Catherine (Gunckel) Weakley. The Weakley 
family is of English origin, the first to come to 
America having been five well-to-do brothers, 
who emigrated together prior to the coming of 
William Penn. Three of them located in Penn- 
sylvania, while the other two went south. 
The latter became the progenitors of large fam- 
ilies. Weakley county, Tenn., was named for 
one of them. The grandfather of Herbert H. 
was Thomas Weakley, who was born in Cum- 
berland county, Pa.., and whose wife was Ann 
Alexander; her father was a staff officer of 
Gen. Washington. 

Edward Thomas Weakley, their only son, 
was also born in Cumberland county, Pa., and 
came with his parents to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, in 1828. The original family resi- 



dence, located on the old Weakley homestead, 
near the soldier's home, was built by Thomas 
Weakley, and still stands. In its time it was 
the finest farm residence in Montgomery county. 
At Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1834, Edward Thomas Weakley was mar- 
ried to Catherine Gunckel. She was the 
daughter of the late Col. Michael Gunckel, 
and sister to William, Henry S., George 
W. , and Lewis B. When Herbert H. was 
a child, his parents removed to New Carlisle, 
Clark county, Ohio, and there his father em- 
barked in the tanning and leather business, 
which he carried on successfully for a number 
of years. His death occurred in New Carlisle, 
in 1890, that of his widow occurring about two 
years later. To Edward Thomas Weakley and 
wife children were born as follows : Her- 
bert Henry, Mrs. Dr. William W. Crane, of 
Tippecanoe City, Ohio; Mrs. Dr. G. A. Billow, 
of New Carlisle; Mrs. Charles Neff, of Colum- 
bus, Ohio; Capt. T. J. and George Willis, oi 
Dayton. 

Henry Herbert Weakley attended the pub- 
lic schools of New Carlisle until he reached his 
fifteenth year, when he was sent to a grammar 
school at Springfield, Ohio. He next entered 
Antioch college at Yellow Springs, Ohio, where 
he spent one year, and then entered Miami 
university, at Oxford, Ohio, where he took 
the regular collegiate course, and graduated in 
the class of 1858. In the fall of the same 
year he came to Dayton and entered the law 
office of Gunckel & Strong, where he spent two 
years studying law. He was admitted to the 
bar in i860 and spent several years in prac- 
tice in the office of his preceptors. 

In 1863 Mr. Weakley organized a local fire 
insurance company with R. B. Harshman as 
president ; as secretary and manager Mr. 
Weakley conducted that business, the company 
taking and holding high position through 
his efforts, at the same time carrying on 




j^fr/ir^^^^r 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



359 



the practice of law and the collection of 
claims against the government until the fall 
of 1 87 1, when he resigned his position to 
accept that of land commissioner of the 
West Wisconsin Railroad company ( now 
the St. Paul line of the C. & N.-W. R. R.J, 
with headquarters at Hudson, Wis. Mr. Weak- 
ley was one of the most efficient officers of the 
company and during his connection with the 
railroad sold over 750,000 acres of land. In the 
fall of 1 878 he resigned this position, and, with 
his wife, made a general tour of the United 
States, including the territories. Following 
this he located at Troy, Ohio, and established 
the Miami county bank, succeeding the bank- 
ing firm of W. H. H. Dye & Son. As president 
and owner Mr. Weakley coducted very success- 
fully this banking house for seven years, be- 
coming, in the meantime, a partner in the 
wholesale grocery fism of Weakley, Worman 
& Co., of Dayton. Selling his banking inter- 
ests in Troy, in 1879, Mr. Weakley, accom- 
panied by his wife and daughter, spent nearly 
two years in traveling in central Europe. Upon 
his return he located permanently in Dayton, 
and has continued to reside here. After having 
been a citizen of Dayton for about eight months 
Mr. Weakley assisted in the organization of the 
Dayton board of trade, and for two years was 
president and manager of the board, during 
which time he gave to that organization an 
impetus which made it an assured success, and 
when he severed his official connection with it 
he had won the highest respect and esteem of 
the business men of Dayton. From time to 
time Mr. Weakley has been interested in dif- 
ferent enterprises in Dayton, and still retains 
a number of important connections in business 
affairs; but it is to the Herald Publishing com- 
pany that he gives his time and attention, and 
in which he takes a just pride and pleasure. 
It was in September, 1889, that he purchased 
the controlling interest in the Herald com- 



pany. The Evening Herald was then a four- 
page paper with a weekly edition of the same 
size. Mr. Weakley purchased the building now 
known as the Herald building, corner of Sec- 
ond and Jefferson streets, and there developed 
the business, enlarging the daily and weekly 
editions to eight-page papers. Under his act- 
ive direction as president, general manager and 
principal owner, the paper has proved to be 
one of the most successful in the city, and 
justly lays claim to being the largest and enjoy- 
ing the greatest circulation of the several pa- 
pers published in Dayton. He has been a 
member of the Dayton club since its organiza- 
tion, and is connected with other social organ- 
izations. 

On September 21, 1861, Mr. Weakley 
married Miss Sarah Culbertson, of Troy, Ohio, 
a daughter of H. H. Culbertson, one of the 
old families of Miami county. A daughter 
was born to them — an only child — who mar- 
ried Charles Van Ausdal, on January 31st, 
1888. Mrs. Van Ausdal received a fine edu- 
cation, completing her studies with Mrs. 
Reed, of New York, after which she accom- 
panied her parents on a lengthened tour in 
Europe. 

Mr. Weakley has been successful in every 
business enterprise with which he was person- 
ally identified. He has never had any politic- 
al ambition, and although preferment of that 
character has been offered him, he has invar- 
iably declined. Decided in character, warm 
in friendship, he has always enjoyed much 
personal popularity. He has always had 
charge and control of large transactions and 
his business capacity is of a very high order. 
His education and literary tastes have fitted 
him for any walk in life. Age is coming along 
apace, and with an ample fortune, a handsome 
home and a fine library, enjoying the highest 
respect and confidence of the people, he can 
pleasantly look back upon a successful life. 



360 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 




'HE DAYTON COLLEGE OF MUSIC 

had its origin in the school known as 
the Boulevard Conservatory of Music. 
The founders of this school, the Misses 
Lillie C, Louie M. , and Viola M.Butz, seeing 
the success attending their new enterprise, 
concluded that a college organization should be 
perfected and duly incorporated under the laws 
of the state of Ohio, which was accordingly 
effected October 17, 1S92. The hopes of the 
founders have been more than realized. The 
press, the standing of the college, the rating of 
its pupils, the hearty endorsement of the citi- 
zens of Dayton, Ohio, have shown that the 
conception and developement of the plan for 
musical education in the minds of its founders 
was no mere theory, but a clear discernment 
of the needs of the city and surrounding 
territory, in the sphere of musical culture. 
With the ample facilities and acknowledged 
strength of the faculty a thorough collegiate 
education is afforded to students of the insti- 
tution. 

In establishing the College of Music, the 
Misses Butz associated with themselves their 
brother, Clarence A. Butz, Anthony J. Schath, 
and Miss Josephine H. Holbrook. The faculty 
engaged in the institution are not only success- 
ful teachers but concert artists of confirmed 
ability, having appeared with great success on 
the concert stage of Europe as well as America. 
The principals of the various departments are 
Lillie C. Butz, Louie M. Butz, Viola M. Butz, 
Clarence A. Butz, Anthony J. Schath, and 
Josephine H. Holbrook, whose extensive 
studies have given them a perfect understand- 
ing of the best methods existing, and who are 
gifted with the faculty of successfully impart- 
ing this knowledge to their pupils. The most 
approved European methods are used at this 
college, which professes to be a true model in 
teaching the same method to all grades of its 
pupils and uniting all of its teachers in one 



scientific plan for the development of the best 
musical results. There is an inspiration in as- 
sociation with others engaged in the same 
work. The college has for its object the foun- 
dation and diffusion of a high musical educa- 
tion, which, based on the study of the classic 
masters, embraces whatever is good in modern 
art. The curriculum comprises the art of sing- 
ing, instruction of piano, violin, pipe organ, 
harp, viola, violoncello, flute, oboe, clarinet, 
French-horn, cornet, trombone, and full in- 
duction in theory, harmony and ensemble. 
The voice method strictly observed, is the pure 
Italian method of singing. The Stuttgart and 
Leipsic piano methods are used, embracing 
thorough study through preparatory, academic 
and collegiate courses, carrying the student 
from the first elements of musical education to 
the highest proficiency. The violin course 
comprises the study of Hermann, Spohe, 
Schubert, Schroeder and David's Hoch-schule 
methods. For all the other instruments the 
best European methods extant are used. 

The Misses Lillie, Louie and Viola Butz 
and Clarence Butz are descended from musical 
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Butz, Jr., 
who, from a life of study and constant associa- 
tion with music, together with fine talents, 
have always occupied and still enjoy. a promi- 
nent place among the leading musicians of 
Dayton, and have earned an enviable reputa- 
tion in many cities in which they have appeared 
in concert. Lawrence Butz is bass soloist in 
Holy Trinity Catholic church, Dayton, Ohio, 
which position he has held for many years. 
His wife, Mrs. Lawrence Butz, is the capable 
organist of the church, having successfully 
filled that place for the past twelve years, pre- 
v'ous to which time she had been the leading 
soprano for a number of years. Having so 
assiduously brought out and cultivated their 
own musical tendencies, Mr. and Mrs. Butz 
spared neither pains nor money properly to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



361 



direct the qualifications of their children. At 
the age of five, respectively, the three daugh- 
ters were placed under the best local teachers 
until they had reached twelve years. They 
were then sent to Mount Notre Dame, an ex- 
cellent academy near Cincinnati, where for a 
period of five years they pursued a thorough 
theoretical and practical study of music — voice, 
piano and pipe organ — following also a col- 
legiate course of art, science, mathematics, 
history and languages, taught at this school. 
After receiving each a gold medal and diploma, 
their study continued under eminent teachers 
in New York, and after several years they 
placed themselves under the best masters in 
Europe. 

Clarence Butz, like his sisters, is possessed 
of a fine voice which has been highly cultiva- 
ted, and has studied piano and pipe organ to a 
creditable extent, yet his favorite instrument 
is the violin, of which he is a most successful 
teacher and at the same time a soloist on 
the concert stage. This young man's talent 
showed itself at a very early time in life. He 
began the study of the piano as a preparation 
for the violin, beginning on the latter instru- 
ment at the age of nine years. He, too, was 
placed under the best local instructors for the 
first years, and at the age of fifteen began 
study in Cincinnati under Prof. A. J. Schath, 
who afterward became one of the faculty in 
the Dayton College of Music. Mr. Butz rose 
to eminent proficiency under Mr. Schath, with 
whom he studied assiduously for years, when 
he placed himself under the instruction of 
Max Bendix, of Chicago, whose capable ped- 
agogic worth is universally acknowledged. 

Mr. Butz is the teacher of a large class of 
students at the College of Music, whose prog- 
ress ably attests his qualifications as a first- 
class teacher of violin. 

The Misses Butz and Clarence Butz have 
distinguished themselves with success wherever 



they have appeared in concert. Among the 
musical celebrities with whom these young 
artists have been associated are Sig. Albino 
Gorno and John S. Van Cleve, critic and lec- 
turer both of the College of Music, Cincin- 
nati; Mile. Verlet, of the Opera Comique, 
Paris; Mme. Moriani, Mile. Poisson and Mon- 
sieur Van Doren, of Brussels; William H. 
Sherwood, of Chicago; and Victor Thrane, 
the impressario, of New York. 

The College of Music is eentrally located, 
occupying the fifth floor of the Louis block, 
southwest corner of Fifth and Jefferson streets. 
The scholastic term opens each year with 
Septemebri, continuing until June 30. From 
July 1, to September 1, the college summer 
term is in session. Every facility for practice 
and study is given the pupils at the college. 
Beside the students' concerts that are given at 
stated periods during the scholastic term, a 
number of artist concerts are given by the 
faculty and eminent people of the concert 
world, for the purpose of educating the public 
to a love of the divine art. The Dayton Col- 
lege of Music is one of the most refining of 
the educational institutions of the city and 
well deserves the extended patronage it enjoys. 



BRANK ANDERSON, engineer of the 
Steele High School building, Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in this city May 25, 
1854, a son of Benjamin and Maria 
(Wall) Anderson, of whom the former was 
born in Washington township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and reared to manhood in Cen- 
terville; the latter was a native of Maryland, 
and their marriage took place in Dayton. 

Benjamin Anderson was a merchant tailor 
in the Gem City from 1840 until about 1867, 
when he engaged in the produce commission 
business, in which he continued a few years 
only, and was living retired at his death, when 



362 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



fifty-four years of age, in 1882. His widow- 
survived until 1893, when she died at the age 
of seventy-two years, leaving six children, viz.: 
Mrs. Hattie Thompson; Charles, who, though 
a mere boy at the close of the Civil war, en- 
listed at Dayton in 1865, served 100 days, is 
now married, and is a clerk in his native city 
of Dayton; Addie and Josephine, who are 
twins, the former being now Mrs. George W. 
Heathman and the latter the widow of P. E. 
Morton, both sisters being residents of Dayton; 
and William, who is a carpenter of the same 
city, Frank being the youngest of the family. 

Frank Anderson was educated in the Day- 
ton public schools, and early learned the trade 
of steam and gas fitting, at which he worked 
for about fifteen years, and then began general 
engineering. In 1S95 he was chosen engineer 
of the Steele High School building, a position 
of great responsibility and requiring a sound 
knowledge of machinery, and in which he has 
given the most faithful and efficient service up 
to the present time. 

In 1889 Mr. Anderson married Mrs. Sallie 
Clarke, a native of Preble county, Ohio, but 
at the time of her marriage to Mr. Anderson a 
resident of Dayton. She bore the maiden 
name of Kirtland, and by her first marriage is 
the mother of one son — Delbert Clarke — now 
sixteen years of age and a member of Mr. An- 
derson's household. 

Mr. Anderson is a member of the Junior 
Order of American Mechanics, and, with his 
wife, of the Daughters of Liberty. They be- 
long to the congregation worshiping at the 
Central Baptist church, and in politics Mr. 
Anderson is a sound republican of the Mc- 
Kinley school. He has led a quiet, industrious 
life, confining himself to his own affairs, and 
has made many warm friends in Dayton, where 
those who best know him honor him the most. 
He and his family hold the respect and esteem 
of their neighbors to a marked degree. 



kS~\ EV. JOHN KERFOOT LEWIS, chap- 
I f^l lain in the United States navy, with 
1 P his residence at No. 304 South Jeffer- 
son street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
York, Pa., March 18, 1835, a son of Thomas 
M. and Ann Jane (Kerfoot; Lewis. 

Thomas M. Lewis was a native of Bucks 
county, Pa., from January 17, 1808, and on 
September 11, 1832, married Miss Ann Jane 
Kerfoot, in Lancaster, Pa. In October, 1838, 
he brought his family to Dayton, Ohio, and 
engaged in the clothing business, which he fol- 
lowed until shortly before his death, which 
was caused by a railroad accident and took 
place in Dayton, July 14, 1884. 

His widow, the mother of John K. Lewis, 
still resides in Dayton. She was born in Dub- 
lin, Ireland, October 5, 1S10, and came to 
America with her parents in 1818. She is the 
second child who grew to maturity of Richard 
Kerfoot, of Castle Blarney, county Monaghan, 
Ireland, of the baronial family of Kerfoot, of 
Berwick manor, in the south part of Scotland, 
on the border of England, a branch of which 
family settled in Ireland in the time of Queen 
Elizabeth, of England. Her mother was a 
daughter of Hugh Cumming, an attorney of 
Armagh, Ireland, who was, according to tradi- 
tion, confirmed by the coat of arms borne by 
his ancestor, Alexander Cumming. The broth- 
ers of Mrs. Lewis were persons in high official 
station, in both England and Ireland, but the 
only one now living is a leading real estate 
dealer in Chicago, 111., where he settled in 
1848. 

William D. Lewis, the paternal grandfather 
of Rev. John K. Lewis, was born in Bucks 
county, Pa., of Welsh parentage. To the 
marriage of his son, Thomas M., with Ann 
Jane Kerfoot, were born, beside the subject of 
this sketch, four children, viz.: Samuel S., 
who for many years was a farmer in Kansas, 
but is now a resident of California; Martha J., 






y> 



£L &(f m £&s*r2k 



*^z@? 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



365 



who died in 1863 at the age of twenty-nine 
years; Mary A., who was married _to George 
H. Lane, an attorney of Dayton, and about 
1856 removed to Burlington, Iowa, where she 
died, in 1871, at the age of thirty-four years; 
and Emily M., who died in Dayton, in 1887, 
aged forty-one years. 

The education of John K. Lewis was be- 
gun in the pioneer schools of Dayton, where 
he was under the instruction of Mr. Gaylor 
and Mr. Chipman, and also, in his early days, 
was a pupil under Mr. and Mrs. James Wal- 
ters, of Sixth street. At the age of about eleven 
years he left the public school and became a 
student under Milo G. Williams, in the old 
academy, which afterward became the first 
high school of the city, under the manage- 
ment of James H. Campbell and Dr. Crook, 
and later under that of John W. Hall. At 
the age of nearly fifteen years, Mr. Lewis en- 
tered the Ohio Wesleyan university, but was 
dissatisfied with its curriculum and returned 
to Dayton, where for three years he was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a book store. He then 
entered Saint James college, an Episcopal in- 
stitution, near Hagerstown, Md. In passing, 
it may be said that the president of this col- 
lege was a brother of his mother; that the 
college was discontinued during the Civil war 
and was never rehabilitated, and that its pres- 
ident later became president of Trinity college, 
Hartford, Conn. 

At the age of twenty-two years Mr. Lewis 
was graduated from Saint James and was at 
once installed as head master of the grammar 
school of the same — a position he held for 
four years, or until the outbreak of the Rebel- 
lron. In 1858, while still in the institution, he 
was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal church, 
and in i860 was invested with full orders. In 
1 86 1 he entered upon his ministerial duties 
as assistant to the pastor of the Episcopal 
church at Elizabeth, N. J., and in 1862 was 



placed in charge of Saint Luke's Episcopal 
church at Buffalo, N. Y. , where he officiated 
four years. He next established Saint Mark's 
school, at Southborough, Mass., under the 
auspices of the church, and this school is still 
in existence and in a most flourishing condition. 
A year later he was given charge of a mission 
in Syracuse, N. Y., and after four years of 
labor succeeded in building a church edifice — 
now the second Episcopal church of that city. 

In November, 1869, Rev. Mr. Lewis was 
appointed a chaplain in the United States navy, 
and although his time since then has chiefly 
been passed in shore duty, he has nevertheless 
seen seven or eight years of sea service, during 
which period he has visited Europe, Asia, 
Africa and the South Sea islands, according to 
sailing orders issued by the navy department 
to the commander of the man-of-war or fleet 
to which he happened to be detailed. While 
performing shore duty as United States naval 
chaplain, he often conducted religious services, 
not only for his crew, but for the landsmen, 
among whom he may have happened at the 
time to be stationed. For the past ten years 
he has considered Dayton to be his permanent 
home, and, if he live until March, 1897, he 
will be placed on the retired list of United 
States officers. 

The first marriage of Rev. Mr. Lewis was 
solemnized in Elizabeth, N. J., in 1862, with 
Miss Susan W. Moore, a native of that city. 
This union resalted in the birth of five daugh- 
ters, in the following order: Catherine E., 
Martha, Mary, Margaret and Florence. Of 
these Catherine E., is the wife of William E. 
Abbey, of Philadelphia, and Martha is married 
to Mr. Hill, of Newport, R. I. The second 
marriage of Rev. Mr. Lewis was with Miss 
Anne E. Keble, of Dayton, daughter of Walter 
and Elizabeth Keble — the parents being of 
English birth. 

Rev. Mr. Lewis is a Thirty-second degree 



3(56 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Scottish rite Mason. In politics he is inde- 
pendent, but is an advocate of the single tax 
theory. In early times his father was one of 
the foremost of Ohio abolitionists, and, with 
Dr. Hibbard Jewett and John A. Sprague, had 
the courage to maintain his convictions of right 
in the face of the strong pro-slavery element 
the day. He was well understood as one of 
the managers of "the underground railroad," 
and assisted many a fugitive slave to freedom, 
and rejoiced that he lived to see America free 
in fact as well as in name. 



a APT. THOMAS G. ADKINS, band- 
master at the National Military home, 
near Dayton, Ohio, and one of the 
most accomplished musicians and 
band leaders in the United States, was born in 
London, England, March 4, 1823, and, vet- 
eran as he is, still stands at the head of his 
profession. His parents were Thomas and 
Catherine (Robinson) Adkins, the former of 
whom was a soldier of the Twenty-fourth 
"foot" regiment in the British army. 

When a child of two years of age, the son 
was taken through Ireland by his parents, his 
father following the fortunes of his regiment 
in that island, and his wife accompanying 
him. At the age of six years young Adkins 
first saw America, the regiment to which his 
father was attached being ordered to Quebec, 
Canada, where the father died in 1833 — and 
the mother and son were returned to England 
by the government. At the age of nine years, 
Thomas was placed in the Royal Military 
school in London, where he received a mili- 
tary and musical education, and, having devel- 
oped a decided taste and talent for musical 
art, was entered, at the age of fifteen years, 
as musician, in the Second regiment of life 
guards — the bodyguard of the sovereign. After 
nig ten years in this regiment, Mr. Adkins 



came to the United States, and made his first 
engagement as a musician as master of the 
Washington band of New York city; he was 
also a member of the orchestra which played 
at the concerts of the Swedish nightingale, 
Jenny Lind, in her earliest concerts in this 
country, he playing cornet solo, and still 
has a program of the third concert given by 
that famous showman, Phineas T. Barnum — 
possibly at Castle Garden, New York. Dur- 
ing this time Mr. Adkins still retained his po- 
sition as leader of the Washington band, which 
was attached to or employed by the aristo- 
cratic and "crack" regiment, known as the 
Seventh New York militia, but four or five 
years later the band dissolved its connection 
with the Seventh and attached itself to the 
Eighth New York militia. In a short time, how- 
ever, Mr. Adkins withdrew from this connec- 
tion and went to New Orleans, La., and for a 
while was solo cornetist in a theater orchestra 
during the winter of 1855-56. In the spring 
of the latter year he organized a band of 
twenty-five men to accompany the "gray- 
eyed man of destiny," Gen. William Walker, 
who departed, with a body of "fishermen," 
to aid in the liberation of 'Nicaragua, but he 
was not long a band-master with that little 
army, as it soon became necessary to shoulder 
a musket and fight in person. Penned up in 
the little city of Rivas, the patriot army de- 
fended itself against a siege of three months, 
living on horseflesh, dogs, lizards and what- 
not, and in the meantime slaughtering about 
1,000 of the besiegers, but at last compro- 
mised, marched out, and the greater part of the 
250 fighting men were deported for New York. 
Mr. Adkins, however, wandered to the Pacific 
coast and at Point d'Arenus formed a troupe 
of minstrels — the first heard in the country — 
composed of seven musicians. The British 
consul at the Point was a cornet player, had 
several instruments, which he loaned the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



367 



troupe, and banjos, etc., were constructed 
through the ingenuity of the band. Through 
this means the performers were enabled to 
travel several hundred miles afoot and make a 
livelihood. 

While on this memorable trip Mr. Adkins 
was engaged by a local priest to play at a cel- 
ebration over the defeat of Gen. Walker, and, 
though this engagement was not to his taste, 
playing dance and other profane music at the 
head of the military procession on Sunday, 
while the cannon were booming, yet it netted 
him considerable "dinero" and he was well 
treated. Mr. Adkins was also offered a posi- 
tion as leader of a fine band at Walla Walla, 
but declined. He received, however, a purse 
of $30 and a liberal supply of provisions from 
the friendly priest — Padre Cabaisa — and went 
on his way rejoicing. On reaching Aspinwall 
he boarded a vessel for New York, but found 
that he had only $25 in his possession, while 
the passage rate was fixed at $60; but by a 
Masonic arrangement he was permitted to 
embark for the voyage. When the vessel 
stopped at the way port of Havana, Cuba, 
Mr. Adkins was seized with the Chagres fever, 
a disease known only to Central America, but 
continuing the voyage, he arrived in New York 
July 4, 1857, where he was confined in bed 
during the three months following. He was 
then able to resume his place as master of the 
Washington band, and in the latter part of 
1857 was offered by Col. Colt (the inventor of 
the revolving firearm), of Hartford, Conn., a 
liberal compensation as leader of his band in 
that city, which was accepted and filled until 
1S61. 

Mr. Adkins then organized a band of twen- 
ty-four musicians for the Fourteenth United 
States infantry, and for five years and eleven 
months was connected with this regiment, serv- 
ing through the Civil war, the greater part of 
the time at headquarters, but nevertheless in 



the field through the battle of the Wilderness. 
At the close of the war the widow of Col. Colt 
recalled Capt. Adkins to Hartford, Conn., and 
placed him once more in charge of the Colt 
factory band, which position he retained until 
1 88 1. This was an especial recognition of his 
merits as a musician and band leader, as he 
was thus employed, save during the war, from 
1857 until 1 88 1. During the last engagement 
of Capt. Adkins at the Colt firearms factory, 
Gen. Franklin was its superintendent, and it 
was through his influence that the captain was 
admitted to the National Military home at 
Dayton. 

In May, 18S1, Capt. Adkins was placed 
in charge of the Home band, and a recent re- 
port rendered by the United States inspector, 
Gen. Breckinridge, shows this to be one of the 
best military bands in the country — it being 
composed of thirty-three pieces. 

Capt Adkins was first married, in England, 
to Miss Mary Walker, who there died, leaving 
one son, who sacrificed his life in our late Civil 
war. His present wife, whom he married in 
Portland, Oregon, in 1866, was Miss Jane Mil- 
lard, a native of Ireland. To this union eight 
children have been born, viz. : Catherine, 
Alice, Frederick William, Thomas, Alfred, 
Maud, Mabel and Edward. Of the sons, 
Alfred served three years in the United States 
cavalry service, receiving his discharge in 
1895 ; the daughters, inheriting the musical, 
talent of their father, have developed as most 
excellent performers on the piano. 

There is one fact in regard to the family of 
Capt. Adkins which ought to be mentioned, 
and that is that, although he is an Englishman 
born, his relative, Nathan Adkins, was a soldier 
in the Second regulars of Virginia in the war 
of the Revolution, and aided in attaining the 
independence of the country in which the cap- 
tain has now found a home. 

Capt. Adkins was made a Freemason, in 



368 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



New York city, in 1852, in Worth lodge ; he 
was dimitted thence to Mystic lodge, No. 405, 
at Dayton, Ohio, and has attained to the 
Thirty-second degree — a very exalted position 
in the order. He is also a member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic, and in religion 
he and his family are members of the Episco- 
palian church. In his politics he is a repub- 
lican, and he and his sons furnish four straight 
votes annually for that party. 



(D 



AJ. CARL BERLIN, assistant ad- 
jutant general of the Central branch 
of the National Home for Disabled 
Volunteer Soldiers near Dayton, 
Ohio, was born near Ystad, in the northern 
part of Sweden, May 17, 1834, was graduated 
from a university and the military academy, 
entered the Swedish atmy at the age of twenty 
years, as a non-commissioned officer, received 
his commission as second lieutenant in 1856, 
and as first lieutenant in 1862, serving in all 
nine years. In the fall of 1863 he came to 
the United States, was at once commissioned 
first lieutenant of company C, Eighth New 
York volunteer cavalry, and faithfully served 
against the rebels until mustered out with his 
regiment in December, 1864. The day of his 
muster out he was commissioned first lieutenant 
of the First New York light artillery, and served 
with this rank until the close of the internecine 
struggle. He took part in all the engagements 
of the army of the Potomac during the years 
he was in the service, doing duty as aid-de- 
camp to the chief of artillery. Gen. Henry J. 
Hunt, and as inspector of the artillery brigade, 
Fifth army corps. He was brevetted captain 
and major for brave and meritorious conduct 
at Spottsylvania Court House and Petersburg. 
After the close of the war he engaged in plant- 
ing and in mercantile business in South Caro- 
lina, but his experience in these lines was not 



altogether gratifying, and he relinquished them 
in 1884. In 1885 he was appointed adjutant 
and inspector of the Central branch of the 
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol- 
diers. He is a member of the Loyal Legion 
and of the Grand Army of the Republic, and a 
Knight of the Royal Order of the Sword, 
which decoration was conferred on him by the 
king of Sweden. 

Maj. Berlin is not only one of the most 
popular officers connected with the govern- 
ment of the home, but he numbers among his 
friends very many of the best citizens of Day- 
ton. 



HDAM ADELBERGER, ex-member of 
the Dayton city council from the Sec- 
ond ward, and who was a well-known 
butcher, residing at No. 315 and 317 
Xenia avenue, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany, December 31, 1848. Having re- 
ceived his education in his native country, he 
left home on June 17, 1866, and came to the 
United States, landing in New York and com- 
ing thence direct to Dayton, which place he 
reached July 22, 1866. His trade of butcher 
he acquired in Dayton, working for Leonard 
Stockert, one of the oldest butchers of the 
city, where he still resides. For some four 
years after retiring from the service of Mr. 
Stockert, Mr. Adelberger worked for various 
employers, and then engaged in business for 
himself. For one year he was in business on 
Webster street, and then removed to Mad 
River township; but in May, 1885, he returned 
to Dayton and opened a place of business on 
Xenia avenue, where he remained until his 
death. 

On April 28, 1870, he was married to Eliz- 
abeth Wassum, a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Germany, who came to this country in May, 
1868. To them were born ten children, five 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



371 



of whom, all daughters, are still living. Mr. 
Adelberger was, and his family are, members 
of St. John's German Evangelical church, of 
which Mr. Adelberger was a trustee at his 
death, and of which he had formerly served as 
trustee for four years. He was also a member 
of the Odd Fellow fraternity, A. O. U. W. 
and of the order of Chosen Friends, besides 
several other beneficiary organizations. He 
was elected to the council of Dayton in June, 
1894, to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Kro- 
nauge, and in April, 1895, he was re-elected, 
his term to expire in 1897. 

In 1888 Mr. Adelberger paid a visit to his 
native country, remaining abroad three months 
with his relatives and friends. There his fa- 
ther and mother, three brothers and one sister 
are still living. Mr. Adelberger was one of the 
successful business men of Dayton, and his 
judgment in business, as well as in political 
matters, was frequently sought. 

Mr. Adelberger met with a sudden and mel- 
ancholy death August 18, 1896, by being 
thrown from a wagon, and his untimely end 
was sincerely mourned by all who knew him. 



>Y»OHN NEWTON ALLABACK has long 

■ been associated with the commercial 

/• 1 and laboring interests of Dayton, and 

for the past ten years has been a most 

efficient and useful member of the police force 

of the city. Capt. Allaback was born in the 

village of West Point, Morrow county, Ohio, 

November 15, 1857. The removal of his 

parents to Dayton brought him to this city, 

which has been his home for twenty years or 

more. 

His father, John Alfaback, is also a native 

of this state, and has done his part in life as a 

citizen and soldier. When the war of the 

Rebellion called out the brave men of the 

nation to her defense, he was among the first 
10 



to respond. He enlisted in a company that 
went out from Galion early in the summer of 
1 86 1, served throughout the war, and was 
mustered out as captain of company K, 
Eighty-first regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry. 
After the return of peace, he returned to 
Galion, where he engaged in business as a 
contracting plasterer for several years, until 
his removal for a second time to this city, 
which has since continued to be his home. 
Despite his long and arduous services as a 
soldier, he is still active and vigorous, and car- 
ries on an extensive business. 

John N. Allaback remained with his father, 
working with him in his business, until he had 
reached the age of twenty-two years. At this 
time he also determined to try military life, 
and accordingly enlisted in Cincinnati, March 
26, 1879, in the cavalry service of the United 
States. His first assignment was to Jefferson 
barracks, where he made a stay of some two 
months, undergoing a preliminary drill and 
general training for the service. When thought 
ready for the field, he was assigned to the 
Second United States cavalry, troop M, with 
headquarters at Fort Custer, Mont. The 
first three years of his stay with the troopers 
were principally occupied in scouting and field 
service, many of the northwestern Indians 
being openly hostile. He participated in two 
engagements of proportions sufficient to war- 
rant them a place in history, one on the Milk 
river with the Sioux, and the other on the 
Rosebud with the Ogallas, both battle fields 
being in what is now the state of Montana. 
The Indians were active and aggressive, and 
the soldiery qualities of the Second were often 
severely tried. But it was a gallant company 
of brave men, and won a great reputation as 
Indian fighters. And our young soldier was 
well to the front in every time of danger. He 
won promotion from the ranks by his gallant 
behavior, was made corporal, and at the time 



372 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of his discharge, March 26, 1884, was first 
duty sergeant of the troop. 

Ex-Cavalryman Allaback returned to Day- 
ton after leaving the service, and at once re- 
sumed the business he had put aside five years 
before. But the precision of his habits and 
the strength of his character, which he had 
gained from military life, were recognized, and 
he was called to the police department of the 
city, being appointed on the force June 16, 
1886, and in this service he is still engaged. 
As a police officer he has acted in almost every 
capacity, and wherever he has been assigned 
to duty he has acquitted himself with high 
credit. He has followed the line of promo- 
tion; was first roundsman, then sergeant, and 
his commission as police captain bears date 
March 8, 1893. Capt. Allaback was married, 
on September 16. 1884, to Miss Alice Francis, 
a native of Dayton. Her father, Amon 
Francis, has been for many years one of Day- 
ton's best millwrights. To this happy union 
there have been born three sons and one 
daughter: John Clifford, Wilbur Newton, 
Helen Catherine, and an infant, deceased. 
Capt. Allaback is a member of the Order of 
Foresters, and of the Police Benevolent asso- 
ciation. He is still a young man, but has 
already won an honorable place in the estima- 
tion of the community, to whose interests he 
has been faithful in a place of responsibility 
and trust. 



K^\ OBERT MORRIS ALLEN, who holds 

I /^ the position of joint weighmaster and 

P inspector of all railway lines centering 

in Dayton, is a native of this city, 

and was born March 30, 1847. His parents 

were Robert and Elizabeth (Simpson) Allen. 

The father came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in 

1 83 1, and at once located in this city, and 

here he lived until his death, which occurred 



in 1872, after he had passed his seventy-first 
birthday. During his youth he learned the 
cooper and stone-cutting trades, and after com- 
ing here he worked at the cooperage business 
until 1856. He was then appointed to the po- 
sition of city wood measurer, and, following 
that, was elected to the same office, which he 
continued to hold until the spring of 1864. 
From that time on he ceased active employ- 
ment. His wife was born in Dayton, and was 
the daughter of Moses and Eliza (Baker) 
Simpson. Her father and her grandfather 
(Aaron Baker) were early citizens of Dayton, 
and contributed not a little to the history of 
the growing town. They came from New Jer- 
sey, and found much delight in the soil and 
climate of southwestern Ohio. Robert and 
Elizabeth Allen became the parents of ten 
children, of whom three are now living, Rob- 
ert M. , and two younger sisters, of whom 
Sarah is the wife of William Sellman, of Day- 
ton, and Annie resides with her brother. 

Robert Morris Allen was reared in this city, 
attended its schools until he had reached the 
age of fourteen, when he felt called upon to 
care for himself, and began at that early age a 
business career that has been long and success- ( 
ful. His first employment was in the ware- 
house of Robert Chambers. Later he became 
a house and carriage-painter of acknowledged 
skill. In 1866 the railway service attracted 
him, and he became a brakeman on the 
old Dayton & Michigan railway. This po- 
sition he held until 1S71, when he received 
station work from the Atlantic & Great West- 
ern (now the N. Y., P. & O.). He entered 
the revenue service of the United States in 
September, 1885, and was first appointed as 
deputy collector in the Sixth Ohio district, 
making his headquarters at Dayton until the 
consolidation of this district and the First. He 
was then stationed at Cincinnati, where he re- 
mained for two years. He then came back to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



373 



this city to take charge of the position of 
stamp deputy. This place Mr. Allen held un- 
til a change of national administration called 
for his resignation from the service, to give 
office to a republican. The railway officials 
were quick to recognize the value of his ready 
and accurate mind, and he was offered the 
the chief clerkship in the Dayton car service 
bureau. This he accepted and held until 
1892, when this bureau was consolidated with 
a similar organization at Cincinnati. Mr. Allen 
was then put in charge of the weighing and in- 
spection of all lines at Dayton, and here he is 
now engaged. He is also secretary of the 
Freight Agents' association and of the Dayton 
freight committee. 

As a citizen Mr. Allen has been both active 
and public spirited. He was first elected to 
the board of education in 1873, and, with the 
exception of three years, has held a contin- 
uous membership to the present time. For 
three years he was president of the board, and 
has always exerted great influence in the edu- 
cational affairs of the city. He was president 
of the board at the time the plans for the city 
library were perfected, and was instrumental 
in obtaining the consent of the city council to 
the location of the library building in the city 
park. He was on the board of education un- 
til about the time of the completion of the 
library, when the legislature passed a law 
creating a board of library trustees. Of this 
board he was made a member, with much 
unanimity of feeling, as a deserved tribute to 
a hard worker in the cause of public education. 
He was afterward returned to the board of 
education, and continues in both bodies. Mr. 
Allen is much engaged in fraternity work, and 
is a member of several of the leading brother- 
hoods of the city. He is a Mason, an Odd 
Fellow, a Knight of Honor, a member of the 
Order of Elks, and of the Chosen Friends, 
and is much esteemed in all these relations. 



^-j* AMES M. ALLAN, infirmary director of 

m Dayton and superintendent of the W. 

(• J P. Levis & Co. paper-mill, was born 

in Dayton, February 20, 1856, and is a 

son of John and Jessie (Cooper) Allan, natives 

of Kirkintilloch, Scotland. 

John Allan, the father, came to the United 
States in 1848, and at once settled in Dayton, 
Ohio, where he found work at his trade in the 
old McGregor paper-mill. He was a man of 
fine education, and for some years taught 
school in Montgomery county. In 1S51 Miss 
Jessie Cooper came to America and was mar- 
ried to Mr. Allan in the same year. She 
died in 1874, a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and on February 15, 1896, her hus- 
band, who was an attendant of the same 
church, also passed away in the seventy-second 
year of his age. Of their six children, four are 
still living, viz: Jennet, the wife of Samuel 
Lehman; James M., Thomas C. and Annie M., 
all residents of Dayton. 

James M. Allan attended the public schools 
of his native city until eleven years of age. 
On March 4, 1867, he was employed by the 
paper-making firm of W. P. Levis & Co., 
learned the trade, and by this firm he has ever 
since been retained, reaching his present re- 
sponsible position, by well-merited promotions, 
in September, 1892. At the April election of 
1896 he was elected, on the republican ticket, 
director of the city infirmary of Dayton, an of- 
fice also of great responsibility, and which he 
has filled to the approval of the public and 
with credit to himself. 

November 21, 1879, Mr. Allan was happily 
married to Miss Annie M. Shiftier, daughter of 
William and Elizabeth Shiftier, old residents of 
Dayton. To this union have been born four chil- 
dren — Charles E., William E., Jessie E., and 
Mabel E. In their religious connection Mrs. Al- 
lan and her eldest son are members of the Lu- 
theran church, while Mr. Allan is a Presbyterian. 



374 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



In his fraternal relations, he is a member of the 
Senior Order of American Mechanics and of 
the American Insurance Union. 



^y^V IUS P. ALTHOFF, senior member of 
"II the well known firm of P. P. Althoff 
& Son, coal dealers of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Emmittsburg, Md., De- 
cember 8, 1 82 1, of German parentage. Until 
1847 he worked at farming and lumbering in 
his native state. In 1849 he came overland 
by teams to Ohio and since that date has been 
a resident of Montgomery county. After mov- 
ing to Dayton he engaged in contracting, and 
building the narrow-gauge railroad, and was 
an excavating contractor for many years. In 
1884 he engaged in the coal trade at Dayton, 
which was discontinued during the absence of 
his son, Henry F., in the west, and resumed 
on his return. 

Mr. Althoff married, in Maryland, April 26, 
1846, Miss Kate Welty, a resident of Mary- 
land but a native of Karlsruhe, Germany, born 
June 20, 1 82 1. To this union were born eleven 
children, nine of whom are still living, viz: 
Mary, Henry F., Carrie, George, Kate, Charles, 
Emma, Rose and Lillie, — all married, except- 
ing Henry F., Carrie and Kate; the two de- 
ceased were named Harry and Willie. Mary 
is the wife of Redmond P. Sage, and lives in 
Dayton; George is a resident of Butte, Mont. ; 
Henry F. and Charles are in Dayton; Rose is 
married to Frank Saxteller, also of Dayton; 
Lillie, now Mrs. Arnold Greiner, resides in 
Miamisburg, Ohio. 

Although not a pioneer, Pius P. Althoff 
was an early settler in Montgomery county and 
came here a poor man. Of the sixteen com- 
panions who accompanied him over the Na- 
tional pike in 1849 but four are now living, 
while he and his wife have lived to celebrate 
their golden wedding, at which festival twenty- 



four children and grandchildren were present. 
Although now a solid citizen, the first year's 
experience in Montgomery county was, never- 
theless, discouraging — the prospect being only 
for hard work and poor compensation, while, 
to add to the troubles of Mr. and Mrs. Althoff, 
a child sickened and died, and serious thoughts 
were entertained of going back to Maryland. 
But Mr. Althoff had a strong will and an in- 
dustrious disposition, and after working on the 
railroad, as already mentioned, he began to 
buy wood in the timber and to haul it to town 
for the difference in price, which was very 
small; then worked on a farm for a year, saved 
his earnings and moved to Dayton. He next 
traded for a farm, on which the family lived for 
three years. He then exchanged his farm for 
city property, and engaged in contract work, 
as noted, and thus, by steady and persistent 
effort, he wrought out success and ultimate 
propensity. 

Mr. Althoff was reared in the faith of the 
Catholic church, and is to-day a devoted mem- 
ber of the Sacred Heart congregation of Day- 
ton, of which his wife and children are also 
members. He is, beside, a director of the 
Calvary cemetery. In politics he has been a 
life-long democrat, but has never been an 
office-seeker. 

The parents of Pius P. Althoff were Henry 
and Catherine (Diffendall) Althoff, natives of 
Germany, but who died in Maryland, aged re- 
spectively seventy-two and sixty-three years. 
They were the parents of nine children, viz: 
John, now over eighty years of age and a resi- 
dent of Houston, Tex. ; Ann, widow of Dr. 
Flatt, and residing in Reedsburg, Wis. ; Henry, 
a plasterer, who died in Hagerstown, Md., in 
his twenty-first year; Pius P.; Francis, a 
painter by trade, who died of a fever in Alton, 
111., where he was engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness; Ambrose, a retired mechanic, who lives 
near the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains, in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



375 



Frederick county, Md. ; Aloysius, who is a 
mechanic of Dayton; and Felix, also of Day- 
ton, who is a painter and decorator, and an- 
other deceased. 

Henry F. Althoff, son of Pius P. Althoff, 
was born in Liberty, Ohio, August 29, 1850, 
and was educated in the district school. Until 
1882 he worked with his father and lived at 
home; then went west, but shortly afterward 
returned. March 17, 1884, he went to Mon- 
tana, worked at silver mining in the Parrott 
and Anaconda mines, then went to Idaho and 
worked in the Bunker Hill and Tiger mines; 
was for two years a cowboy, and in 1892 re- 
turned with his savings and engaged in busi- 
ness with his father, handling coal, wood, lime, 
cement, etc., and doing a prosperous trade. 
He is still unmarried and resides with his par- 
ents at No. 226 South Warren street, Dayton. 
In politics he is a democrat. 



'^'j'OSEPH W. ALLISON, manufacturer 
m of wood and metal patterns and mod- 
/• 1 els, at the corner of Third and Canal 
streets, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Shelby county June 4, 1836, and is a son of 
James C. and Jane (Graham) Allison, natives 
of Pennsylvania, and doubtless of Scotch- 
Irish descent. 

James C. Allison was in early life a shoe- 
maker, but later became a teamster, and in 
1853 came to Dayton with his family, and 
here his wife died in 1878, at the age of sev- 
enty-six years, and he in 1885, at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-six years — both having 
lived in the faith of the New Light church. 
They were the parents of nine children, of 
whom three are now living in Dayton, one in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and one in Carlisle, Ohio. 

Joseph W. Allison was well educated in 
the public schools of his native county and in 
those of Dayton, and in his early manhood 



learned the trade of carriage making, at which 
he worked until his enlistment in October, 
1 86 1, in company G, Fourteenth Missouri 
volunteer infantry, in which he gallantly served 
until honorably discharged, in July, 1862, on 
account of disability. By advice of his phy- 
sicians he then relinquished carriage making 
and devoted his attention to pattern making, 
in which business he began, in a small way, in 
Dayton, but has made an increasing and 
deserved success. He is an expert, and em- 
ploys none but the bes t artists as his assist- 
ants, and has thus achieved a reputation sec- 
ond to that of no other designer in the state. 
In 1893 he associated his son with himself in 
the business, and assumed for the firm the 
style of the Allison Pattern works, under 
which name it has since greatly prospered. 
Mr. Allison is also a director in the West Side 
Building & Loan assocciation, and is a mem- 
ber of the Hiram Strong post, No. 79, G. A. 
R. Politically he is a republican, and has 
served two terms in the Dayton city council, 
being for one year its president. 

The marriage of Mr. Allison took place 
May 12, 1859, with Miss Isabella Kiler, a na- 
tive of Dayton and a daughter of Daniel W. 
Kiler. This union was blessed with three 
children, viz: Charles L. , now a pattern- 
maker, with Stilwell, Bierce & Co., and mar- 
ried to Cora Romaine; Daniel K., who is his 
father's partner in business and is married to 
Miss May E. Bryce, daughter of S. T. Bryce; 
Russell W., patternmaker, in the employ of 
the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, and married 
to Miss Jennie Atchison, The mother of this 
family became somewhat frail in health in 
1893-94, an d was taken by her husband on a 
tour through the west, and passed several 
months in California, Mexico, etc., but in May, 
1895, sne died in Dayton, a member of the 
Disciples' church, of which, for thirty years, 
Mr. Allison has also been an active member. 



376 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Of their descendants, five grandchildren are 
now living and one deceased. 

Daniel K. Allison, second son of Joseph 
W. and Isabella (Kiler) Allison, and now asso- 
ciated with his father in business, received his 
preliminary education in the public schools, 
and later attended Bethany college; he then 
read law with Hon. Samuel Craighead, was 
admitted to practice March iS, 1888, but fol- 
lowed his profession for twelve months only, 
preferring to devote his attention to mechan- 
ical industries. 

Joseph W. Allison is one of Dayton's reli- 
able business men and has always kept in view 
the material progress of the city, contributing 
freely to all projects designed for the promo- 
tion of the public good. He was for ten years 
at the head of the pattern department of the 
Dayton Malleable Iron works and one year 
with the Farmers' Friend Manufacturing 
company. 



>VOHN AMAN, a prominent citizen of 
M Dayton, was born in Koenigheim, in 
A J the grand duchy of Baden, German, 
October 16, 1 836, and is a son of Frank 
and Sophia Aman, both natives of Germany. 
Emigrating to the United States the family 
landed at Baltimore, Md., October 4, 1852, 
going from there to Washington, D. C, where 
they located permanently, and where Frank 
Aman followed his trade, that of tailor, until 
the time of his death, which occurred in 1855. 
Mrs. Aman died there in 1865, and both are 
buried in Washington. They were the par- 
ents of four children, as follows: Andrew, 
now a resident of Hyattsville, Prince George's 
county, Md., and who has been in the railroad 
service for more than forty years; Martin, who 
was accidently shot at Wabash, Ind., in 1861, 
died from the effects of the wound and is 
buried in Dayton; John, the subject of this 



sketch, and Sebastian, who was a well-known 
restaurant keeper of Washington, and died 
February 20, 1895. 

John Aman received most of his education 
in his native town in Baden, but attended 
night school during one winter in Dayton. 
While in Washington he learned the cabinet- 
maker's trade, working for one employer for 
five consecutive years. In 1857 he removed 
to Dayton, and there entered the service of the 
Dutton Agricultural works, and after six 
months' employment in connection with this 
firm, became an employe of the Barney & 
Smith Manufacturing company. In 185S he 
went to Richmond, Ind., where during the 
summer of that year he worked at house car- 
pentering. In December, 1858, he was mar- 
ried to Mary Goellner, who was born in Ba- 
varia, Germany, the marriage taking place in 
Dayton. After spending the succeeding winter 
in Richmond he returned to Dayton- and re- 
sumed his position in the car works of Barney 
& Smith, remaining with them until Novem- 
ber, 1 88 1, and having been foreman during 
the last nine years of his service there. 

In 1882 he purchased a lot on the corner of 
Johnston and Perrine streets, and built his 
present place of business, where he has ever 
since carried on business as a retail grocer. 
Politically Mr. Aman has always been a strong 
democrat and as such has been both active 
and prominent in city politics for many years. 
In 1S67 he was elected to the city council 
from the Sixth ward, and served two years. 
In 1870 he was elected to the board of educa- 
tion from the Eleventh ward, the boundaries 
having been so changed as to throw his resi- 
dence into this ward. In 1872 he was re- 
elected to that office for a second term of two 
years. In 1882 he was elected assessor of the 
Eleventh ward, serving one year. In 1885 he 
was elected from the Seventh ward to the city 
board of education, and was twice re-elected. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



377 



thus serving six years consecutively at this 
time, or ten years in all. In 1890 he was 
elected infirmary director and was re-elected 
in 1893. In all of these offices Mr. Aman has 
proved himself efficient and alive to duty, la- 
boring for the good of those whom he repre- 
sented, rather for his own aggrandizement. 

To the marriage of Mr. Aman and his wife 
there have been born eight children, as fol- 
lows: Annie, wife of Joseph Unger, of Day- 
ton; Carrie, wife of Dennis J. Madden, of 
Dayton; Louisa, widow, of William Roney; 
John, Jr., cornice worker of Dayton; Emma, 
wife of William Staffen, of Dayton; Josephine, 
wife of Eugene Chapin, of Dayton; William, 
an employee. of the National Cash Register 
company, of Dayton, and Charles, also with 
the Cash Register company. Mr. Aman is a 
member of Humboldt lodge, No. 58, Knights 
of Pythias, and of Dayton lodge, A. O. U. W. 
He was one of the charter members of the 
Baden society of Dayton, and in all of these 
societies is not only in good standing but is a 
man of usefulness and influence. He was sec- 
retary of the Miami, the Union and the Mont- 
gomery Building & Loan Associations, all of 
which have now gone out of existence through 
the terms of their organization. 



^yy»ILLIAM J. AMBROSE is the man- 

M m ager for the C. F. Adams company, 

VJLyJ ni Dayton, dealers, on the install- 
ment plan, in household goods. He 
was born in Urbana, Ohio, May II, 1852, and 
is a son of William M. and Susan (McCandless) 
Ambrose. 

William M. Ambrose was born in Berks 
county, Pa., of German descent, and although 
reared on a farm, was in his early manhood 
engaged in merchant-tailoring and in mercan- 
tile business. He first married Susan McCand- 
less, who became the mother of five children, 



viz: William J. ; Flora, wife of C. A. Meek, of 
Davenport, Iowa; Walter, deceased; Charles, 
a traveling salesman for the Simmons Hard- 
ware company, of Saint Louis, Mo., and re- 
siding in Lincoln, Neb.; and Edward C. , a 
traveling salesman of Oakland, Cal. The 
mother of these children was called away in 
1861, at the early age of twenty-seven years, 
and the father, who is now farming east of 
Urbana, was again married, and became by 
this second union the father of three children, 
viz: Nettie, Judson W. and one that died un- 
named. 

William J. Ambrose, after passing through 
the public schools, for two terms attended the 
Swedenborg college at Urbana. At the age of 
seventeen years he began learning the carpen- 
ter's trade, and came to Dayton in 1871, when 
he accepted a position as salesman for the C. 
F. Adams company, and for six months acted 
as such in the Dayton store; he was then sent 
to Springfield. Ohio, as manager of the com- 
pany's establishment in that city, where he was 
so efficient that the company, at the end of six 
months, recalled him to Dayton, which afforded 
a broader field for the exercise of his superior 
executive ability, and in his present position 
he has ever since been employed, widening 
and broadening the trade of the Adams com- 
pany from year to year. Mr. Ambrose now 
employs in the Dayton establishment from fif- 
teen to twenty salespeople. 

In politics Mr. Ambrose is a republican. 
In fraternal matters he united with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in' 1774, has 
passed all the chairs of the subordinate lodge, 
is a member of the Gem City encampment, 
was one of the charter members of the Gem 
City lodge, and is, beside, secretary of the 
Montgomery County Aid association of I. O. 
O. F. He is a charter member of Crown 
council, No. 35, Junior O. U. A. M., also of 
Mayflower council, No. 33, O. U. A. M. 



378 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Ambrose was married December 4, 
1874, to Miss Elnicia G. Fitch, a native of 
Newberry, Ohio, and to this union have been 
born three children, Annabel, Bernice V. and 
Estella G. The eldest daughter, Annabel, is 
an accomplished vocalist, and is now the lead- 
ing soprano in Saint Paul's Methodist church, 
is a member of the Philharmonic society, and 
also of the East End Choral society. The 
family are all members of Saint Paul's Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, Mr. Ambrose being a 
class leader and superintendent of the Sunday- 
school, and taking an active part in both 
church and Sunday-school work. 



kV^\ EV. CHARLES S. KEMPER, D. D., 

I /^ chaplain of Central Branch National 
P Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol- 
diers, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Wallhausen, Prussia, July 6, 1851, a son of 
John and Catherine Kemper, the former of 
whom died in Prussia and the latter is now a 
resident of Dayton, in her eighty-fourth year. 
At the age of eight years Charles S. Kemper 
was brought to America by his mother, passed 
two years in school in Philadelphia, Pa., and 
at ten years of age was brought to Dayton. 
At thirteen years he went Bardstown, Ky., 
and passed two years in Saint Thomas' college; 
from there he went to Mount Saint Mary's 
seminary, in Cincinnati, where he remained 
for five years. He then went to Europe and 
studied theology three years at Innspruck, 
Austrian Tyrol, following this with one year's 
study in the German-Hungarian college in 
Rome, Italy, where he received the degree of 
doctor of divinity. In September, 1875, Dr. 
Kemper returned to America, and for two 
years was instructor in classics at Mount Saint 
Mary's, Cincinnati, and then took charge of 
the parish at Greenville, Ohio. In May, 1880, 
he was appointed Catholic chaplain of the 



Central branch, as noted above, where his 
duties are similar to those in parish work, 
except that there is greater demand for his 
presence with the sick and dying. 

Father Kemper has been a priest of vast 
usefulness among the soldiers of the Central 
Branch, and is honored and revered by all 
with whom he comes in contact, regardless of 
religious faith. Of the 5,000 or more inmates 
of the home nearly one-third are of Catholic 
creed, and their spiritual care is found to be 
no easy task. 

Father Kemper has two brothers and three 
sisters, all in America. Of these, Philip A. 
Kemper is a wholesale merchant and importer, 
of Dayton ; Jacob is a merchant in Philadel- 
phia ; one of the sisters is wedded to a Mr. 
Rotterman, and the remaining two are still 
unmarried. 



aHARLES ANDERTON, Sr., sheriff 
of Montgomery county, and a well- 
known and honored citizen of Day- 
ton, was born in this city on October 
1 1, 1844, and is the son of James and Frances 
(Wilbey) Anderton. The parents were natives 
of England, and came to the United States 
early in life. They were among the old and 
well-known people of Dayton. The death of 
the father occurred in 1850, and that of the 
mother in 1890. Sheriff Anderton obtained 
his education in the Dayton public schools, 
and early entered upon the practical duties of 
life, beginning as a clerk in a city store. In 
April, 1862, he began business for himself by 
opening a fruit store in Dayton, but in August 
of the same year he enlisted in company A, 
Ninety-third Ohio volunteer regiment, with 
which he served until May 17, 1865, when he 
was mustered out of the service by general or- 
der of the war department. At the battle of 
Missionary Ridge he was wounded, and at 




^wu L W*.^. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



381 



Dandridge, Term., he was again wounded, on 
January 17, 1864. Returning to his home in 
Dayton, after having been honorably dis- 
charged from the service, Mr. Anderton bought 
a news stand located in the old Post Office 
building, then at the corner of Third and Jef- 
ferson streets, now occupied by the Third 
National Bank, and continued in business un- 
til 1893. In November, 1894, he received 
the nomination for sheriff of Montgomery 
county at the hands of the republican party, 
and was elected by a handsome majority, and 
in 1896 he was re-nominated and re-elected 
by an increased majority, being the first repub- 
lican sheriff who has succeeded himself in 
Montgomery county since i860. For five 
years Sheriff Anderton served as a member of 
the city board of equalization. For years he 
has been an active and prominent member of 
the republican party, and served during one 
campaign as chairman of the county central 
committee. Mr. Anderton is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., K. of P., G. A. R., Union Vet- 
eran Legion, Legion of Honor, and the A. E. 
O. He was married in April, 1867, to Miss 
Lucy Henderson, who was born in Dayton, 
and is a daughter of -the late Ebenezer Hen- 
derson, once sheriff of Montgomery county. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Anderton two children have 
been born, only one of whom — Charles, Jr. — 
is still living. The one deceased was Emma, 
who died in May, 1891, aged nineteen years. 



aHARLES FORSMAN ANDERSON 
is to be classified as one of the repre- 
sentative business men of the city of 
Dayton, being a member of the pho- 
tographic firm of Anderson & Hartshorn. He 
is an artist of much technical skill and dis- 
criminating taste, having made a thorough and 
systematic study of photography in all its 
branches. 



A son of Benjamin Dickey Anderson and 
Sarah (Forsman) Anderson, our subject was 
born in Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, on the 
16th of June, 1855, tracing his lineage through 
Scotch, Irish and English strains. The father 
also was a native of the Buckeye state, hav- 
ing been born in Adams county. He became 
well known throughout the state as a breeder 
and driver of fine standard-bred track horses, 
and was a man of inflexible honor and marked 
individuality. He was an active member of 
the United Presbyterian church of Xenia, and 
for many years acted as chorister of the same. 
He was possessed of exceptional musical abil- 
ity, and in his early manhood had devoted his 
attention for some time to the teaching of vo- 
cal music. He lived a long and useful life, 
secure in the esteem and confidence of his fel- 
low-men, and his death occurred in 1883, at 
which time he had attained the venerable age 
of seventy-one years. He had been twice 
married, and the one child of the first union is 
now deceased. By his marriage to Sarah 
Forsman he became the father of four chil- 
dren: James W., who is a traveling sales- 
man, living in Dayton; Charles F.; Ella, the 
wife of Charles Bigelow, of Boston, Mass; and 
Carrie, wife of Henry Henderson, of Los 
Angeles, Cal. 

Charles F. Anderson passed his youthful 
years in Xenia, securing his education in the 
public schools of that city and remaining at 
the parental home until he had attained his 
majority. In the year 1878 he came to Day- 
ton for the purpose of devoting himself to the 
study of crayon portraiture and photography, 
for which he had a natural inclination. He 
continued his technical study with interest and 
careful application for some three years, at the 
expiration of which time he had become a capa- 
ble artist. He first went to Indianapolis, Ind. , 
where he opened a studio for the execution of 
crayon work, continuing there for nearly two 



382 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



years, after which he returned to Dayton and 
entered the establishment of Appleton & Hol- 
linger, photographers, where he acted in the 
capacity of crayon artist and finisher of photo- 
graphic work. He remained in the employ of 
this firm for several years, and then engaged 
in business on his own responsibility by open- 
ing a studio on the corner of Fifth and Wayne 
streets, conducting the same successfully for a 
period of nearly two years. He was then 
offered such inducements that he entered the 
studio of Hollinger as crayon artist and fin- 
isher, also spending considerable time in out- 
door photographic work. In February, 1894, 
he formed his present partnership with Mr. 
Hartshorn. The establishment has acquired 
particular prestige in the line of crayon and 
pastel portraits, this work being executed by 
Mr. Anderson, who has established an excel- 
lent reputation as a free-hand artist. Our 
subject is progressive in his methods and aims 
to take advantage of every new discovery and 
accessory which will facilitate the production 
of high-class work and insure satisfaction to 
patrons. He is a member of the State Photog- 
rapher's association, in whose work he main- 
tains much interest. In his political faith he 
renders allegiance to the republican party. 

On the 14th of November, 1881, Mr. An- 
derson was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie 
Hamill, daughter of Capt. Joseph and Leah C. 
Hamill, honored residents of Dayton. Mr. 
and Mrs. Anderson are the parents of one 
child, Gaylord. They are consistent members 
of the United Presbyterian church, of which 
Mr. Anderson is a member of the board of 
trustees, and also renders effective service as a 
member of the choir. At the attractive family 
home, 322 Jones street, a cordial welcome is 
always assured to the large coterie of friends 
whom Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have drawn 
about them, and both are held in the highest 
esteem in the community. 



^"VMLAS S. AUGHE (deceased), for- 
•\^^kT merly the leading plow manufacturer 

K^_J °f Dayton, was born in Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, Novem- 
ber 17, 1831, a son of William and Catherine 
(Tafflemire) Aughe. 

William Aughe, his father, was a native of 
Rockingham county, Va. , born November 20, 
1794, and at the age of two or three years was 
brought to Ohio by his parents, Jacob and 
Lydia (Jeffers) Aughe, who settled in Warren 
county. Jacob Aughe was a millwright in Vir- 
ginia, and at one time owned a mill on the site 
of the famous battle field of Bull Run. The 
family was of combined German and English 
stock, and was one of the foremost in the Old 
Dominion. Jacob Aughe was the pioneer miller 
on the Hocking river, where he first built a 
small corn-cracker at the falls, near Logan, 
1796, then moved to Springboro, near Clear 
Creek, in Warren county, later to the site of 
what is now known as Vandere's mill, where 
he erected the first mill between Cincinnati 
and Piqua, and finally returned to Springboro, 
where he ended his days, the father of eleven 
children, all of whom reached maturity. 
William Aughe was a brickmaker and followed 
this business chiefly in Warren and Mont- 
gomery counties. He was a man of domestic 
habits, was honest and industrious, and for 
some years lived in Miamisburg, but finally 
moved to Carrollton, where he died at the age 
of eighty-six years, in the faith of the Method- 
ist church. To his marriage were born seven 
children, viz. : Hiram, an edge-tool maker, 
who died in Dayton at the age of forty-five 
years; Susannah, deceased wife of John Yea- 
zell, a farmer; Jefferson, who died in 1871, 
aged forty-nine years; William, a blacksmith 
by trade and superintendent of a railroad 
shop in Logansport, Ind. ; Silas S. ; Mary J., 
who died in infancy, and Samantha, deceased 
wife of Andrew Clark, a farmer of Darke 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



383 



county. Jefferson Aughe, mentioned above, 
was a blacksmith and general forger, and about 
1852 or 1853 invented the Aughe plow, in the 
manufacture of which he was engaged at the 
time of his death. 

Mrs. Catherine (Tafflemire) Aughe was a 
native of Canada, although her parents were 
born in Virginia, whence they moved to Ken- 
tucky and located near Boonsboro. There 
Mr and Mrs. Tafflemire were captured by In- 
dians during a raid and carried off to Canada, 
where the husband and wife were separated. 
Some little while afterward the husband made 
his escape, and in revenge the wife was made 
to "run the gantlet," in which cruel proceed- 
ing she was unmercifully clubbed, had her col- 
lar-bone broken, and sustained other severe 
injuries. She recovered, however, and shortly 
afterward her husband, assisted by two others, 
effected her rescue. The couple then settled 
in Canada, where the husband worked as a 
miller and ship-carpenter until his death, the 
wife also dying in that country. 

Silas S. Aughe, after receiving a good pub- 
lic-school education, learned the trade of black- 
smithing and plowshare forging under his 
brother Jefferson, and, about 1866, was made 
foreman of his brother's works. He was later 
made a sharer in the profits of the business 
and given the superintendence 7 , and this posi- 
tion he held until his brother's death (in 1871), 
when a Mr. Parrott bought the plant, retain- 
ing Silas S. Aughe in his former capacity and 
on the same terms. This arrangement con- 
tinued until 1885, when the Cast Steel Plow 
company was organized, in which company 
Mr. Aughe held a controlling interest. Upon 
the original plow Mr. Aughe made a number 
of improvements and secured patents for at- 
tachments not only to this particular plow, but 
to plows of other makes, to which these attach- 
ments are valuable adjuncts. 

Mr. Aughe was united in marriage, in Day- 



ton, February 14, 1856, with Miss Mary 
Kittinger, a native of Lancaster, Pa. , and 
a daughter of Samuel and Lucy Kittinger. 
To this union were born two children, ziz: 
John, who is in the employ of the Dayton 
Fan & Motor company, and Laurina, de- 
ceased. Mr. Aughe possessed a deep and re- 
flective mind, and was an active and ener- 
getic business man. He was thoroughly prac- 
tical in all things, and as a business man had 
but few superiors in the city of Dayton. His 
death occurred February 8, 1897. 



kJ^\ ENJAMIN F. ARNOLD, contractor, 
If^ builder and manufacturer, of Dayton, 
J^9 Ohio, was born in Montgomery county, 
Ohio, November 14, 1842. Heisason 
of John W. and Eliza J. (Kelly) Arnold, the for- 
mer a native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of 
Ohio. They were the parents of seven children, 
all still living, as follows: Mary, widow of Jacob 
Arnold; Lizzie; Benjamin F. ; Sarah, widow of 
John Frederick; Rebecca, wife of Alsup Dann; 
John D., and Clara, wife of Edwin Fair. 

John W. Arnold, the father of this family, 
was a farmer by occupation, and came to Ohio 
in 1833, locating in Dayton. He followed 
farming near Dayton until 1S65, in the mean- 
time serving as the first superintendent of the 
poor house, when its only building was con- 
structed of logs. His death occurred when he 
was fifty-nine years of age. Two years later 
his wife died. Both were members of the 
United Brethren church. Mr. Arnold was a 
soldier in the late Civil war, as a member of 
company G, Sixty-ninth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry. The father of John W. Arnold was a 
native of Pennsylvania, but was of English and 
Welsh descent. He was married twice and 
was the father of thirteen children, was a 
farmer by occupation and lived to be a very 



384 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



old man. The maternal grandfather of Ben- 
jamin F. Arnold was a native of Virginia. 

Benjamin F. Arnold was reared on the 
farm near Dayton until he was fourteen years 
of age, receiving his early education in the 
public schools. At that time his parents re- 
moved to Dayton, and he then began learning 
the carpenter's trade, and for some time was a 
journeyman carpenter, until 1868. During 
the late Civil war he enlisted in company C, 
Thirty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, at Hamil- 
ton, Ohio, and served eighteen months. Re- 
turning to Dayton he enlisted in the Fourth 
Ohio cavalry, in which he served nearly nine 
months. The battles in which he took part 
were those of Mill Springs, Ky. ; Pittsburg 
Landing, and Perryville, and a number of 
minor engagements and skirmishes. After the 
war he returned to Dayton and worked at his 
trade until 1868, when he began to do contract 
work on his own account, and has continued 
thus engaged ever since. He erected several 
of the buildings at the soldiers' home, the 
Western engine house, and also a large num- 
ber of residences in Dayton. For the last ten 
years he has manufactured the Ladies' Friend 
washing machine, and in the busy season gives 
employment to quite a number of men. 

On January 6, 1869, Mr. Arnold was mar- 
ried to Miss Julia A. Powell, daughter of Jos- 
eph and Mary E. (May) Powell. To this mar- 
riage have been born eight children, five sons 
and three daughters. Those living are as fol- 
lows: Stella M., Irving P., Joseph J., Jessie, 
Clayton, Carroll and Lula. Stella M. married 
Luther Rumbarger, by whom she has one 
child, Arnold Rumbarger. Irving P. married 
Lulu Hines, by whom he has two children; 
Joseph J. married Josie Belle Fisher. 

Mr. and Mrs. Arnold are members of the 
Baptist church, Mr. Arnold having been a dea- 
con in his church for several years. He is a 
member of Armstrong post, No. 79, G. A. R., 



and of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. 
As a republican he was elected to the Dayton 
board of education, and served one term. 
Having lived in Montgomery county and Day- 
ton for more than half a century, he is well- 
known throughout the country as a good work- 
man, as a capable and successful business 
man, and as a useful citizen. 




HE AULL BROTHERS PAPER & 
BOX COMPANY, whose thoroughly 
equipped establishment is located at 
Nos. 220 to 224 West Fifth street, 
Dayton, Ohio, is to be numbered among the 
progressive and important manufacturing con- 
cerns of the city. In the year 1882 the busi- 
ness had its inception, F. N. Aull having at 
that time begun operations upon a very small 
scale, buying his stock in limited quantities 
and selling the goods from a wagon. This he 
he continued for one year, after which the 
business was conducted under the firm title of 
W. J. Aull & Brother. They secured a small 
stock of goods, and their method of working 
was to go out and personally secure orders and 
then return to their headquarters and fill the 
same. Their establishment was located on 
Hanna's alley, between Jefferson and St. Clair 
streets, and these quarters were retained for 
about four years, when the growing demands 
made upon the firm rendered it essential 
that they secure accommodations of a better 
order. Accordingly they removed to No. 39 
East Second street, and eventually found use 
for the adjoining store, No. 37. Upon the 
erection of the M. J. Gibbons building, 136 
East Second street, they took possession of it, 
the building having been designed and built 
particularly for their use. Here, under the 
firm name of Aull Brothers Paper Company, 
they continued operations for five years, when 
again there arose the necessity for more com- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



385 



modious quarters, and they then prepared for 
the erection of a building of their own and one 
which should offer all the conveniences essen- 
tial to carrying on with the greatest facility the 
details of the now very extensive business. 
This building was completed in due time and 
the firm took possession of the same in Janu- 
ary, 1895. The structure is of brick, is 50X 
125 feet in dimensions, five stories in height 
and of approved modern architectural design. 
Special shipping facilities are secured through 
the provision of a side-track connecting di- 
rectly with the establishment. When operat- 
ing to full capacity, the manufactory affords 
employment to a corps of 150 persons, the 
output comprising folding and made-up paper 
boxes of all kinds, paper pails for ice cream, 
oysters, berries, etc., together with paper bags 
of all sizes. The business is continued as a 
wholesale jobbing enterprise, and the products 
of the establishment find sale in the most di- 
verse sections of the Union. 

In March, 1895, the senior member of the 
firm, W. J. Aull, started on a trip south, by 
river, for the improvement of his health, taking 
passage on the steamer "Longfellow," which 
encountered a fog at Cincinnati on the 7th of 
March, resulting in a most painful fatality, 
since the boat went down with all on board, 
Mr. Aull and his wife both being drowned. 
He was but thirty-eight years of age, and his 
untimely death by so pitiable an accident 
caused the deepest sorrow to all who had 
known him in either a business or social 
way. After his death the business in which he 
he had been so conspicuously concerned was 
reorganized and incorporated, with officers as 
follows: F. N. Aull, president; J. W. Aull, 
secretary, and A. H. Baer, treasurer, the enter- 
prise being capitalized for $75,000. 

The Aull family have been continuously res- 
idents of Dayton for more than thirty years, 
the family having come to this place in 1840, 



subsequently removing to Bloomington, 111., 
where he remained until 1865, when he again 
returned with his family to Dayton, where they 
have ever since maintained their abode. 

The venerable father is still living, having 
attained the age of seventy-two years. He 
left Dayton in 1895 Ior tne purpose of making 
his home with his daughter, who resides on 
Lookout Mountain. He had been prominently 
engaged in the hotel business for many years, 
and had a wide circle of acquaintances, among 
whom he was singularly popular. He has been 
a stalwart democrat all his life and an active 
worker in the party ranks. He is a native of 
Hesse-Cassel, Germany, whence he came to 
America when a lad of ten years. Upon at- 
taining his majority he was united in marriage 
to Miss Julia Gigler, a native of Hagerstown. 
Her death occurred January 8, 1891. They 
became the parents of ten children, two of 
whom, Edward and Elizabeth, died in infancy. 
Of the others, Louisa is the widow of John 
Weston, of Dayton; Catherine is the wife of 
W. F. Heath, of Ottawa, 111. ; Eva is the wife 
of Colonel H. F. Collins, of Dayton; William 
J. is deceased; Emma is the wife of O. L. 
Hurlburt, of Lookout Mountain, Tenn. ; Frank 
N. is president of the Aull Brothers Paper & 
Box company; John W. is a member of the 
same company; Julia is the wife of T. V. Meyer, 
of Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Frank N. Aull was born August 27, 1862, 
at Bloomington, 111. He was educated in the 
public schools and at fourteen years of age be- 
came identified with the line of industry with 
which he is still concerned. He has developed 
a marked business sagacity and executive abil- 
ity, is known as one of the most capable young 
business men of Dayton, and is a member of 
the board of trade. His marriage to Miss 
Ella Wetzel was celebrated October 2, 1889, 
and they have three children — Charles F. , 
Harold W. and Edgar C. The family home is 



:;si; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



located at 313 Superior avenue, and both Mr. 
and Mrs. Aull are members of Grace Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. 

John W. Aull, secretary of the company, 
is a native of Dayton, where he was born on 
the 27th of March, 1866. He received a 
common-school education, and at the age of 
fourteen years became associated with the 
practical duties of life, becoming then con- 
cerned in the paper business with R. A. Rog- 
ers, with whom he continued to be associated 
until 1885, when he became traveling sales- 
man for the Aull Brothers' establishment, be- 
coming a member of the firm in 1890. In 
1892 he gave up work as traveling representa- 
tive and assumed charge of the manufacturing 
department of the business, becoming secre- 
tary at the time of its incorporation. His 
standing in commercial circles is on a parity 
with that of his brother, and both are unmis- 
takably popular by reason of their correct and 
honorable methods and sterling personal at- 
tributes. In his fraternal relations Mr. Aull is 
a member of the Benevolent & Protective 
Order of Elks, in, whose affairs he has an abid- 
ing interest. 

On the 3d of June, 1891, John W. Aull 
was united in marriage to Miss Mamie Harries, 
daughter of John Harries, a well-known resi- 
dent of Dayton. They reside at No. 217 
North Jefferson street. 




• HADEUS JOSEPH BACKUS, super- 
intendent of streets of Dayton, was 
born April 3, 1852, in this city, where 
he has always resided. He is a son of 
Washington and Lucy (Stuckmier) Backus, 
both of German extraction. 

Washington Backus was a native of Con- 
necticut and possessed a large measure of 
Yankee thrift and energy, which he devoted to 
commerce, spending his life in mercantile pur- 



suits. He was a large dealer in notions, doing 
a wholesale and retail business which made his 
name widely known. He died when his son 
Thadeus Joseph was but four years old, leav- 
ing a widow, this son and two daughters, who 
are now Mrs. Susanna Lachelle, residing in 
Denver, Colo., and Mrs. Emma Houser, of 
this city. The widow afterward married Will- 
iam E. Martin, now of Springfield, Ohio, who 
brought into the household his son by a former 
marriage, William A., who is the superintend- 
ent of the Farm and Fireside, a literary and 
household journal published at Springfield. To 
the union of Mr. Martin and Mrs. Backus 
were born three children: George, who is now 
a druggist at Miami City; Levi, who is super- 
intendent of the Barb Wire Fence Manu- 
facturing company, at Lawrence, Kan., and 
Jennie, who resides at Dayton. The mother 
died at her home in Dayton in 1873. 

Mr. Backus early learned the business of 
making galvanized-iron cornice and slate roof- 
ing, which he successfully followed for about 
twenty years. His methods attracted the at- 
tention and commanded the respect and confi- 
dence of the people, and in 1893 he was 
appointed, by the board of city affairs, to his 
present position of responsibility and trust, 
the duties of which office he is performing in 
an eminently satisfactory manner. The varied 
and important character of these duties ren- 
ders his position far other than a sinecure, 
and, with the construction of sewers, the 
cleaning of streets and destruction of garbage, 
Mr. Backus is kept a very busy man. 

On the 7th of June, 1877, Mr. Backus was 
united in marriage to Miss Katie C. Barnes, a 
native of Dayton, and daughter of Lawrence 
and Margaret Barnes, the former now deceased. 
Of a family of five children Mrs. Backus is the 
eldest. The other children are: Robert, the 
proprietor of a box factory in Dayton; Mary, 
wife of Joseph Ferneding, one of Dayton's 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



387 



shoe merchants; Maggie, who resides with her 
mother in this city; and Julia, the wife of 
Joseph L. Sacksteder, of Dayton. 

Mr. and Mrs. Backus have a family of seven 
children, all of whom live with their parents. 
They are: May, Lulu, William, George, Julia, 
Charles and Christopher. Miss May is a sten- 
ographer and typewriter, employed in the pen- 
sion department at the National Military Home, 
Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. The other chil- 
dren are still in school. 

Politically, Mr. Backus is a democrat and 
stands high among the local counselors of his 
party. He was reared in the Presbyterian 
church, and is a member of the order of 
Knights of Pythias and of the B. P. O. Elks. 
Mrs. Backus is an adherent of the Roman 
Catholic faith, and is a member of the Church 
of the Sacred Heart. 



>^ESSE H. BATES, one of the old and 
A highly respected citizens of Dayton, 
/» 1 was born January 6, 1834, ten miles 
south of Lebanon, Warren county, 
Ohio, a son of Acel C. and Meca (Bobo) Bates, 
who, about 18 12, came to Ohio from Con- 
necticut and Virginia respectively. The father 
was a carpenter b}' trade, and later an auction- 
eer at Cincinnati, but, when Jesse was born, 
was keeping hotel in Warren county. 

Jesse H. Bates was the seventh born in a 
family of ten children, was reared in Warren 
county, and at the age of eighteen years began 
to study bridge building. In due time he as- 
sisted in constructing the bridges on the Day- 
ton & Richmond and Indiana Central railroads, 
and followed the trade for several years there- 
after. In 1858 he came to Montgomery 
county, located at Germantown, and purchased 
a hack line running from Germantown to Car- 
lisle Station, which he ran for one year, and 
then for a time conducted a livery barn and 



traded in horses. In 1866 he came to Dayton, 
Ohio, and was first engaged as foreman by D. 
H. Morrison, a prominent bridge builder, and 
later, for twelve years, was employed on the 
Pan Handle railroad as foreman of the bridge 
department, since when he has practically 
lived a retired life. 

Jesse H. Bates was married in German- 
town, Montgomery county, in 1858, to Miss 
Melazina Schaeffer, daughter of Michael N. and 
Mary (Katron) Schaeffer, the union result- 
ing in the birth of four children, in the follow- 
ing order: Mollie, wife of DeWitt C. Arnold, 
shoe dealer of Dayton; Oliver E., the popular 
caterer of Dayton, of whom fuller mention will 
be made in a later paragraph; Harriet B. and 
J. Stewart. Mr. and Mrs. Bates are members 
of the Third street Presbyterian church, and 
in politics Mr. Bates is a stanch republican. 
They have their residence at No. 341 West 
Fourth street, where their hospitable doors are 
always open to the visits of a large number of 
sincere friends. 

Oliver E. Bates, son of Jesse H. and Mela- 
zina (Schaeffer) Bates, was born in Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, March 30, 1862, and was 
but five years of age when his parents came to 
reside in Dayton. He was educated in the 
public schools of the city, and at the age of 
twenty-two years entered the employ of Lowe 
Bros, as assistant bookkeeper, and later be- 
came a traveling salesman for the same firm, 
having charge of their artists' material depart- 
ment. He remained with this firm for five 
years, and then traveled for a short time for a 
Chicago firm in the same business. Returning 
to Dayton, he was for two years in the employ 
of the Globe Iron works as shipping and cor- 
responding clerk, and in 1889 embarked in a 
bakery business on his own account, at No. 
524 East Fifth street, confining himself to 
bread and cake baking. In 189 1 he purchased 
his present business, succeeding F. J. Holden, 



388 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



at No. 14 North Main street. Here he caters 
to the best social circles of the city, manufac- 
turing all his confectionery and ice cream, of 
which he makes a specialty. His parlors are 
complete and inviting in every respect, and 
the attendance perfect. 

Mr. Bates is a member of Dayton lodge, 
No. 147, F. & A. M., in which he has passed 
all the chairs; is also a member of Unity chap- 
ter, No. 16; Reese council, No. 9; Reedcom- 
mandery, No. 6; Gabriel grand lodge of Per- 
fection; Miami grand council; Dayton grand 
chapter, and Rose Croix, Cincinnati consist- 
ory; he was also a charter member of the 
Vingt-et-un club of Dayton — a social and ben- 
eficial organization. Mr. Bates was united in 
marriage March 22, 1887, to Miss Carrie E. 
Gebhart, daughter of S. T. Gebhart, and this 
union has been blessed with two children — 
Elwood G. and J. Robert. The family have 
their home at No. 334 West Fourth street. 



WOHN R. BROWNELL, president of 
■ the Brownell company, one of the 
A J largest manufacturing concerns of Day- 
ton, is a native of Fulton county, N. 
Y., where he was born on July 7, 1839. His 
parents were Frederick and Ann (Dolly) 
Brownell, both of whom were natives of the 
county already named. The father was a 
tanner and a currier by trade. He served as 
a soldier in the war of 1812, being stationed 
at Sackett's Harbor with Gen. Brown; six 
uncles of his wife also served in the war. In 
1842 Frederick Brownell came to Ohio with 
his family and located at Lower Sandusky, 
near Fremont, and from there removed to 
Perrysburg, Wood county, and thence to 
Green Springs, Sandusky county, and finally 
to a farm three miles from Fremont, where he 
died in 185 1. His widow died in 1882, in 
Dayton. 



John R. Brownell was the youngest of 
eleven children born to his parents. After the 
family came to Ohio he attended school dur- 
ing the winter time for several years. The 
first winter after his father's death he worked 
at Green Springs for his board, at the same 
time attending school. Further educational 
advantages were denied him, and from that 
time on he was thrown upon his own resources 
and compelled to make his way in life by his 
own efforts. During the year 1853 he served 
as a clerk in the store of W. T. & A. K. West 
at Sandusky City, and the following two years 
he spent on the steamer Northern Indiana, on 
Lake Erie. In the fall of 1856 he came to 
Dayton and entered the employ of his brother, 
Elijah H. Brownell, at boilermaking, at 
which he continued until the fall of 1857, 
when he went to California. After working at 
his trade in San Francisco for a time he went to 
the gold mines and remained there until Janu- 
ary, 1 86 1, when he returned to Dayton. The 
following August he enlisted in the army, was 
sent to Saint Louis, and mustered into the Thir- 
teenth Missouri regiment (which at Corinth was 
changed to the Twenty-second Ohio volunteer 
regiment) as a sergeant, and served as such until 
1863, when he was commissioned second lieu- 
tenant of company K, of the above regiment, 
which company he commanded most of the 
time. He was mustered out as second lieu- 
tenant, having served all through the war of 
the Rebellion. Returning to Dayton, he be- 
came a member of the firm of Brownell & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of machinery, boilers and 
general foundry work. This firm was origi- 
nally composed of John R. Brownell, James 
H. Brownell, E. H. Brownell, George J. Rob- 
erts and Josiah Lee, and their place of busi- 
ness was at No. 437 East First street. May 
8, 1865, F. J. Brownell was admitted to the 
firm, and on November I, 1867, it was organ- 
ized under the name of Brownell, Roberts & 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



391 



Company. In February, 1S71, the Brownell 
& Kielmeier Manufacturing company was in- 
corporated, with C. H. Kielmeier as president; 
John R. Brownell as vice-president and general 
superintendent, and James Anderson as secre- 
tary and treasurer. On account of the panic 
of 1873 the company made an assignment. At 
the sale John R. Brownell bought two-thirds 
and Martin Schneble one-third of the property, 
and continued the business until February, 
1884, in which year Mr. Brownell bought out 
the interest of Mr. Schneble, and, under the 
name of Brownell & Co., ran the business by 
himself until January, 1888, when the Brow- 
nell company was incorporated, with Mr. 
Brownell as president and superintendent, D. 
H. Dryden, vice-president, and E. A. Vance, 
secretary and treasurer. The business re- 
mained at its original location until September 
12, 1888, when a fire occurred, destroying 
buildings and machinery. The business was 
then moved to Findlay street, just north of 
First, where a portion of the boiler plant had 
been since 1883. The plant at the above lo- 
cation, as it stands to-day, consists of a two- 
story brick machine shop, 200 x 60 feet, with a 
three-story office building, 30 feet square; a 
foundry building, 200x60 feet, with an "L" 
50 x 30 feet; a boiler shop, 200 x 50 feet, with 
.two "Ls" 50 feet square; and a recent addi- 
tion to the boiler shop of 70 x 227 feet. Mr. 
Brownell owns the principal stock (ninety per 
cent) at present. Officers: J. R. Brownell, 
president; Joseph Burns, vice-president; C. J. 
Brownell, secretary and treasurer, and Alice 
Hartnett, assistant secretary and treasurer. 

Mr. Brownell has been twice married; first, 
in June, 1866, to Melvira J., the daughter of 
Thomas Humphreys, of Urbana, Ohio. To 
the union one daughter, Anna, was born. The 
mother and daughter both died in the year 
1872. In the fall of 1875 Mr. Brownell was 

married to Miss 
11 



Harriet Alice Smith, the 



daughter of Abraham Smith, of Maryland. 
By this marriage he has the following children: 
Carrie J., Alice J., Mary J. and John R., Jr. 
In 1874 Mr. Brownell was elected a member 
of the board of commissioners of Montgomery 
county, serving three years; during the years 
1881-82 he was a member of the Dayton city 
council. In 1882 he was elected to the Ohio 
state senate, serving one term. He is a lead- 
ing member of the G. A. R., Loyal Legion 
and Union Veteran League. 



WAMES H. BAGGOTT, ex-judge of the 
A probate court of Montgomery county, 
f» I was born in Licking county, Ohio, and 
is the eldest child of Col. William Bag- 
gott, who emigrated from Virginia to Ohio in 
1823. Just previous to leaving Virginia he 
was married to Miss Hannah Quick. After 
living in this state about sixteen years they 
moved into Montgomery county in 1839, set- 
tling upon a farm nine miles north of Dayton 
on the National road. Here James worked 
upon the farm in summer, and attended school 
in the winter season, receiving the best edu- 
cation the country schools afforded at that time. 
So well did he progress in learning that at an 
unusually early age he himself began teaching 
school, being barely seventeen years old when 
he first essayed this responsible duty. In 1846 
and 1847 he attended the old academy in 
Dayton, a remarkable institution in several re- 
spects. In 1848 he began reading law in the 
office of the Hon. Peter Odlin, at one time a 
partner of Gen. Robert C. Schenck, under the 
firm name of Odlin & Schenck, and was ad- 
fnitted to.the bar in June, 1850. In Septem- 
ber, 1S51, he was unanimously nominated by 
the democratic convention for the office of 
prosecuting attorney, and was elected by a ma- 
jority of one vote over Hon. Samuel Craig- 
head, the whig candidate, who was running for 



3V>2 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his third term, and who, having been an able 
and most efficient official, was very popular 
with his own party. In 1853 young Baggott 
was again unanimously nominated for the sec- 
ond term, his competitor being the Hon. 
Hiram Strong, who, as colonel of the Ninety- 
third regiment of Ohio troops, was afterward 
fatally wounded at the battle of Chickamauga. 
The result of the contest was the re-election 
of Mr. Baggott by a majority of more than 
300. In 1857 Judge Baggott was nominated 
without opposition for the office of probate 
judge and was elected, serving one term of 
three years. After retiring from the office of 
probate judge he returned to the practice of the 
law, and has since continued thus engaged. 

In politics Judge Baggott is and always has 
been a democrat, and has been a delegate to 
numerous state conventions. He was married 
in 1862 to Fannie Williams, of Kentucky, a 
daughter of George Williams. Mr. Baggott is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity and is a 
Knight Templar. He has been a member of 
the First Baptist church since 1872. He is a 
man of great strength of characcer, devoted to 
his profession, and well qualified to fill any po- 
sition of public trust. It may be said of his 
work as prosecuting attorney of Montgomery 
county, that he distinguished himself, while in 
that office, by the prosecution and conviction 
of Frank Dick for murder, as a result of which 
Dick was executed. This was one of the 
most notable criminal trials in the annals of 
Montgomery county. 



a APT. ALLEN M. BAKER, of the 
National Military Home for Disabled 
Volunteer Soldiers, near Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Aroostook county, 
Me., August 9, 1833, and is a son of George 
and Mary (Lawrence) Baker, natives of 
New Brunswick, where their marriage took 



place. George Baker was a mechanic, but 
died when his son Allen was but a child. 
Of his five sons three were soldiers in the late 
Civil war, and one was for seven months a 
prisoner at Andersonville, S. C. 

Allen M. Baker was quite well educated in 
the public schools of his native state of Maine ; 
learned the blacksmith's trade, and later be- 
came a steamboatman, and in this latter em- 
ployment he was engaged when he enlisted, 
December 20, 1863, in Company I, Thirty- 
ninth New York volunteer infantry. He served 
until the close of the war in the army of the 
Potomac, Second army corps, under Gen. 
Winfield Scott Hancock ; and in the battle of 
the Wilderness, Va., under Gen. U. S. Grant, 
was wounded, May 6, 1864, and sent to 
hospital. There he was confined until August 
15 following, when he rejoined his regiment at 
City Point, Va., and took part in all its 
marches, skirmishes and engagements until 
the war closed. Among the battles of note in 
which he participated were those of Deep Bot- 
tom, Reams Station, Petersburg, and Hatcher's 
Run, and all engagements of his company ; he 
was in the grand review in Washington, D. C, 
in May, 1865, and was finally mustered out of 
the service, in that city, July 1, of the same 
year. He returned to his native state for a 
brief visit, then came west and for a number 
of years was employed in farming and lumber- 
ing in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but at last 
succumbed to the effects of disease contracted 
in the army, and in October, 1884, sought a 
refuge in the soldiers' home near Dayton. For 
a long time after entering this institution he 
was unable to perform any active labor, and 
was, until the five years last past, constantly 
under medical treatment, but was then ap- 
pointed captain of company Eleven, his bar- 
racks affording accommodation for 217 men. 

Capt. Baker has never been married and 
has lived apart from his family relatives since 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



393 



the close of the Civil war. He has never been 
a member of any secret society and in religious 
matters he thinks for himself. In politics he 
is bound by no party ties, but exercises his 
franchise in favor of the candidate he considers 
to be a friend of the soldiers. His military 
titles were awarded him for marked bravery 
on the battle field and meritorious conduct in 
face of the enemy and in the performance 
of duty on all occasions. He was first pro- 
moted to be sergeant of his company, then 
commissioned second lieutenant, and then cap- 
tain, with which rank he was mustered out. 



eDWIN RUTHYEN BAKER, M. D., 
practicing physician and surgeon of 
Dayton, with office at No. 221 East 
Third street, was born in Phillips- 
burg, Montgomery county, Ohio, June 6, 1851. 
He is a son of Andrew H. and Hannah C. 
(Thomas) Baker, both of whom are living at 
Phillipsburg. 

Edwin Ruthven Baker was reared in Mont- 
gomery county, and educated in the public 
schools until he was fifteen years of age, when 
he began to learn the trade of mason, at which 
he worked for some eight or ten years during 
the summer season, at the same time pursuing 
the study of medicine with Dr. J. W. Tedrow, 
now deceased. After completing his studies 
in the public schools of Dayton, he attended 
the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, and 
graduated as a member of the class of 1876. 
After this he formed a partnership with Dr. 
Hawkins at Union, Montgomery county, with 
whom he was associated for two years. He 
then located at West Milton, Miami county, 
and was there engaged in an active and suc- 
cessful practice for twelve years. At the end 
of this time he came to Dayton, where he 
has since been engaged successfully in the 
general practice of his profession and in sur- 



gery. He is a member of Gem City lodge, 
No. 795, I. O. O. F., and has belonged to this 
order for twenty-four years. In politics he is 
a republican, and has been elected to the of- 
fice of township treasurer. 

Dr. Baker was married at Union, Mont- 
gomery county, November 23, 1876, to Miss 
Fannie E. Hawthorne, a daughter of George 
and Nancy Hawthorne, who came from Penn- 
sylvania to Ohio. Mrs. Baker was born in 
Lancaster, Pa., and is of German and Irish 
ancestry. Dr. Baker is one of the progressive 
citizens of Dayton, is public spirited, and 
takes an interest in every movement calculated 
to promote the prosperty of his chosen home. 



>-j' OHN L - BAKER, member of the board 
■ of city affairs, of Dayton, was born 
A 1 in New Carlisle, Clarke county, Ohio, 
December 10, 1848. His father, Will- 
iam Baker, was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1821, 
and was a son of John Baker, one of the 
earliest settlers of the city of Dayton, and 
one of the first carpenters and contractors to 
locate there. John Baker assisted in building 
the old Third street bridge. William Baker 
was reared in Dayton, where he learned the 
trade of carriagemaking. In 1840 he re- 
moved to New Carlisle, Clarke county, where 
he was married to Mary McNeal, who was 
born in Pennsylvania and who died about 
1850. Mr. Baker died in 1870. Until the 
beginning of the war he carried on the manu- 
facture of carriages at New Carlisle. He and 
his wife were the parents of two sons, John 
L. , and William A., his elder brother, who is 
now a resident of Muncie, Ind. 

John L. Baker was reared in New Carlisle, 
and was educated at the academy in that place. 
After leaving school he learned the carriage- 
maker's trade. In 1864 he established him- 
self in the carriage manufacturing business in 



394 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



New Carlisle, continuing until January 2, 1872, 
when he moved to Dayton and entered upon 
the same business there, having been thus en- 
gaged ever since. His present factory is situ- 
ated at Nos. 22, 24 and 26 West Fifth street. 
In March, 1889, Mr. Baker also embarked in 
the livery business with a stable on Ludlow 
street, between Third and Fourth streets, and 
has now one of the largest establishments in 
the city. On January 29, 1894, he purchased 
the Dayton Transfer company's property and 
business, and now operates that as well as his 
carriage manufactory and livery stable. In 
April, 1S95, he was appointed by Mayor Mc- 
Miilen to a position on the board of city af- 
fairs, of which office he took possession on the 
19th of that month. Mr. Baker has always 
been a democrat, and as such holds his pres- 
ent office. He was married in 1S75 to Miss 
Josie Brower, of New Carlisle, and to their 
marriage there ha? been born one daughter, 
Blanche Louise. 



BREDERICK D. BARRER, M. D., 
physician and surgeon of Dayton, 
Ohio, with office at No. 29 North 
Perry street, was born at McConnels- 
ville, July 13, i860. He is a son of Charles 
L. and Rachael (Maxwell) Barker, both of 
whom are of Scotch descent and now living at 
McConnelsville. The family were among the 
earliest settlers of Morgan county, Ohio, and 
experienced all the trials, hardships and dan- 
gers of pioneer days. They have been for 
years prominent in their part of the state in 
political and religious matters as well as in 
philanthropic movements, and there are many 
of the name in southeastern Ohio. 

The grandfather of Dr. Barker was Luther 
1). Barker, who, in company with two of his 
brothers, located early in the Muskingum val- 



ley. They were interested in flatboating down 
the river, and were otherwise employed in 
business of various kinds, and also in farming. 
Some members of the family became ministers 
of the gospel, while Frederick D. is the only 
one who has turned his attention to medicine. 
The family are mostly republicans, and with 
few exceptions are members of the Baptist 
church. 

Frederick D. Barker is one of a family of 
five children, and is the only son. He was 
reared in his native town, received his educa- 
tion in the public schools, from which he was 
graduated in 1878, having, however, previously 
taken a course of study in the Southeastern 
Ohio Normal school. After graduating from 
the public schools of McConnelsville, he en- 
tered Denison university at Granville, Ohio, 
graduating from this institution in 1S82, with 
the degree of bachelor of philosophy. In 
1 891 he was honored with the degree of master 
of philosophy. 

After graduating from Denison university 
he engaged in business with his father in Mc- 
Connelsville, dealing in provisions and wool, 
and continued thus engaged until 1888. In 

1884 he made a trip to Europe, visiting the 
British Isles and the entire continent, with the 
double purpose of pleasure and study, and in 

1885 began the study of medicine with R. 
Harvey Reed, surgeon-in-chief of the Balti- 
more & Ohio railroad, and took his first course 
of lectures at the Ohio Medical college in Cin- 
cinnati. The second course of lectures he 
took at the University of Pennsylvania, where 
he was graduated in the class of 1890. In a 
competitive examination among twenty-five 
applicants, for the position of house physician 
and surgeon in the Presbyterian hospital in 
Philadelphia, Dr. Barker took first place, and 
as a consequence served as resident physician 
for one year, leaving there in 1891, and com- 
ing direct to his present location in Dayton, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



395 



and a daughter of Marshall O. Rice, 



manu- 



facturer of that city. 



(/^V L. BATES & BRO, machinists, 
I manufacturers and nickel platers, at 
/^^J the corner of Fourth and St. Clair 
streets, Dayton, Ohio, still carry on 
a business which was founded in 1866 by their 
father, Hamilton Bates, on the hydraulic, in 



Ohio. Here he has been engaged in the active 
practice of medicine ever since. 

Dr. Barker is a member of the Beta Theta 
Pi college fraternity, of the Stille Medical so- 
ciety, of Philadelphia, and of the American 
Academy of Railway Surgeons. He is the 
physician to the Widows' home in Dayton, 
is the city police surgeon, is head surgeon of 
the Dayton district of the D. & M. railway, 
and of the C, D. & I. and C, H. & D. rail- 
ways. He is also surgeon on the staff of the 
Deaconess hospital, and teaches anatomy and 
physiology in the Dayton Summer school for 
teachers. He lectures on medical subjects 
before the Young Men's Christian association 
in Dayton, and also in Xenia, and is active in 
the general work of that association. 

In 1894 Dr. Barker made a second trip 
abroad, spending most of his time in the hos- 
pitals of London and Vienna. In the follow- 
ing spring he made a trip through Italy and 
down into Egypt, through Palestine, to Athens 
and Constantinople, returning through Bul- 
garia, Syria and Hungary to Vienna. Through- 
out his entire career he has been self-reliant, 
and an independent student and investigator, j 
He paid his own way through the medical 
schools, met without assistance his expenses 
upon the three trips to Europe, and, in short, 
what he has thus far accomplished has been 
wholly through his own unaided efforts. 

Dr. Barker was married in Boston, June 3, 
1896, to Helen R. Rice, a native of Boston 



the rear of Gebhart's mill, chiefly for the 
manufacture of wool machinery. 

Hamilton Bates was born at Ellicott's 
Mills, Md., in 18 19, and when a young man, 
somewhere about 1841, came to Dayton, Ohio, 
but learned the machinist's trade at Wheeling, 
W. Va. , returned to Dayton, and became 
foreman, first for McMillan & Co., and then 
for Broadrup & Co., in the manufacture of 
woolen-mill machinery. In 1866, as noted 
above, he founded the present business in 
company with his eldest son, Daniel L. , and 
this was conducted, under the firm name of 
Bates & Son, until the death of the father, in 
1884. Hamilton Bates was a devout member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, having 
been converted in his early youth; he was one 
of the earlier members of Wayne lodge, I. O. 
O. F., and on more than one occasion was its 
representative in the grand lodge. He mar- 
ried Miss Martha Lemon, a daughter of John 
Lemon, a highly respected resident of Day- 
ton. She was born in this city about 1840, 
and died in 1876, the mother of three chil- 
dren, viz: Daniel L., now the senior member 
of the firm of D. L. Bates & Bro. ; Russell 
H., the junior member of the firm, and Sarah, 
wife of Lewis Tischer, of Dayton. 

Daniel L. Bates was born August 16, 1847, 
at the corner of Fifth and Brown streets, Day- 
ton, was educated in the city schools, and at 
the age of fifteen years entered upon his ap- 
prenticeship at the machinist's trade, and this 
has ever since been his constant employment. 
From 1866 until 1884 he was a partner of his 
father, and since the latter date has been asso- 
ciated with his brother, Russell H., in the pres- 
ent business. In November, 1870, he married 
Miss Susan Umphries, who was born in Alex- 
anderville, Ohio, a daughter of Boler Umphries, 
and to this union have been born four children, 
viz: Harry L. , a graduate of the Dayton Com- 
mercial college, a practical machinist and book- 



396 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



keeper for his father, and married, in 1894, to 
Miss Laura Kimmel, a daughter of William 
Kimmel, of Dayton; Maud M., a graduate of 
the city high school, and for the past five years 
a teacher in the city schools of Dayton; Edith 
V., and Zelma G., still under parental care. 
The father is a member of Wayne lodge, No. 
10, I. O. O. F., has his residence in Dayton 
View, at 435 River street, is surrounded by a 
host of true friends, and is recognized as one 
of the best business men of the Gem City. 

Russell H. Bates, the junior member of the 
firm of D. L. Bates & Bro., was born Novem- 
ber 1, 1 861, was educated in the public schools 
of his native city of Dayton, and at the age of 
seventeen years, like his elder brother, served 
an apprenticeship at the machinist's trade un- 
der his father's instruction. He learned the 
trade in all its details, and in 1884, at the death 
of his father, became the associate of his 
brother, Daniel L. , in the present lucrative 
business, in the success of which he has been 
no unimportant factor. The marriage of Rus- 
sell H. Bates was celebrated September 2, 
1884, with Miss Julia Euchenhofer, who was 
born and reared in Dayton and is a daughter 
of Frederick Euchenhofer, one of the best 
known citizens of the Gem City. Two children 
have blessed this union and are named Ralph 
and Edmond. Mr. and Mrs. Russell H. Bates 
reside at the corner of Third and June streets, 
and are, with their little family, part of a circle 
of close acquaintances and neighbors. In poli- 
tics, both brothers are republicans. 



\S~\ OTTO BAUMANN, oneof theyoung- 
I •^ er members of the Dayton bar, and 
P secretary of the city board of elec- 
tions, was born in Dayton, Ohio, June 
30, 1870, and is a son of Hon. C. L. Baumann, 
who is included by Hon. George W. Houk, in 
his history of the Dayton bar, in the list of 



lawyers admitted to practice soon after i860. 
R. Otto Baumann received his preliminary 
education in the Dayton public schools. After- 
ward he took a course of study in the Miami 
Commercial college, graduating from that in- 
stitution in his seventeenth year. After being 
engaged in bookkeeping for one year he was 
appointed to the position of librarian of the 
Dayton law library, which place he held for 
four years. During this time he began the 
study of law and was admitted to the bar in 
December, 1891. For about eight months 
after his admission to the bar he was in the 
office of John M. Sprigg, and in 1893 began 
the practice of the law on his own account. 
In May, 1S94, Mr. Baumann was appointed 
clerk of the city board of elections, a position 
which he still retains. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity. 

Mr. Baumann, while young both in years 
and in the practice of his profession, has the 
capacity and the industry which are certain to 
bring success. His intellectual endowments 
are generous, and his social qualities are such 
as to have made for him a host of friends. 



aHARLES BECK is one of the most 
artistic landscape gardeners in the 
United States, having had charge of 
the garden and grounds of the na- 
tional soldiers' home at Dayton, since 1876. 
Mr. Beck is a native of German}-, born in 
Frankfort-on-the-Main, January 2, 1827, the 
son of William and Louise (Kroeber) Beck. 
The father was a tax collector in his native 
province, a position of trust and responsibility, 
and both parents died in the fatherland. 
Frederick Beck, a brother of Charles, lives in 
Germany. He served as justice of the peace 
daring all his active life, and is now a pen- 
sioner of the government; two sisters, Emma 
and Matilda, died in Germany, and the only 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



397 



members of the family that came to America 
were Charles and Caroline; the latter married 
a Mr. Myer and died near Cincinnati. 

Charles Beck was educated in the land of 
his nativity and at an early age learned garden- 
ing, an occupation which receives much more 
attention in the old world than in the United 
States. When twenty years of age he came 
to America, locating at Rochester, N. Y. , 
where for two years he worked for a nursery 
firm. He then went to Cincinnati and en- 
gaged in operating floral gardens and doing 
floral decorating until his removal in i860 to 
Dayton. He engaged in the same business in 
this city upon his own responsibility until em- 
ployed by the government to take charge of the 
entire floral, landscape and vegetable gardens 
at the national soldiers' home, the duties of 
which position he has since most successfully 
discharged. During his twenty years of service 
Mr. Beck has superintended the planting and 
laying out of all the grounds of the home, hav- 
ing under him seventy-five men to assist him 
in the various kinds of decorative work required. 
The conservatories and decorations, and, in- 
deed, every thing connected with the grounds, 
are artistic in the highest degree and a tangible 
tribute to the taste and skill of the manager, 
whose knowledge of the profession has been 
gained only after many years of careful and 
painstaking study. 

Mr. Beck was married in 1 S56 to Miss 
Louisa Schnike, a native of Saxony, where she 
was born in 1836. Mrs. Beck came with her 
parents to America when fourteen years of 
age, locating at Cincinnati, where she grew to 
womanhood. Her daughter, Louise, is assist- 
ant principal of the Dayton Steele high school, 
having charge of the German department. She 
is a graduate of the Central high school, and 
for some time pursued her studies in Munich, 
Germany; the brother, Otto Walter, also edu- 
cated in Munich, is' a teacher in the art 



museum in Cincinnati; Matilda was educated 
in the city schools of Dayton. Mrs. Beck was 
reared in the faith of the German Lutheran 
church, but is now a member of the English 
branch of that denomination. Mr. Beck takes 
an active interest in political matters, support- 
ing the republican party upon state and na- 
tional issues, while in local matters he is en- 
tirely independent. 



a APT. JOHN NELSON BELL, sec- 
retary of the Ohio Fire Insurance 
company, and general fire insurance 
agent, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city December 18, 1838, a son of John S. 
and Zipporah (Cock) Bell. He graduated from 
the Central high school of his native city, and 
immediately afterward went west and taught 
school for a time on the prairies of Minnesota; 
he then went to Burlington, Iowa, and for sev- 
eral years was employed as a local reporter on 
the " Hawkeye." and at the breaking out of 
the Civil war enlisted for ninety days. After 
serving out his term of enlistment he returned 
to Burlington and raised a company of volun- 
teers, and in 1862 was commissioned captain 
of company E, Twenty-fifth Iowa volunteer 
infantry, and as such served until the close of 
the war. He participated in all the campaigns 
in the southwest under Gens. Grant and Sher- 
man, and also in the south and southeast, in- 
cluding the siege of Vicksburg, the storming of 
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, the 
campaign of Atlanta, the march through Geor- 
gia and the Carolinas, and the grand review at 
Washington, D. C. During his term of serv- 
ice Capt. Bell was appointed assistant adju- 
tant-general and assistant inspector-general on 
the staffs of Gen. James A. Williamson and 
Gen. George A. Stone, in Sherman's Fifteenth 
corps, and received the commendation of his 
commanders in general orders for his faithful 



398 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



discharge of duty. After the war he returned 
to Iowa, and for several years was engaged in 
mercantile business, but finally returned to 
Dayton, filling a position as bookkeeper until 
1885, when he accepted his present office. 

Capt. Bell was made a master Mason in 
Des Moines lodge, No. 1, Burlington, Iowa, 
October 12, 1868; was exalted a royal arch 
Mason October 2, 1869, in Iowa Royal Arch 
chapter, No. 1 ; created a Knight Templar in 
St. Omer commander}', No. 15, February 22, 
1 87 1. He has affiliated with the various York 
rite bodies in Dayton since 1872, and has re- 
ceived the various degrees of the Scottish rite, 
from the fourth to the thirty-second degree, 
in the valley of Dayton, and in the Ohio con- 
sistory, at Cincinnati; in 1880 was crowned a 
sovereign grand inspector -general, thirty- 
third degree, and made an honorary member 
of the supreme council, N. M. J., of the 
United States, at Boston, September 18, 1888. 
He has served as recorder of Reed command- 
ery, No. 6, of Dayton, nine years; eminent 
commander of the same commandery in 1886; 
grand recorder of the grand commandery of 
Ohio in 1886, and to this office he has been 
annually elected up to the present time. He 
is a past master of Gabriel lodge of Perfec- 
tion, A. A. rite, and is the present grand 
master of Miami council, P. of J., in which 
position he has served continuously since 1887. 
He is a member of the Loyal Legion, and a 
past commander of Old Guard post, G. A. R. 

Capt. Bell was united in marriage in Bur- 
lington, Iowa, November 3, 1S61, with Miss 
Annie E. Acres, daughter of Stephen T. Acres, 
of Gibraltar, and has a family of six children, 
viz: Charles W. , secretary and manager of 
the United States Board & Paper company, 
of Cincinnati; William A., traveling sales- 
man for the American Strawboard company, 
of Cincinnati; George H., state agent for the 
North British & Mercantile Insurance com- 



pany, at Dayton; Walter H., grocers' broker, 
Dayton; Mary V. and Nelson J., at home. 
The family are members of the Episcopal 
church, and in politics Capt. Bell is a repub- 
lican. He descends from very old American 
families, his maternal ancestors being traced 
to the Mayflower, while his paternal fore- 
fathers, who came from England, can be traced 
equally far back to the early settlements on 
the shores of Maryland. His grandparents 
were residents of Greene county, Ohio, as 
early as the opening of the present century, 
his grandfather, John Bell, having been 
drowned in the Little Miami river in 18 10. 
His parents were residents of Dayton as early 
as 1830, and the name has been prominently 
associated with the history of the city and 
county up to the present day. 



<V^V s DOREN BATES, a representative 
fi merchant of Dayton, Ohio, and senior 
r member of the well-known dry-goods 
house of Bates, Engel & Co., is a na- 
tive of Ohio, and a descendant of two old pio- 
neer families of the Buckeye state. Mr. Bates 
was born in Butler county, Ohio, July 7, 1843, 
and is the son of Lewis Cass and Nellie 
Schenck (Shepherd) Bates. The Bates family 
came originally from England, settling in Con- 
necticut during colonial days. From Connecti- 
cut they came west, Asael Bates, grandfather 
of Ns D., the first of the family to come to 
Ohio, having settled at Cincinnati when the 
Queen City was a small place. For many 
years he was wharfmaster and an auctioneer 
at Cincinnati, and then removed to Warren 
county, Ohio, where he engaged in tavern- 
keeping. 

Lewis Cass Bates was born in Ohio in No- 
vember, 18 18. He has followed farming all 
his life, and now resides at Gano, Butler 
county. Nellie Schenck Shepherd was born 





<£ 



(j-ya^^-' 



f£tJ^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



401 



in Hamilton county, Ohio, on September 21, 
1822. Her parents were Thomas and Sarah 
(Preston) Shepherd. The Shepherds came 
originally from England. Thomas Shepherd 
came with his parents to Ohio in 1S16, the 
family settling at Lockland, Hamilton county. 
For six years after the birth of Ns D. his par- 
ents resided in Butler county, and then re- 
moved to Lockland, where the next six years 
of his life were spent on the old farm of his 
great-grandfather Shepherd. His parents then 
went to live in Jackson county, Ind. Before 
leaving Ohio young Bates attended the com- 
mon schools, and after removing to Indiana 
he attended school during the winter months, 
thus securing a fair English education. Be- 
tween the ages of twelve and nineteen he 
worked on the farm, attended school, taught 
school, clerked in a store and carried the 
United States mail. 

On August 18, 1862, when only a month 
past his nineteenth year, he enlisted in the 
Federal army from Jackson county, Ind., and 
was mustered into the service at Madison, 
Ind., two days later, as a private in Capt. 
Nelson Crabb's company G, Sixty-seventh 
regiment Indiana volunteer infantry, Col. 
Frank Emerson, commanding, his enlistment 
being for a term of three years. He was dis- 
charged on December 10, 1864, at Baton Rouge, 
La. , on account of consolidation, and re-en- 
listed in company G, Twenty-fourth regiment 
Indiana volunteer infantry, under Capt. Jacob 
Smith and Col. W. G. Spicely, for the re- 
mainder of the war. He served in the First 
brigade, Second division, Thirteenth corps, 
army of West Mississippi, and participated in 
the following engagements: Munfordsville, 
Ky., on September 14 and 17, 1862; Chick- 
asaw Bayou, Miss., on December 27 and 
31, 1862; Arkansas Post, Ark., on January 
11, 1863; Port Gibson, Miss., on May 1, 1863, 
Champion Hill, Miss., on May 16, 1863; Black 



River, Miss., on May 17, 1863; siege of Vicks- 
burg. Miss., from May 19 to July 4, 1863; 
Jackson, Miss., on July 10 and 18, 1863; Car- 
rion Crow, La., on November 3, 1863; Forts 
Gaines and Morgan, from August 6 to23, 1864; 
siege and charge of Blakeley, Ala., on April 
29, 1865, where he was slightly wounded. 
Mr. Bates was captured at Munfordsville, Ky. , 
upon the surrender of the entire garrison on 
September 17, 1862, and was again captured 
at Carrion Crow, La., on Nevember 3, 1863, 
and confined in prison at Alexandria, La., for 
fifty-three days, being paroled on December 
25, 1863, and exchanged about June 1, 1864. 
He was detailed for special duty in regimental 
quartermaster's department for a few months 
in 1863, and was again detailed for similar 
duty at quartermaster's department at Parole 
Camp, New Orleans, La., from January 1 to 
July 1, 1864. He. was honorably discharged 
from the service at Galveston, Tex., on July 
19, 1865, by reason of the close of the war, 
after having served for a period of almost 
three years. 

Upon his return from the war Mr. Bates 
came to Xenia, Ohio, where he secured a sub- 
ordinate position in a store, and there remained 
for several years, working his way up to the 
position of bookkeeper and salesman. In 
1870 he came to Dayton and took a position 
as bookkeeper in a wholesale liquor house, 
which place he has held for about eighteen 
months. Following this he was made assistant 
secretary of the Farmers cS: Merchants Insur- 
ance company, of Dayton, with which he con- 
tinued until the business of the company was 
wound up and closed out. Through the in- 
fluence of the Hon. Lewis B. Gunckel, then 
a member of congress from the Dayton dis- 
trict, Mr. Bates was appointed to a position 
in the government postal service in 1874, and 
for six years he was in the United States railway 
mail service, running first from Pittsburg to 



402 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Cincinnati, then from Pittsburg to Indianapolis, 
and next from Indianapolis to Saint Louis. 
So efficient did he become in his duties as mail 
clerk, that during the two last years of his 
service with the government he was placed as 
head clerk in charge of the mail car and crew 
of his run. In January, 1880, Mr. Bates re- 
signed his position in the government service 
in order to return to Dayton and take charge 
of the books of the dry-goods house of Augustus 
Sharp, and his employer soon afterwards 
taking charge of a store in Louisville, Ky., 
Mr. Bates was left in charge of the office and 
financial departments of the Dayton establish- 
ment. Mr. Sharp later disposed of his store 
in the city to Messrs. Lambert & Clock, and 
with this firm Mr. Bates remained as book- 
keeper for about one year. On February 1 , 
1882, the dry-goods firm of Orr, Bates & 
Roesch was formed- with Mr. Bates as a mem- 
ber. This firm began business on East Third 
and Jefferson streets, at the present stand of 
Bates, Engel & Co. The firm of Orr, Bates 
& Roesch was succeeded by that of Bates & 
Roesch, Mr. Orr retiring, and on May 4, 1895, 
following the death of Mr. Roesch, the firm of 
Bates, Engel & Co. was formed, the members 
being Ns Doren Bates, C. W. Engel, H. J. 
Rock and G. A. Heintz. The firm is one of 
the leaders among the dry-goods houses of the 
city, and by splendid business methods, aided 
by the personal popularity of its members, is 
growing in strength each day. It carries a 
complete line of dry goods, cloaks, etc., has 
large and commodious storerooms, and em- 
ploys a force of from twenty-five to thirty 
people. 

Mr. Bates is recognized as one of Dayton's 
representative business men and citizens. He 
is a genuine Buckeye, patriotic and progressive, 
having always a good word and open hand for 
movements calculated to improve, develop and 
build up the institutions of his native state and 



adopted city. Among his friends and acquaint- 
ances he is regarded with admiration, his 
many sterling traits of character being fully 
appreciated. Mr. Bates is quite prominent in 
various ways. For almost twenty-five years 
he has been a member of the Masonic frater- 
nity, having joined the order 1S72. He is a 
member of Mystic lodge, No. 405. He was 
made a Knight Templar in 1885, being a mem- 
ber of Reed commandery, No. 6, of which he 
is prelate at the present time. He attained 
the thirty-second degree in Scottish rite Ma- 
sonry in 1 886. In 1882 he became a member 
of the Old Guard post, G. A. R., and has held 
most of the chairs of the same, being trustee 
of the post for over ten years. He is a mem- 
ber of the Garfield and Present Day clubs, 
and of the first Reformed church. He was 
elected in April, 1896, to a place on the Day- 
ton board of education, of which board he is 
an active and valued member. 

Mr. Bates was married in 1871 to Miss 
Florence E. Walden, of Dayton, daughter of 
Dr. A. G. Walden. Two sons have been 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Bates: Albert Irvin 
Bates, who was born in Dayton, passed through 
the public schools, was graduated from the 
Ohio Medical college, and is now a promising 
young member of the Dayton medical profes- 
sion; and Lewis Wilbur, who is at present a 
student in a well-known military college. 



<^\'R- HENRY J. BECKER, D.D.,the 
1 well-known divine and lecturer of 
/^^_J Dayton, Ohio, was born in Massillon, 
Ohio, on June 19, 1846. His early 
life was spent in the coal mines of Ohio, and, 
aside from his primary education, he had train- 
ing at Heidelberg college, Ohio. He served 
in the One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Ohio 
volunteer infantry during the Civil war, and 
after the war became a convert to the Chris- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



403 



tian religion, and studied theology under Rev. 
J. M. Spangler and Dr. Winters of the Re- 
formed church. On December 18, 1S69, he 
was licensed to preach in the church of the 
United Brethren in Christ, in which field he 
has continued to labor until the present time. 
In August, 1875, he went to California as mis- 
sionary for the United Brethren Missionary 
society, and there remained for ten years. 
During that period he edited and published 
the Pacific Telescope in the interest of the 
Pacific conferences for two years, and then, 
combining that periodical with the Philomath 
(Ore.) Crucible, he continued it one year 
more as the Philomath Crucible. Dr. Becker 
served as presiding elder in California for three 
terms, and in 1889 was elected bishop of the 
Pacific district by the conservatives, at the 
time of the division of the church. He was 
re-elected bishop in 1893, but resigned, not 
wishing longer to engage in work on the Pa- 
cific coast, and was then elected corresponding 
secretary of the Home Frontier & Foreign 
Missionary society, in which capacity he is 
still laboring. In the spring of 1888 Dr. 
Becker made an extensive tour of the old 
world, visiting Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, Syria, 
the Isles of Greece, Corinth, Smyrna, Ephe- 
sus, Brindisi, Pompeii, Naples, Rome and 
Florence, touching other prominent countries 
and cities along the line of travel. The honor- 
ary title of doctor of divinity was conferred 
upon Dr. Becker by Hartsville (Ind.) college 
in 1 89 1. As a lecturer Dr. Becker has at- 
tained wide celebrity, and his services are in 
demand in different parts of the country dur- 
ing the lecture season. 

Dr. Becker has just completed the mech- 
anism for a life-saving device to be used in 
rescuing miners from imprisonment in case of 
accident by the giving way or caving in of 
roofs, which will no doubt prove of great and 
lasting benefit to humanity. He has also in- 



vented and patented an automatic water filter, 
a description of which will be found in the 
American Inventive Progress. He is also the 
author of several booklets, and has written 
sheet music with .original words. 

Dr. Becker was married August, 18, 1870, 
to Miss Elizabeth Houk, of Canal Fulton, 
Ohio, daughter of Samuel Houk. To this 
union two daughters were born — Myrtle, May 
23, 1871, who died July 14, 1871, and Alta 
Jewel, who was born May 19, 1885. 



^y-j»ILLIAM DENISON BICKHAM, de- 

M a ceased, late editor and proprietor 

^JL^ of the Dayton Journal, was born in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, on March 30, 
1827. He was prepared for college in private 
and public schools, and was a student in Cin- 
cinnati and Bethany (W. Va. ) colleges. After 
the death of his father he entered the news- 
room of the Cincinnati Gazette and acquired a 
technical knowledge of the work during a two- 
years' apprenticeship. Subsequently, at the 
age of twenty, he became city and commercial 
editor of the Louisville (Ky.) Daily Courier. 
In 1848 he went to New Orleans on business 
connected with his father's estate, making the 
trip down the river on flatboats. In 1849 he 
was engaged in mercantile pursuits in Cincin- 
nati, but the following year he went to the 
California gold fields, where he spent over a 
year at hard labor in the mines on the North 
Fork and Middle Fork of the American river 
at Grass Valley, and in the vicinity of Nevada. 
In 1852 Mr. Bickham represented El Do- 
rado county as a delegate in the first whig 
convention held in California. He settled in 
San Francisco and there obtained a place in 
the customs service, and was actively engaged 
in politics for some time. Later he was em- 
ployed as city editor of the San Francisco 
Picayune, then as editor and proprietor of the 



4(14 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



San Francisco Evening Journal, and then as 
city editor of the San Francisco Evening Times 
and the Morning Ledger. In April, 1854, 
Mr. Bickham returned home, after an absence 
of four years, without money, and, for want of 
some better employment, accepted a position as 
brakeman on the morning express train of the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad be- 
tween Cincinnati and Dayton. Within a few 
weeks he was promoted to baggage-master. 
Later he took a position as traveling corre- 
spondent and agent of the Cincinnati Daily- 
Columbian. Next he was engaged on the city 
staff of the Cincinnati Evening Times, and a 
few months later became traveling correspond- 
ent for that paper, and while correspondent 
in the legislature, early in 1856, accepted the 
position of city editor of the Cincinnati Com- 
mercial, remaining in that office as city editor, 
and in Washington and Columbus as general 
correspondent, until the beginning of the late 
war. He was then assigned to duty as war 
correspondent of the Commercial with the 
army of West Virginia, being also appointed 
volunteer aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. 
Rosecrans, with the rank of captain, in which 
capacity he discharged all the duties of an offi- 
cer of his rank. 

After the battle of Carnifax Ferry, Maj. 
Bickham was transferred to other military 
fields, being war correspondent with the army 
of the Potomac until after the seven days' bat- 
tles on the Chickahominy and at Malvern Hill; 
then in Kentucky until the Cumberland Gap 
expedition, afterward in Mississippi, and finally 
with the army of the Cumberland, ending with 
the occupation of Murfreesboro, when Gen. 
Rosecrans conferred upon him the title of major 
for services in that engagement as aid-de- 
1 amp. In May, 1863, immediately after the 
destruction of the Dayton Journal office, Maj. 
Bickham was asked to take control of the news- 
paper field in Dayton, and immediately came 



to this city, where he continued to reside and 
to conduct the above newspaper until his death, 
which occurred March 27, 1894. 

In 1855 Maj. Bickham was married to Miss 
Maria Strickle, of Wilmington, Ohio, who, 
with the following children, survives him: 
William, Abe S. , Daniel D. and Charles G. 

Maj. Bickham attained high reputation and 
a wide influence as a newspaper man. As an 
editor for many years of the leading repub- 
lican paper in this section of Ohio, he became 
noted for the vigor, aggressiveness and strength 
of his editorial utterances. He was promi- 
nent as a leader in his party and always active 
in the management of its county and also its 
state organization. 



a APT. FRANCIS M. BILLINGS, one 
of Ohio's gallant ex-soldiers, and now 
proprietor of the Hotel Knecht, Nos. 
24 and 26 East Second street, Day- 
ton, was born in Wayne township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, April 21, 1844, and is a son 
of Thompson and Sarah (Wyatt) Billings, the 
former a descendant of one of the oldest of 
New England families, of whom mention will 
again be made at the close of this memoir. 

Thompson Billings was a native of North 
Carolina, and his wife of east Tennessee. Im- 
mediately after their marriage in Rutledge, 
Grainger county, Tenn., they came to Ohio 
and settled on a farm in Wayne township, 
Montgomery county, where the father died of 
cholera, in 1852, having sacrificed his life 
through his attendance upon a neighbor's fam- 
ily who were suffering from the same fell mal- 
ady. His widow died in Piqua, Miami county, 
Ohio, at the age of sixty-eight years, and of 
the eleven children born to their marriage 
George is a carpenter and stair-builder and 
resides in Piqua; Emily is the widow of Lewis 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



405 



Rain and lives in Kansas City, Mo.; Jasper, 
formerly of Dayton, is a bricklayer of Toledo; 
Calvin is a wagon hub manufacturer, of Paul- 
ding Center, Ohio, and was a three-years' sol- 
dier in the Fifty-second Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry; John served three years in the Nine- 
teenth Illinois infantry, in which he was 
quartermaster-sergeant, and is now living in 
retirement in Richmond, 111. ; Samuel served 
as lieutenant in the Forty-fourth Ohio infantry, 
afterward recruited a company for the One 
Hundred and Tenth, of which he was captain, 
and is now living in retirement in Wichita, 
Kans. ; Angelina and Susannah are deceased; 
Francis M. is the subject of this memoir; David 
was wounded at the battle of Chickamauga 
and died the day he was brought home; and 
Elizabeth died the wife of Hon. W. W. Rum- 
sey, of Terre Haute, Ind. 

Francis Marion Billings, at the death of 
his father, was bound over to a neighbor, who 
treated him with great severity. At the end 
of two years of this life of misery an elder 
brother called the attention of a prominent 
attorney of Dayton, Wilbur Conover, to the 
case, and this gentleman, becoming interested, 
soon secured the liberation of the boy from 
his bondage. After this Francis lived with 
various families in Montgomery county until 
he had attained the age of seventeen years, 
when, on August 5, 1861, he enlisted in com- 
pany C, Forty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
under Capt. W. W. Woodward. He veter- 
anized January 5, 1864, and was transferred 
to company C, Eighth Ohio volunteer cavalry, 
in which he served until July 29, 1865, when 
he was mustered out as lieutenant, command- 
ing his company. His entire service covered 
a period of forty-seven months, and some of 
the actions in which he was engaged during 
this long period may here be enumerated. 

He fought at Lewisburg, Va., where one 
of Montgomery's most honored soldiers, 



George B. Crook, won the star of general; he 
was engaged in numerous fights and skirmishes 
in the mountains of West Virginia during the 
summer of 1862, until driven out of the Kana- 
wha valley by the rebels; participated in the 
battles of Fayetteville and Charlestown, W. 
Va., followed the rebel, Gen. Kirby Smith, in 
a running fight of 1 50 miles through Kentucky, 
and in the summer of 1863 fought at Dutton 
Hill, Lancaster, Mount Vernon, Richmond, 
Crab Orchard, Loudoun andBarboursville; was 
next on the raid with Gen. Saunders through 
eastern Tennessee, destroying railroads from 
Maiden to Greenville, making a demonstration 
against Knoxville, and destroying the railroad 
bridge at Strawberry Plains. The troops 
then fought back to Kentucky, crossing the 
Cumberland mountains at a point where pos- 
sibly no human being ever before had placed 
foot, and losing three-fifths of their horses in 
the ascent. Capt. Billings' next service was 
with Burnside in the east Tennessee expedi- 
tion; he was present at the surrender of Cum- 
berland Gap; participated in the siege of Knox- 
ville; took part in the battle of Rutledge, 
which was fought on his grandparents' farm, 
and was then assigned or detailed to the re- 
cruiting service. 

As recruiting officer, Capt. Billings spent 
forty days in Dayton and enlisted 1 17 men, of 
whom twenty-one were transferred to other 
companies. On the re-organization of the 
regiment, the captain immediately joined the 
forces under Gen. Hunter in the advance upon 
Lynchburg, Va. He fought at Staunton; was 
at the capture of Lexington; was in the battle 
at Lynchburg, where he commanded the ad- 
vance guard, took part, on the following day, 
in the general engagement and was in the rear 
guard on the retreat; led his men in the battle 
of Liberty, where he lost forty per cent of his 
command; next was in Sheridan's campaign 
through the Shenandoah valley, and was finally 



km; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mustered out at Clarksburg, W. Ya., and re- 
turned to Dayton. 

March 5, 1865, while at home on furlough, 
Capt. Billings married Miss Mary B. Swain, a 
native of Dayton, a daughter of Josiah A. 
Swain, and a niece of Judge Charles G. Swain. 
This happy marriage has been blessed with 
seven children, viz: Alice Maud, Katie Hale, 
Mamie S., Charles W. D., Carrie B. , Thomas 
B. and Nannie. Of these, Carrie B. is the 
wife of William Brandt, a resident of Dayton; 
the others are all still under the parental roof. 
After his return from the war, Capt. Billings 
was employed as a salesman and an interior 
decorator until 1894, when he embarked in his 
present enterprise as proprietor of the Hotel 
Knecht. The captain is a member of Dister 
post, No. 446, G. A. R., of encampment No. 
145, U. V. L., and is a Knight of Pythias. 
Politically, he has been a life-long republican, 
and his family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

The Billings family, as intimated at the 
opening of this biography, have been repre- 
sented in America ever since the landing of the 
Mayflower — the youngster named Billingsley, 
who fired the ship while the men were away 
hunting, being the founder of the American 
branch of the family. The Swain family also 
descends from an early New England ancestry, 
Mrs. Billings being a direct descendant of Sir 
John Swain, the original purchaser of Nan- 
tucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts. 



^-j* ^ BLUM, manager of the Reformed 
m Publishing company, Dayton, Ohio, is 
m 1 a native of Canton, Ohio, and was born 
March 3, 1842, a son of John F. and 
Barbara (Weber) Blum, natives of Rhenish Ba- 
varia. The father was a shoemaker by trade, 
was first married in his native country, and 
came to America in 1835. He located in Can- 



ton, Ohio, where he worked at his trade for 
many years, his first wife dying here in 1853, 
at the age of forty-five years, his own death 
occurring in 1877, at the age of sixty-seven 
years. To the first marriage of John F. Blum 
there were born nine children, John, the sub- 
ject, being fourth in order of birth, and five of 
the family are still living; to the second mar- 
riage of Mr. Blum were born eight children, of 
whom but two survive. 

John Blum, whose name opens this bio- 
graphical memoir, was educated in the public 
schools of his native city, and in 1857 there 
began learning the printer's trade; in this he 
was engaged up to the time of his enlistment, 
September 19, 1 861, in company I, Nineteenth 
Ohio volunteer infantry. His brother, Fred- 
erick, also enlisted in the same company, sus- 
tained a disabling wound at the battle of Love- 
joy's Station, in September, 1864, and was in 
consequence honorably discharged. He is now 
conducting a drug store in Canton. The Nine- 
teenth Ohio was first assigned to Gen. O. M. 
Mitchell's division at Louisville, Ky. , but re- 
mained there one month only. The winter of 
1861-2 was spent in Columbia, Ky. , until Jan- 
uary of the latter year, when the regiment went 
down the Cumberland river to cut off the rebel 
general, Zollicoffer, in his retreat from Mill 
Spring to Nashville, Tenn., and thus resulted 
in the battle of Mill Spring, in which Zollicoffer 
was killed. The Nineteenth, a part of Gen. 
Boyle's brigade, was afterward concentrated 
with Maj.-Gen. Buell's army at Nashville. 

At Bowling Green, Ky., Mr. Blum was 
prostrated by sickness and was thus prevented 
from sharing in the battle of Shiloh, this being 
the only important engagement he missed 
among all those in which his regiment took 
part. He rejoined his command, however, on 
the battle field of Shiloh, April 27, 1862, took 
part in Corinth, and in all the skirmishes and 
battles eastward through Mississippi and Ala- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



407 



bama, to Battle Creek, near Chattanooga, 
Tenn., thence followed Bragg through Ten- 
nessee and Kentucky, cutting him off and bring- 
ing on the battle of Perry ville, Ky. , after 
which battle Buell was succeeded in his com- 
mand by Rosecrans. The troops then moved 
on to Nashville and found Bragg between that 
city and Murfreesboro, the battle of Stone 
River being the immediate result. The six 
months following this were spent in fortifying 
Murfreesboro, and then the forces moved out 
on the Tullahoma campaign in June, 1S63, 
Bragg retreating to Chattanooga. The next 
important battle was fought at Chickamauga, 
September 19 and 20, 1863, and after this 
desperate conflict Gen. Thomas succeeded 
Rosecrans. The siege of Chattanooga fol- 
lowed, and here the Union forces were penned 
in from September 22 until November 23, 
1 863, most of the time living on quarter rations 
and suffering great privations. Orchard Knob, 
Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge fol- 
lowed, and then the army moved on a forced 
march to the relief of Gen. Burnside, who was 
besieged at Knoxville; the next movement was 
to Flat Creek, where the entire regiment re- 
enlisted, to " see the end," and were permitted 
to go home on veteran furlough for thirty days. 
Mr. Blum rejoined the army at Knoxville, 
and thence marched 150 miles to McDonald's 
Station, in Tennessee, where the troops were 
being concentrated for the Atlanta campaign. 
In this campaign Mr. Blum shared in every 
engagement in which his regiment took part, 
excepting Resaca (May 14-15, 1864), and 
after the fall of Atlanta, September 2. 1864, 
he returned with the army of the Cumberland 
to look after Hood in Tennessee, the two 
days' fight at Nashville being the result, to- 
gether with the annihilation of Hood's army by 
Gen. Thomas. Mr. Blum then spent two 
months in Huntsville, Ala., in the winter of 
1864-5, went into east Tennessee, and to 



Greenville and Jonesboro, where his brigade 
served as provost guards ; thence to Nashville, 
whence, on June 15, 1865, they started for 
Texas, via the Cumberland, Ohio and Missis- 
sippi rivers, with a view of relieving the people 
of their troubles with Maximilian, and marched 
nearly across the state in the heat of July and 
August. At San Antonio Mr. Blum served in 
the paymaster's department under Capt. Kelly 
for a short time, was then ordered to return to 
his regiment, which marched to Alleyton, a 
third of the width of the state, went by rail to 
Galveston, thence to New Orleans by steamer, 
thence by river to Cairo, and thence in box- 
cars to Columbus, and was mustered out No- 
vember 25, 1865. After a long rest at Mount 
Union, Ohio, recuperating his shattered health, 
Mr. Blum returned to Canton, where for sev- 
eral years "he was employed as foreman of the 
Stark County Republican — afterward consol- 
idated with the Canton Repository. Quitting 
this employment in March, 1882, he came to 
Dayton and assisted in the organization of the 
Reformed Publishing company, with which he 
has since been connected as a member of the 
firm and as the manager of the mechanical 
department. 

The marriage of Mr. Blum took place Feb- 
ruary 19, 1864, while he was at home on vet- 
eran furlough, to Miss Lucy A. Miller, a native 
of Mount Union, Stark county, Ohio. To 
this marriage have been born five children, 
viz: Olive J., who died in infancy; William 
A., who is an architect by profession, but is 
now connected with the Reformed Publishing 
company, is married to Miss Sallie J. Prugh, 
and is the father of one child, Harold P. ; Orrin, 
who also died in infancy; Frank W. , who is 
foreman of the Reformed Publishing com- 
pany's press room, and is married to Miss 
Jennie Mowrer ; and Albertus Owen, who is a 
compositor, under his father. 

Mr. Blum is a member of St. John's lodge, 



408 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



No. 13, F. & A. M., and of Old Guard post. 
No. 23, G. A. R. He and all the family are 
members of Trinity Reformed church, and 
politically he is a republican, but has never 
sought nor held official position. He is, nev- 
ertheless, a wide-awake, progressive and pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, ready at all times substan- 
tially to aid any project designed for the pub- 
lic good, and socially holds the esteem of all 
with whom he conies in contact. 



^Y^ OUIS H. POOCK, one of the leading 

C German citizens of Dayton, and who 
\ has for many years been closely identi- 
fied with the financial history of the 
city, is a native of Germany, and was born on 
March 19, 1839, at Wahrendahl, amt Hameln, 
Hanover. He is the son of Frederick Lud- 
wig and Fredericka (Katz) Poock, both natives 
of Hanover. The father was a carpenter and 
inspector of buildings in the old country. His 
death occurred in 1 842, and, in 1854, his widow 
and three sons came to America, two sons and 
one daughter having previously emigrated. 
Mrs. Poock came direct to Dayton, and here 
resided until her death, which occurred in 
March, 1873. 

Louis H. Poock was but three years of age 
when his father died, and but fifteen years old 
when he came to the United States. He re- 
ceived hie education in the schools of his 
native country, but did not learn a trade. 
Upon the arrival of the family in Dayton he 
worked for some time at any thing he could 
find to do, and subsequently entered the fac- 
tory of Blanchard & Brown as an apprentice, 
but in the winter of 1857 he met with an ac- 
cident, crippling his left hand in so serious a 
manner as to unfit him for manual labor. 
This accident changed the whole course of his 
life, and gave to Dayton a clear-headed finan- 
cier of abilitv, instead probably of a good me- 



chanic. While suffering from his wound he 
resumed his studies, attending the city public 
schools and high school in order to acquire a 
better knowledge of the English language, and 
followed this up with a thorough course in 
Greer's Commercial college. 

Upon leaving the commercial college he 
filled for a time a position as deputy in the 
county auditor's office, and next became book- 
keeper in the counting-room of the Dayton 
Empire newspaper establishment. In Septem- 
ber, 1 862, he was appointed teacher of Ger- 
man in the Fifth district school, which posi- 
tion he held for seven years. He then was 
appointed instructor of German in the Sixth 
district school and there taught for six years; 
while thus engaged he also organized a night 
school, teaching a number of young men who 
came to his house in winter evenings, and 
later taught in the public night school in the 
Pacific engine house, which served at that 
time as a school-room in the Fifth district. 
He resigned his position in the public schools 
in December, 1874, and subsequently engaged 
for about one year in business with one of his 
brothers, they operating what was then known 
as the Stone mills, now the Banner mills. 

In January, 1868, Mr. Poock was elected 
secretary of the Dayton Building association, 
No. 1, the first institution of the kind estab- 
lished in the city. This position he held until 
the association wound up its affairs in August, 
1873. In January, 1869, he was elected sec- 
retary of the Concordia Building & Loan as- 
sociation, holding the position until April, 
1875, when the corporation liquidated and 
wound up its affairs. In April, 1873, he, 
with others, organized the Germania Build- 
ing association on the permanent plan, and 
of this association he was made secretary 
and treasurer, and was made general manager 
in January, 1895. This position he resigned 
on July 23, 1890. In April, 1875, Mr. Poock 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



411 



was elected a member of the Dayton board of 
education, was re-elected in April, 187S, and 
chosen vice-president of the board in 1879. 
He was next appointed deputy treasurer by 
County Treasurer H. H. Laubach, holding 
that position for five years under that gentle- 
man and for four years under his successor, 
Stephen J. Allen. In the fall of 1883 he was 
himself elected county treasurer, and was re- 
elected in 1885, serving two terms and going 
out of office in September, 1888. 

In February, 1883, Mr. Poock became con- 
nected with the Dayton Savings bank as a 
stockholder and director, and on January 7, 
1885, he was elected president of the bank. 
He continued as president until the spring of 
1889, when the affairs of the bank were wound 
up. The same year, he, with others, estab- 
lished the Teutonia National bank, of which 
he was elected cashier, March 29, 1889. 

Mr. Poock is a member of several benefi- 
ciary associations as well as of various social, 
musical and military societies. He served as 
secretary and treasurer of the German Evangel- 
ical Lutheran Saint Paul's society for a num- 
ber of years and is at present its treasurer. 
Mr. Poock is a trustee and the treasurer of the 
German American Central league. He served 
for a number of years as trustee and treasurer 
of the Deaconess hospital, resigning in the 
fall of 1895, but his resignation was not ac- 
cepted until the close of the year. 

On March 26, 1862, Mr. Poock was mar- 
ried to Minnie, the daughter of Frederick 
Lucking, of Dayton. To the union thirteen 
children have been born, six of whom are liv- 
ing: Ida D., Bertha C, Oscar M., Minnie M., 
Ella A., and Anna F., all of whom are living 
at home except Ida D., who is the wife of Dr. 
George L. Ahlers, of Allegheny City, Pa. 
Oscar M. is now in the Teutonia National 
bank and Bertha C. is stenographer in the 

Germania Building association. 
12 



^y^V ANIEL BOONE, manufacturer of 

I pumps, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of 

(^^_J this city and was born October 21, 

1847, a son of Daniel and Susan 

(Repp) Boone. 

Daniel Boone, the father, was born in Front 
Royal, Va., in 18 19, is a near relative of the 
famous Kentucky frontiersman of the same 
name, and is now living near Troy, Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio. Susan Repp was a native of Dayton, 
was here married to Mr. Boone in 1 841, and 
died in 1894. Of the five children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Boone, Albert, the eldest, is a 
railroad contractor at Zanesville, where he 
constructed the "belt" line, also building a 
similar line at Knoxville, Tenn.; Daniel is the 
second child; the third is John, a business man 
of Troy, Ohio; Dr. Alonzo, the fourth child, 
is a practicing physician in Harrisburg, Ohio, 
and Mrs. Alma Black, the youngest child, is 
the wife of one of Dayton's best known drug- 
gists. Of the four brothers, all but one served 
in the late Civil war. The three who enlisted 
did so when quite young — one at the age of 
fifteen years, and two when seventeen years 
old. Albert, the eldest, entered the army at 
the beginning of the war, and for meritorious 
conduct and gallantry in the field, was ad- 
vanced to the rank of colonel. 

Daniel Boone, whose name opens this me- 
moir, learned his trade from his father, who 
was also a pumpmaker. When seventeen 
years of age, he enlisted in company K, One 
Hundred and Eighty-ninth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, and served from January, 1865, until 
October of the same year, when he was hon- 
orably discharged, the war having been brought 
to an end. He was stationed at Huntsville, 
Ala., took part in several skirmishes, but was 
in no general engagement. In 1868, Mr. 
Boone went to Tennessee, where he was em- 
ployed by his eider brother, Col. Albert Boone 
in the lumber trade until the spring of 1869, 



412 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and in the fall of 1868 he cast his first presi- 
dential vote for U. S. Grant. Returning to 
Dayton in the fall of 1869, he opened a shop 
at the corner of First and Madison streets for 
the manufacture of pumps, etc., and occupied 
the premises for nearly thirteen years. For 
about two years thereafter he carried on the 
same business on Water street, and then, in 
1883, established his plant at his present loca- 
tion, No. 312 South Wayne avenue. Here 
he gives employment to an average of four 
men in driving wells and manufacturing pumps, 
etc., and enjoys a lucrative trade. 

In 1872 Mr. Boone married Miss Josephine 
Andrews, a native of Greene county, Ohio, 
and daughter of Frank Andrews, a mill owner 
and operator. To this marriage have been 
born seven children, in the following order: 
Luella May, Daniel, Jr., Albert E., Gracie, 
Harry C. , Susan and Josephine. Of these 
Miss Luella Ma)' is a teacher in the Dayton 
schools, Daniel, Jr., is a stenographer in the 
office of the National Cash Register company, 
and the others are attending school. 

Mr. Boone is a member of Old Guard post, 
No. 23, Grand Army of the Republic, and 
also of the Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order 
of United Workmen and the American Union. 
The church relations of the family are with the 
United Brethren, and they hold membership 
with the High street mission. In politics Mr. 
Boone has been a republican since his first 
vote. He and his family enjoy the warm 
friendship of their neighbors, and Mr. Boone 
has an excellent reputation, both in private life 
and as a business man of the strictest integrity. 



>j*()HN W. BOREN, contractor and 

J builder, is a native of Dayton, Ohio, 

(% 1 born on the 25th day of January, 1852. 

His father, Wesley Boren, was born in 

Jonesboro, Term., about the year 1816, and 



became a resident of Dayton in 1832, where 
for many years he was a leading manufacturer 
of brick and a builder. He retired from act- 
ive life after acquiring a competence, and is 
still living in the city of his adoption. Lydia 
E. Coblentz, wife of Wesley Boren, was born 
in 1 814, in Frederick, Md., and is passing the 
remaining years of her life at her home in 
Dayton. She is the mother of five sons and 
three daughters, John W. being the only son 
living, the others having died in infancy; the 
daughters are Amanda, wife of William H. 
Pritz, superintendent of the Stoddard Manu- 
facturing company, of Dayton; Mary, wife of 
George W. Folkerth, also a resident of Day- 
ton; and Alice, who is under the parental roof. 
After receiving a practical English educa- 
tion in the public schools of Dayton, which he 
attended for some time during both day and 
evening sessions, John W. Boren, at the age 
of sixteen, entered upon an apprenticeship 
under his father to learn the trade of brick 
laying, in which he soon acquired much more 
than ordinary proficiency. He has followed 
his chosen calling all his life, not as a layer of 
brick merely, but as a contractor upon a large 
scale, having contracted for and personally 
superintended the erection of many of the 
largest public buildings in Dayton and other 
cities, beside numerous private residences here 
and elsewhere. Among the structures built 
by Mr. Boren are the city building and mar- 
ket house, the Montgomery county court house, 
St. Elizabeth's hospital, Fourth National bank, 
the Callahan bank building and many others, 
beside large contracts at the national soldiers' 
home. Mr. Boren is a very competent builder 
and a careful calculator, and has met with 
financial success most encouraging during his 
business career in Dayton. He gives steady 
employment to from ten to twenty workmen, 
and, at this writing (1896), is engaged on the 
Ridgway apartment house, Fifth street and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



413 



Boulevard, a building 70 x 162 feet, two stories 
in height, designed for residence flats, to cost 
$25,000. In addition to his business of con- 
tracting, Mr. Boren, as already stated, is quite 
extensively engaged in the manufacture of brick 
just outside the city limits, employing about 
twenty-five men during the season; the output 
of his yards is common building brick, and 
what he himself does not use is chiefly sold in 
the city. 

Mr. Boren was married in 1876 to Miss 
Addie L. Emerick, a native of Winchester, 
Ohio, but who, at the time of her marriage, 
was residing with her parents in Dayton. 
Mrs. Boren is a daughter of Andrew and Cath- 
erine Emerick, both natives of Ohio, and has 
borne her husband four children, namely: 
Walter E., Wesley, Helen C. and Frank G. 
Politically Mr. Boren is a supporter of the re- 
publican party; fraternally he belongs to the 
I. O. O. F. , Wayne lodge, No. 210, of Day- 
ton. He is active in church work, belonging 
to the Saint Paul's Methodist Episcopal con- 
gregation, of which he has been a trustee ever 
since its organization; his wife and family are 
also members of the same church. 



eDMOND E. BOHLENDER, M. D., 
one of the promising young physicians 
and surgeons of Dayton, is a native 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
was born March 14, 1868, a son of Peter and 
Anna B. (Elmore) Bohlender, now residents 
of Miami county, where they settled in the 
spring of 1881. 

Peter Bohlender was born near Strasbourg, 
Germany, and when ten years of age was 
brought to America by his parents, who settled 
on a farm north of Dayton. The boy,. Peter, 
however, went to Cincinnati, where he worked 
in a tobacco house one winter, when he re- 
turned to Dayton and entered the employ of the 



Heikes nursery, with which he remained for 
about thirteen or fourteen years, becoming a 
thorough horticulturist and nurseryman. He 
saved a large part of his earnings, at the same 
time supporting his aged parents, and at the 
age of twenty-five years married Anna B. El- 
more. At this time, also, he associated him- 
self with others in the nursery business, but 
shortly afterward sold his interest in the firm, 
continuing in its employ for one year as over- 
seer. He then purchased an eighty-acre tract 
of land northwest of Dayton, where he con- 
tinued his business as nurseryman, and on 
March 28, 1868, engrafted the first wild-goose 
plum in this part of the country. For several 
years later he was a partner of W. H. Smith- 
man, in the same business, at the end of which 
connection he sold his land and purchased a 
farm at the junction of Dogleg and Fredericks- 
burg pikes. Two years later he sold out and 
bought a place six miles north of Dayton, on 
the Covington pike, where he resided for 
seven years and was active in the affairs of 
the nursery firm of Bohlender & Quimby. 
Upon the dissolution of this partnership, Mr. 
Bohlender purchased eighty acres ten miles 
north of Dayton, on the old Troy pike, in 
Miami county, to which, two years later, he 
added ten acres, where he still continues the in- 
dustry of fruit raising, in which he has won a 
widespread and well deserved reputation. Be- 
side his home horticultural interests, Mr. Boh- 
lender is a stockholder in and director of the 
Albaugh Nursery & Orchard company of Day- 
ton and Tadnor, and is also largely interested 
in Georgia fruit and land companies. 

To the marriage of Peter and Anna B. (El- 
more) Bohlender have been born six children, 
viz: Thomas L. , overseer of Bidwell's nur- 
sery, at Chico, and commissioner of horticul- 
ture, Butte county, Cal. ; Dr. Edmond E. ; 
HowardJ., a jeweler of Osborn, Ohio; William 
Fletcher, in the nursery business with his 



414 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



father; and S. Lyvirgie and Iva at home with 
their parents. 

Dr. Edmond E. Bohlender, having fully 
prepared himself in the public and high schools 
of Miami county, passed six months in the 
Ada normal college, and then entered the 
office of Dr. Bohlender of Cincinnati, studied 
medicine under his preceptorship for one year 
and next placed himself under the tuition of 
Dr. W. J. Thomson of Union, Montgomery 
county. Following his course of instruction 
under this able physician, he entered the Ohio 
Medical college at Cincinnati, from which he 
graduated in 1894. He also took a special 
course in ophthalmic treatment, and after 
practicing for six months in Piqua, Ohio, final- 
ly located, February 1, 1895, in Dayton, at 
the old stand of Dr. Albaugh, now deceased, 
and where he has already achieved a deserved 
success in the practice of his profession. 

Dr. Bohlender was united in marriage, 
February 21, 1895, with Miss Clara B. Dins- 
more, daughter of William Dinsmore, of 
Bethel township, Miami county, Ohio, by 
whom he has one child, William Elmore, born 
September 25, 1896. Since his settlement in 
Dayton Dr. Bohlender has won a host of 
friends both in his social relations and in his 
professional practice. 



aOL JOHN BOTHAST, of No. 520 
Richard street, Dayton, Ohio, is a 
native of this city and was born Oc- 
tober 22, 1845. He was fairly edu- 
cated in the public schools, and when about 
fifteen years of age enlisted in company B, 
Second battalion, Eighteenth United States 
infantry, but, in order to secure enrollment in 
this service, it was necessary to overstate his 
age, and consequently the records show him 
to have been nineteen years old. His was 
the first regiment to occupy Camp Thomas, at 



Columbus, Ohio, at which point it remained 
about three months, guarding the Ohio peni- 
tentiary, Mr. Bothast being posted at the main 
entrance. From Columbus the regiment was 
ordered to Kentucky, where it took part in the 
battle of Mill Spring, in the fall of 1861, soon 
after which Mr. Bothast was taken sick and 
was sent to hospital at Lebanon, Ky., where 
his disease, typhoid fever, came very near 
proving fatal, and he attributes his conva- 
lescence wholly to the tender care and skillful 
nursing of the Sisters of Charity. May 9, 
1862, he was discharged from the service by 
reason of disability, and on returning to Day- 
ton was some months under treatment in this 
city. October 28, 1863, Mr. Bothast enlisted 
in company I, Sixty-first Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, and now his actual war service began. 
He was assigned to the Eleventh army corps, 
which afterward was merged into the Twen- 
tieth. He was in the army of the Potomac 
until the transfer of Gen. Joe Hooker to the 
southwest, his first engagements under this en- 
listment being at Missionary Ridge and Look- 
out Mountain, the top of the mountain being 
scaled by the Sixty-first Ohio. Mr. Bothast 
was also all through the Atlanta campaign, 
taking part in the battles of Buzzard Roost, 
Kingston (Ga. ), Resaca, Dallas, Ringgold. 
Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and 
the siege of Atlanta. At the latter point Mr. 
Bothast was left on garrison duty while Sher- 
man returned with his army to confront Hood 
at Nashville. In the spring of 1864, Mr. 
Bothast took up the line of march under 
Sherman for Savannah, Ga. , and thence on to 
Washington, D. C, the last fight taking place 
at Bentonville, N. C. Passing through Rich- 
mond, Va., the regiment reached the capital 
city, and, after taking part in the grand review 
in May, 1865, was then sent to Louisville, 
Ky., and was there mustered out July 29, 1865, 
after nearly four years' service. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



415 



On returning to Dayton, Col. Bothast en- 
gaged in the manufacture of horse-collars, 
which has been his principal business since the 
close of the war, although he receives a fair 
pension from the government, in recognition 
of the disabilities he sustained while in the 
service. 

The marriage of Col. Bothast took place in 
Dayton, May 14, 1868, to Miss Anna Adams, 
a native of Germany, but a resident of Dayton 
since two years of age. Five children have 
been born to this happy marriage, of whom 
John died in early infancy; Ida Christina is the 
wife of Albert Tiffany, a machinist, residing in 
Dayton; Frederick Lewis and Catherine are 
still under the parental roof, andTillie died in 
her twelfth year. 

Col. Bothast is very active in ex-soldier or- 
ganizations. He is a member of Old Guard 
post, No. 23, G. A. R., and of John A. Logan 
command, No. 7, Union Veteran Union, of 
which he is the present colonel. The condi- 
tions on which membership in the association 
is based are enlistment, actual participation in 
battle and honorable discharge from the army 
or navy. Col. Bothast is also a prominent 
member of the order known as the Knights of 
Honor. In his politics Col. Bothast is an un- 
compromising republican. In matters relig- 
ious, he and his wife are ardent and consistent 
members of the Baptist church. Col. Bothast 
was one of the original volunteer firemen of 
Dayton, having been for six years a member 
of Independent company, No. 1. 



\S~\ ANIEL G. BREIDENBACH is a 

I native of Germany, and was born 
£^^J July 6, 1826. When twenty years 
old he determined to seek his fortune 
in America, and on May 13, 1846, landed at 
Philadelphia. After remaining two months in 
that city, he came to Dayton and engaged in 



the trade of shoemaking, afterward opening a 
retail shoe store, in which business he contin- 
ued and was well known for many years. In 
June, 1848, in Dayton, he was married to 
Miss Anna E. Trieschman, a native of Ger- 
many, and to them were born eleven children, 
as follows: Elias, prominently known in Day- 
ton as the president of the Trades & Labor 
assembly; Conrad, an organ builder of Piqua, 
Ohio; Catherine, wife of J. W. Fouts, of 
Eaton, Ohio; Mary, who married Lawrence 
Kirschner, and died in March, 1894; J. W. , 
a printer, of Dayton; Emma (Mrs. P. M. 
Weaver), of Dayton; C. H.; Anna (Mrs. 
Samuel Monneman), of Dayton, and three 
who died in infancy. Mr. Breidenbach served 
his adopted country in the Civil war, enlisting 
in the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, for the hundred days' service, 
and being stationed at Baltimore. Politically 
he is a democrat, and was a member of the 
Dayton board of education from 1875 to 1881. 
He has served as assessor of his ward since 
1883, a period of fourteen years. He is a 
member of the G. A. R. and a charter mem- 
ber of the German Pioneer society. His wife 
died in 1892. They were both members of 
the German Evangelical association, with 
which Mr. Breidenbach is still prominently 
identified. A host has risen up to bless his 
latter days, he having twenty-six living grand- 
children. 

C. H. Breidenbach, the youngest son, is 
one of Dayton's best known and most enter- 
prising young business men. He was educated 
in the excellent public schools of his native 
city, served an apprenticeship in the drug busi- 
ness under Dr. J. C. Reeve, Jr., and graduated 
from the Philadelphia college of pharmacy in 
1888. He is at present pursuing the study of 
medicine at the Miami Medical college of Cin- 
cinnati, from which institution he will graduate 
in April, 1898, when he expects to abandon 



416 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the drug business for the practice of medicine 
and chemistry. In 1890 he established his 
present prosperous business at the corner of 
Fifth and Jefferson streets. He is recognized 
as one of the mpst efficient chemists in this 
section of the state, and is not infrequently 
called upon as an expert scientific witness, to 
give the courts the benefit of his extensive 
research. 

On April 3, 1893, Mr. Breidenbach was 
married to Miss Anna Danner, a favorite 
teacher in the Fifth District school, in which 
capacity she served most acceptably for seven 
years. She is the daughter of George Danner, 
of Dayton. One child, Isabel, has been born 
to this union. Both Mr. and Mrs. Breiden- 
bach are members of the Miami street Lutheran 
church, and he is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, of the Knights of Pythias, and of 
the P. O. S. of A. He is an ardent republican 
and takes an active part in local politics. 



«-|-» UTHER MORAL BRYANT, super- 
r intendent of the Montgomery county 
^^ infirmary, is a native of Portland, 
Me., born March 22, 1850. His 
father, William Bryant, was a native of Maine, 
of English and Scotch parentage, and a cousin 
of William Cullen Bryant. His wife, Elizabeth 
Bates, was a daughter of a sea captain, and of 
Scotch descent. William Bryant and his fam- 
ily removed from Portland, Me., to Urbana, 
Ohio, in 1853, and to Dayton, Ohio, in the fall 
of 1858. In the fall of 1861 Mr. Bryant en- 
listed in company H, Fourth Ohio cavalry, in 
which he served about one year, when he was 
discharged from the service on account of 
having broken his ankle. In 1864 he re-en- 
tered the service, as a member of the Second 
Ohio heavy artillery, and in this organization 
served until the close of the war. He then re- 
turned to Dayton, and resided there until the 



fall of 1869, when he removed to Brookville, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, but returned to 
Dayton in 1872 and there died in 1S75. His 
widow still resides in Dayton. 

William Bryant and his wife were the par- 
ents of eight children, five of whom are still 
living, three of these being triplets. The trip- 
lets are Luther Moral, Laraby and Mrs. 
Henry Showalter, all of Dayton. The other 
children living are Mrs. Helen M. Reiszer, a 
teacher in the public schools of Dayton, and 
Mrs. Henry Gillespie, now of North Baltimore, 
Ohio. The latter was a teacher in the Day- 
ton public schools for twenty-two years, was 
for five years assistant principal and was 
offered the position of principal, which she 
declined. 

Luther Moral Bryant was reared princi- 
pally in Dayton, and was educated there in the 
public schools. On account of his father 
having enlisted in the army he was compelled 
to leave school at an early age and to con- 
tribute his share to the support of the family 
and to the education of the other children. 
One year was spent in learning the molder's 
trade, and ten years at the cooper's trade. 
From the end of this time to 1894 he was en- 
gaged in farming, and was then appointed 
superintendent of the Montgomery county in- 
firmary, was re-appointed in 1895 and again 
in January, 1896. This responsible position 
he has filled with general satisfaction, not only 
to the inmates but also to the people at large. 

Mr. Bryant was married in 1870 to Minerva 
Baker, who was born in Clay township, Mont- 
gomery county, in 1855. She is a daughter 
of Benjamin Baker, who was born in the same 
township in 18 10, his father, Michael Baker, 
having come from Pennsylvania to Ohio and 
settled in Montgomery county in the beginning 
of the century. It was his intention to locate 
where Dayton now stands, but by reason of the 
swampy character of the land he changed his 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



417 



plans and settled in Clay township. The 
mother of Mrs. Bryant was Frances Neiswon- 
ger, who was born in Clay township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, her parents having been 
natives of Virginia. Both are now deceased, 
the mother dying April n, 1890, and the father 
in March, 1891 , the former in her seventy- 
seventh year, the latter in his seventy-eighth. 
Mrs. Bryant received a common-school edu- 
cation and now holds the position of matron of 
the infirmary, taking great interest in the work. 
At the convention of the infirmary officials and 
superintendents, held at Columbus, Ohio, in 
January, 1896, Mrs. Bryant read a paper on 
the Matron in the Infirmary, which received 
marked expressions of approval. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Bryant there have been born three sons, 
as follows: Scott Elliott, who died Septem- 
ber 30, 1895, in his twenty-fourth year; Forest 
Baker, nineteen years old, and a graduate of 
Brookville high school, and now attending col- 
lege, and Willian Benjamin. Mr. and Mrs. 
Bryant have been members of the United 
Brethren church for nineteen years, and Mr. 
Bryant is a member of the Garfield club, which 
is a sufficient indication of his politics. 



eDWIN F. BURKERT, M. D., of 
Dayton, traces his lineage back to 
German origin. He is a native of the 
old Keystone state, having been born 
at Rebersburg, Pa., on the 27th of February, 
1856, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Bur- 
kert, the former of whom was a cabinet- 
maker by trade. In the Burkert family there 
were eleven children, as follows: George died 
while in the service during the late war of the 
rebellion; Rev. Cyrus J. is presiding elder of 
the Miami conference of the United Brethren 
church, Cincinnati district, and maintains his 
home at Germantown, Montgomery county; 
Milton is a resident of Germantown; John C. 



resides at Oskaloosa, Kan. , being probate 
judge of Jefferson county; Emma is the wife of 
George B. Haines, of Pennsylvania; Effinger 
is deceased, as is also Charles; Edwin F. is the 
immediate subject of this review; Clayton is a 
resident of Valley Falls, and two children died 
in infancy. The parents were consistent and 
devoted members of the German Reformed 
church, being industrious, intelligent and God- 
fearing people, who ordered their lives accord- 
ing to the highest principles. 

Edwin F. Burkert pursued his studies in 
the district and subscription schools of his na- 
tive state, and after thus acquiring a funda- 
mental education he entered the normal college 
in his native county, and there completed two 
distinct courses, after which he put his acquire- 
ments to practical test by engaging in school- 
teaching for two terms in Pennsylvania. He 
then came west, in 1874, and located at Ger- 
mantown, Ohio, where he attended the Twin 
Valley college, later supplementing this dis- 
cipline by a course of study in the Southwest- 
ern Ohio normal school, thus thoroughly forti- 
fying himself for successful pedagogic labors. 
He thereafter devoted his attention to teach- 
ing for the period of six years. During the 
last three years of his school work he had de- 
voted his leisure to the reading of medicine, 
having determined to adopt that profession as 
his vocation in life. His preceptor was Dr. 
J. W. Cline, now of Dayton, and under his 
effective direction Mr. Burkert continued his 
studies for some time, after which he entered 
the Ohio Medical college, at Cincinnati, where 
he graduated as a member of the class of 1884. 
He began the practice of his profession in Tren- 
ton, Butler county, Ohio, where he remained 
for a time, after which he located at Collins- 
ville, where he was in successful practice for 
three years. He then came to Dayton, in the 
year 1887, and has since been established in 
practice here, his thorough learning in his pro- 



•418 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



fession and his devotion and industry in its 
pursuit having gained for him the respect and 
confidence of the public and a full measure of 
professional success. 

In the year 1878 the doctor was united in 
marriage to Miss Anna M. Carney, daughter 
of A. D. Carney, who is a well-known resident 
in the vicinity of Sunbury, Delaware county, 
this state. They became the parents of three 
children: Bertie C, Stanley L. , and Edna, 
the last named being deceased. Dr. and Mrs. 
Burkert are consistent members of the United 
Brethren church. 







LBERT H. POOCK, deceased, was 
one of the most popular and prom- 
ising of Dayton's young business men. 
He was born in Dayton, June 27, 
1863, and was the eldest son of Louis H. 
Poock, one of Dayton's leading citizens, of 
whom a biographical sketch appears above. 
Albert H. Poock was reared and educated in 
Dayton. He was assistant cashier of the Day- 
ton Savings bank, of which institution his 
father was president. He held the position 
of secretary of the New Franklin Building as- 
sociation, and was also identified with the 
Germania Building association. He was a 
member of the uniform rank, Knights of Pyth- 
ias, of the Dayton Gymnastic club, of the Ger- 
man Lutheran Saint Paul's Beneficiary society, 
and of several musical clubs, in all of which 
he was prominent and active. His untimely 
death occurred on January 13, 1889. 

He was a young man of more than ordi- 
nary ability and of fine traits of character, 
which, had he been permitted to live to de- 
velop them, would have made him a useful 
and valuable citizen. He was peculiarly 
adapted to the occupations in which he was 
engaged during his brief business career, and 
would no doubt have achieved a merited suc- 



cess. Of strong moral characteristics, lovable 
disposition, kind and generous to a fault, he 
was devoted to his parents and brothers and 
sisters, and to his large circle of warm friends. 



BRANK S. BREENE, member of the 
Dayton bar, was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, on November 20, i860, and is 
a son of William G. and Margaret 
Breene, old and well-known citizens of Dayton. 
Frank S. Breene was educated in the Dayton 
public schools, and was graduated from the 
Central high school in 1879. He read law in 
the office of the firm of Marshall & Gottschall, 
and was admitted to the bar in May, 18S3. 
Mr. Breene has been practicing alone for a 
number of years, during which time he has 
demonstrated his talents and fitness for his 
chosen profession. His success has been grat- 
ifying both to himself and to his many friends, 
and bids fair to grow to larger proportions in 
the future. 



a APT. NEWTON R. BUNKER, the 
well-known grocer of No. 451 North 
Main street, Dayton, Ohio, was born 
in Hollidaysburg, Blair county, Pa., 
February 25, 1843, ar >d i s a son °f Isaiah and 
Isabella (Maize) Bunker. His paternal grand- 
father was a native of Wales and his grand- 
mother a native of Scotland, and both came 
to America prior to the war of the Revolution. 
Isaiah Bunker was a native of Delaware 
and a blacksmith by trade, was a soldier in the 
war for the preservation of the Union, and died 
in Milwaukee, Wis., in October, 1884; his 
wife, Isabella (Maize) Bunker, was born in 
Huntingdon county. Pa., and died in Altoona, 
Pa., January 8, 1853. To these parents were 
born six children: William B., the eldest, 
was formerly a general merchant, served nine 




4~Ji-^^-^L{L 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



421 



months in the Union army, is now a traveling 
salesman, and resides in Philadelphia; Capt. 
N. R. is the second-born ; Henry L. served three 
years with the Eighty-fourth Pennsylvania vol- 
unteer infantry, and died in January, 1897; 
Benjamin M. is a contractor and builder in 
Altoona, Pa. ; Julia and Isabella died in infancy. 
Newton R. Bunker lived in his native town 
until 1857, when he went to Philadelphia and 
became an apprentice to a blacksmith. While 
thus employed he enlisted, December 17, 1861, 
in company D, Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania vol- 
unteer infantry, and had been but two weeks 
in the service when he was promoted sergeant. 
He was first sent to Camp Roxboro and then 
to Camp Curtin for drill and equipment, re- 
mained in Philadelphia until March, 1862, and 
then went to Fortress Monroe, under command 
of Gen. Wool. His first war experience was 
in the capture of Norfolk, Va., then, in the fall 
of 1862, New Berne, where he was on outpost 
duty about nine months; next, for a year, was 
at Little Washington, N. C. , where he fought 
guerrillas and other rebel soldiers who were en- 
deavoring to recruit for the Confederate army. 
In the winter of 1863-64 the regiment veteran- 
ized, and an effort was made to hold it in con- 
tinuous service; but it was finally decided that 
the enlistment would be void unless its terms 
were fully concurred in. This included a thirty- 
days' furlough, but this was not granted until 
nearly six months later, when the veterans 
were allowed to leave the trenches in front of 
Petersburg and to return home in July for the 
stipulated term of thirty days. In the meantime, 
however, after veteranizing, the regiment had 
been ordered back from North Carolina to Vir- 
ginia in the spring of 1864, and placed under 
the command of Gen. Butler ai Bermuda Hun- 
dred; it took part in various battles in the vi- 
cinity of Petersburg and Richmond, and in 
June, 1864, joined the army of the Potomac, 
and for fourteen days was engaged at Cold 



Harbor. It was then at Petersburg until July. 
1864, when it was ordered on furlough by the 
secretary of war. 

Returning from furlough, the regiment 
joined the army of the James, but Sergeant 
Bunker, who had been detailed on recruiting 
service, did not rejoin his regiment until Octo- 
ber, 1864, when he found his command at Chap- 
in'sfarm, or Deep Bottom. Although ranking 
as sergeant, he had been placed in command 
of his company at the battle of Cold Harbor 
(June, 1864), and held command until his final 
muster-out — being commissioned first lieuten- 
ant December 24, 1864, and captain January 
24, 1865. His regiment formed a part of the 
first brigade to enter Richmond (April 3, 1865), 
and for the five months following lay at Man- 
chester, on the opposite side of the James 
river. It was then transferred to Staunton, 
Va., and apportioned among fourteen counties, 
for the purpose of relieving troops in various 
localities. Capt. Bunker was placed in charge 
in Rockbridge county, with headquarters at 
Lexington, and then in Fluvanna county, with 
headquarters at Columbia, being chiefly con- 
nected with the Freedmen's bureau, or provost 
duty. He was finally mustered out at City 
Point, Va., January 24, 1866, having served 
at the front four years and six weeks, when he 
returned to Philadelphia, and thence came to 
Dayton, Ohio, March 1 , 1 866. Here he worked 
at his trade until 1893, when failing health 
warned him that the time had come when he 
must relinquish mechanical pursuits. He rested 
nearly three years, and then, in April, 1896, 
engaged in his present business, and now owns 
one of the leading grocery stores in Riverdale. 

The marriage of Capt. Bunker took place 
in Dayton, May 12, 1S70, to Miss Laura Wol- 
laston, a native of this city and a daughter of 
Jeremiah Wollaston, who was also born in 
Dayton. To the captain and his wife has been 
born one daughter — Estelle — who is a teacher 



422 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of music and has her home with her parents. 
The family are all members of the First Bap- 
tist church of Dayton and enjoy the esteem of 
a large circle of devoted friends. 

Capt. Bunker is prominent as a Grand Army 
man and has been senior vice-commander of 
Old Guard post, No. 23. July 4, 1867, he 
became a member of Wayne lodge, I. O. O. F., 
a year later became a member of the encamp- 
ment, and has passed all the chairs in both 
branches of this order. In politics he is an 
uncompromising republican and cast his first 
presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. 
In every position in life that the captain has 
held he has performed his duty with unswerv- 
ing faithfulness, and well deserves the high re- 
spect in which he is universally held. 



BRANK J. BURKHARDT, secretary 
of the Burkhardt Furniture company 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born in this 
city April 1 , 1 860, a son of Frank 
Joseph and Gertrude Burkhardt, natives of Gis- 
sigheim, Germany, who both came to America 
shortly before 1S50, and were married in Day- 
ton, February 2, 1857. 

F. J. Burkhardt, the father of Frank J., 
was an orphan and was bound as an appren- 
tice to the cabinetmaking trade in his native 
land. On arriving in Dayton he was first em- 
ployed by a Mr. Doup, a sash and blind man- 
facturer, and later by Beaver & Butt, remain- 
ing with the latter for some thirty years as 
foreman of the sash-making department, and 
while in this employment his death took place 
May 5, 1883. He was a quiet, unassuming 
man, and a devout member of Emanuel 
Catholic church. To him and his wife were 
born five children, viz: Mary H., wife of 
Charles E. Rotterman, of Dayton; Frank J. ; 
Theresa, who died at two years of age; Louisa 
M., now residing with her mother; and Rich- 



ard Vincent, president of the Burkhardt Fur- 
niture company. 

Frank J. Burkhardt, after having received 
a good common-school education, at the age 
of fourteen years entered the employ of 
the Barney & Smith Car company, in whose 
shops he worked for fourteen years as cabinet- 
maker; he was next employed for upward of 
four years by John Stengel & Co., furniture 
manufacturers, when the Burkhardt Furniture 
Manufacturing company was formed, of which 
he was one of the incorporators. In politics 
Mr. Burkhardt is a democrat, and for one year 
served as assistant deputy recorder of Mont- 
gomery county. Fraternally, he is a Knight 
of Saint John. He was married May 9, 1886, 
to Miss Emma J. Hochwalt, daughter of 
George Hochwalt, of Dayton, and to this 
union have been born two children: Clarence 
E. and Marguerite. The family are members 
of the Emanuel Catholic church, and have 
their home at No. 703 South Ludlow street. 

Richard V. Burkhardt was born in Dayton 
April 5, 1 868, was educated in the Emanuel 
parochial school and at Saint Mary's institute, 
and then, at the age of fifteen years, was em- 
ployed by Stengel & Co. as packer; he was 
then made shipping clerk and later promoted 
to be bookkeeper, and finally, when about 
nineteen years old, was employed as traveling 
salesman. After having served this company for 
about ten years he resigned to become an incor- 
porator of the Burkhardt Furniture company, 
of which he is the president and also traveling 
salesman. He is still unmarried. Fraternally 
Mr. Burkhardt is a member of the Independent 
Order of Foresters, the American Sons of Co- 
lumbus, the Catholic Gesellen Verein, the Day- 
ton Gymnastic club, and of the Saint Joseph's 
Orphan society. In religion he is a Roman 
Catholic. 

The Burkhardt Furniture company, at Nos. 
415 to 423 East First street, Dayton, was in- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



423 



corporated March 13, 1893, by R. P. Burk- 
hardt, Sr., F. J. Burkhardt, R. P. Burkhardt, 
Henry Hambrecht and Aug. Zwiesler, and, 
with the exception of R. P. Burkhardt, who 
withdrew soon after the incorporation, these 
gentlemen still constitute the company. The 
present officers are R. V. Burkhardt, president 
and treasurer; H. Hambrecht, vice-president; 
F. J. Burkhardt, secretary, and Aug. Zwiesler, 
superintendent. The capital stock of the com- 
pany is $50,000, and employment is given to 
over thirty men. Its output is distributed 
throughout Pennyslvania, Ohio, Virginia, West 
Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Indiana and 
New York and the East generally. The com- 
pany makes a specialty of parlor and library 
tables, and its members are all practical me- 
chanics and furniture men. Although the con- 
cern was established at the time when business 
in general was at almost a standstill, it has 
prospered wonderfully and is now one of the 
strongest in its line in the state of Ohio, and 
this result is owing to the practical ability, 
skill and sound business tact and integrity of 
its individual members. 



kJ^\ IGNAL R. BUTT, prominent as a 

I /<^ contractor and builder, o f the city of 

P Dayton, and a son of John W. and 

Lydia Ann ( Carlisle ) Butt, was born 

in Dayton, Ohio, September 3, 1848. His 

father was a native of Virginia and his mother 

of Maryland. They were the parents of five 

children — three of whom are still living, as 

follows : Volney H. , Rignal R. and Hettie K. , 

the wife of John Hacking. 

John W. Butt was about nine years of age 
when brought to Dayton by his parents. Here 
he was educated, grew to manhood and learned 
his trade, that of a carpenter and contractor. 
Here he became a most useful and well-known 
citizen, and was honored by election to the 



city council, as a member of which he served 
several terms. He was also a member of the 
board of trustees of the water works for sev- 
eral years, holding this office at the time of 
his death. His wife died April 24, 1855, 
when she was but thirty-two years old, and 
for his second wife he married Mrs. Kittie 
Ann Fair, widow of John F. Fair. By this 
second marriage he had two children, viz: 
Lydia, the wife of Charles \V. Gillis, and 
Walter L. Mrs. Fair by her first marriage 
had two children, Charles B., and Kittie V., 
the wife of Albert Smith. 

Rignal Butt, the paternal grandfather of 
Rignal R., located in Dayton about 1S30. He 
lived in Dayton until near the close of his life, 
his death occurring in Indiana while he was on 
a visit to that state. The maternal grand- 
father was a native of Maryland, descended 
from Scotch ancestry, and located in Dayton 
in the early days, dying there in 1873 when 
upward of eighty years of age, a well-known 
and highly respected citizen. 

Rignal R. Butt was reared and educated in 
Dayton, and when about fifteen years of age 
began to learn the carpenter's trade. He 
remained at home until he was twenty years 
old and followed his trade until 1872, when 
he began taking contracts on his own account. 
Many of the substantial residences and other 
buildings in Dayton were erected by him. In 
his business he has been unusually successful, 
and he maintains an excellent standing in the 
business community. On the 14th of Novem- 
ber, 1 87 1, he was married to Miss Matilda 
Ray, a daughter of John Ray. By this mar- 
riage he had two children, viz: Lydia A. and 
Glenna, the latter dying in infancy. Lydia A. 
married John Utzinger, of Dayton. The 
mother of these children died in 188 1, an ex- 
cellent woman and a member of the Catholic 
church. Mr. Butt married for his second wife 
Mrs. Emma £. Deubner, the marriage taking 



424 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



place July 21, 1883. She was the daughter 
of John C. and Catherine (Zerbe) Deubner, 
the former of Germany, the latter of Pennsyl- 
vania. Mrs. Butt, by her first husband, Albert 
Patton, had one daughter, Birdie, who is now 
the wife of Charles Osgood. Mr. and Mrs. 
Osgood have one son, named Bail. Mrs. 
Butt is a member of the United Brethren 
church. Mr. Butt is a member of Dayton 
lodge. No. 273, I. O. O. F., of Dayton, and 
is a member of the order of Daughters of Re- 
bekah, as is also his wife. Politically he is a 
republican, but cares nothing for office. Mr. 
Butt is one of the substantial and highly es- 
teemed citizens of Dayton and a useful mem- 
ber of the community. 



aM. HASSLER, clerk of the courts 
of Montgomery county, and a repre- 
sentative citizen of Dayton, was born 
on December 6, 1 84 1 , in St. Thomas, 
Franklin county, Pa. The boyhood days of 
Mr. Hassler were spent in Mercersburg, Frank- 
lin county, Pa., where he attended the com- 
mon schools. While yet a boy he entered a 
general store in Mercersburg as a clerk, and in 
this and similar establishments in Chambers- 
burg and Carlisle he was employed until 1861, 
when he returned to St. Thomas and there en- 
listed in the Thirty-fifth Pennsylvania regi- 
ment, known as the Sixth Pennsylvania re- 
serve volunteer corps. He served gallantly in 
the ranks, and at Fredericksburgh was recom- 
mended for promotion and commissioned to a 
second-lieutenancy in recognition of his serv- 
ices. But this promotion he declined, pre- 
ferring to serve his country as an enlisted man. 
Mr. Hassler was mustered out of service on 
June 14th, 1864, at Harrisburg, Pa., and on 
the first of the following month re-enlisted in 
the regular army, and was assigned to duty in 
the office of the adjutant-general in the war 



department at Washington, where he remained 
for two years, being honorably discharged on 
July 31, 1866, at his own request. 

Leaving the service, Mr. Hassler engaged 
in merchandising in Pennsylvania and was 
thus engaged until the fall of 1868, when he 
came to Dayton and engaged in the dry-goods 
business, being connected with the firms of 
A. C. Van Doren & Co., G. G. Prugh & Co., 
and M. B. Parmely for a period of over twelve 
years. Following this he became register and 
money-order clerk in the Dayton post-office 
under the late Fielding Loury, and in this ca- 
pacity he served for nine years, when he re- 
signed to become bookkeeper for the firm of 
Reynolds & Reynolds, of Dayton. In the lat- 
ter position he remained until March, 1889, 
and in September, 1889, became assistant 
postmaster of Dayton, and continued in that 
capacity through two administrations, going 
out of office with the incoming of the demo- 
cratic administration at Washington. In 1893 
Mr. Hassler was nominated by the republican 
party for the office of clerk of the courts of 
Montgomery county, and at the general elec- 
tion of that year was elected by the handsome 
majority of 1,143 votes. In 1896 he wps re- 
nominated and re-elected, his majority being 
more than double that of the previous elec- 
tion, reaching 2,314 votes. When the pre- 
vious democratic majority obtaining in the 
county, amounting to 1,400, is considered, it 
will be understood that the triumph of Mr. 
Hassler, and of his associates upon the ticket, 
was one that they and the party in general 
may well contemplate with pride, and the large 
increase of Mr. Hassler's second over his first 
majority stands as a strong endorsement of the 
manner in which he has administered the af- 
fairs of his office. 

Mr. Hassler was married in 1866 to Mrs. 
Sarah E. McKinney, a native of New York, 
whose maiden name was Aldrich. The fra- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



425 



ternal associations of Mr. Hassler are with the 
F. & A. M., the I. O. O. F., the A. E. O. 
and the G. A. R. 



>-j*AMES J. BUTTLER, superintendent of 
A the Metropolitan Life Insurance com- 
ft 1 pany, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, August 16, 1864. He 
is a son of Columbus and Ann (Troy) Buttler, 
the former of whom is now deceased. They 
were respectively of English and Irish ancestry. 
The father was engaged in the shoe business 
for a number of years, having previously, 
however, been a contractor on railroad work, 
and engaged principally on the Louisville & 
Nashville railroad. He died in 1S89, leaving 
a widow and five children, as follows: John, 
a resident of Cincinnati and a commercial 
traveler for a shoe manufacturing firm; Mary, 
a resident of Brown county, Ohio; Elizabeth, 
a resident of Cincinnati; James J., and Joseph, 
a bookkeeper of Cincinnati. 

James J. Buttler grew to manhood in Cin- 
cinnati, and there received his education in 
the public schools, graduating from the high 
school in 1881. He was then engaged as a 
cutter in a shoe manufactory for a short time, 
and in 1885 accepted a position with the Met- 
ropolitan Life Insurance company as agent in 
Covington, Ky. , remaining there some two and 
a half years. Afterward he took an agency at 
Covington, Ky., holding this position two 
years, was then transferred to Akron, Ohio, 
then to Canton, Ohio, and finally, in 1893, to 
Dayton. Here he has been, since 1893, 
superintendent of the office of the company, 
which is located in rooms 40 and 41, Lewis 
block. While in the service of this company 
he has built up a comparatively small business 
to an extensive and paying one, so that it now 
stands far in advance of that of any other com- 
pany writing the same lines within the city <>f 



Dayton. The Metropolitan writes industrial 
insurance from $15 up to $1,000, at ages from 
one year up to seventy, ordinary, or old lines, 
from $1,000 up to $50,000, and from twenty 
to sixty-five years of age. To give a synopsis 
of the company's business and an idea of its 
magnitude, it may be stated that it pays in 
death claims at the rate of $15 per minute 
of banking hours, for each day in the year. It 
has assets amounting to $30,000,000, and has 
5,000,000 policies in force. The company has 
been operating in Dayton for fourteen years, 
and has paid out to its policy-holders hundreds 
of thousands of dollars. Mr. Buttler has in- 
creased the working force connected with the 
Dayton office, and now has sixty men soliciting 
in the field. There are more than 20,000 
policy-holders in the city of Dayton alone. 

Mr. Buttler was married in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, Decembers, 1857, to Miss Anna Jones, 
a daughter of William and Elizabeth (Seider) 
Jones. She was born in Newport, Ky., and 
is the mother of three children, viz: Clifford, 
Mabel and Virginia. Mr. Buttler is a young 
man of energy and of devotion to the business 
whose present proportions are so largely due 
to his well-directed efforts. 



aOL. JOHN WHITEHEAD BYRON, 
inspector of the Central branch, N. 
H. D. V. S., was born on the 23rd 
of November, 1840, in the historic 
town of Cahir, situated in the " Golden Vale, " 
county of Tipperary, Ireland. The greater 
part of his boyhood was spent at the home of 
his paternal grandfather, John Byron, in the 
country, about two miles from Cahir. Here 
he remained until in his fifteenth year, when 
he joined his parents in New York city, 
whither they had preceded him and settled 
over a decade before. At the breaking out of 
the Rebellion he was a law student in the of- 



426 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



fice of Charles H. Smith, a prominent lawyer 
of New York city. Possessing in large degree 
the martial and patriotic spirit for which the 
Celtic race is so justly famed, he promptly re- 
sponded to President Lincoln's first call for 
troops and enlisted in company K,' Sixty- 
ninth regiment of New York state militia, be- 
known as " Meagher's Zouaves," after its elo- 
quent and heroic commander, Thomas Fran- 
cis Meagher. Having served the three months' 
term of this first enlistment, during which he 
took part in the fights at Blackburn's Ford and 
Bull Run, he was mustered out with his com- 
pany in New York city on the 3rd of August, 
1 86 1. Within a week thereafter he was ten- 
dered — but declined — authority to recruit a 
company for the Eighty-eighth New York vol- 
unteers, which was being organized by his 
whilom captain, Thomas Francis Meagher. 
He, however, accepted a lieutenancy, and 
was one of two detailed to visit various cities 
and towns of the state to issue transportation 
to recruits, and to guarantee line officers' com- 
missions in any regiment of the Irish brigade 
then being organized, to such persons as would 
recruit the required number of men, and were 
otherwise qualified. The young lieutenant 
passed through all the intermediate grades of 
rank till he reached that of lieutenant-colonel 
of his regiment, and was twice brevetted for 
gallant and meritorious service during the war, 
upon the recommendation of Gen. Hancock. 
During the terms of his second and third en- 
listments (his regiment veteranizing in 1863) 
he participated in most of the campaigns of 
the army of the Potomac, was present at the 
siege of Yorktown and the battle of Fair Oaks, 
in which he was wounded, Antietam, Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, North Anna and South Anna. 
At l'etersburg, Strawberry Plains, Deep Bot- 
tom and Ream's Station he commanded the 
remnant of the Irish brigade, which at the 



time was consolidated into a provisional regi- 
ment. In the last named battle, fought Au- 
gust 25, 1864, he was wounded and captured 
by the enemy. He was held a prisoner of war 
for nearly six months in Libby and Danville, 
Va., and Salisbury, N. C. At Salisbury he 
conspired with a number of his fellow-prison- 
ers to effect their escape, but the scheme was 
frustrated through treachery. Another attempt 
to regain his liberty was made at Danville, but 
this also resulted in failure owing to the vigi- 
lance of the rebel guards. In this attempt Col. 
Ralston, of the Twenty-fourth New York cav- 
alry, was mortally wounded. In the latter 
part of February, 1865, Col. Byron was ex- 
changed, sent to Annapolis, Md., and thence 
given a thirty days' leave of absence to re- 
cuperate at his home in New York city. He 
was finally mustered out July 14, 1865, after 
giving to his adopted country over four years 
of faithful service in the field. As a private 
soldier and commissioned officer, Col. Byron 
always had the respect and esteem of his su- 
periors, being an especial favorite with the 
superb Hancock, on whose staff he served for 
a period as ordnance officer. He was fre- 
quently detailed for special duties, and at the 
close of the war was inspector of the First 
division of the famous Second corps. 

On July 21, 1865, Col. Byron set sail for 
Ireland with a view to aid in throwing off the 
yoke of England and establishing a free govern- 
ment on Irish soil. He was arrested there five 
times, the last time under the suspension of the 
writ of habeas corpus, and was kept in confine- 
ment fourteen months. Shortly after his arrest 
he was offered his liberty on condition that he 
would consent to go under guard from prison to 
the ship and return to America. He, however, 
refused to accept freedom on such conditions, 
until convinced that he could be of no service 
to the Irish cause while in captivity. He, 
therefore, returned to New York in May, 1867, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



427 



became assistant adjutant-general of the Fe- 
nian Brotherhood, and subsequently inspector 
of that order. In June, 1869, he was appointed 
chief of staff to Gen. Guicoria, the Cuban pa- 
triot and martyr, and took an active part in fit- 
ting out the " Catherine Whiting expedition," 
which came to naught on account of the inter- 
vention of the United States authorities. In 
July, 1869, Col. Byron was appointed assistant 
assessor of legacies and successions to real es- 
tate for the Third New York district, and, 
after two-years' service, voluntarily resigned 
upon the removal of his chief from office. 
Within a short period thereafter he was ap- 
pointed an officer of customs and served as such 
for many years. 

His health having become greatly impaired, 
he became a member of the Central branch 
home in July, 1881, and within a week after 
admission was detailed as clerk in the adju- 
tant's office, promoted to chief clerk, and in 
1893 was appointed inspector of the branch by 
the honorable board of managers of the home, 
much to the satisfaction of the officers and 
men, with whom the colonel has always been 
deservedly popular. 

Col. Byron is actively prominent in the af- 
fairs of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
was the junior vice-department-commander of 
Ohio in 1887-8, and delegate to many national 
and department encampments; he is a com- 
panion of the military order of the Loyal 
Legion, and a member of the Present Day 
club, of Dayton, Ohio. 



>-j»ACOB CLEMENS, a native of the 
m palatinate of Rhenish Bavaria, was 
(• 1 born on the 19th of December, 1828, 
being the son of Adam and Catherine 
Clemens, who were born in Germany, where 
they passed their entire lives, being people of 
intelligence, industry and honest worth. They 



became the parents of eight children, five of 
whom are still living. Two of the sons, Peter 
and Nicholas, were the first of the family to 
emigrate to America. They left their native 
land in the year 1846, and upon arriving in 
this country came westward to Ohio, locating 
in Defiance county, where they still reside, 
both being farmers. Two years later, in 1848, 
three other members of the family also came 
from the fatherland to try their fortunes in 
the United States. These three were Jacob, 
his brother Adam and his sister Caroline, who 
was then the wife of Peter Leonhardt. They 
landed in New York city on the 30th of May. 
Another sister, Philopena, became the wife of 
John Schaun, whom she accompanied to Bra- 
zil in 1847. Elizabeth and Catherine never 
severed the ties which bound them to the old 
home, and both died in Germany. 

Jacob Clemens secured his educational dis- 
cipline in the excellent schools of his native 
land, and also prepared himself for the prac- 
tical duties of life by devoting his attention for 
some time to work at the carpenter s trade, 
with which he had become quite familiar at the 
time of his emigration to America. Upon his 
arrival he came direct to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and his first stay was at Hole's Creek, 
six miles south of Dayton, where he remained 
about two months. He then went to Miamis- 
burg, in the same county, and there remained 
until 1849, when he came to Dayton, where 
he has e^er since resided. After his arrival 
here he worked at his trade until 1866, when 
he engaged in general contracting. This line 
of enterprise held his attention for six years, 
and his careful business methods and capable 
management insured success to his efforts. 
His next business venture was the building of 
a planing mill, at the corner of Fifth and Mad 
River streets, and this industry he prosecuted 
with excellent results for twelve years, when 
he disposed of the business to Philip E. Gil- 



428 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



bert, and thereupon retired from active exer- 
tion, content to enjoy the fruits of his past 
labors. 

Mr. Clemens, in 185 i, married Miss Eliza- 
beth Reisberger, who, like himself, was born 
in the picturesque Rhine district of the prov- 
ince of Bavaria, the year of her birth having 
been 1S29. Their home life has been one of 
great happiness and the marriage has been 
blessed by the birth of twelve children, all save 
four of whom are deceased. The four surviv- 
ors are: Martin, now a resident of Cincinnati; 
Clara, the wife of Thomas Selz, of the Pearl 
laundry, in Dayton; Annie and Mary, twins, 
the former of whom is the wife of Joseph 
Schneble and the latter of Theodore Schneble, 
of Dayton. Mr. and Mrs. Clemens have long 
been zealous and devoted members of Trinity 
Roman Catholic church, in which they have 
been communicants for many years. 

Mr. Clemens has always taken a lively and 
public-spirited interest in the questions of the 
hour and in the political issues involved. He 
has been a stalwart supporter of the demo- 
cratic party and a firm advocate of the essen- 
tial principles which underlie its organization. 
In 1S84 he was honored by the citizens of the 
county through election as a member of the 
board of directors of the Montgomery county 
infirmary, which office he retained for three 
years, giving to its duties that careful attention 
and unflagging interest which had ever been 
characteristic of his efforts in private business 
affairs. In 1S91 he was a member of the de- 
cennial board of equalization of Dayton. 

Mr. Clemens is a man of marked individu- 
ality, of pleasing address, and strong intel- 
lectual grasp, and his life has been so lived as 
to gain to him the merited reward of the re- 
spect and esteem of his fellow men. The city 
of his home has ever called forth his hearty 
interest, and he has done all in his power to 
further its progress and insure its stable pros- 



perity. He well deserves consideration in this 
connection as one of the representative men 
of the city of Dayton. 



^y^ILBUR CONOVER, late a member 
mm of the Montgomery county, Ohio, 

\J)L/1 bar, was born in Dayton, Ohio, 
May 10, 1 82 1, and died October 
3, 1 88 1. 

He was the son of Obadiah B. and Sarah 
(Miller) Conover, and was of Dutch extrac- 
tion, his paternal ancestors having come from 
Holland to this country in the seventeenth 
century. 

Mr. Conover was married in 1849 to Miss 
Elizabeth Walker Dickson, a daughter of 
John W. and Lucretia Dickson, born in Phila- 
delphia in 1828, and who died at Dayton 
September 27, 1868. The children of this 
marriage were as follows : Mary, the eldest, 
who in 1883 married Dr. W. H. Grundy, of 
Dayton, and died in 1S87, leaving one child, 
a daughter, Suzette K. Grundy ; Frank ; John 
Dickson, who died in 1859, at the age of two 
years ; Hugh Dickson, who died in 1891 in 
his thirty-second year ; and Hiram Strong, who 
died in 186S in his second year. 

Wilbur Conover grew to manhood in his 
native town, and in 1S37, after a course for 
preparation for college under the tuition of 
E. E. Barney, at the Dayton academy, he 
entered the sophomore class at the Miami 
university, Oxford, Ohio, and graduated from 
that institution in 1840. He at once entered 
upon the study of law with the firm of Odlin 
& Schenck, and was admitted to the bar in 
1842. From 1844 to 1850 he practiced law 
in partnership with Robert C. Schenck, his 
former preceptor. Almost immediately upon 
the termination of this partnership by reason 
of the entrance of General Schenck into public 
life, Mr. Conover formed a partnership with 




WILBUR CONOVER 

(deceased) 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



431 



Samuel Craighead in 1857, and this firm con- 
tinued until 1877, when it was dissolved by 
the retirement of Mr. Conover, caused by 
broken health. 

The firm of Conover & Craighead was, at 
the date of its termination, the oldest law firm 
in continuous existence in Ohio. It had be- 
come prominent at the Ohio bar, having estab- 
lished a large and important practice. Mr. 
Conover was peculiarly adapted to the labori- 
ous work of the office, involving the prepara- 
tion of cases and the determination of legal 
questions; while Mr. Craighead was one of the 
most eloquent and successful trial advocates 
ever known at the local bar. The union of 
the differing qualities and professional gifts of 
the two men resulted in a harmonious and suc- 
cessful association. 

Mr. Conover was devoted to his profession, 
steadily refusing to enter public office, except- 
ing that for a number of years he served upon 
the board of education of Dayton and gave 
especial attention to the upbuilding of the pub- 
lic library, which was during that period under 
the control of the board. This work had a 
peculiar attraction for him, his interest in the 
library having been early manifested through 
his connection with the Dayton Library asso- 
ciation, the forerunner of the public library, 
and of which he was one of the founders and 
an active officer from its inception until it was 
merged into the public institution. 

Mr. Conover's mental endowments and his 
personal characteristics cannot better be de- 
scribed than by repeating here a part of the 
tribute to his name adopted by the members 
of his profession at the time of his death. The 
memorial of the Dayton bar said in part: 

"Mr. Conover possessed all the qualifica- 
tions of an excellent lawyer, and was peculiarly 
fitted for the high office of judge. He was 
diligent, painstaking and strictly conscientious, 
accurate and clear in his perceptive faculties. 

13 



He was too independent and candid, and, one 
may add, too modest, to be a successful aspi- 
rant for popular favor. He never concealed 
his honest convictions on any subject, and 
never sacrificed or compromised them for the 
sake of popularity. His opinions as a lawyer 
were regarded w ; th deserved confidence, as 
well by the community as by the profession; 
and his business life seemed to illustrate the 
lofty sense of duty united with a sincere de- 
votion to his profession. So long as he lived 
he never tarnished the achievement of pro- 
fessional success by personal self-seeking, or 
that unworthy rivalry that finds its own ad- 
vancement in the depreciation of others. He 
esteemed that professional eminence only as 
worthy of attainment which is deserved by an 
honorable, judicious, intelligent, truthful de- 
votion to the interests and cause of a client.'' 

From the appreciative analysis of Mr. Con- 
over's character contributed to the press at the 
time of his death, by his life-long friend, 
Robert \V. Steele, we quote the following as 
an expression of the estimation in which he 
was held by one who knew him intimately 
from early boyhood until his death. Mr. 
Steele says: 

"Mr. Conover was endowed with an un- 
usually clear, analytical mind, which, with his 
love of study and industry, made him the best 
scholar in his class. So great was his profi- 
ciency in Greek, that the professor of that 
language, in justice to him, used to read with 
him, privately, additional Greek authors which 
the majority of the class were unwilling or un- 
able to master. Thoroughness was his dis- 
tinguishing quality as a student, and he never 
left a subject until he reached the bottom of 
it. Truthfulness and purity characterized him 
throughout his college course, and in all of 
my intercourse with him, I never heard him 
utter an unworthy or impure word. 

" His later life was a fitting fulfillment of 



432 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the bright promise of his college days. He 
occupied no official positions, because he never 
sought nor would accept them. He devoted 
himself wholly to his profession and worthily 
won the high position he attained as a lawyer." 



BRANCIS MARION CLEMANS, D. D., 
pastor of the Broadway Methodist 
Episcopal church, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Greene county, June 28, 1835, 
a son of William T. and Elizabeth (Dalby) 
Clemans. The father was a native of Lou- 
doun county, Va., of Scotch-Irish descent, born 
in 1 8 10, and was brought to Ohio in 181 3 by 
his parents, who settled in Greene county. 

Hezekiah Clemans, father of William T. , 
and also a native of Virginia, was a soldier 
under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and while in the 
service had, in 1S12, come with the troops to 
Ohio, where he made his home immediately 
upon his discharge from the army, and died in 
Van Wert, at the age of ninety-two years. 
The father of Hezekiah Clemens was one of 
seven brothers who came from Ireland to 
America prior to the Revolutionary war, and 
all united with the patriot army, the last battle 
in which the great-grandfather of Francis M. 
took part being that of the Cowpens, which 
was a bayonet, hand to-hand contest with the 
Hessians. The Dalby family was of Welsh 
descent, and largely given to yrofessional pur- 
suits — ministers predominating. Both the 
grandfathers of Elizabeth Dalby (mother of 
subject) were clergymen; the paternal grand- 
father being a Presbyterian, but after coming 
to America the family became Methodists. 

The children born to William T. and Eliza- 
beth Clemans were nine in number — four sons 
and five daughters — of whom four are still 
living, viz: Francis M., the eldest born; Mrs. 
Lama J. Johnston, now residing in Van Wert; 



Leroy S., a minister of the Quaker, or Friends' 
church of Van Wert, and Mrs. Charlotte 
Grove, also a resident of that city. The de- 
ceased children, who all reached mature years, 
were Mrs. Angeline Keys, a teacher, whose 
death took place in Van Wert; Mrs. Sarah 
Sheley, who died in Iowa; Mrs. Martha Moor- 
man, who died in Jamestown, Ohio; Orange 
Scott, who died in Van Wert in early man- 
hood, and whose remains are interred beside 
those of his wife and two children. The par- 
ents of Francis M. also died in Van Wert — 
the mother at seventy-seven and the father at 
eighty-four. 

Francis Marion Clemans was reared to man- 
hood in Greene county, attended the public 
schools, and when about nineteen years old 
engaged in teaching, which vocation he fol- 
lowed for eleven years, studying, in the mean- 
time, the course required in the Latin scientific 
department of the East Tennessee Wesleyan 
university — now known as the Grant Memorial 
university. From this institution he graduated 
in 1880, then took a post-graduate course, and 
completed this in 1882, receiving the degree 
of Ph. D., and receiving at the same time the 
degree of A. M. from the Ohio Wesleyan uni- 
versity. He had been converted to Christ in 
his eighteenth year, or in 1853, and immedi- 
ately began to shape his course with a view to 
entering the ministry. But he was wholly 
self-dependent, and his struggle for an educa- 
tion was a severe one. During the last four 
of the eleven years of his career as a teacher 
he was superintendent of the union schools of 
Jamestown, Ohio, and it was while thus em- 
ployed that he was recommended to the Cin- 
cinnati conference by his home church, and of 
that body he has been a member since Septem- 
ber, 1866; under its jurisdiction all his minis- 
terial work has been performed, and during his 
thirty years of itinerant service he has never 
missed more than six appointments from any 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



433 



cause — an evidence of robust- health, strong 
constitution and untiring zeal. 

The pastorates or charges of Dr. Clemans 
have been about as follows: Union circuit, 
near Xenia, three years; Fairfield, three years; 
Middletown, three years; King's Creek circuit, 
two years; Mechanicsburg station, three years; 
Miamisburg, three years; Ripley, two years; 
Jamestown, three years; Franklin, five years 
(the limit having been changed) ; and, in the 
fall of 1893, the Broadway church in Dayton. 
While at Franklin, having completed a post- 
graduate course in the National university of 
Chicago, he received the degree of D. D. The 
Broadway church has a membership of 800, 
and the church property and parsonage are 
valued at $15,000. The Sunday-school com- 
prises 550 scholars, the Epworth league 183, 
and the Junior Epworth league 140. Dr. Cle- 
mans has been blessed in his work as a revival- 
ist and has made it a point to conduct one or 
more revivals in each of his charges; the one 
in which he is now engaged has resulted in the 
conversion of 112 souls, and during his thirty 
years in the ministry he has brought nearly 
3,000 persons into the church. 

The first marriage of Dr. Clemans was sol- 
emnized near Jamestown, Ohio, in 1859, with 
Miss Sarah I. Chaffin, a native of Fayette 
county, Ohio, and a teacher at the time of her 
marriage. Of the four children born to this 
union, William Leroy is a bank cashier at 
Cedarville, Ohio, and is about thirty years of 
age, married, and the father of two children; 
Frederick Marion is cashier of the Farmers & 
Traders' bank of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, is mar- 
ried, and has had born to him three children, 
two still living; Lillie Viola died in Jamestown 
at the age of two years, and Nellie Grace died 
at Mechanicsburg when four years old. Mrs. 
Clemans was called from earth November 5, 
1885, under peculiarly sad circumstances. Be- 
ing president of the missionary society of James- 



town, she had just closed a meeting with prayer, 
and the "Amen" which closed this supplica- 
tion was the last word she ever uttered, as 
death followed almost instantly. 

July 25, 1888, Dr. Clemans was married 
to Mrs. Clara (Chaffin) Clarke, widow of Max 
Clarke, and a cousin to the first Mrs. Clemans. 
This lady is a graduate of Xenia college, of 
which she was preceptress for some time after 
her first husband's death, and continued her 
educational work up to her present marriage. 
She had borne to her first husband two sons — 
the elder of whom died in childhood; the 
younger, Max Guy Clarke, graduated from the 
Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware, stand- 
ing at the head of his class — having completed 
the classical course at the age of nineteen. 
He began the study of law, but died at twenty- 
two years of age, a thorough linguist and a 
young man of great promise. 

Dr. Clemans is a charter member of the 
Masonic lodge at Jamestown, Ohio, and is 
also an Odd Fellow. As to politics, the 
Clemans family have long been noted as rad- 
ical abolitionists and have been identified with 
the republican party ever since its organiza- 
tion; and the doctor, in addition to his ad- 
herence to the principles of the last-named 
party, is an earnest advocate of prohibition, 
steadily advocating this policy both in public 
and in private. 



aLAUDE NORTH CHRISMAN, M. 
D., physician and surgeon of 402 
Xenia avenue, Dayton, is a native of 
Kingston, Ross county, Ohio, born 
December 30, 1869. When he was two years 
old his father removed his family to Tarlton, 
Pickaway county, Ohio, and there lived six 
years, going thence to Delaware, Ohio, where 
they lived for three years. The family then 



434 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



came to Dayton, Ohio, which has since been 
their residence. 

Claude N. Chrisman is a son of William 
and Nancy (North) Chrisman, both of whom 
are still living, the father being a railroad con- 
tractor. The subject of this sketch was edu- 
cated primarily in the public schools and at the 
high schools of Dayton, and finished his educa- 
tion by attending the Ohio Wesleyan univer- 
sity at Delaware, Ohio, being a student there 
three years. In order to qualify himself for 
the practice of the medical profession, he then 
became a student in the office of Dr. J. M. 
Weaver, of Dayton, where he studied for some 
time, afterward entering the Miami Medical 
college, and graduating from that institution in 
1895. He at once entered upon the practice 
of his profession in Dayton, and is meeting 
with most gratifying success, having already 
become well known as a progressive young 
physician. Dr. Chrisman is assistant on the 
staff at Saint Elizabeth Medical & Surgical 
hospital of Dayton. He is a member of the 
Phi Gamma Delta society, and of the Broad- 
way Methodist Episcopal church of Dayton, 
recently organized. He follows the general 
practice of medicine, though he is giving 
special attention to surgery, which science is 
sufficiently broad to take in all classes of med- 
ical practitioners and to have no "schools." 
It is surgery that Dr. Chrisman prefers, and 
which he has in view as a special form of 
practice. 



eMILE COBLENTZ, aged fifty-eight 
years, enlisted April, 1861, in the 
Twelfth New York state militia for 
three months, first call; re-enlisted 
for three years in company L, Third Pennsyl- 
vania heavy artillery; and was discharged No- 
vember 8, 1865, at expiration of service, the 
war having long before come to a close. 



BRANK CONOVER, attorney, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in that city May 
29, 1853. He is the son of Wilbur 
and Elizabeth W. (Dickson) Con- 
over. His father, of whom a sketch appears 
elsewhere in this volume, was of Dutch an- 
cestry, and his mother of Irish extraction. 

Frank Conover was educated in the public 
schools of his birthplace, graduating from the 
Central high school in the year 1872. He 
then attended the Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology, in Boston, taking a special course 
of three years in civil engineering. Returning 
to Dayton in 1875, he was employed in the 
engineering corps upon the construction of 
the Dayton & South Eastern railroad until the 
summer of 1876. Mr. Conover then deter- 
mined to begin the study of the law, and 
entered the office of Conover & Craighead, of 
which firm his father was the senior member. 
Completing his preparatory course of study, 
he was admitted to the bar in 1878. For 
about two years thereafter he remained in the 
office of Craighead & Craighead, which firm 
had succeeded that of Conover & Craighead in 
1877. He then entered upon and has ever 
since continued the practice of law alone. 

Mr. Conover served as assistant city solici- 
tor of Dayton from the spring of 1891 to 
1894. He has for over five years past been a 
member of the Dayton library board, and has 
taken an active interest in the extension of the 
usefulness of the public library. He has been 
especially concerned in effecting closer rela- 
tions between that institution and the public 
schools, having delivered a number of public 
addresses upon that subject. 

In 1879 Mr. Conover married Charlotte 
Elizabeth Reeve, eldest daughter of Dr. J. C. 
and Emma G. Reeve, of Dayton. To this 
marriage have been born four children: Eliza- 
beth Dickson, John Charles Reeve, Wilbur 
and Charlotte Mary. 




$ULuJkrti 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



437 



BRANK C. CLEMENS, ot the firm of 
McDermont & Clemens, plumbers, 
gas and steam fitters, etc., Dayton, 
Ohio, is a native of this city, and 
was born November I, 1871. He is the son 
of Nicholas J. and Anna (Brown) Clemens, 
both of whom were born in Germany, but were 
brought to America when young by their par- 
ents, who settled in Dayton, and there passed 
the remainder of their lives. Nicholas J. and 
his wife, Anna, are still living in Dayton, where 
Nicholas J. is now retired. Their family was 
composed of seven children, of whom one is 
deceased; Frank C. is the eldest of the sur- 
vivors; James is a student in France and is 
being prepared for the Catholic ministry; Rose 
is a sister in St. Francis order, of Dayton, and 
the remaining three, Joseph, Harry and Mary, 
are students in the city schools. 

Frank C. Clemens was also educated in 
Dayton — partly in the public schools and 
partly in the Catholic parochial schools. His 
first independent effort in life was in the busi- 
ness in which he is still engaged ; he having first 
worked at this trade for five years under F. 
J. McCormick, and then becoming a partner 
with S. B. McDermont in the present exten- 
sive business at No. 13 East Second street. 
This firm gives almost constant employment 
to thirty men and certainly does the largest 
business in this line in Dayton, both partners 
being thorough masters of their trade. 

Besides being a member of the Emanuel 
Roman Catholic church, Mr. Clemens is con- 
nected with several religious and social orders, 
among which may be named the Knights of St. 
George, the American Sons of Columbus, the 
Catholic Gesellen Verein, the Catholic Or- 
phan's society, and the Harmonia society. 
Mr. Clemens is a young man of excellent tact 
and practical judgment, and has won a place 
of prominence among Dayton's many success- 
ful young business men. 



>-j*OHN COLLINS, official stenographer 
M for the courts of Montgomery county, 
A 1 Ohio, and superintendent of the sten- 
ographic department of Beck's Com- 
mercial college, of Dayton, Ohio, was born at 
Angelica, Allegany county, N. Y., September 
14, 1849. He attended the public schools of 
Wellsville, in the count)' of his birth, and also 
the academy at Angelica, receiving additional 
instruction in Latin and other branches from 
his father. 

Charles Collins, his father, was born in 
Geneva, Ontario county, N. Y. , January 2, 
1813. He received his education at Geneva 
college, now Hobart college, situated at 
Geneva, N. Y. — a Protestant Episcopal insti- 
tution established in 1822. He graduated 
from that institution in 1834, and is, with one 
exception, the oldest alumnus of that col- 
lege now living. Having afterward studied 
law, he practiced that profession for some 
time in Detroit, Mich., from which city he re- 
moved to Angelica, N. Y. , where his parents 
were then living, and practiced law at Angelica 
and at Wellsville, N. Y. , for sometime. His 
father was one of the distinguished men of that 
county, being county judge for several years. In 
1866 Mr. Collins removed to Northumberland, 
Northumberland county, Pa., and thereengaged 
in fruit farming, having retired from the active 
practice of the law. After living at Northum- 
berland, engaged as above noted, until 1882, he 
removed to Dayton, Ohio, and is now residing 
in that city with his son. His wife was Eliza- 
beth Hyde Cardell, daughter of William S. 
Cardell, of Lancaster, Pa., the author of sev- 
eral school books, among them Jack Hal- 
yard, a work well-known in the east. Will- 
iam S. Cardell was a half-brother of Chancellor 
Walworth, of New York state. Mrs. Collins 
died in 1873, at Northumberland, Pa. 

John Collins learned from his father the 
characters used in shorthand before he learned 



438 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the ordinary English letters. He remained on j 
the farm with his father until 1875. He then 
went to Delaware, Ohio, where he purchased 
and operated a book bindery for three years, 
giving more or less attention to shorthand dur- 
ing that time. He reported the proceedings 
of the first convention of the Music Teachers' 
National association, held at Delaware in that 
year, and afterward did occasional work of this 
kind in Delaware until 1878, when he went to 
Columbus, Ohio, and there spent one year with 
the official stenographers at the capitol. In 
the spring of 1879 he removed to Dayton and 
received the appointment as official stenogra- 
pher for the courts of Montgomery county, a 
position he has held continuously up to the 
present time, eighteen years. 

Mr. Collins was married in the spring of 
1877 to Sarah J. Leighoux, of Northumber- 
land, Pa., and to them have been born three 
daughters — Helen, Bertha and Lucy, all of 
whom are attending the Steele high school, in 
Dayton. 

Mr. Collins has achieved a high reputation 
for accuracy and reliability in the duties of his 
official position, and the excellence of his work 
is fully appreciated by the members of the 
legal profession who constitute the Montgom- 
ery county bar. He is a writer of no mean 
literary attainments, and has produced a num- 
ber of articles, both in prose and verse, of a 
high degree of merit. 



aHARLES JUDSON COFFMAN, 
vice-president of the Gem Shirt com- 
pany of Dayton, is a representative of 
one of the honored pioneer families of 
Montgomery county. The first of the family 
to locate in this county was Jacob Coffman, 
who, in company with his wife and one child, 
came here from Virginia in the early part of the 
present century. He purchased a considerable 



tract of land, a portion of which is now em- 
braced in the precincts of the national sol- 
diers' heme. This land he reclaimed and im- 
proved, making it his residence until his death, 
and, having devoted his entire attention to his 
farming interests, became a man of prominence 
in the community. He became the father of 
five children, each of whom lived to an ad- 
vanced age, their names in order of birth be- 
ing as follows: John; Jacob, father of Charles 
J. ; Catherine, better known as Kittie, who 
married Jacob Neibert, who lived to the age of 
nearly ninety years; Rachael, deceased, and 
Hannah, deceased. 

Jacob Coffman, the father of Charles J., 
was born on the old homestead near Dayton in 
December, 1819, and remained on the farm 
until he had attained the age of nineteen years, 
when he came to Dayton and secured clerical 
employment in the dry-goods establishment of 
Daniel Kiefer, with whom he remained for 
some time. He then turned his attention to 
what was a very important line of enterprise in 
the pioneer days, that of peddling notions by 
wagon, thus traversing a large territory in the 
neighborhood of Dayton. He sold to the re- 
tail dealers in the various towns, which he vis- 
ited at regular intervals, and continued this 
now almost forgotten industry for a number of 
years. In 1855 ne established the first whole- 
sale notion house in Dayton, being associated 
with John Beaver, under the firm name of 
Coffman & Beaver. In about a year Mr. 
Beaver died, after which Mr. Coffman con- 
ducted the business individually for some time, 
and eventually formed the firm of Coffman, Os- 
born & Coffman, which continued with success 
until the close of the Civil war. Mr. Coffman 
then disposed of his interest and purchased the 
interest of Edward Stilwell as a member of 
Crawford & Stilwell, who were engaged in the 
manufacture of lasts and pegs for boots and 
shoes. This industry was continued, under 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



439 



the firm name of Crawford & Coffman, until 
about the year 1885, when Mr. Coffman sold 
out his share and purchased the business which 
is now conducted by his son, Charles J. Coff- 
man, it being then of the same character as 
that with which he had formerly been identified, 
namely, the wholesale notion business. The 
father, however, practically retired from active 
pursuits at the time of purchasing this estab- 
lishment, chiefly by reason of the deplorable 
infirmity of blindness, which afflicted him for 
a period of about six years prior to his death, 
which occurred in April, 1892. The enter- 
prise noted was, in 1887, merged into the Gem 
Shirt company, and upon the organization of 
this stock company, Jacob Coffman became 
vice-president of the corporation and was con- 
nected with it until his death. He was a man 
of unassuming manners, of unbending integ- 
rity and honor, and of marked business ability. 
He commanded the confidence and esteem of 
all with whom he came in contact. In his re- 
ligious views he held the faith of the Baptist 
church and was a zealous worker in its cause. 
He was radical and uncompromising in his op- 
position to the institution of slavery and ren- 
dered a stanch allegiance to the republican 
party from the time of its organization. His 
tastes were essentialy domestic and in his home 
were centered the chief attractions and inter- 
terests of his life. 

Jacob Coffman was united in marriage, in 
December, 1841, to Miss Sarah Ann Miller, 
a daughter of Samuel and Sarah Miller, who 
were among the pioneers of Montgomery 
county, coming hither from Lancaster, Pa., 
where the mother of Charles J. was born. 
Her death occurred in 1889, at the age of 
sixty-five years. Jacob and Sarah Ann Coff- 
man became the parents of a large family of 
children, of whom seven are living. 

Charles J. Coffman, the fifth child of this 
family, was born July 11, 1850. He was 



reared in Dayton, receiving his education in 
the public schools. At the age of sixteen he 
entered the last and peg factory operated by 
his father, and there remained employed for 
the period of three years, after which he ac- 
cepted a position as traveling salesman for the 
wholesale millinery establishment of Fahnley 
& McCrea, Indianapolis, Ind., with whom he 
remained for somewhat more than three years. 
He then returned to Dayton and became com- 
mercial traveler for the wholesale notion house 
of Osborn, Satcamp & Co. for five years, after 
which he established a wholesale business of 
the same character, under the firm name of 
C. J. Coffman & Co., conducting the same for 
seven years, at the expiration of which time 
he was succeeded by his father. He then 
became a traveling salesman in the handling 
of shirts, and has ever since been associated 
with this business, having been one of the or- 
ganizers of the Gem Shirt company. In ad- 
dition to his own private concerns he handled 
his father's business for six years prior to the 
latter's death. Mr. Coffman is known as one 
of the progressive and thoroughly representa- 
tive business men of Dayton, and has a sin- 
cere interest in all that tends to conserve the 
prosperity of the city. In his political adher- 
ency he is identified with the republican party, 
and fraternally is a member of the Royal 
Arcanum and of the United Commercial Trav- 
elers' association, in which he holds official 
preferment as senior counselor. 



aHARLES F. CORNS, member of the 
Dayton city council from the Sixth 
ward, and foreman of Kuhns Bros.' 
foundry, was born in Prussia, Ger- 
many, December 4, 1835. Receiving his edu- 
cation in his native country, he came to America 
in company with his mother in 1849, a brother 
and sister also accompanying them. At first 



440 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



they located in Waterloo county, Upper Can- 
ada, where Mr. Corns learned the trade of 
foundryman, which trade he has since followed 
almost continuously. In 1852 he came to the 
United States, locating in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where he worked at his trade until 1854, and 
in 1855 returned to Canada. In 1856 he was 
married in Canada to Susan Mclntire, and in 
1859 returned to the United States, locating 
at Cleveland, Ohio, where he continued to re- 
side until 1 86 1. During this latter year he 
came to Dayton, Ohio, where he has lived 
ever since. 

During the war of the Rebellion Mr. Corns 
aided in recruiting company K, Seventh regi- 
ment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and also com- 
pany I of the One Hundred and Twenty-third 
Ohio volunteer infantry. He worked in the 
government arsenal at Troy, N. Y., for about 
four months during the year 1862, going there 
from Dayton. For a number of years Mr. 
Corns was employed as a molder in the stove 
foundry of Brown & Irwin, of Dayton, and 
afterward was with the firm of Greer & King 
for about ten years. He was afterward a molder 
in the employ of John W. Stoddard for about 
three years, and for about eleven years was 
foreman of the foundry of the Farmers' Friend 
Manufacturing company. He was one of the 
originators of the Marley-Craig Foundry com- 
pany, being a partner in the concern, from 
which came the Craig-Reynolds company. In 
1892 he became foreman at the Kuhns Bros.' 
foundry, which position he has since continu- 
ously held. 

Mr. Corns has long been identified with 
the republican party, and has been prominent 
in the public affairs of the city of Dayton. In 
1886 he was elected to the city council from 
the Ninth ward. In 1888 he was re-elected 
from the same ward, and again in 1890 and 
1892, thus serving eight successive years from 
this ward. In 1894 he was elected to the 



council from the Third ward, which has since 
been changed to the Sixth. Mr. Corns is the 
oldest member of the city council, not only in 
point of age, but also in years of service. 

Mr. Corns is a member of the Harugari 
lodge of the German-American Pioneer so- 
ciety, and of the A. O. U. W. To Mr. 
Corns and his wife there have been born four 
children, as follows: Edwin; Estella, wife -of 
Fremont Dodds, of London, Madison county, 
Ohio; Charles M. , dental student; and Mur- 
rel, wife of Vallington Tippy, of Dayton, as- 
sistant bookkeeper for the dry-goods house of 
Elder & Johnston. Mrs. Corns is a member 
of the United Brethren church. 

The most marked characteristic of Mr. 
Corns as a city official is his fearlessness in 
the expression of his views upon all matters of 
public moment which come before the body in 
which he has rendered so long a service. 



eLI FASOLD, general agent for the 
Singer Manufacturing company at 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Sunbury, 
Northumberland county, Pa., Febru- 
ary 22, 1838, his parents being also natives of 
that county. In 1844 the family removed to 
Richmond, Ind., where Eli attended the pub- 
lic schools and learned the carriage-ironing 
trade under Peter Crocker & Co. April 20, 
1 86 1, he enlisted in the Eighth regiment, 
Indiana volunteer infantry, for three months, 
at the end of which time he entered the em- 
ployment of the Singer Manufacturing com- 
pany, and for five years had his headquarters 
at Indianapolis, and for more than thirty years 
has been stationed at Dayton. For eight 
years he has been connected with the Troup 
Manufacturing company of Dayton, as vice- 
president, but is now closing out the business 
of this concern. For five years he was a direct- 
or of the Southern Ohio Fair association, and 




£^-J^^> 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



443 



has been an active and energetic business man 
ever since attaining his majority. 

Fraternally, Mr. Fasold is eminent in Free- 
masonry and in the order of the Knights of 
Honor, having been a member of the former 
for nearly thirty and of the latter for twenty- 
seven years. He was initiated in Mystic lodge, 
No. 405, F. & A. M., Dayton, June 12, 1869; 
passed July 24, 1869, and raised, September 
11, 1869; was elected trustee December 12, 
1879, and so remained until 1896; elected 
senior warden December 4, 1880; worshipful 
master, December 9, 1884, for one year. In 
Unity chapter, No. 16, R. A. M., marked 
November 4, 1869; passed January 6, 
1870; received and acknowledged May 5, 
1870; exalted June 2, 1870; was king from 
December 19, 1878, until December 16, 
1886; high priest from December 16, 1866, 
to December 15, 1887. In Reese council, 
No. 9, he received the royal and select 
master's degree September 2, 1870. In Reed 
commandery, No. 6, K. T. , was dubbed 
and created Knight of Red Cross June 21, 
1870; K. T., July 19, 1870; K. of M., July 
19, 1870; sword bearer, November, 1871, to 
November, 1873; senior warden, November, 
1873, to November, 1875; captain general, 
November, 1875, to November, 1876; emi- 
nent commander, 1876 to 1880; trustee, 1880 
to 1895. I n tne grand commandery K. T. of 
Ohio, was grand senior warden in 1877 and 
1878; grand senior warden in 1879 and 1880; 
grand generalissimo, 1881 and 1882; deputy 
grand commander, 1883, and right eminent 
grand commander in 1884; was representative 
of the grand commandery of Nebraska in 
1886-89, 1892-95-98. In the ancient ac- 
cepted Scottish rite; he received the ineffable 
degrees March 14, 1872, in Giblum grand 
lodge of Perfection at Cincinnati; received the 
ancient traditional grades March 15, 1872, in 
the Dalcho grand council, P: J., Cincinnati; 



received philosophical and doctrinal grades in 
Cincinnati grand chapter of Rose-Croix, same 
date and place, and the modern historic and 
chivalric grades March 16, 1872; in Ohio 
grand consistory, S. P. R. S., thirty-second 
degree; was created sovereign grand inspector 
general, thirty-third degree, at Detroit, Mich., 
September 23, 1884. Mr. Fasold is a charter 
member of Gabriel grand lodge of perfection, 
Dayton; was appointed grand orator for 1881- 
82, and served as trustee from January, 1881, 
to 1896; is a charter member of Miami coun- 
cil, and charter member of Rose-Croix grand 
chapter, Dayton; was appointed M. E. and 
P. K., S. W., in April, 1880-81, and elected 
M. W. and P. M. in May, 1881-83. 

Mr. Fasold has for twelve years been presi- 
dent of the Scottish rite K. T. and Master 
Mason's Aid association, and has been presi- 
dent of the Homestead Aid association for five 
years, and a director in the same eight years; 
he was one of the founders of the Freemasons' 
Mutual Benefit association, and has been a 
director and treasurer for twenty-two years. 

Mr. Fasold was united in marriage, Octo- 
ber 5, 1861, with Miss Louisa Smith, of Rich- 
mond, Ind., and to this union have been born 
two children — a daughter, Mary F. , and a 
son, William S., who is now cashier of the 
Big Four Railroad company at Dayton. The 
parents have been members of the Third street 
Presbyterian church for the past thirty years. 
In politics Mr. Fasold is a republican. 



HLBERT CLAYTON CARNEY, M.D., 
physician and surgeon of Dayton, 
Ohio, with office at 715 Washington 
street, was born in Butler county, 
southwest of and near Germantown, Montgom- 
ery county, December 9, 1868. He is a son 
of Walter and Catherine (Garrison) Carney, 
who are still residing on their home farm in 



444 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Butler county, where Mr. Carney has followed 
agricultural pursuits for many years. The 
Carney family is of mixed nationality, Walter 
Carney having descended from Scotch, Irish 
and German ancestry. He and his wife are 
parents of four children. 

Albert C. Carney was reared on his father's 
farm, and thus inured to labor in his early 
days. His education was received in the com- 
mon schools, and later he attended Otterbein 
university. However, while in college he was 
reading medicine with Dr. J. W. Cline, of 
Dayton, Ohio, as his preceptor, having early 
in life chosen medicine as his profession. He 
afterward read with Dr. J. W. Jones, of Wes- 
terville, Ohio, and attended the Ohio Medical 
college at Cincinnati, graduating from that in- 
stitution in the class of 1889. At first he was 
located in Greenville, Ohio, practicing there 
six months, and then removed to Germantown, 
where he was engaged in practice until 1892. 
In this year he removed to Dayton, where he 
has been ever since, and where he has built 
up a good practice. He is the most successful 
of the young physicians of the city, and a 
rising young man in every way. 

He is a member of Friendship lodge, No. 
21, I. O. O. F. , of Germantown, Ohio, and of 
the Germantown encampment, No. 77, Patri- 
archs Militant. He was married March 1, 
1888, in Germantown, Ohio, to Miss Etta B. 
Swain, a daughter of Rev. J. L. Swain. Dr. 
and Mrs. Carney are the parents of one child, 
Homer Eugene. They are leading members of 
the United Brethren church and highly re- 
garded by all who know them. 



aHARLES A. COOPER, senior mem- 
ber of the firm of Charles A. Cooper 
& Co., wholesale dealers in saddlery 
and carriage goods, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Springfield, Ohio, May 13, 1851, 



a son of David and Louisa S. (Runyon) 
Cooper. 

David Cooper was born in Pennsylvania 
January 9, 1826, a son of William and Jane 
(Murphy) Cooper, and died in Dayton, Ohio, 
November 11, 1888. When nineteen years of 
age he came to Ohio and engaged in the dry- 
goods business at Springfield, but sold out in 
1849, and established the business which 
Charles A. Cooper, his son, now conducts in 
Dayton, and of which further mention will be 
made. January 9, 1849, he was married in 
Springfield to Miss Louisa S. Runyon, daughter 
of William and Harriet (Silvers) Runyon, the 
former of New Jersey and the latter of Eng- 
land. Mrs. Louisa S. Cooper was born in 
Newburg, Pa., and was a babe when taken to 
Kentucky by her parents. Her father was a 
railroad contractor and constructed the first 
railroad west of the Alleghany mountains, and 
constructed the first railroad at Lexington, Ky. , 
which was one of the first in that state. About 
1835 the Runyon family came to Columbus, 
Ohio, where Mr. Runyon was engaged in the 
hardware business until 1841, when he removed 
to Springfield, wherehe was engaged in the same 
industry until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Runyon were born five children, of whom two 
died in infancy; Louisa S. is the widow of 
David Cooper; Mary, now deceased, was the 
wife of Pliny Newhall, and Ellen is married to 
Albert E. Shearer, of Cleveland. To the 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. David Cooper were 
born six children, viz: George, now a travel- 
ing salesman; Charles A. ; Edward F. , of Day- 
ton; Hattie E., wife of W. B. Anderson; 
David W. , and Mary L. , wife of Charles F. 
Snyder — all of Dayton. The mother and her 
sons, Charles A. and David W., now make 
their home at No. 351 West First street. 

As has been stated, the late David Cooper 
established the present business in 1849, in 
Springfield, Ohio, beginning as a whole- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



445 



sale and retail dealer in general hardware, 
saddlery and carriage materials. In 1869 he 
came to Dayton, opened his store at No. 140 
East Third street, and conducted a wholesale 
and retail trade in the same line as that he had 
carried on in Springfield; but in 1876 disposed 
of his general hardware business and confined 
himself to the wholesale saddlery and carriage 
goods trade, selling chiefly throughout Ohio 
and Indiana. At his death, in 1888, his son, 
Charles A., assumed the management of the 
business in conjunction with his brother, Ed- 
ward F. Cooper, under the firm name of 
David Cooper's Sons. January 1, 1890, the 
firm removed to the present quarters, No. 123 
East Third street, in the Huffman block, and 
August 1, 1893, Charles A. purchased the 
interest of his brother, Edward F., and Janu- 
ary 1, 1894, changed the firm name to that of 
Charles A. Cooper & Co. — the firm being now 
composed of Louisa S. Cooper and Charles A. 
Cooper. Two men are constantly employed 
by the firm as salesmen on the road, and 
they cover the territory embraced by the states 
of Ohio and Indiana, throughout which states 
the firm is well known, it being the largest 
concern in its line in western Ohio. 

Charles A. Cooper was reared in Spring- 
field, and received his education in the schools 
of that city and at Wittenberg college. At 
the age of eighteen years he came to Dayton 
to assist his father in the store, and in 1873 
went on the road as salesman, representing the 
house for sixteen years. He then returned to 
the store and assumed the management of the 
business, having been admitted as a partner a 
year previously. 

Mr. Cooper has been very successful in his 
management, and is looked upon as one of the 
ablest of the young business men of Dayton. 
He is a member of the Third street Presby- 
terian church, and in politics affiliates with the 
republican party. 



aOL. ROBERT COWDEN, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, is descended from an old 
Scotch family, who came to America, 
many years ago, from Cowden Knolls, 
twenty-five miles north of Edinburg. His par- 
ents, David and Elizabeth (Kitch) Cowden, 
were natives of Pennsylvania, and early settlers 
in Ohio, where the father died when Robert 
was but five years of age. 

Robert Cowden was born May 24, 1833, 
near Leesville Cross Roads, Ohio, and although 
his opportunities for securing an education 
were meager, he succeeded, by dint of close 
application to study, in acquiring a fair amount 
of knowledge and became a school teacher at 
the age of eighteen years, following that call- 
ing in the winter and working during the sum- 
mer at any paying employment he could find, 
for several consecutive years. At the age of 
nineteen he was converted to Christ and at 
once entered upon a career of religious work 
in the interest of the United Brethren church 
and humanity, and to-day, as an organizer and 
teacher of Sunday schools, he probably has no 
superior. Persistent in his studies, he early 
developed himself as a scholar of much learn- 
ing, especially in the field of theology, and was 
thus fully qualified for Sabbath-school work, and 
for nearly thirty years he has been closely 
identified with that branch of religious activity 
in this country, and has filled many positions 
of honor in connection with it. Coupled with 
his well-earned reputation for usefulness in 
civil life, Col. Cowden has a military record 
for patriotism and valor, and the scars upon 
his person bear substantial witness to the fact 
that he not only loved his country but helped 
to fight her battles. Robert Cowden enlisted 
September 9, 1861, in company B, Fifty-sixth 
Illinois volunteer infantry, but was transferred 
to company H, and between the date of his en- 
listment and January 28, 1862, was promoted 
to be corporal, was next advanced to the posi- 



446 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tion of sergeant, and still later was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant of company H. Because 
of defective enlistment or organization of the 
Fifty-sixth, that regiment was mustered out of 
service January 28, 1862, and on the same day 
Lieut. Cowden entered battery I, First Illinois 
light artillery, as a private. During his serv- 
ice of eighteen months in this body he was 
promoted through the intermediate grades from 
private to second lieutenant, receiving his com- 
mission for meritorious conduct on the battle 
field of Shiloh. July 29, 1863, Lieut. Cow- 
den was discharged to receive promotion, and 
was mustered in as major of the Fifty-ninth 
United States colored infantry, and May 1, 
1864, was promoted to the rank of lieutenant 
colonel, with which rank he served until his 
final muster out, January 31, 1866. At this 
time, to save the men, who in most cases had 
been recruited from the illiterate plantation 
hands, from the self-constituted bounty and 
claim agents, a meeting of the officers of the 
regiment was held at Memphis, Tenn., where 
it was decided that Col. Ccwden should re- 
ceive authority to act for the discharged men. 
As a consequence 530 soldiers entrusted their 
discharge papers to him, the result being that 
he subsequently collected all back pay, bounty, 
etc., due to the men and placed the proceeds 
into the hands of those to whom they rightfully 
belonged. The colonel was also instrumental 
in establishing a school for the instruction 
of unlettered men of his regiment, and in this 
school 250 colored men were taught to read 
and write. 

Among the many engagements in which 
Col. Cowden participated may be enumerated 
that of Shiloh, both days; the siege of Corinth 
and the engagement at the Russell house, 
lying between Pittsburg Landing and Corinth; 
the siege and capture of Yicksburg; the second 
capture of Jackson, Miss.; the engagement at 
Guntown, Miss., where, June 10, 1864, he re- 



ceived a severe wound in the right hip; and 
finally the battles of Tupelo and Pontotoc, 
Miss., in July, 1864. 

To revert to the life of Col. Cowden as a 
civilian, it may be stated that, prior to the Civil 
war, he resided in Kansas for three years and 
was there during the "border" troubles, and 
was the first county clerk elected in Franklin 
county. He again resided in that state from 
1885 until 1891, in Cheyenne county; in the 
interim, however, he lived in Galion, Craw- 
ford county, Ohio, where he was postmaster 
during the administration of President Hayes. 
He is at present a member of the military or- 
der known as the Loyal Legion, commandery 
of Ohio; for twenty-six years has been a mem- 
ber of the general board of the Ohio Sunday- 
school association, in which he served one 
year as president, six years as general secre- 
tary, and the remainder of the period as a 
member of the executive committee; for years 
he has been general secretary of the Sabbath- 
school board of the United Brethren in Christ 
and general Sabbath-school missionary and 
organizer for that denomination; he is also 
secretary of the normal department of the 
Ohio State Sabbath-school association and is 
its statistician; from 1875 until 1890 he was a 
member of the executive committee of the In- 
ternational Sabbath-school association, and 
has been a delegate to all its triennial conven- 
tions, held in London, and to the first and sec- 
ond world's conventions; also the convention 
held at Saint Louis, Mo., in 1893. He travels 
about 20,000 miles annually in the prosecu- 
tion of his work. He has contributed many 
valuable articles to the religious press, and, 
wielding a facile pen, has written a history of 
his regiment. 

The first marriage of Col. Cowden was 
solemnized, in 1854, with Miss Lydia T. 
Miller, which union was blessed with four chil- 
dren, viz: Daniel Webster, now a wholesale 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



447 



merchant of Salina, Kans. ; John C. Milton, a 
farmer of Cheyenne county, in the same state; 
Jacob K. R., a farmer of Eagle county, Colo., 
and Mrs. Zoe E. M. Chipperfield, whose hus- 
band is also a farmer of Cheyenne county, 
Kans., and descended from these children 
there are now twelve living grandchildren of 
Col. Cowden. After a happy union of over 
thirty-six years, Mrs. Cowden died in Decem- 
ber, 1S90, and in November, 1891, Col. Cow- 
den was united in matrimony with Mrs. Joanna 
McGinnis, of Wichita, Kans. 



a APT. THOMAS J. CROOKS was 
born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 3, 1845. 
His parents were John C. and Sarah 
J. (Beatty) Crooks, the father a na- 
tive of north Ireland and the mother born in 
the highlands of Scotland: they were married 
in Ireland, and, about the year 1842, immi- 
grated to the United States, settling in Cleve- 
land, Ohio, where John C. Crooks was for some 
time a member of the police force. In his na- 
tive country he learned the trade of carpet 
weaving, but did not follow his calling very 
long after becoming a citizen of the United 
States; he died at Cleveland in 1878, aged sixty 
years. Mrs. Crooks still lives in that city. 
John C. and Sarah Crooks were the parents of 
eight children, four sons .and four daughters, 
three of the sons having served gallantly in the 
late war of the Rebellion; Samuel was killed in 
December, 1864, at Fort McAlister; John E. 
was wounded at the battle of Fredericksburg, 
Va. ; he is now a resident of Benicia, Cal., 
where he is engaged in the banking busi- 
ness and of which city he has also served 
as mayor at different times; William L. , a 
telegrapher, resides at Los Angeles, Cal. ; 
Elizabeth married a Mr. Lewis and lives in 
Kansas; Elizabeth Callins makes her home in 
Cleveland, and the two youngest members of 



the family, Mary and Lillie A., both unmarried, 
still reside with their mother under the paren- 
tal roof. 

Thomas J. Crooks grew to early manhood 
in Cleveland, where he attended school until 
his seventeenth year, at which time he laid 
aside his studies and entered the army, enlist- 
ing in what was known as the Cleveland 
Grays, a company which formed part of the 
Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
with which he served for a period of four 
months in Virginia under Gen. Kelley. Dur- 
ing his first enlistment Capt. Crooks saw some 
active service and took part in several engage- 
ments of minor importance, chief among which 
was the fight at New Creek, Va. At the ex- 
piration of his period of service, he re-enlisted, 
October 9, 1862, for three years, in company 
H, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio in- 
fantry, receiving the rank of corporal, and, a 
little later, was made first sergeant of his com- 
pany. He was wounded September 19, 1863, 
at Chickamauga, and for six months thereafter 
remained in a hospital, the nature of his disa- 
bility necessitating his retirement from active 
service for the greater part of a year. On 
being discharged from the hospital Capt. 
Crooks was transferred, March, 1864, to the 
One Hundred and Fifty-second battalion vet- 
eran reserve corps, with which he served until 
mustered out July 26, 1S65, at Nashville, 
Teml. During this period he participated in 
the battles of Thompson's Station, Tenn., 
where the entire brigade, with the exception 
of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Ohio, 
was captured; Triune, Tenn.; Chickamauga; 
two-days' fight at Nashville, and other engage- 
ments, in all of which his conduct was that of 
a faithful and gallant soldier. Returning to 
Cleveland after the war, Capt. Crooks accepted 
a clerical position in the mayor's office of that 
city and was thus employed for one year, when 
he embarked in the grocery business, conduct- 



448 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ing the same until 1867. In the latter year 
he entered the United States service, enlisting 
in the Twenty-eighth infantry for three years, 
during the greater part of which time he was 
stationed at Governor's Island, N. Y. , and for 
over one year was drillmaster on Hart's Island. 
The Twenty-eighth was consolidated with the 
Nineteenth U. S. infantry in 1869, from which 
time until the expiration of his term of enlist- 
ment Capt. Crooks was stationed at Little 
Rock, Ark., Baton Rouge and New Orleans, 
La. He was honorably discharged at Fort 
Pike, La., June, 1870, and in September of 
the same year he re-enlisted for a term of five 
years in the Seventeenth U. S. infantry, com- 
pany I, of which he was made sergeant. This 
service was principally at Fort Sully, Chey- 
enne agency. Forts Rice and Stevenson, and 
he was discharged in September, 1 875. In De- 
cember following he again entered the army, 
enlisting in company A, Twenty-second U. S. 
infantry, with which he served one year at 
Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., three years at Fort 
Wayne, Mich., and the last year at Fort Grif- 
fin, Tex., receiving his discharge at the last 
named place, December, 1880. 

In April, 1 88 1 , Capt. Crooks enlisted for five 
years in company F, Fifteenth U. S. infantry, 
of which he was made first sergeant, and pro- 
ceeded at once to Columbus, Ohio, thence 
joined his command later at Santa Fe, N. 
M., from which place the regiment was 
used in operating against the hostile Indians in 
the southwest. Three months of 1881 were 
spent in active warfare with the Indians under 
chief Victoria, whose band was driven across 
the Rio Grande into Mexico, and later Capt. 
Crooks' company was transferred to Fort 
Lewis, Colo. , thence to Forts Abe Lincoln and 
Stevenson, Dak. 

After long and continuous service of great 
activity and danger, Capt. Crooks was final- 
ly discharged at his own request, at Fort 



Buford, Dak. He saw over twenty years 
of service while in the regular army, shirked 
no duty, however onerous, and shrank from 
none of the many perils through which he was 
called to pass. For years he was exposed to 
almost constant dangers, and his escapes from 
the Indians upon many occasions were narrow 
and thrilling. At one time, with eighteen 
comrades, he was surrounded by the Indians, 
and for six days this intrepid little band kept 
up an unequal contest with 500 savages, 
being rescued, after untold sufferings and 
the loss of several men, by a detachment of U. 
S. troops from Fort Stevenson. Many other 
adventures could be narrated, and his army 
experience, if written in full, would be replete 
with romantic interest. 

After his last discharge, Capt. Crooks 
went to Detroit, Mich., where he spent one 
year at different occupations, and then ac- 
cepted a position on the city police force, 
which, however, he was soon compelled to re- 
sign on account of disabilities incurred while 
in the army. During the succeeding two years, 
he represented a wholesale house as a com- 
mercial traveler, but this, too, he was forced to 
give up by reason of his enfeebled condition. 
He then became an inmate of the National 
Home for Disabled Volunteers at Dayton, his 
admission to the institution dating in Septem- 
ber, 1892. During the greater part of 1893, 
he was sergeant of the Columbian guards at 
the world's fair, and since December of that 
year has been captain, first of company Twelve, 
which he commanded until July 20. 1894, 
when he was transferred to company Twenty, 
which he now commands. 

Capt. Crooks is an active member of the 
G. A. R. , a republican in politics, and was 
reared in the faith of the Episcopal church. 
In 1876 he was united in marriage with Miss 
Lizzie Bowman, of Detroit, Mich., who bore 
him two children, Sadie and Daisy, the former 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



449 



now living in Cleveland, Ohio, and the latter 
in the city of Detroit. The captain is a wid- 
ower, having lost his wife several years ago. 



aHARLES W. DALE, judge of the 
police court of Dayton, and one of 
the widely-known members of the 
Dayton bar, was born in Germantown, 
Ohio, on September 13, 1862. By working 
during the summer seasons he was enabled to 
attend school in the winter months, during his 
boyhood days, and at the age of seventeen 
years he was graduated from the high school of 
his native town. For a period of five years 
Judge Dale taught in the public schools of 
Germantown and Ellerton, this county, and 
then attended the law school and university of 
Cincinnati, graduating from that institution in 
1883. Locating in Dayton, he began the 
practice of his profession and so continued 
until his election to the bench. During the 
term of office of Mayor Crawford, Judge Dale 
served as his clerk. In March, 1892, he was 
nominated by the republicans as candidate for 
police judge, and he was elected over a strong 
competitor in the person of the democratic 
candidate — Hon. J. E. D. Ward, then mayor 
of the city. He has continued on the bench 
ever since, giving entire satisfaction to the 
public, and discharging the duties of his office 
with ability and judgment. Judge Dale has 
written extensively for some of the leading 
periodicals, and is the author and compiler of 
Familiar Laws. 



*-j-» EWIS DANCYGER, senior member 

j of the dry-goods firm of L. Dancyger 

A & Son, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 

Poland in 1 83 1. In order to avoid 

impressment into the Russian army he left his 

native land and went to England. In 1856 



he, with his wife and two children, came to 
the United States and first located at New 
Brighton, Pa., where he opened a general 
store and remained about five years, and then 
removed to Noblesville, Ind., and for three 
years was there a leading merchant and banker. 
For two and a half years he was engaged in 
mercantile and real-estate enterprises in Indi- 
anapolis, Ind., and in 1865 came to Dayton, 
Ohio, opened a dry-goods store on the corner 
of Third and Jefferson streets, and, after twenty 
years, moved to the Balsley building, where he 
carried on business for seven years. On Feb- 
ruary 9, 1887, he lost the companion of his 
life, who had borne him two children — Simon 
and Isaac. 

Simon Dancyger, at present connected 
with his father in his extensive business, was 
born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, and 
came to America with his parents in infancy. 
He received a fair education and at the age of 
fifteen years entered his father's store as cash- 
boy, and at twenty years became buyer for the 
concern. He is of an inventive turn of mind, 
and his little leisure time he has devoted to 
the invention of labor-saving devices, chiefly 
for the use of merchants — such as marking 
tags, pins, and other contrivances — now hold- 
ing nine patents granted by the United States 
government and several issued by the English 
and German governments. These articles are 
now being sold all over the Union by traveling 
salesmen and are coming into general use. 
For the manufacture of these specialties he 
has recently erected a handsome three-story 
brick building on Saint Mary street, running 
back to Clegg street, and will give employ- 
ment to forty or fifty persons. 

Isaac Dancyger, the youngest son of Lewis 
Dancyger and wife, when a lad of six years 
was killed by a runaway team in Indianapolis, 
Ind. , where his remains were interred. 

Lewis Dancyger is an Odd Fellow and a 



450 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



member of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men; he is a stockholder in the City National 
bank, has erected several fine residences in 
Dayton, and has otherwise contributed to make 
the city what it is to-day. He is a member of 
the synagogue on Jefferson street, and lives in 
strict conformity with the teachings of the 
faith in which he was reared. Simon Dancy- 
ger, in his religious views, is quite liberal. 
Both father and son are stanch republicans in 
their politics, but simply act as quiet voters in 
support of their party. 

Lewis Dancyger has been remarkably suc- 
cessful as a business man, the nucleus of 
his present fortune having been £$, which 
he borrowed from his brother in England. 
How he handled that small sum may easily be 
imagined. That he has been prudent and 
conservative is evidenced by the fact that he 
has passed safely through all the financial 
crises that have occurred since he started busi- 
ness in America, without suspending even for 
one day. His son Simon deserves equal credit 
for the usefulness and ingenuity of the inven- 
tions suggested to him by the demands of his 
daily occupations. 



"^-VOSEPH LIGHT, superintendent of the 
B Dayton Gas Light & Coke company, 
f» J was born in London, England, June 16, 
1833. His parents, George and Ann 
(Rutherford) Light, were natives of England, 
and were the parents of twelve children, only 
two of whom are now living, viz: Mary Ann, 
widow of Edward Roberts, and who is living in 
Dayton, and Joseph, the subject of this sketch. 
George Light, the father of Joseph, was a 
brick mason by trade, an Episcopalian in re- 
ligion, and died in London when seventy-six 
years of age, in 1852. His wife, who was a 
Congregationalist in religion, died in 1866, 
aged sixty-five years. 



The paternal grandfather was also a native 
of England, and lived in that country all his 
life, dying at the age of 101 years. The ma- 
ternal grandfather, John Rutherford, was a 
native of Scotland, and died in the land of 
his birth. 

Joseph Light was reared and educated in 
London, and when twelve years of age began 
to learn the manufacture of gas machinery and 
the art of ship building, in that city. These 
occupations he followed with energy and inter- 
est until he was eighteen years of age, and 
then came to the United States. In Cincin- 
nati he was engaged in the manufacture of 
gas for three years, and, in 1855, removed to 
Dayton, where he took charge of the Dayton 
Gas Light & Coke company's works as super- 
intendent, which position he has held ever 
since, a period of forty-two years. Mr. Light 
is interested in the firm of G. J. Roberts & Co., 
manufacturers of steam pumps and general 
machinery. He is also president of the Piqua 
Gas Works company, and is superintendent of 
the Urbana Gas works. 

Mr. Light was married in November, 1854, 
to Miss Catherine Lee, daughter of Richard 
Lee, of Cincinnati, the maiden name of whose 
wife was McGee. To this marriage there have 
been born six children, three sons and three 
daughters, as follows: Catherine, George, 
Jennie, Joseph E., Ella F., and Edward H. 
George married Miss Lida Ferguson. He is 
assistant superintendent of the Gas Light & 
Coke company. Jennie married Charles De- 
Armon, of Piqua, Ohio, and has three children, 
Joseph Eugene, Catherine, and Charles Ruth- 
erford. Mrs. Catherine Light died in 1874. 
She was an excellent woman, and a member of 
the Presbyterian church. At her death she 
was mourned by many friends as well as by her 
relatives, as one whose place it would be diffi- 
cult to fill. 

Mr. Light was married the second time, 





^€A^\ 0(u 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



453 



April 7, 1880, to Miss Elizabeth Westwood, 
daughter of John C. and Susannah Westwood, 
by whom he has had no children. Mr. and 
Mrs. Light are members of the Park Presby- 
terian church, which was organized in 1851. 
Mr. Light is a member of the Masonic, frater- 
nity, and has had conferred upon him the 
thirty-second degree. He is an Odd Fellow, 
and was a charter member of Miami lodge, No. 
32, Knights of Pythias, and is also a Knight of 
Honor. Politically, Mr. Light is an earnest 
republican. 

Mr. Light's connection of over forty years 
with the gaslight and coke company has made 
his name familiar throughout the community, 
and he is not only regarded in business circles 
as a man of strong, native ability and judgment, 
but enjoys the sincere confidence and esteem 
of all Dayton's citizens. In the several de- 
partments of the gas company's plant over 100 
men are employed, so that Mr. Light's position 
is one of great importance and responsibility. 

In 1872, after being absent from his native 
country some twenty years, he made a three- 
months' visit to his old home, this being the 
only time he has been away from Dayton for 
any considerable period. Mr. Light is a con- 
sistent member of his church, and an industri- 
ous and worthy citizen of the state in which he 
has lived for forty-five years. 



a APT. LORENZO N. DAVIS was 
born in the county of Wyoming, N. 
Y. , April 7, 1840. His father, Lo- 
renzo D. Davis, also a native of the 
Empire state, was a man of local prominence 
in the community where he resided and for 
many years held positions of trust in Wells- 
ville, where he owned and operated a manu- 
facturing establishment. He was twice mar- 
ried, the first time to Mary Dodge, by whom 
he had two children, Daniel and Lorenzo N. ; 

14 



his death occurred at Wellsville, N. Y., June, 
1885, at the age of seventy-six years. Capt. 
Davis spent the years of early manhood in his 
native county, assisting on the home farm 
when not otherwise engaged, attending in the 
meantime the public schools, in which he ob- 
tained a knowledge of the common branches. 
At the breaking out of the late war he 
turned his back upon home and friends, and 
enlisted in company E, Fifth New York cav- 
alry, known as the Harry Harris Guards, 
with which he served in the army of the Poto- 
mac under Gens. Hatch, Sheridan and Kil- 
patrick. He was engaged in the principal bat- 
tles in which the army of the Potomac took 
part and was on the famous raid under Gen. 
Kilpalrick after the fight at Chancellorsville, 
when prisoners were taken inside the fortifica- 
tions around Richmond. The list of battles 
in which his regiment was engaged is a long 
one, including Front Royal, Newtown Cross 
Road, Winchester, Orange C. H., Cedar 
Mountain, Waterloo Bridge, Groveton, second 
Bull Run, Chantilly, Hanover, Humberstown, 
Boonsboro, Culpeper C. H., Summerville 
Ford, James City, Brandy Station, Backland 
Mills, Raccoon Ford, defenses of Richmond, 
Parker's Store, Wilderness, Milford Station, 
Mount Carmel church, Ashland Station, Salem 
church, White Oak Swamp, Nottaway C. H., 
Round Oak Station, Mary Heights, Stony 
Creek, Ream's Station, Snicker's Ferry, Kerns- 
town, Summit Point, Winchester, Milford, 
Surry Valley, Waynesboro, Tom's Brook and 
Cedar Creek, a total of forty-five battles and 
twelve minor engagements, in nearly all of 
which Capt. Davis was present and did effect- 
ive service. He was taken prisoner while on 
picket duty at Fairfax Court House, January, 
1863, but was paroled after a confinement of 
only twelve hours, after which he was taken 
to Annapolis, Md., where he remained until 
exchanged. 



454 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



He rejoined his regiment after a three- 
months' absence and continued in active serv- 
ice until honorably discharged at the close of 
the war, when he returned to his old home in 
New York. Subsequently he went to Mich- 
igan, where he was employed at various occu- 
pations for eight years, and in 1883 became an 
inmate of the national soldiers' home at Day- 
ton, where he has been honored with official 
positions since September of the year follow- 
ing. In 1886 he was promoted captain and 
placed in command of company Twenty-five, 
a position of responsibility, which he still 
holds, and the duties of which he has dis- 
charged in an eminently satisfactory manner. 

Capt. Davis was a gallant soldier, unflinch- 
ing in the discharge of every duty in most try- 
ing situations, and earned his laurels on many 
battle fields. As an official he is popular alike 
with his superiors and with those under him, 
possesses executive ability of no mean order, 
and is one of the trusted guardians of the noble 
institution with which he is identified. 

Capt. Davis never married. He was made 
an Odd Fellow while a resident of Michigan, 
and has since been an active and influential 
member of the fraternity; he is also a member 
of the Union Veteran Legion, a military organ- 
ization. Politically, Capt. Davis has been a 
life-long republican; he was reared in the faith 
of the Baptish church, but, while believing in 
religion, is not identified with any church 
organization. 



aLAIBORNE M. DAVIS, undertaker 
and funeral director, is a native of 
Clark county, Ohio, where he was 
born July 2, 1850. His parents were 
Hezekiah and Druzilla Davis, both natives of 
Ohio, and his paternal ancestors were Virgin- 
ians of Scotch descent. Owing to the death 



of his parents, which occurred when he was 
quite young, Mr. Davis remembers but little of 
the family history, as he was reared among 
strangers. Like many young men who have 
been compelled to make their own way in the 
world without social prestige or monetary influ- 
ence, Mr. Davis was denied in a great measure 
the educational advantages now considered 
essential to success in life, but he made up for 
the lack of opportunities in youth by diligent 
study after reaching the years of manhood. 
By close application, after his twenty-first 
year, he advanced sufficiently in his studies to 
obtain a teacher's license, after which his time 
was divided between teaching and attending 
school, working in the meanwhile as a farm 
hand, and thus adding to his earnings and 
enabling him to pursue a course in the Ohio 
Southern Normal school. He began teaching 
in 1870, and remained in the profession for a 
period of ten years, his work during that time 
being confined to a single township in his native 
county, which fact attests his ability as a suc- 
cessful instructor. 

Severing his connection with educational 
work, Mr. Davis embarked in the undertaking 
and furniture business at Tippecanoe, Miami 
county, Ohio, where he carried on a remarka- 
bly successful trade for about seven years, at 
the end of which time, in the fall of 1887, he 
located in Dayton, where he has since operated 
an extensive undertaking business, his place, 
Nos. 1 105-7 East Fifth street, being one of the 
best known establishments of the kind in the 
city. Mr. Davis is familiar with every detail 
of his business, keeps fully abreast of the times 
in the matter of new features and improve- 
ments in the line of undertaking, and has the 
satisfaction of seeing his patronage increase 
year by year. He is a self-made man in all 
the term implies, is indebted to nobody but 
himself for financial assistance, and his life is 
a striking example of what can be done 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



455 



through a well-defined purpose to succeed, 
aided by sound judgment and industry. 

Mr. Davis was happily married to Miss 
Ella Mock, of Clark county, Ohio, and is the 
father of two bright children, Oral E. and 
Mary Georgenia, both living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Davis are members of the Baptist church, 
belonging to the Linden avenue congregation, 
of which Mr. Davis has been a deacon for 
seven years; he is also a teacher in the Sunday- 
school. Politically he is a democrat and 
fraternally holds membership in the Gem City 
lodge, No. 795, I. O. O. F. ; Linden lodge, No. 
412, K. of P., and Crown council, No. 35, of 
the Junior Order of United American Mechan- 
ics, of which he has been treasurer since its 
organization in 1888. 



WOHN DAVY, residing at No. 679 South 
fl Main street, Dayton, is one of the army 
A 1 of capable railway postal clerks, who 
are so indispensable to the business of 
this country. His birthplace was Bowman- 
ville, Ontario, where he was born February 
28, 1840. While still very young, his father 
brought him to Dayton, his mother having 
died when he was but twenty-two months old. 
Here he grew to manhood, and received a com- 
mon-school education, by which he has greatly 
profited. William Davy, his father, was of 
English extraction, and was a native of Corn- 
wall, as was also his mother. He was a car- 
penter, and thoroughly trained his son John 
in this business. His death occurred in the 
house now occupied by his son, January 21, 
1883, at the age of eighty-six years and seven 
months. He was an honest, hard-working 
man, and left his children the priceless legacy 
of a good name. Five of his family are now 
living, John being the youngest of twelve chil- 
dren. Two, Peter and Mrs. William Kelley, 



make their home in Kansas; Mary Ann is the 
wife of S. F. Bridges, and lives at Mason, 
Tex.; Jane, the widow of the late James Viele, 
resides at Toronto, Canada; the other chil- 
dren, with one exception, died in infancy or 
childhood. 

John Davy, as noted above, worked at the 
carpenter business until in the early 'sixties, 
when he enlisted June 12, 1861, in Dayton, as 
a member of company A, Eleventh Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, serving over three years. He 
was in the army of Gen. McClellan during the 
Maryland campaign, and participated in the 
battles of South Mountain, Frederick and An- 
tietam. Later, his regiment was sent into 
West Virginia, where it was attached to the 
command of Gen. J. D. Cox, afterward gov- 
ernor of Ohio. His regiment, moving to the 
West, was made a part of the famous Four- 
teenth army corps, took part in the battle of 
Chickamauga, and was an important portion 
of Turchin's brigade, and Reynold's division. 
"Old Pap" Thomas was in command, and 
never was a more desperate battle more gamely 
fought. The gallant Eleventh Ohio was at 
Missionary Ridge, and did its full share of 
fighting in the great battles around Resaca, 
Ga., that opened up the way to central 
Georgia and to the great ocean beyond. And 
down this wonderful way went the irresistible 
army of Gen. Sherman, breaking the Confed- 
eracy in two, and hastening the final collapse 
of treason. fn these scenes and experiences 
John Davy bore a brave soldier's part, and 
never shirked his duty, nor failed at the hour 
of danger. After the stormy days that pre- 
ceded Resaca, the garrison duty at that point, 
to which his regiment was assigned, seemed 
very tame and monotonous. But it was all a 
part of a soldier's life. The regiment con- 
tinued here at garrison duty until June, 1864, 
when it was ordered to return to Camp Den- 
nison, where it was mustered out of service on 



456 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the 2 ist of the month. It is one of the stand- 
ing wonders of our history, that this great 
host of warriors, more than a million men in 
all, could be returned suddenly to peaceful 
life, and be swallowed up in the great ocean 
of arts and industries of the nation. But the 
million men were like our subject, not mer- 
cenary soldiers of fortune, but citizens taking up 
arms for the safety of the nation. And when 
that was assured, they were all glad to return 
quickly and quietly to the trades and profes- 
sions they had before followed. 

Mr. Davy, now a veteran soldier, came 
back to Dayton, and resumed the carpenter 
work that he had put by for the sake of his 
country, and no doubt followed it all the more 
effectively for his military experience. He 
continued at the carpenter's bench until May, 
1868, when he accepted a position on the Day- 
ton police force. He was a model police offi- 
cer for some fourteen years, serving success- 
ively as patrolman, roundsman, sergeant and 
lieutenant, and making a fine record for careful 
attention to duty. The seventh day of No- 
vember, 1 88 1, he resigned from the force, and 
resumed his trade as a carpenter, which he fol- 
lowed until 18S5. In this year he was ap- 
pointed to the railway mail service, and was 
a vigilant and successful postal clerk, until his 
suspension in Ma)', 1889, for politicial reasons. 
On personal inquiry of high officials, he was 
informed that there were no charges of any 
kind touching his personal character or his ef- 
ficiency in the service, and was explicitly as- 
sured that the only reasons for his removal 
were political. He regarded his suspension 
from the service as only temporary, and dur- 
ing the greater part of this time he was super- 
intendent of the Dayton court house. He was 
reinstated in the railway mail service under the 
civil service rules, though he was reappointed 
without an examination, the time of his return 
to duty being May 7, 1895. His run is be- 



tween Delphos and Dayton, making the round 
trip daily, " week on and week off." 

Mr. Davy was married January 1, 1867, to 
Miss Kate M. Paullus, a native of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and to them there have been 
born three children, who are now living. The 
eldest of these, Harry P., is foreman of a 
cigar factory; John W. is a printer in the 
United Brethren Publishing House; Catherine 
Eleanor is at home. There have as yet been 
no weddings in the second generation. As 
might be imagined, our subject feels a justifi- 
able pride in his military career, and is an 
active worker in the Union Veteran Legion, 
Encampment No. 145, at Dayton. 

Mrs. Davy is a member of the United 
Brethren church, as are her children also. 
Her parents were John and Elizabeth (Laney) 
Paullus. Her father was a Virginian, while 
his wife was a native of Ohio. His parents 
came from Germany, while his wife's people 
were of Scottish origin. They had eleven 
children, of whom five are alive at this writ- 
ing: Matthew is a resident of Greenfield, Ind., 
he was in the Civil war, and served as captain 
of company G, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and is not now engaged in active 
business; he had also served in the Mexican war; 
Peter L. , who is now at home in Chicago, was 
a soldier in the same company with his brother 
and served as lieutenant; Samuel is residing 
in Preble county, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Grace is 
a resident of Dayton, and one child, Emanuel, 
died in childhood. Five passed away after 
they had come into mature life — Nancy Ella, 
Elizabeth, Hester Ann, John R. and Adam. 
This last son was also a soldier in the Thirty- 
fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, and his death 
was the result of wounds and disability in- 
curred while in the service. Mrs. Davy is the 
youngest of this large and interesting family, 
and is an active worker in the various societies 
connected with her church. Her parents died 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



457 



in Preble county, Ohio — her mother in 1848, 
and her father two years later. 

Mr. Davy is a man of strong political pro- 
clivities, and has long been an active worker 
in the democratic party, following here in the 
footsteps of his father, who was devoted to 
that organization. He is a man not afraid of 
work, and while he inherited nothing but a 
strong constitution and a good example, by 
industry and economy he has secured a con- 
venient and comfortable home. He is a mem- 
ber in good standing of Miami lodge, A. O. U. 
W., of Iola lodge, K. P., and of the uniform 
rank of the same order. 



t >^~\ AVID A. DEAN, commissioner of 
I Montgomery county, and a well- 
/^^f known citizen of the county, residing 
at Beavertown, was born at that 
place November 27, 1837. He is a son of 
Alexander Dean, one of the earliest of the pio- 
neers of Montgomery county, who came to this 
county in 18 12, from Pennsylvania, his native 
state. He was one of the prominent men of 
his day, being elected justice of the peace and 
appointed postmaster of his town, serving in 
each capacity for many years. He died at the 
age of eighty-two years in 1882. His wife was 
Susanna Lemmon, a daughter of David Lem- 
mon, and a native of Montgomery county. 
David Lemmon, like Alexander Dean, was one 
of the pioneers of Montgomery county. 

David A. Dean was reared in Beavertown, 
and was there educated in the public schools. 
He followed farming until the war, and then 
enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-first 
regiment, O. V. I., with which he served one 
hundred days. After the war he began work- 
ing at the carpenter's trade, and continued so 
to labor for twenty years. His reputation for 
sound judgment and fairness became so well 
established that he was elected justice of the 



peace in the spring of 1878, and by successive 
re-elections he continued to hold that position 
for six terms of three years each, or eighteen 
consecutive years. He also served as town- 
ship clerk for one term. 

In 1895, Mr. Dean was elected, as a repub- 
lican, to the office of commissioner of Mont- 
gomery county, taking possession of his office 
on the first Monday in January, 1896. He is 
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
and he and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church of Beavertown. Mr. Dean 
was married in the fall of 1S58 to Cornelia 
Darner, who- was born in Montgomery county, 
and who is a daughter of Jacob Darner, a 
farmer of that county. To this marriage there 
have been born eight children, seven of whom, 
two sons and five daughters, are living. One 
of the sons and four of the daughters are mar- 
ried. Mr. Dean is one of the best known men 
in the county, and in his long term of service 
as a justice he has not only won the confidence 
of every class by his strong practical sense and 
his judicial impartiality, but has given the best 
evidence of the value and necessity of the 
magistrate's court in the community. 



BM. COMPTON, attorney and coun- 
selor at law, of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born October 19, 1863, near Franklin, 
Warren county, Ohio. He lived on 
his father's farm until he was sixteen years of 
age, when he attended the preparatory depart- 
ment of the National normal university at Leba- 
non, Ohio. From this school he graduated in 
1884, having in the meantime spent two years 
traveling in the interest of The Hall Safe & 
Lock company of Cincinnati, Ohio. 

After leaving the Lebanon institution he 
taught the school in the village of Blue Ball, 
Warren county, Ohio, which he had attended 
before going to Lebanon. In the fall of 



458 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1885 he entered as a law student the office of 
Craighead & Craighead, in Dayton, remaining 
with them for two years, and was then admitted 
to the bar, but continued with the above firm 
for one year longer. In January, 1S89, he 
opened an office for the practice of his profes- 
sion, in Dayton, and two years later formed a 
partnership with Hon. D. W. Allaman, which 
was dissolved at the end of one year, by reason 
of the election of Mr. Allaman to the legisla- 
ture. Since then Mr. Compton has prosecuted 
the practice of the law alone. He is now at- 
torney for the American Loan & Savings as- 
sociation, and is generally recognized as a safe 
and sound counselor. 

Mr. Compton was married in November, 
1890, to Miss Nellie Probasco, daughter of the 
late Firman Probasco, of Middletown, Ohio, 
and they have two children. Mr. Compton, 
while not a seeker for political preferment, is 
an active adherent of the republican party. 
He is one of the most ready and forcible speak- 
ers among the men of his age at the Mont- 
gomery county bar. 



>Y*OHN FRIEND DeBRA, M. D., phy- 
m sician and surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, 
(% J located at No. 1902 East Third street, 
is a grandson of Daniel DeBra, who 
came from Alsace, then a district of France, 
as a soldier of LaFayette, and served as a 
lieutenant with that friend of America all 
through the Revolutionary war. The Revo- 
tion having come to a close, he located at 
Baltimore, and there married Elizabeth Friend, 
by whom he had r.en sons and three daughters. 
The father of John F. was also named Daniel. 
He was reared in Maryland and learned the 
trade of cabinetmaker. In 1802 he came to 
Ohio, settling in Miami county, where he lived 
the rest of his life, and where he was one of 
the leading characters in that part of the coun- 



try, and served as colonel of the militia. Early 
in life he was a democrat, but later became a 
free-soiler, and was quite prominent in local 
affairs. He was the first to advocate temper- 
ance in his section of the country, and died in 
1844. He married Miss Mary Langston, a 
daughter of Lazarus Langston, one of the first 
settlers in Upton, Preble county, Ohio. He 
and his wife were the parents of five children, 
as follows: Rebecca, wife of Obed Macy, of 
Troy, Ohio; Alfred, a carpenter and builder 
of Miami county, Ohio; Dr. John F. ; Cynthia, 
wife of Dr. A. H. Iddings, of Dayton, Ohio; 
and Daniel, of Pleasant Hill, Miami county, 
Ohio, and an ex-soldier of the Union army, 
who was wounded in the battle of the Wil- 
derness. 

Dr. John F. DeBra was born August 16, 
1837, and when he was but seven years of age 
his father died; since then he has practically 
taken care of himself. The time from the 
death of his father until he reached his eight- 
eenth year was one of trial, trouble and hard- 
ship, with but little encouragement from any 
source. Up to that time he had received no 
education, but he was then induced to attend 
school, and after receiving one winter's in- 
struction he became so determined to inform 
himself that he borrowed the funds necessary 
to meet the expense of a brief course of study 
in college. The next fall he secured a certifi- 
cate for twelve months to teach school, and 
from that time he has gradually risen through 
his own exertions and unaided efforts. He at- 
tended Antioch college at Yellow Springs, tak- 
ing there an academic course; then, beginning 
to read medicine with the view of making that 
profession his life work, he afterward attended 
the Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati, where 
he graduated in 1870, having, however, been 
engaged in practice previous to his graduation 
for some ten years. Dr. DeBra located first 
in Darke county, Ohio, at Hill Grove, where 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



459 



he remained until 1876, when he removed to 
Miamisburg, Montgomery count}'. There he 
remained engaged in active practice until 18S4, 
when he was appointed physician to the agency 
of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians, at 
Fort Reno, I. T. , which place he filled for five 
years. Retiring from this position, he located 
in Dayton, where he has ever since been en- 
gaged in practice. In 1893 he was county 
physician of Montgomery county. He is a 
member of the Montgomery county Medical 
society, also of the Ohio state Medical asso- 
ciation. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, a Knight Templar, and a Knight of 
Pythias. Politically he is a democrat. Dr. 
DeBra was married April 23, 1863, to Miss 
Susannah Ohlinger, a daughter of John Ohl- 
inger, of Center, Montgomery county. To 
this marriage there has been born one child, 
Charles E., of Dayton. Charles E. DeBra 
married Miss Mittie Willis, of Louisville, Ky. 
They are the parents of two children, Ouida 
and Lillian. 

Dr. DeBra is a man of wide knowledge and 
extensive experience, and has collected many 
valuable curios which adorn his home. He 
has been successful in life, has contributed 
many valuable articles to the medical press, 
and is in every way a credit to his profession. 



>nr , OSEPH J. DEGER, proprietor of the 
■ Banner bakery and wholesale dealer in 
A j confections and fancy groceries, was 
born in Martinsburg, Champion county, 
Va. (now West Virginia), May 22, 1857. 
When he was three years of age his parents re- 
moved to Saint Louis, Mo., and there his fa- 
ther, Michael Deger, enlisted in the Second 
Missouri regiment volunteer infantry, under 
Gen. Rosecrans. During the war the family 
remained in Saint Louis, removing to Dayton, 
Ohio, in 1865. Michael Deger then engaged 



in the bakery business, which he followed until 
his death in 1893. His widow is still carrying 
on the business left by her husband. 

Joseph J. Deger received his preliminary 
education in the parochial schools, and after- 
ward took a course of instruction in the Miami 
Commercial college. He then served an ap- 
prenticeship at the bakery business under the 
instruction of his father, with whom he re- 
mained until 1885, having for some years the 
management of the entire business. During 
the year last mentioned he erected a building 
at the corner of Washington and Perry streets, 
in which he began business for himself, engag- 
ing in baking, and dealing in wholesale confec- 
tionery and fancy groceries. Since then he 
has been constantly thus engaged at the same 
location. Mr. Deger has been a member of 
the Catholic Gesellen society for twenty-three 
years. He assisted in building the present 
temple and has held the office of trustee for 
four years. He has also been for nineteen 
years a member of Commandery No. 115, 
Catholic Knights of Saint George. Of this so- 
ciety he has been messenger two years, a trus- 
tee two years and treasurer six years. He has 
also been treasurer of the uniform rank, com- 
mandery No. 115, Catholic Knights of Saint 
George, for fifteen years. He is also a mem- 
ber of colony No. 4, American Sons of Colum- 
bus, and has been treasurer of the society for 
four years. The office of senior major of the 
Seventh battalion of the Knights of Saint John, 
now the Third regiment, he has held for seven 
years. Mr. Deger is a member of Chickasaw 
commandery, No. 108, Sons of Veterans. For 
the past nineteen years he has been a member 
of the Orphans' society, and of commandery 
No. 132, Knights of Saint John, division D. He 
is also a member of branch No. 58, C. M. B. A. 
and of branch No. 192, C. K. of A. For the 
past fifteen years he has been a member of the 
Dayton Bakers' Beneficial association, and is a 



460 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



member of the Eclipse club. Mr. Deger is a 
member of Emanuel Catholic church, which 
was organized by Rev. Emmanuel Thienpont 
in 1837. Thus it will be seen that he is promi- 
nent in society activities and has Jield many 
places of trust and honor through the confi- 
dence of his associates. 

Mr. Deger was married in 1880 to Miss 
Ada M. Feldmann, of Dayton. To this mar- 
riage there have been born nine children, as 
follows: Marie C. ; Charles M. ; Emma, de- 
ceased; Helen; Clara, deceased; Eddie; Adella; 
Vincent and Lucille. 

Mr. Deger's success in life has been the re- 
sult of industry and wisely applied business 
principles. He is a representative of the Ger- 
man thrift and sound judgment that have so 
largely contributed to the prosperity of Dayton. 




>HOMAS PENRYN EVANS, chief en- 
gineer at the national military home, 
of Dayton, Ohio, is a native of Den- 
bigh, Wales, and was born March 12, 
1852. He lived in his birthplace until thirteen 
years of age, attending the public schools. His 
parents, Peter and Jane Evans, died in Wales 
— the father, who was a farmer, at the age of 
seventy-two years, and the mother at the age 
of seventy. Five sons and five daughters con- 
stituted the family, and of these Thomas P. 
and two brothers came to America in the year 
1865; of these three brothers, John P. died 
while an employee, as engineer, at the home 
waterworks, and Peter D. is now filling the 
position thus made vacant. On coming to 
America, Thomas P. Evans passed two years 
on an uncle's farm in Delaware county, Ohio, 
and also attended school in the neighborhood. 
He then went to Columbus, Ohio, where he 
learned engineering, and then, having become 
competent, was employed as engineer at the 
deaf and dumb asylum for four years. Shortly 



afterward he went to California and erected 
the first granite polishing machine on the Pa- 
cific coast; the year following he was employed 
as engineer at the Xenia (Ohio) orphans' home, 
and then, for a year, at the blind asylum in 
Columbus. For six years thereafter he was 
engineer at the imbecile asylum in Columbus, 
and in 1883 came to the soldiers' home in 
Dayton, where he has since had charge of all 
the motive power machinery. Mr. Evans is a 
most ingenious mechanic, and is the inventor 
and patentee of an economical device entitled 
the Evans duplex oil burner, which has been 
approved and endorsed by scores of manufac- 
turing firms in Dayton and elsewhere. 

Mr. Evans was married at Columbus, in 
1879, to Miss Carrie Wieler, a native of that 
city and a daughter of Capt. Wieler, a German 
and a soldier in the Mexican war. Of the two 
children born to the marriage of Thomas P. 
and Carrie (Wieler) Evans, Eva Elsie died at 
the age of sixteen months, and Edith Edna, 
now sixteen years old, is a student in Miss 
Arnold's wel-lknown young ladies' academy at 
Dayton. The mother of Mr. Evans is passing 
her declining days at his home. In his frater- 
nal relations, Mr. Evans has been a member 
of Columbus lodge, No. 9, I. O. O. F. , since 
1873, and is also a member of Buckeye en- 
campment, No. 148, and canton Ohio, No. 1, 
of P. M. of the same order, at Columbus, and 
in this, as well as in the subordinate lodge, he 
has held various official positions; he is, beside, 
a member of Franklin lodge, No. 5, of Colum- 
bus, K. of P., and a member of Dayton lodge, 
A. F. & A. M., and of the order of Knights of 
the Mystic Shrine, No. 1 ; also of Ohio C. Y. 
C. , No. 1, of the World, and of Gem City 
senate, No. 11, K. A. E. O. Mr. and Mrs. 
Evans, with their daughter, are members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

In politics Mr. Evans is an independent re- 
publican. In 1890, he was appointed by Gov. 




&£* ' fp i^+Pet^,^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



463 



Campbell, a democrat, as trustee of the deaf 
and dumb asylum at Columbus, and in 1892 
was re-appointed to the same position by Gov. 
McKinley, a republican, but resigned in 1895. 



at 



TLLIAM DENISE, was born in 
Butler county, Ohio, May 13, 1826, 
and is a son of John S. and Mar- 
garet (Clarke) Denise. 

John S. Denise, father of William, was 
born in New Jersey, a son of William Denise, 
a soldier in the war of 1812. The father of 
William was also named William, and came 
from France to America with the Marquis de 
Lafayette, served under him through the Rev- 
olutionary war, and, at the close of that great 
struggle, settled in New Jersey. The maternal 
great-grandfather of our subject was also a 
hero of the Revolution. John S. Denise was 
a pioneer of Darke county, Ohio, having set- 
tled there before the removal of the Indians, 
and there he and his wife ended their days, 
leaving, beside William, the following children: 
Aaron, now over seventy-one years of age, re- 
siding on the Darke county homestead; Ellen, 
now the widow Farra, residing on the same 
farm; Margaret, who is married to Elijah Mc- 
Connell, a business man of Greenville; Rhoda 
Jane, who never married and who lives with 
her brother Aaron; Obediah, unmarried, who 
also lives on the old farm; Mrs. Lottie Van 
Tillburg, who reared a family, and is now de- 
ceased. 

William Denise, after the removal of his 
parents from Butler to Darke county, lived 
with his paternal grandfather until the death 
of the latter, when he joined his parents, he 
being then about eighteen years of age. He 
learned his trade in Greenville, and later 
worked with his father at millwright and joiner 
work. He has construeted many a dwelling 
from the tree to completion, making the sash, 



doors, etc. by hand and understanding wood- 
work thoroughly, while his father could make 
anything of wood, from a spinning-wheel to a 
threshing machine. 

Mr. Denise was first married, in Greenville, 
to Miss Catherine Jarber, who lived one year 
only after the union, and four years after her 
decease Mr. Denise wedded Mrs. Maria 
(Price) McLean, this marriage also taking 
place in Greenville, forty-one years ago. Mrs. 
Denise was born in Dayton December 25, 
1829, and has borne to Mr. Denise six chil- 
dren, namely: John Winner, Estella and 
Luella (twins), of whom the latter died at the 
age of fourteen years ; Catherine ; Fannie, now 
the wife of Gus Kimerling, railroad ticket 
agent in Hamilton, Ohio; and George, who 
died at the age of four years. 

Mr. Denise settled in Dayton in 1857, and 
engaged as a traveling salesman, handling farm 
machinery for two years. He next made an 
engagement with J. C. Drew, of Louisiana, 
and went to Erath county, Tex. Returning 
to Dayton at the outbreak of the Civil war, 
Mr. Denise engaged for some years in house 
building by contract. 

In politics Mr. Denise was formerly a whig, 
as were his ancestors, but he is now a strong 
republican. That the patriotic spirit of their 
ancestors has not died out in the Denise fam- 
ily is shown by the fact that Aaron, brother of 
William, served from the beginning to the end 
of the Civil war and was in forty engage- 
ments ; Obadiah, another brother, served four 
years ; and two cousins were killed at Chicka- 
mauga. The earliest recollection that Mr. 
Denise retains of the Indians dates from his 
fifth year, when he saw 1,700 red men that 
were being transferred by the government to a 
reservation prepared for them, and later saw 
about 1,500 wild Indians in Tesch Point. In 
clearing up the old farm near Greenville he 
plowed up the foundation of the block-house 



464 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



built by Gen. Wayne, and saw, at Fort Recov- 
ery, skulls that were washed out of their shal- 
low graves and each bearing the marks of the 
Indian's tomahawk. 



>-j* OSEPH L. DEGER, member of the 
m Dayton city council and ex-United 
/• 1 States storekeeper in the revenue serv- 
ice, was born in Dayton, Ohio, March 
13, 1852. His father, Joseph Deger, was a 
native of Hohenzollern, a province of Prussia, 
and reached the United States about 1848, 
coming direct to Dayton. By trade he was a 
stonecutter, following that occupation up to 
the time of his death, which occurred Febru- 
ary 16, 1864. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Scholastica Spitznagel, was a native of the 
grand duchy of Baden, and was married to Mr. 
Deger in the old country. She died in March, 
1893. Joseph Deger and his wife were the 
parents of eight children, six of whom are still 
living, as follows: Louisa, widow of Henry 
Kastner, of Dayton; Anna, wife of Frederick 
Seiboldt, of Gabon, Ohio; Joseph L. ; Peter, 
of Springfield, Ohio; J. William, of Dayton, 
Ohio, and Rosa, widow of Henry Claude, of 
Dayton. Charles and Clara were the names 
of the two deceased. 

Joseph L. Deger was reared in Dayton, and 
was educated in the parochial schools. At the 
age of twelve years he began life for himself, 
working at different occupations until he 
reached his sixteenth year, when he began 
an apprenticeship to the stonecutter's trade. 
This trade he followed until he was twenty- 
three years of age, when he became salesman 
for C. A. Trentman, wholesale coffee and spice 
dealer, continuing thus employed until 1883. 
He then established himself in the grocery 
business, in which he has since been engaged. 
His place of business is at the corner of Haynes 
street and Van Cleve avenue, east end. 



Mr. Deger was married in 1873 to Mary 
Zimmerman, who was born in Baden, Ger- 
many, January 20, 1852, and came to the 
United States in 1854. Her parents were Cas- 
per and Katherine (Zugelder) Zimmerman, the 
former of whom died in New York soon after 
arriving in this country, and the latter in Day- 
ton, Ohio, shortly after she reached this place. 
The grandparents of Mary Zimmerman came 
to this country at the same time with her par- 
ents, and by them she was reared after the 
death of her father and mother. 

To the marriage of Joseph L. Deger and 
his wife there have been born six children, as 
follows: Joseph H., May S., Carrie L., Ver- 
nie R. , Leo E., and Urban J., the last two de- 
ceased. In April, 1894, Mr. Deger was elected 
to the city council from the Sixth ward, but 
since that time the wards have been so changed 
that he now represents the Eighth. On May 
13, 1895, he was appointed, by Collector Dow- 
ling, storekeeper in the United States govern- 
ment revenue service, with headquarters first 
at Clifton Springs, Cincinnati, and later at 
Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio. He 
resigned from the revenue service in April, 1 S96, 
to take the position of collector for the Nick 
Thomas brewery, which position he now holds. 
Fraternally Mr. Deger is a member of the 
Knights of Saint George, commanderies Nos. 
104 and 131; of the Badenser Verein; Elsas 
Lothringen; and of the Independent Order of 
Foresters, court Dayton, No. 1000. He and 
his family are members of the Holy Trinity 
Catholic church, which, as an offshoot from 
Emanuel church, was organized in i860. For 
about twenty-three years Mr. Deger has been 
quite prominent in the Knights of Saint George, 
having served as captain of commandery No. 
104, and also as captain of commandery No. 
131, for several years. From October, 1892, 
to February, 1896, he served as colonel of the 
Seventh battalion of that order, resigning his 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



465 



office at the date last mentioned. In all rela- 
tions of life, business, religious and official, 
Mr. Deger is thoroughly reliable, and performs 
all his duties with an eye single to the good of 
his society, his church and the community at 
large. 



HLBERT DHEIN, secretary of the 
board of health of Dayton, was born 
at Saint Mary's, Auglaize county, 
Ohio, August 30, 1868. He is a son 
of Philip and Anna (Laur) Dhein, both natives 
of Germany. They were married in Milwau- 
kee, and from that city removed to Dayton, 
Ohio. After living in Dayton a short time they 
removed to Saint Mary's, subsequently return- 
ing to Dayton, where they are now residing at 
No. 415 Oak street. By trade, Philip Dhein 
is a molder, and was foreman for John Dodds, 
manufacturer of hay rakes, for many years. 
To Philip and Anna Dhein there were born 
five sons, all of whom are living, as follows: 
Leopold P., Rudolph J., Henry J., Charles 
G., and Albert. 

Albert Dhein has lived in Dayton ever since 
he was six months old, and received his edu- 
cation wholly in the public schools of this city, 
except that he took a commercial course in 
the Miami Commercial college, and afterward 
a course in stenography in Beck's Commercial 
college in Dayton. Previous to taking these 
courses he had worked in his brother's foun- 
dry in the east end of the city for several years. 
He was appointed to his present position as 
secretary of the board of health, in Decem- 
ber, 1894, to fill a vacancy, was re-appointed 
in June, 1895, for one year, and again in 1896. 
Fraternally, Mr. Dhein is a member of Gem 
City lodge, I. O. O. F. , and politically he is and 
always has been a democrat, having taken an 
active part in city politics for a number of 
years. He is devoted to the prosperity of the 



city of Dayton, and is diligent and efficient in 
the discharge of the duties incident to his 
official position. 



OLIVER EDGAR DAVIDSON, presi- 
dent of the board of city affairs of 
Dayton, was born in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, on 
August 24, 1857, and is the son of O. G. H. 
and Charlotta (Grauser) Davidson, both na- 
tives of Montgomery county. O. G. H. 
Davidson was born at Germantown, Ohio, on 
November 28, 1827, and was the son of James 
J. and Harriet (Eichelberger) Davidson. He 
was a prominent man in the county, and held 
various official positions. In March, 1861, he 
became superintendent of the county infirm- 
ary, and in the fall of 1864 he was elected 
sheriff of Montgomery county, and removed 
to Dayton in January of the following year. 
He was re-elected to the sheriff's office, serving 
two full terms. Afterwards he was in the 
French burr millstone business for several 
years. He also held the office of land ap- 
praiser at two different times, and before his 
death, on December 29, 1893, he was engaged 
in the real-estate business in Dayton. His 
widow survives and resides in this city. To 
the parents four sons and four daughters were 
born, of whom two sons died in infancy. The 
father was a member of the I. O. O. F. fra- 
ternity and of the Lutheran church. 

Oliver E. Davidson was reared in Dayton 
and was educated in the public and high 
schools. He taught school in the country for 
a number of years. In March, 1887, he was 
appointed secretary of the Dayton police 
board, which position he held until April 19, 
1894, serving under different administrations, 
and resigning to accept the appointment as a 
member of the board of city affairs. In 1 897 
he was made president of that board. Mr. 



466 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Davidson is a member of the K. of P. and 
B. P. O. E. fraternities. He was married, in 
1880, to Miss Mattie Hosier, of Dayton, and 
one son has been born to their union. 



*-|- J EWIS P. EARNSHAW, M. D., phy- 
r sician and surgeon, of Dayton, Ohio, 
1^^ with office at No. 1225 West Fifth 
street, was born February 23, 1872, 
at the national soldiers' home, near Dayton, 
his father. Rev. William Earnshavv, being at 
the time chaplain of that institution. Previ- 
ous to her marriage his mother's name was 
Margaret Hutchison. Rev. William Earnshaw 
was appointed the first chaplain of the Cen- 
tral branch of the national soldiers' home 
September 5, 1867, and served until his death, 
July 17, 1885. Prior to his appointment he 
had served in various places as minister and 
chaplain, achieving a high reputation in his 
profession. He was born in Pennsylvania, of 
English and Irish parentage. Before the war 
of the Rebellion he was a minister of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and during the Rebel- 
lion was chaplain of the Forty-ninth Pennsyl- 
vania volunteers. Then, for a year or two, 
he had charge of the national cemeteries, and 
finally was appointed chaplain of the Central 
branch, as above stated. He and his wife 
were the parents of five children, as follows: 
Minnie W., wife of B. F. Hershey, of Day- 
ton, Ohio; William B., secretary of the Day- 
ton Malleable Iron company; Margaret H., 
wife of R. H. Grubbs, of Pittsburg, Pa. ; Fred- 
erick, deceased, and Lewis P., the subject of 
this sketch. 

Lewis P. Earnshaw was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton and later at the 
Western university of Pennsylvania. Having 
completed his literary education he began 
reading medicine with Dr. George Goodhue, 
of Dayton, a biographical sketch of whom ap- 



pears elsewhere in this volume, afterward at- 
tending the Miami Medical college of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, from which institution he was 
graduated with the class of 1895. He at once 
located in Dayton and began the practice of 
his profession. He is devoting himself to gen- 
eral practice, and has met with gratifying suc- 
cess, being, as he is, one of the youngest 
members of the profession in the city. Dr. 
Earnshaw is a member of the Montgomery 
county Medical society, and of Grace Method- 
ist Episcopal church. He is one of the pro- 
gressive young men and physicians of the city 
of Dayton, and doubtless has a successful and 
useful career in store for him. 



at 



ILLIAM HAVELOCK CRAW- 
FORD, president of the Crawford, 
McGregor & Canby company, man- 
ufacturers of lasts, of Dayton, was 
born in that city, November 22, 1863. He is 
a son of Charles H. and Sarah (Thresher) 
Crawford, the latter of whom was a daughter 
of Ebenezer Thresher and a sister of E. M. 
Thresher, who is a prominent business man of 
Dayton. Mrs. Crawford's death occurred in 
1880. A full biographical sketch of Charles 
H. Crawford may be found elsewhere in this 
volume. 

William Havelock Crawford was reared in 
his native city and received his preliminary 
education in the Second district school, subse- 
quently attending the famous Cooper academy 
and still later taking a course of study in Miami 
Commercial college. In 1883 he began work- 
ing in the last factory of Crawford, Coffman 
& Co. During the first four years of his serv- 
ice in this company he filled various positions, 
beginning as shipping clerk, and following 
this by working in all the departments of the 
factory, in order to qualify himself for the sub- 
sequent management of the business, in case 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



467 



that responsibility should in time come to him. 
Having acquired a thorough knowledge of the 
business in all its phases he was taken into the 
office of the company as bookkeeper. While 
employed in this capacity he had charge of the 
sales of the goods to a considerable extent, 
and afterward traveled in the interests of the 
firm. Upon the death of Charles H. Crawford 
in 1887, William H. succeeded to his father's 
interests, taking general charge of the business, 
which during the past nine years has increased 
some tenfold, a growth which is largely due to 
the ability of the son. 

In 1886 the firm of Crawford, Coffman & 
Co. sold out to the firm of Crawford, McGregor 
& Canby, this partnership continuing until 
March, 1896, when the industry was incorpor- 
ated under the name of the Crawford, Mc- 
Gregor & Canby Co. , consisting of the three 
original members and W. J. Blakeney, O. A. 
Woodruff, and W. H. Kempert. The officers 
of this company at its formation were, and 
always have been, W. H. Crawford, president; 
John McGregor, vice-president and general 
manager; and W. J. Blakeney, secretary and 
treasurer. 

In 1884 Mr. Crawford was instrumental in 
organizing the Last Makers' National associa- 
tion, consisting of thirty-seven members, and 
of this association Mr. Crawford was the first 
president and has been twice re-elected. He 
is now filling the position of director in the 
Dayton board of trade, in the Computing Scale 
company of Dayton, and in the Homestead 
Aid association. 

Mr. Crawford was married November 4, 
1886, to Miss Mary A. Cunningham, daughter 
of D. O. Cunningham, glass manufacturer of 
Pittsburg. Three children have been born to 
this union, viz: Marie Madeline, Charles 
Henry, and William Havelock. Mr. and Mrs. 
Crawford are members of the First Baptist 
church. Mr. Crawford is also a member of the 



Dayton club and of the Young Men's Christian 
association. The personal characteristics of 
Mr. Crawford, his love of right and duty, his 
strong business capacity, are only referred to 
in this connection, as they are more fully dis- 
cussed and developed in the biography of his 
father, Charles H. Crawford. 



ZENAS A. CRAIG, president of the 
Craig-Reynolds Foundry company 
of Dayton, was born in Richland, 
Miss. , on the ist day of April, 1864. His 
father was Robert Craig, who came to Day- 
ton in 1866, and was one of the well-known 
men of this city for many years. He was a 
native of the north of Ireland, and came to the 
United States when about eighteen years of 
age. He resided in the east for a time and 
then went south to Mississippi, where he en- 
gaged in mercantile business and in planting, 
conducting a large business and owning one or 
more plantations. He was succeeded in this 
business by his sons, Robert E., now of New 
Orleans, where he is president of the New 
Orleans Water Works company and identified 
with several of the Crescent City's banks, and 
W. C. and T. H., now of Yazoo City. Another 
son is John R. , a member of the Craig- Rey- 
nolds company. The father died in Dayton, 
April 1, 1894, and his wife January 3, 1891. 

Zenas A. Craig was reared in Dayton and 
educated in the public schools, at Cooper 
seminary and at Commercial college. After 
filling various clerical positions in retail stores, 
he, at the age of twenty-one years, became 
shipping clerk at the Farmers' Friend Manu- 
facturing company, which position he held for 
about three years, when he was promoted to 
the place of bookkeeper in addition. He re- 
mained with the above concern for five years, 
and in 1891 organized the firm of Marlay, 
Craig & Co., jobbing foundry men, which firm 



n;s 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in 1893 was merged into the Craig-Reynolds 
Co., of which Mr. Craig was made president 
at the organization. He was married June 1, 
1890, to Miss Carrie, the daughter of Thorn- 
ton Gilbert, Esq. , of Dayton. Mr. Craig is a 
member of the Buckeye Gun club, and of the 
National Union insurance order. 



<a 



'ILLIAM DENSMORE, coal-dealer, 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born in the 
city of Cincinnati, on the 11th of 
January, 1845. His father, Capt. 
Andrew Densmore, was of Irish descent, 
and his mother, whose maiden name was Re- 
becca Simpkins, was born in New Jersey, in 
1822, and died in her sixty-sixth year. An- 
drew Densmore, whose birth occurred at Co- 
lumbus Grove, Ohio, in 18 10, was for many 
years engaged in the canal trade, and was cap- 
tain of a boat until his death at Dayton, on 
September 13, 1864. The family of Andrew 
and Rebecca Densmore consisted of five chil- 
dren, all now living, William being the eldest; 
the names of the others are, Andrew, a busi- 
ness man of Dayton; John, of the same city; 
Benjamin and Harry, the last two being also 
engaged in business in Dayton. 

William Densmore was brought to Dayton 
by his parents when a child of three years, and 
received his education in the city schools. 
For a number of years he was employed upon 
the canal with his father, upon whose death 
William succeeded him as captain on the 
Miami canal and followed boating for about 
fifteen years, the greater part of which time 
was spent in carrying stone from the quarries 
to Dayton and Cincinnati. He was thus en- 
gaged from 1863 until 1884, at which time he 
embarked in his present business in Dayton. 
Mr. Densmore deals in all kinds of coal, 
wood, etc., and has met with encouraging 
success, being enterprising and wide awake 



and thoroughly familiar with every detail of 
the trade. 

Mr. Densmore was married February 1, 
1887, to Miss Olive Ogier, a native of Rich- 
mond, Ind., where her birth occurred Septem- 
ber 29, 1868. The parents of Mrs. Densmore 
were Julius and Sarah (Swalem) Ogier, natives 
respectively of Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio, 
both born in the year 1841. They reared a 
family of four children, viz: Harry, Olive, 
Wilbur and Sylvia. Mr. and Mrs. Ogier were 
reared in Dayton and subsequently removed 
to Indiana, where they remained for a limited 
period, returning to Dayton where they still 
reside. Mr. Ogier served in the Eleventh Ohio 
infantry, was one of the first to reach the top of 
Lookout mountain, and planted the flag there 
before the enemy were driven from the strong- 
hold. He received at the same time a severe 
wound which disabled him for life. His fam- 
ily is of French origin, his father having been 
born in the city of Versailles, France; while 
Mrs. Ogier's parents were Germans. 

Mr. and Mrs. Densmore have one child, 
Lewis, who was born October 31, 1889. Mr. 
Densmore is independent politically and votes 
his sentiments regardless of party ties. He is 
a successful business man, and one of the sub- 
stantial citizens of the city in which he resides. 



HUGUST J. F. DIERS, the popular 
shoe-dealer of Dayton, was born in 
this city January 17, 1862. He is a 
son of Lewis H. and Catherine Diers, 
natives of Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, who 
came to America about the year 1850, and set- 
tled in Dayton, where Mrs. Catherine Diers 
died in December, 1891. Lewis H. Diers, 
who is a carpenter by trade, is now living in 
retirement. 

Angust J. F. Diers was educated in the 
public schools of his native city until twelve 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



469 



years of age, when he found employment in 
the leather store of Mr. Martin for one year, 
and then entered the Barney & Smith car 
works as an apprentice in the upholstering de- 
partment, serving there for eighteen months. 
He then entered the service of D. C. Arnold 
as clerk in the shoe trade, and in this employ 
he remained for fifteen years, when he en- 
gaged in the shoe business on his own account, 
uniting with Wilson G. Tanner, under the firm 
name of Diers & Tanner, mention of whom is 
made in the biography of Mr. Tanner. The 
partnership is now dissolved, and Mr. Diers 
has succeeded to the business as sole proprietor. 
The prosperity that has attended the firm in 
the past is the best indication of Mr. Diers' 
future success. 

Mr. Diers is a member of Linden lodge, 
No. 412, Knights of Pythias. On October 9, 
1884, he married Miss Mary Hunt, daughter of 
Josiah Hunt, of Dayton, and one child has 
been born to them, a son, Harry. Mr. and 
Mrs. Diers are members of the First Lutheran 
church. Mr. Diers has earned a reputation 
for sagacity and industry, and by close and in- 
telligent attention to the daily demands of a 
business life, has placed himself in the front 
rank of Dayton's reliable and progressive 
young business men. 



<*S~\ ROF. JOHN MARION EBERT, prin- 

1 W cipal of the Nineteenth public school 
j district of Dayton, Ohio, and a very 

popular educator, was born in Kosci- 
usko county, Ind., March 12, 1852, and is re- 
motely of German ancestry. His parents, 
Charles and Christina (Houser) Ebert, how- 
ever, were natives of the Buckeye state, and, 
after marriage, removed to Indiana, where the 
father, who was a farmer by occupation, died 
in Kosciusko county while still in young man- 
hood. After this sad event the mother re- 



turned to her people in Ohio, with whom she 
lived until her decease at the age of fifty- 
nine years. The death of the father also 
caused a separation of the children, of whom 
there were four, our subject being the young- 
est, the others being Mary Ann, now the widow 
of Daniel F. Miller and a resident of Gratis, 
Preble county, Ohio; Elizabeth, a resident of 
the same place and widow of John Etter, and 
Thomas William, who is in the employ of the 
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad company, with 
headquarters at Garrett, Ind. 

Owing to the early death of their father, 
the children were not abundantly furnished 
with the means for securing an education, and 
were to a great extent dependent upon them- 
selves for its acquirement, and their effort in 
this direction happily met with success. John 
M. Ebert learned his early lessons in the pub- 
lic schools of Montgomery county, Ohio, 
whither he had been taken when a mere child, 
and at the age of about twenty years was him- 
self prepared to conduct a school. For sev- 
eral years he alternated between teaching and 
attending the more advanced schools, and 
about 1885 began his career as principal in 
graded school work in Farmersville, Montgom- 
ery county, holding his first appointment in 
this responsible grade for four years. He then 
removed to Dayton, and for two years taught 
a school near the city limits, until in Septem- 
ber, 1894, he was elected to his present posi- 
tion of principal of the Nineteenth district. 
This is the latest organized of the public school 
districts of Dayton, comprises twelve depart- 
ments, with twelve teachers and 350 pupils in 
attendance, and Prof. Ebert is daily increasing 
its efficiency and usefulness. 

Mr. Ebert was united in marriage at Farm- 
ersville, Ohio, September 16, 1881, with Miss 
Ella N. Riegel, a native of Montgomery 
county. Her parents are Franklin J. and 
Catherine Riegel, the former a retired farmer, 



470 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and now, with his wife, residing at Farmers- 
ville. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Ebert has 
been blessed with two sons, Owen Leroy and 
Robert Laird, aged respectively thirteen and 
five years. 

Mr. Ebert is a member of Miamisburg 
lodge, No. 44, K. of P. In religion he and 
his wife are members of the Fourth Reformed 
church of Dayton. While not aggressive in 
political matters, his affiliations are with the 
democratic party, and under its auspices he 
served one term as mayor of Farmersville, 
which position he resigned on his appointment 
as principal of the schools of that city. In 
August, 1892, he was appointed, by the pro- 
bate court of Montgomery county, a member 
of the county board of examiners, in which 
capacity he acted for three years, one-half of 
this period as president of the board. 

Prof. Ebert has filled these several posi- 
tions with ability and faithfulness, creditably 
to himself and satisfactorily to the public 
whom he has thus served. 



(D 



RS. MARTHA JANE ROUZER, 
president of the John Rouzer com. 
pany and widow of John Rouzer, the 
founder thereof, is a native of Day- 
ton, was born July 24, 1836, and educated in 
the public schools and higher educational in- 
stitutions of the city, receiving a training which 
included a study of the classics as well as of 
the ordinary branches of knowledge. 

The parents of Mrs. Rouzer were Henry 
and Susannah (Johnson) Diehl, the former of 
whom was born in Hagerstown, Md., in 1800; 
the latter was born in Pennsylvania and was 
some years her husband's junior. They were 
married in Dayton, Ohio, where Mr. Diehl was 
engaged extensively in chair making, and to 
their union were born four daughters, viz: 
Ann Eliza, who became Mrs. William Horn 



and died at about forty years of age; Martha 
Jane, whose name opens this sketch; Marga- 
retta, widow of John Cannon and a resident of 
New York, and Susannah, deceased wife of 
Samuel McNutt. The second of the above 
named children, Martha Jane, at the age of 
seventeen years, was married to John Rouzer, 
a carpenter and builder of Dayton. 

John Rouzer was a native of Clark county, 
Ohio, born June 29, 1822, son of John and 
Elizabeth Rouzer. In early life he learned the 
carpenter's trade, at which he worked at va- 
rious places from 1844 to 1854, and in the lat- 
ter year established himself in business as a 
contractor and builder in Dayton, beginning in 
a small way. In 1 861, he began the manufac- 
ture of building material. He was then lo- 
cated in the old Bomberger flouring mill, where 
he put in operation the first iron frame mold- 
ing machine in the United States. In 1862, 
he entered upon the erection of the Turner 
opera house, which was opened January 1, 
1864. In 1863, he removed to the present lo- 
cation of the John Rouzer Planing Mill com- 
pany, on the Cooper hydraulic, opposite the 
head of Fourth street. The building he then 
occupied was a small two-story brick, which a 
year or two afterward he enlarged by adding 
twenty feet to the front, and raising it all one 
story. In 1871 he erected a new building to 
the north of the old one, three stories in front 
and four stories high on the canal. He after- 
ward occupied the two buildings, which are 
now equipped with the finest machinery to be 
found anywhere in the state. Mr. Rouzer con- 
ducted this business alone for a time, and did a 
large and constantly increasing business, the 
product of his factory finding a market in a 
number of states. His building operations 
were not confined to Dayton, but extended to 
many other places, notably Columbus, where 
he erected the court house, the board of trade 
building, and the residence of the widow of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



473 



ex-Gov. Dennison. In Dayton he supplied 
the inside furnishing and furniture for the new 
court house, and the office furniture for the of- 
fices of the Teutonia Insurance company. 
He also erected the Callahan bank building, 
the high school building, and many other sub- 
stantial structures. 

In February, 1890, he organized the John 
Rouzer company, of which he was a principal 
stockholder and the president until his death, 
which occurred May 23, 1893. This is the 
leading manufactory of its kind in Dayton, em- 
ploys a large number of men, turning out work 
of the highest class in the way of builders' ma- 
terials and supplies, office furniture being one 
of the specialties of the company. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Rouzer 
were born seven children, of whom five died 
in infancy; of the living, Kate was first mar- 
ried to Leo Flotron. a native of France and 
a jeweler by trade, who died in Dayton about 
1876, leaving his widow with one son, John 
R. Flotron, who is now secretary and treasurer 
of the John Rouzer company and is the adopted 
son of his grandmother, Mrs. Martha Jane 
Rouzer. The second marriage of Mrs. Kate 
(Rouzer) Flotron was to David W. Moore, of 
Xenia, Ohio, who lived about two years after 
marriage, and later his widow became the wife 
of John N. Humphrey, who is engaged in 
keeping a restaurant in Dayton. The second 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Rouzer, named Mat- 
tie, is the wife of Horace Justice, a farmer of 
Montgomery county, and is the mother of two 
children, Horace and Mattie. 

John Rouzer was what is usually denomi- 
nated in business circles a self-made man; and 
the term may be applied, in this case, in its 
broadest scope, as he began life in indigent 
circumstances, but through his great ability as 
a mechanic and his keen business perceptions, 
accumulated a handsome fortune and became 

the head of one of the largest and most pros- 
15 



perous industries of his adopted city. He was 
noted for his kindness of heart and for his 
sympathy with the poor and distressed, which 
sympathy was manifested in a broad and com- 
prehensive liberality; he was, moreover, a kind 
and indulgent husband and father; and his 
family cherish his memory with deep affection, 
while his loss is deplored as well by an ex- 
tended group of friends and acquaintances. As 
a Freemason Mr. Rouzer had attained the 
thirty-second degree, and in politics he was 
stanch in his adherence to the principles of the 
republican party, while in religion he was a 
devoted Baptist. The Rouzer family and the 
Diehl family trace their genealogy to Germany, 
although the father of John Rouzer was a na- 
tive of Maryland; the Johnson family came 
from England, the maternal grandfather of 
Mrs. Rouzer having been born in that country. 
Mrs. Rouzer was baptized in the faith of the 
Episcopal church, to which faith she still ad- 
heres, being an attendant upon the Christ 
Episcopal church at Dayton. 

John Rouzer Flotron, grandson of Mrs. 
Rouzer, was, on the death of his father, 
adopted into the Rouzer family and shared the 
attention and kindness accorded the daughters, 
being reared and educated with the same care, 
and at the death of his grandfather shared in 
the distribution of the property. He is a 
young man of fine business qualifications, and 
has largely supplemented the place of the late 
Mr. Rouzer in conducting the extensive mill 
operations. Mrs. Rouzer, upon the loss of her 
husband, assumed the duties of president of the 
company, which office she has since filled with 
excellent judgment, exhibiting strong business 
ability and executive tact. She has surrounded 
herself with capable, trustworthy employes, 
has kept the affairs of the company in a har- 
monious and prosperous condition, and has 
proved herself to be fully competent to fill her 
responsible and prominent position. 



474 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



aHARLES ECKSTEIN, superintend- 
ent of the street department of the 
Dayton water works, was born in 
Newport, Ky., June 29, 1864. His 
parents were Peter J. and Minnie Eckstein, 
both natives of Germany, but who came to 
the United States when quite young. They 
removed to Dayton from Newport, Ky. , in 
1868, and here the former died in 1871. His 
widow continues to reside in Dayton, but has 
since re-married. 

Charles Eckstein received his education in 
the public schools. After leaving school he 
worked for his step-father for several years, 
engaging later with street contractors for a 
time. Subsequently he served an apprentice- 
ship with the firm of Brooks & Kemper at the 
steam and gas fitting trade, continuing to work 
at this calling until May 1, 1891, when he was 
appointed to his present position in the water 
works. In this position Mr. Eckstein is un- 
usually efficient, and is strictly attentive to his 
duties, the result being that he enjoys the full 
confidence of his employers. He was ap- 
pointed to his position without solicitation on 
his part, his peculiar fitness therefor being 
apparent. 

Mr. Eckstein is a member of Linden lodge, 
Knights of Pythias, of the Independent Order 
of Foresters, and of the Chautauqua tribe, No. 
98, Improved Order of Red Men. He was 
married December 1, 1886, to Miss Ella May 
Williams, of Dayton. 



S^X, EORGE W. EDWARDS, foreman of 
■ ^\ the laundry at the national military 
\^J home, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of 
London, England, was born May 16, 
1836, and came to America while still a youth. 
He worked in a machine shop in New York 
city until 1861, when he enlisted in company 
B, Sixth New York cavalry; he was first sent 



to Staten Island, where his regiment was or- 
ganized, was stationed a short time at Havre 
de Grace, being then sent through Washing- 
ton and across the Potomac river, to the Rap- 
pahannock river, to guard the fords. His 
principal battles were Fredericksburg, South 
Mountain, Antietam, and a running fight with 
the rebels back to the Rappahannock; he was 
in the battles at Kelly's Ford and Rappahan- 
nock Station, and guarded the rear of the in- 
fantry while in winter quarters. In the spring 
of 1863 he went upon the Chancellorsville 
campaign and took part in the battle of that 
name, participating in the battle of Gettysburg, 
following the retreating enemy to Falling 
Waters, and there crossing the Potomac, went 
with Sheridan on his famous raid in the rear 
of the rebels, being twenty-one days separated 
from the main army, recapturing trains and 
prisoners. In the winter of 1863 he was re- 
enlisted and returned to New York on veteran 
furlough. 

At the expiration of the term of his leave of 
absence, Mr. Edwards rejoined his regiment at 
Culpeper, and took part in the great wilder- 
ness campaign, the Union forces capturing at 
Beaver Dam Station a large force of rebels 
and recapturing three trains and many prison- 
ers taken by the enemy in the wilderness 
and elsewhere in the early days of May, 
1864. This raid continued on to Richmond, 
where there took place a severe skirmish inside 
the fortifications — the raid being led by Gen. 
Sheridan, with Custer, Devins, Merritt and 
Torbett as division commanders. After about 
twenty-one days spent within the rebel lines, 
report was made to Gen. Grant, at City Point, 
Va. , and the next raid was made, under the 
the same commanders, from City Point, upon 
Trevillian Station, where was had a general 
cavalry engagement, resulting in the capture 
of the station and the destruction of the rail- 
road and all rebel supplies. Returning to City 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



475 



Point, orders were given for the corps to go 
north and intercept Early's raid into Maryland. 
They embarked on boats and went to Wash- 
ington, being fired upon by rebel shore bat- 
teries nearly all the way. From Washington 
a forced march was made to Harper's Ferry, 
but from this point the main body of the rebel 
cavalry had retired across the Potomac, carry- 
ing off large stores taken in Pennsylvania and 
Maryland. Custer's division, however, re- 
captured a portion of this property. Mr. 
Edwards was next with Sheridan in the Shen- 
andoah valley, and fought at Winchester, 
Cedar Creek and Fisher's Hill. In the latter 
battle forty-two pieces of artillery were cap- 
tured and some prisoners and munitions of 
war re-taken. After following the enemy to 
Harrisonburg, the army returned to the valley 
and wintered near Loudoun, and while thus 
quartered was attacked by the enemy in Fed- 
eral uniform, who captured the pickets and 
created a general stampede in camp, where 
the rebels gained some advantage, but soon 
lost more than they had gained. In the spring 
of 1865 a march was made down the valley, 
and the enemy, under Early, was met at 
Waynesboro, where he lost all his artillery, 
baggage-wagons and camp equipage. On the 
march to join Grant's army at Petersburg, Mr. 
Edwards lost his horse in crossing a swollen 
stream, and was sent with other dismounted 
men to Pleasant Valley. He rejoined his regi- 
ment at Cloud's Mills, where he took charge 
of his company, being now a sergeant, and was 
here mustered out as a supernumerary non- 
commissioned officer — his regiment having 
been consolidated with the Sixteenth New 
York cavalry. 

Returning to New York city, Mr. Edwards 
enlisted, in 1866, in the Nineteenth United 
States infantry, and served one term of three 
years and one term of five years as first ser- 
geant of company E. The last five years he 



served on detached duty as provost under Gen. 
C. H. Smith at Fort Gibson, in the Indian 
nation, and at Fort Smith, Ark. He was 
finally discharged, at Martinsville, in 1874, his 
application for re-enlistment having been re- 
jected on account of hernia incurred while in 
the service. For the five years succeeding his 
discharge, he was employed in engineering in 
New Orleans, La. In 1879, he came to the 
Central branch, national military home, Day- 
ton, but was incapacitated for work for several 
years. In July, 1890, however, he was ap- 
pointed foreman of the home laundry, where 
he has supervision over forty-nine men. Mr. 
Edwards was a true and brave soldier, and of 
his twelve years in the army he was eleven 
years an officer. During his last term of serv- 
ice in the regular army he was stationed twice 
at Fort Smith; once at Fort Gibson; once at 
Dover, Ark. ; once at Little Rock; thence at 
New Orleans and once each at Holly Springs, 
Miss. ; Ship Island, in the gulf of Mexico, and 
Martinsville. He was never married, has never 
joined a secret order, but has been a member 
of the Episcopal church all his life, and in 
politics is a stanch republican. 



aHARLES W. ELLIFF, one of the 
prominent young members of the Day- 
ton bar, was born in West Carrollton, 
Ohio, October 23, 1865, and is a son 
of Patrick Elliff, who located in Montgomery 
county about 1859, and together with his fam- 
ily moved to Dayton in 1875, where they have 
since resided. 

Charles W. Elliff received a high-school 
education in the city of Dayton, and in 1889 
began reading law; entered the Cincinnati Law 
school, and after leaving that institution was 
admitted to the bar in 1891. During the same 
year he was elected justice of the peace in 
Dayton, and served a term of three years in 



476 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



that capacity, with credit to himself and to the 
satisfaction and approval of the public. Upon 
retiring from this office he began the practice 
of law, and has been thus engaged ever since 
with gratifying success. In November, 1896, 
Mr. Elliff formed a law partnership with H. L. 
Ferneding. 

Mr. Elliff is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias and of the society of Elks. He was 
married December 8, 1895, to a daughter of 
John and May Fleckenstein, the former of 
whom is now deceased. Mr. Elliff has already 
made for himself an enviable reputation as a 
lawyer, and is personally very popular at the 
Dayton bar. 



V/^V R. CLARKE S. EPPLEY, an ex- 

I perienced chiropodist, of Dayton, 
/^^_J Ohio, with office in room 5, Newsalt 
building, on the corner of Fourth 
and Jefferson streets, was born in Clarke 
county, Ohio, in 1870. He is a son of Prof. 
H. C. Eppley, who is now located in Cincin- 
nati, and who has been engaged as a chirop- 
odist for twenty years, during four of which 
he practiced in Dayton. Prof. Eppley was 
born in Clarke county, Ohio, on a farm, and 
was educated in the common schools. His 
parents came from Virginia to Ohio, in which 
state they resided to the close of their lives. 

Prof. H. C. Eppley was married, in Clarke 
county, to Miss Rosetta Neff. He was edu- 
cated in Ohio and Michigan, and followed 
farming for some years, giving his attention 
thereafter to horses, buying, selling and train- 
ing those designed for the race course. He 
was well acquainted throughout the entire 
state of Ohio. About 1875 he adopted the 
profession of chiropody, and, as stated above, 
has ever since followed that calling. He and 
his wife were the parents of three children, 



viz: Charles, deceased; Clarke S., and Car- 
rie, now living at home. 

Clarke S. Eppley was educated in the pub- 
lic schools, and from his eighteenth to his 
twenty-first year was occupied in the shoe 
business in Springfield. He then studied with 
his father, learning the profession of chirop- 
ody, and .has since that time been engaged in 
its pursuit. He was located in Springfield 
until 1893, when he removed to Dayton, where 
he has since practiced with success. 



>-j*OHN GATES DOREN, retired journal- 
m ist, residing at No. 307 East Sixth 
/> 1 street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Athens, Tenn., August 3, 1834, and is 
of French Huguenot and Scotch Covenanter 
origin. Immediately after the revocation, in 
1685, of the edict of Nantes, the paternal an- 
cestors of Mr. Doren left their native country, 
sought refuge in England, and there founded 
the family from which our subject directly de- 
scends. His paternal great-grandfather came 
to America with Gen. Horatio Gates, whose 
sister was the wife of Mr. Doren. They were 
joint heirs to large estates granted by the crown 
of England in Virginia, of which province Sir 
Thomas Gates was the first colonial governor. 
Grandfather Doren died just after the close of 
the war of 1812, in Norfolk, Va., and the fa- 
ther of John G. , also named John Gates Doren, 
was born near Wytheville, in the same state. 
Both the Gates and the Doren families were 
extensive slaveholders in their day, but gave to 
all their slaves their freedom in the early part 
of the present century, Gen. Gates removing 
to New York. 

John Gates Doren, the elder, in early man- 
hood settled in Tennessee, where he married 
Jane Macartney, daughter of an ex-captain of 
the British navy, but who, after the close of 
the Revolutionary war, had settled in east Ten- 




U~ 4 9. 



err* 




\ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



479 



nessee. Capt. Macartney was the youngest 
brother of Lord George Macartney, a distin- 
guished figure in English diplomacy and states- 
manship from 1769 until 1798, and who, dur- 
ing this interval, was a member of parliament, 
chief secretary for Ireland, British ambassador 
to Russia and China, and governor-general of 
India and the Cape settlements. It may here 
also be added that Mrs. Doren was a school- 
mate of Gen. Sam Houston. The mother of 
Miss Jane Macartney was a Murray, of the 
historical family of that name, and the young- 
est sister of Lord Dunmore, the last colonial 
governor of Virginia. The Murray family were 
Scotch Covenanters, and were bitterly opposed 
to the institution known as African slavery. 

The parents of John G. Doren, because of 
their anti-slavery sentiments, came to Ohio in 
1847, and first located in a Covenanter com- 
munity in Greene county, but in 185 1 settled 
in Columbus, which may be called the family 
home. The children of these parents num- 
bered eleven — six sons and five daughters — of 
whom six only are now living, viz: Sarah L., 
a widow, residing at the family home in Co- 
lumbus; Horace H., for many years a journal- 
ist, but now retired, and also living in Colum- 
bus; Margaret and Henry C. , likewise at the 
homestead; Dr. Gustavus A., who founded 
one of the first institutions in the United 
States for the treatment of imbecile children, 
and who is at present the superintendent and 
physician of the original institution at Colum- 
bus, now under state government control, and 
of which he has been the head since its crea- 
tion; this asylum being rated as the best in the 
world, and having been visited by many com- 
missions from Europe, appointed to examine 
into its workings with a view to the improve- 
ment of home institutions of a similar char- 
acter. The name of the subject of this sketch 
closes this list. It may be added that all of 
this family were born in Athens, Tenn. 



John Gates Doren was primarily educated 
under private tutors, of whom his mother was 
the chief and most effective. For some years 
he attended Forest Hill academy at Athens, 
where he received a thorough training for that 
day and for his own age, and this he supple- 
mented by close and discriminating study 
through a course of years devoted to self- 
tuition, and, indeed, through life, to the 
present day. 

Mr. Doren was united in marriage at the 
old Collins homestead, Clermont county, Ohio, 
February 23, 1861, with Miss Elizabeth Brag- 
don, a native of Clermont, Ohio, daughter of 
Dr. George Hunt Bragdon, and granddaughter 
of Rev. John Collins, the pioneer minister, 
who preached the first Methodist sermon in 
Cincinnati, who also assisted in forming the 
first church in Dayton and organized the first 
Methodist church in either city, and who, dur- 
ing his first pastorate, received into the church 
Chief Justice McLean and other personages of 
note. The authority for this statement may 
be found in the Life of Rev. John Collins, 
written by John McLean (then one of the 
justices of the United States supreme court), 
and published in 1849 by the Methodist Epis- 
copal Book concern of Cincinnati. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Doren 
have been born seven children, viz: Electra 
Collins, now librarian of the Dayton city lib- 
rary; Elizabeth Bragdon, a teacher in the Day- 
ton city schools; Alice Macartney, who holds 
a similar position; Marian McSherry, now in 
her second year at Oberlin college; and three 
that died in infancy. 

Mr. Doren became a democratic editor at 
nineteen years of age and continued in that 
profession until 18S9, when he sold out and 
has since devoted himself to special work in 
the literary field, living a semi-retired life. He 
began his career as a journalist on the Ohio 
Statesman, in 1852, under Gov. Samuel Me- 



480 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



dary, after having served a regular apprentice- 
ship at the printing business. From 1855 to 
1857 he owned and edited the Gazette, at 
Hillsborough, Ohio. In 1857 he was elected 
official reporter of the Ohio house of represent- 
atives, on the nomination of the late Justice 
Woods, of the United States supreme court, 
who was the speaker of the house at that time, 
Mr. Doren receiving the votes of republicans 
as well as of democrats. This position he re- 
signed after a few months to accept an ap- 
pointment in the treasury department at Wash- 
ington. Still keeping up his connection with 
the Ohio democratic press, he established, in 
1859, the Southern Ohio Argus (democratic), 
at Georgetown. Up to this time, from 1852, 
during such intervals of leisure as the busy 
life of a newspaper man afforded, he had been 
reading law under the direction of various pre- 
ceptors at different times, among them Hon. 
Samuel Galloway and Judge James F. Mat- 
thews, at Columbus, and Hon. Thomas A. 
Hendricks, of Indiana, and Hon. Geo. E. 
Pugh, of Cincinnati, who, during the time Mr. 
Doren was in the treasury department, were 
holding official positions at Washington, D. C. 
— one as senator, and the other as commis- 
sioner of the general land office. As a result 
of this industry, Mr. Doren was enabled to 
graduate after one term of lectures at the Cin- 
cinnati law school and was admitted to the 
bar at Cincinnati in 1863. 

In 1864 Mr. Doren exchanged the Argos 
establishment for the Sun plant, at Batavia, 
in Clermont county, but sold the latter almost 
as soon as he acquired it, with a view to de- 
voting himself wholly to the practice of law. 
He then opened an office in Cincinnati for this 
purpose, but early in 1865 succeeded Geo. M. 
D. Bloss as managing editor of the Enquirer, 
Mr. Bloss becoming the writing editor. This 
position Mr. Doren held until his health failed, 
when he was compelled to retire for rest and 



recuperation. In the latter part of 1869 he 
came to Dayton at the solicitation of Mr. Val- 
landigham, and bought the plant of the old 
Empire, which paper he edited and published 
for twenty years, as the Herald and Empire and 
the Empire and Democrat. Upon this founda- 
tion Mr. Doren succeeded in doing what some 
very able men before him had failed to accom- 
plish — he built up a successful, influential and 
effective democratic newspaper. The list of 
failures preceding him includes some names as 
notable for ability as that of Mr. Vallandig- 
ham. Among those who early attempted to 
build up a democratic journal in Dayton, but 
grew discouraged, were three gentlemen, who, 
after the attempt, "went west and grew up 
with the country," the first — John Bigler, of 
California — winning the governorship of his 
adopted state; the second — DeLazore Smith, 
of Oregon — the United States senatorship, 
and the third — Thomas J. McCorkle, of Cali- 
fornia — the honor of being the first representa- 
tive of that state in congress after it was ad- 
mitted into the Union. Other brilliant men, 
like John R. Cockerill, of the New York 
World, Hiram H. Robinson, who built up the 
■Cincinnati Enquirer, and Thomas and William 
Hubbard, also succumbed to discouragements 
in the attempt to establish a democratic paper 
in Dayton. These facts, and the other fact 
that Mr. Doren's party was in an apparently 
hopeless minority when he took charge of the 
party organ in Dayton, but soon attained a 
healthy majority, and maintained it as long as 
he owned and managed the paper, are some 
of the evidences of Mr. Doren's ability as an 
editor and publisher. Taken in connection 
with another fact, well known and much 
spoken of by Mr. Doren's brother editors — 
that he never edited a paper in any county 
which was not republican when he began, and 
democratic when he quit — his career is regard- 
ed as an instructive and significant one to all 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



481 



editors. The characteristic feature of this 
career was the absolute fearlessness and direct- 
ness with which he always maintained his own 
convictions as to the honest interpretation and 
rigid application of his party's declared princi- 
ples, as against any and all truckling "poli- 
cies" of mere politicians, intent only on getting 
votes or winning and keeping offices. Such a 
policy always puts a partisan editor who ad- 
heres to it, in more or less antagonism with 
the local leaders, so-called, but the lesson of 
Mr. Doren's experience proves that it is the 
only one which can bring permanent success, 
and demonstrates that the political press need 
not be less straightforward, honest and inde- 
pendent because it is partisan. 

During the twenty years that Mr. Doren 
was editor of his party organ in Dayton, he 
was never a candidate for any office before the 
people, although he held one or. two by ap- 
pointments which came to him unsolicited be- 
cause of his special training or fitness for the 
duties required. He was journal index clerk 
of the national house of representatives from 
1887 to 1889, inclusive, and was appointed by 
Gov. Foraker as a member of the board of 
state charities, a position which he held for six 
years, the last year as secretary of the board. 

The special characteristics of the Doren 
family are devoted to literary pursuits and 
learned professions, loyalty to the religious 
and political principles of their ancestors, and 
fidelity and integrity in all things. 



BIORINI & SHERER, a firm of Day- 
ton, Ohio, engaged in plastic d cora- 
tions, stucco work, wood carving, de- 
signing, modeling and drawing orna- 
mental patterns for interiors of buildings, with 
works at 134 and 136 East Fourth street, is 
composed of Henry Fiorini and Charles J. 



Sherer, the partnership having been estab- 
lished in 1895. 

Henry Fiorini, the senior partner, was 
born in Florence, Italy, in July, 1844, and is 
a son of Joseph and Catherine (Lotti) Fiorini. 
His elementary education was acquired in the 
common schools of Florence; he then entered 
the gymnasium and later passed to the acad- 
emy of fine arts, took lessons in plastics for 
three years, and graduated, with honors, in 
1865. He next took part, as an Italian pa- 
triot, in the war against Austria, which result- 
ed in a united Italy, and in 1S68 came to 
America, where he found even a greater free- 
dom than that he fought for in his native land. 
Landing in New York, he worked at his art 
for twenty months; he then went to New Or- 
leans, La., where, for a year, he labored at 
wood-carving; he next resided for three months 
in Chicago, 111., and then went to Montreal, 
where he worked as wood decorator for the 
Pullman Car company. There he remained 
for eight months, going thence, in 1872, to 
Boston, Mass., where he was, for sixteen 
months, foreman of a furniture firm, design- 
ing the ornamental work. In the fall of 1873 
he made a trip to Europe, and was there mar- 
ried to Miss Victoria Gori. He then returned 
to Boston, where he lived until 1878; then 
went to New York city and was employed at 
his art for eight years, and in 1886 came to 
Dayton, Ohio, where he has since been en- 
gaged in the various branches of his artistic 
profession, being for about six years in the em- 
ploy of the Barney & Smith Car works in deco- 
rative work, and since 1891 teaching a class 
in modeling and carving in the Y. M. C. A. of 
Dayton. 

In 1882 Mr. Fiorini had the misfortune to 
lose his wife, who died in January of that 
year, at the early age of thirty-two, the mother 
of four children, of whom two are still living — 
Alfred J. and Louisa. In politics, Mr. Fiorini 



482 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



is a republican, and fraternally is a member of 
the Masonic order. 

Charles J. Sherer, the junior member of 
the firm of Fiorini & Sherer, was born in Day- 
ton, February 19, 1868, a son of Michael F. 
and Margaret C. (Sacksteder) Sherer, was ed- 
ucated in Saint Mary's institute, and was the 
first graduate from that institution of learning, 
this event taking place in June, 1885. He 
then served an apprenticeship at artistic wood 
carving and next made a trip throughout the 
eastern states, starting in the spring of 1889, 
and passing three years in that section, work- 
ing at his trade and adding to his knowledge 
of his profession. Since his return to Dayton 
he has conducted business on his own account, 
carrying on his trade in his own shop until the 
formation of his present copartnership. Mr. 
Sherer is recognized as an expert carver, and 
as a citizen and business man his name is with- 
out a blemish. In politics he is a democrat 
and in religion a Catholic, and, like his part- 
ner, is popular with his fellow-citizens of the 
city of Dayton. 



BENRY L. FERNEDING, of the law 
firm of Elliff & Ferneding, Callahan 
Bank building, Dayton, Ohio, is a na- 
tive of this city and is a son of Clem- 
ent L. and Barbara (Barlow) Ferneding, the 
former of whom has been for many years prom- 
inent as a manufacturer and citizen of Dayton. 
Henry L. Ferneding received his elementary 
education in the Dayton schools, after which 
he was entered as a pupil at Saint Mary's in- 
stitute, a Catholic college situated in the 
southern part of the city, where he remained 
for five years, graduating in the year 1890. 
The following year he continued his studies 
at the university of Notre Dame, near South 
Bend, Ind., finishing his course there two years 
later, after which he returned to Dayton to 



enter upon the study of the law. Mr. Fer- 
neding had the good fortune to prepare for the 
bar under the tutelage of Hon. John A. McMa- 
hon, of the firm of McMahon & McMahon, in 
whose office he remained for three years. In 
the fall of 1895 he alternated his time between 
his studies in this office and his attendance at 
the Cincinnati Law school, graduating from 
the latter institution and being admitted to the 
bar in the following spring. He continued in 
the office of McMahon & McMahon until No- 
vember 1 , 1 896, when he effected a partner- 
ship with Hon. Charles W. Elliff in the practice 
of law under the firm name above given. 



eDWARD W. HANLEY, secretary and 
treasurer of the Dayton Gas & Fuel 
company, was born in Dayton on Oc- 
tober 13, 1858, and is of Irish-Amer- 
ican descent, his parents being Joseph and 
Anna Hanley, both natives of Ireland. The 
mother survives and resides in Dayton. Ed- 
ward W. attended the public schools in early 
boyhood, but left his studies at the age of four- 
teen years and went to work for the firm of 
W. P. Callahan & Co. After a year spent in the 
shops of that firm, young Hanley went to the 
Barney-Smith car shops, where he spent five 
years. In 1879, having determined to educate 
himself more thoroughly, the young man left 
the car works and entered upon a course in the 
Miami Commercial college. 

In 1880 he entered the employ of Patter- 
son & Co., coal dealers, and later he was in 
the employ of the Southern Ohio Coal & Iron 
company, spending about four years in the coal 
business. In 1884 Mr. Hanley became deputy 
clerk under County Clerk George W. Knecht, 
of Montgomery county, which position he held 
until September, 1886, when he became first 
assistant postmaster at Dayton, where he re- 
mained until September, 1889. In November, 





'Ttou*^* 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



485 



1890, Mr. Hanley began the publication of the 
Sunday World newspaper, which he continued 
until July, 1891, when he disposed of the pub- 
lication and accepted the position of agent of 
the Dayton Natural Gas company. At there- 
organization of the above corporation, in 1893, 
Mr. Hanley was made a director, secretary and 
treasurer of both the Dayton Gas & Fuel com- 
pany and the Miami Valley Gas & Fuel com- 
pany, two separate organizations, but under the 
same control. Mr. Hanley also occupies the 
position of director and secretary of the Troy 
(Ohio) Gas company, and the same relation to 
the Troy (Ohio) Electric Light & Power com- 
pany. He is also a director in the Miami Loan 
& Building association of Dayton. Mr. Han- 
ley enjoys quite a reputation as a writer, and 
has contributed to numerous publications for 
the past ten years. He has also written quite 
a number of humorous and sentimental songs. 
As a reciter and general entertainer he also has 
quite a reputation. Mr. Hanley was married 
on December 7, 1881, to Miss Carrie J., a 
daughter of the late Thomas D. Hale. 

Mr. Hanley, in each of his varied occupa- 
tions, has made friends and built for himself a 
good and enduring reputation. His personal 
popularity grows not only out of his business 
ability and integrity, but from his unfailing 
geniality of disposition and sense of humor. 




• RENANIAN DUPUY, M. D., one of 

the prominent physicians and surgeons 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Lewis 
county, Ky., on June 17, 1864, and 
is the son of Richard and Martha Dupuy. The 
mother died shortly after the close of the late 
war; the father is still living and is eighty years 
of age. 

The Dupuys were among the early and 
prominent families of Virginia. Dupuy, or 
Du Puy, is a very ancient French name. In 



the first crusade Hugues Du Puy, a French 
knight, and his three sons, accompanied Gode- 
froy de Bouillon to Palestine, and in about the 
year 11 13 Raymond DePuy founded and was 
the first grand master of the military order of 
the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, after- 
ward styled the Knights of Malta. In later 
years the family was identified with the re- 
formed religion of France as Huguenots. Bar- 
tholomew Dupuy was the immediate progen- 
itor of the Virginia family. He entered the 
French army at the age of eighteen and served 
fourteen years, becoming an officer of the 
guards of the king, Louis IV. Shortly after 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes, which 
was followed by the persecutions which drove 
the Huguenots from France, he married the 
Countess Susanna Lavillon, also a Huguenot, 
and retired to his country seat. But he was 
now compelled to flee the country on account 
of the religious persecution mentioned. He 
and his wife resided for about fourteen years 
in Germany and about two years in England, 
and in the year 1700 they came to Virginia 
and settled in King William parish, on James 
river, above Richmond, on lands granted to 
Huguenot refugees. There the old Huguenot 
and his wife lived many years. Their poster- 
ity are found in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Ohio and other 
states of the Union. The grandfather of Dr. 
Dupuy was Moses Dupuy, a direct descendant 
of Bartholomew Dupuy. 

Dr. Dupuy was brought to Ironton, Ohio, 
by his -parents in the fall of 1865. He was 
educated in the public schools of that city, 
graduating from the high school in 1880. He 
learned the leather business with his father, 
who owns a large tannery in Ironton. He 
attended the medical department of the Miami 
university of Cincinnati, and graduated in 
March, 1889. He served as assistant surgeon 
at the Central branch National Military Home 



486 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, from April i , 
1S89, to March 31, 1890. He was the first 
resident physician and surgeon of the Ohio 
Soldiers and Sailors' Orphans' home, at Xenia, 
from September, 1890, to May, 1892, during 
which time the present fine hospital at that 
home was built. In September, 1892, Dr. 
Dupuy located in Dayton, where he has since 
resided and practiced his profession. Dr. Du- 
puy is a member of the American Medical asso- 
ciation, and of the Montgomery county Med- 
ical society, and is secretary of the board of 
examining surgeons for pensions at the national 
military home. On March 1, 1896, the doc- 
tor was elected an honorary member of the 
Union Veterans' union, in recognition of his 
services in the interest of the veterans of the 
late war, their widows and orphans, which 
honor has been conferred upon but two other 
persons in the history of the order. Shortly 
after being elected to this order he was ap- 
pointed aid-de-camp, with rank of colonel, 
upon the staff of the commander-in-chief. Dr. 
Dupuy was colonel of the Tenth regiment, 
uniform rank, Knights of Pythias of Ohio, for 
four years, and was then placed upon the staff 
of the brigade commander of that order. In 
politics Dr. Dupuy is a democrat, and is chair- 
man of the Montgomery county central com- 
mittee. He is unmarried, and resides at No. 
120 South Ludlow street. 



*-j-» EWIS M. FANSHER, senior mem- 
F ber of the firm of Fansher Bros., soap 
Jl manufacturers, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Randolph county, Ind., Au- 
gust 4, 1854, a son of William and Emily 
(Gray) Fansher. 

William Fansher was a wagonmaker by 
trade, was an Odd Fellow fraternally and po- 
litically was a republican. His death took 
place in Memphis, Tenn., in 1863, from dis- 



ease contracted while serving in an Indiana 
infantry regiment in defense of the Union dur- 
ing the war of the Rebellion, he being at the 
time a corporal of his company. He was the 
father of four children, viz: Martin D., now 
deceased, Lewis M., William I. and Mary E. 
A., wife of George Baker, a farmer residing 
near Arcanum, Ohio. Mrs. Emily Fansher, 
after her husband's death, was married to 
George Booher, and is still living. 

Lewis M. Fansher, whose name opens this 
biography, passed his boyhood on an Indiana 
farm, was educated in the Farmland (Ind.) 
high school, and at the age of seventeen years 
began teaching in the district schools; when 
twenty years old he entered Antioch college, 
Yellow Springs, Greene county, Ohio, taking 
the preparatory course and two years of the 
college course, when failing health precluded 
further study; again he resorted to school- 
teaching, which he followed for several years, 
the last two being passed just east of Dayton. 

In 1884, in partnership with his brother 
William I., after two or three years of other 
business ventures, he embarked in the soap 
manufacturing business, in which he is still 
engaged. The firm produce a bar of soap, 
which is designed for domestic and general 
laundry purposes, and a laundry chip soap, for 
the use of steam laundries — the former being 
disposed of mostly in Dayton, while the latter 
meets with an extensive sale throughout sev- 
eral of the states; they also manufacture a 
compound known as the Anti-slip Pulley Dress- 
ing, which is the invention of Louis M. Fan- 
sher, and sold all over the United States as a 
preventive of the slipping of machinery belts. 

Lewis M. Fansher was married at New- 
castle, in Indiana, in 1874, to Miss Julia A. 
Swigart, the union resulting in the birth of 
three children, viz: L. Percy, Pearl and 
William. Of these the eldest is married to 
Miss Florence Lukinbeal, and is engaged in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



487 



the profession of photography in Dayton. Mr. 
Fansher has a quiet and handsome home at 
417 North Broadway. In politics he is a pro- 
hibitionist, is a member of the A. I. U., No. 
2, of Dayton, and is recognized as one of the 
enterprising business men of the city. 

William I. Fansher, junior partner in the 
firm of Fansher Bros., was born in Randolph 
county, Ind. , August 31, 1858, and is the 
younger brother of Lewis M. Fansher. He 
was educated in the public schools of his dis- 
trict and remained on the home farm until 
twenty years of age. He worked for a year 
or two at the carpenter's trade in Darke county, 
Ohio, and in 1881 came to Dayton, and for 
two years engaged in the manufacture of spring 
beds, in partnership with his brother Lewis, 
and for one year manufactured a hoisting-jack 
for wagons, William I. acting as salesman 
chiefly. In 1884, as related above, the soap 
factory was established, but on a very small 
scale and against strong competition. At times 
the brothers found it difficult to raise the means 
with which to purchase the stock from which 
the soap was made, and to meet the estab- 
lished trade of other manufacturers was a diffi- 
cult task; but, by persistency of purpose, in- 
cessant toil and excellence of production, they 
surmounted all obstacles, the result being that 
already narrated. In this business William I. 
has attended to the outside affairs, effecting 
sales, making, collections, etc., and proving 
himself to be a thorough business man. He 
is a member of the A. I. U., No. 2, of Day- 
ton, and in politics is in accord with his 
brother. 

William I. Fansher was married, February 
5, 1884, to Miss Izora Leatherman, daughter 
of Frederick Leatherman, and to this marriage 
have been born three children, viz: Frederick 
W., Robert Gray and Susie May, the last two 
named being twins. The parents are mem- 
bers of the Summit street United Brethren 



church, in which Mr. Fansher is a steward, 
taking an active part in both church and Sab- 
bath-school work. His pleasant home is at 
123 Summit street, in a part of the city which 
possesses every church and social advantage. 



ar 



ILLIAM HANBY FLACK, plumber 
and gasfitter, of Dayton, Ohio, is a 
native of this state and was born in 
Marion county, March 13, 1846. 
Rev. Peter Flack, his father, was an itiner- 
ant minister in the United Brethren church, 
and his home was therefore frequently changed, 
until about 1S61, when he located in Colum- 
bus, Ohio. He was a native of Prussia, but 
married, in the United States, Miss Lucretia 
Brooks, a native of Vermont, and to this union 
were born twelve children, of whom William 
H. was the eldest, and eight of whom are still 
living. Rev. Mr. Flack was a strong Union 
man during the late Civil war, and served his 
adopted country 100 days in the army during 
that conflict. He lost his wife in Moultrie 
county, 111., where she died in 1880, at the age 
of sixty-four years, while his own death took 
place in 1889, when he had reached his seventy- 
sixth year. 

William H. Flack was a lad of fifteen years 
when the family located in Columbus. Equally 
patriotic with his father, he first served for six 
months in the Fifth Ohio independent bat- 
talion of cavalry, and while in this service did 
guard duty in Kentucky, fought guerrillas and 
protected loyal citizens in their lives and prop- 
erty. In 1863, at the age of seventeen, he 
enlisted at Columbus in company K, Twenty- 
sixth Ohio volunteer infantry, the regiment 
being at that time at home on veteran fur- 
lough. The Twenty-sixth was assigned to the 
army of the Cumberland, and thence young 
Flack went under Gen. Sherman, to Atlanta, 



IS* 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



returning with Gen. Thomas to Nashville, 
Term., where the army confronted the rebel 
general, Hood, and drove him out of the state. 
The winter of 1864-65 was spent at Hunts- 
ville, Ala., and in the spring of 1S65 Mr. Flack 
accompanied Gen. Stanley, commander of the 
Fourth corps, on the expedition to Texas, and 
was mustered out at Victoria, Tex., after 
having served two years and a half under this 
enlistment. 

In the meantime the parental residence had 
been transferred to Illinois, but Mr. Flack 
returned to Columbus, where he resided until 
1875, when he came to Dayton and formed 
a partnership with Rockey Bros., in plumb- 
ing, etc. In 1880 he withdrew from this 
firm and established himself on the West 
side, adding new features to his business 
as seemed to be demanded by his trade, and 
he now stands among the prominent business 
men of Dayton. 

Mr. Flack was united in marriage in Janu- 
ary, 1869, at Columbus, with Miss Josephine 
M. Rockey, a sister of his former partners in 
business, and a native of Franklin county, 
Ohio. This union has been blessed with three 
children, viz : Yida R., Willie and Mattie - 
the last two being twins, who are attending 
school. In his politics Mr. Flack is an active 
and energetic worker for the success of the 
republican part}' in national affairs, but locally 
he sustains good men in preference to doubtful 
measures. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and of the G. A. R.; and the church relations 
of the family are with the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

The Flack ancestry were agriculturists for 
generations, of steady habits and temperate in 
all things, and consequently long-lived. The 
father of William H. was but two years of age 
when his parents came to America and settled 
in Frederick county, Md., where he was edu- 
cated and passed all his mature years in the 



ministry. The Rockey family are represented 
by Mrs. Flack as having settled in the mount- 
ains of Vermont at a very early date in the 
history of this country. 



(D 



ARION RICHARDSON DRURY. 
D. D., eldest son of Rev. Morgan S. 
and Elizabeth (Lambert) Drury, 
was born at Mendon, Madison 
county, Ind., December 27, 1849. His great- 
grandfather, William Drury, was a native of 
England and on coming to this country settled 
in Franklin county, Pa. There his grandfather, 
Arnold Drury, was born in 1793. William 
Drury removed to Henry county, Ind., in 1808 
or 18 10. There his son Arnold enlisted in the 
service of his country and served during the 
war of 1 81 2. 

Morgan S. Drury was born in Henry county, 
Ind., August 31, 1826. In 1848 he married 
Elizabeth Lambert, who was born in Rock- 
ingham county, Va., June 30, 1826, of German 
parents and learned to speak the German lan- 
guage. When a child her parents removed to 
Madison county, Ind. She and her husband 
went to Iowa in the summer of 1853, and lo- 
cated on a farm in Winneshiek county. These 
were pioneer days in the west, and the early 
settlers there were subjected to the many pri- 
vations and hardships peculiar to a new coun- 
try. Here Marion R. Drury was taught the 
industries of the farm. From a very early age 
his summers were spent in farm labor and his 
winters in the neighboring village school. In 
March. 1866, it was decided that he should 
have the advantages of a higher education, and 
accordingly he was sent to Western college, a 
school of the church to which his father be- 
longed, located at Western, in Linn county, 
Iowa. Here he pursued the full curriculum in 
the classical department, graduating June 19, 




IK 



CLA^iTlA^ 



VK!.<Ox*A>yf 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



491 



1872, with the degree of bachelor of arts. 
Three years later, in 1875, he received from 
the same institution the degree of master of 
arts in cursu. 

June 20, 1872, Mr. Drury was married to 
Miss Lucinda Denny, of Waubeek, Iowa. 
They have two children — Florence Blanche, 
who was married to Herbert E. Foster, of 
Iowa, September 9, 1896, and Philo Walker, 
who is twenty years of age and a senior in 
Western college, now located at Toledo, Iowa. 

Mr. Drury entered the ministry of the 
church of the United Brethren in Christ — the 
church in which his father had been a minister 
for many years — in the autumn of 1 872, becom- 
ing a member of the North Iowa conference. 
After preaching one year in Fayette county, 
Iowa, he determined further to fit himself for 
his chosen work by taking a course of theolog- 
ical study. He therefore entered Union Bib- 
lical seminary, Dayton, Ohio, in October, 

1873, from which he was graduated in May, 
1875. During the last year in the seminary 
he served the Miami chapel congregation, near 
Dayton, as pastor. In the autumn of 1875 
Mr. Drury returned to Iowa, and at the confer- 
ence held in Lisbon he was ordained by Bishop 
J. J. Glossbrenner. At that conference he was 
appointed pastor at Toledo, Iowa, where he 
remained for three years. His next pastorate 
was at Cedar Rapids. Here the church was 
weak and without a house of worship. Under 
his labors a commodious, well-located church 
edifice was built, and the present flourishing 
congregation of United Brethren in that city 
has been the happy result. 

In May, 1881, the general conference of the 
United Brethren church was held at Lisbon, 
Iowa, a town distant twenty miles from Cedar 
Rapids. Mr. Drury reported the proceedings 
of that body for the Cedar Rapids Daily Re- 
publican. His work as reporter was so satis- 
factory that before the conference had com- 



pleted its work he was offered the assistant ed- 
itorship of the Religious Telescope, of Dayton, 
Ohio, the chief organ of his denomination. 
This position he accepted after some weeks of 
deliberation, and early in July following he 
entered upon his new duties on the editorial 
staff of that journal. This position he held 
for eight years. In 1889 he was elected, by 
the general conference of his church, associate 
editor, which position he now (1896) occupies. 
Since residing in Dayton he has been secretary 
of the United Brethren Ministerial association 
and for three years president of the Dayton 
United Brethren alliance. In 1891 he became 
one of the founders of the Hartford street 
United Brethren church, of whose Sunday- 
school he has now been five years the super- 
intendent. 

In 1887 Mr. Drury and his wife took up the 
work of the Chautauqua Literary and Scien- 
tific circle, which furnished a four years' 
course of study on the university extension 
plan, graduating at Chautauqua, N. Y. , in 
August, 1 89 1, and receiving their diplomas from 
the hands of the Rev. Edward Everett Hale, 
D. D., of Boston. Mr. Drury is the author 
of a number of volumes, mostly of a practical 
character, some of which have reached a very 
large sale. These are: The Pastor's Pocket 
Record, the Otterbein Birthday Book, a Hand- 
book for Workers (issued in both English and 
German), a Pastor's Pocket Companion, At 
Hand, and a dedication service entitled, The 
House of the Lord. He is also the author of 
a prize essay on The Tobacco Habit, a tract on 
How to Deal with Inquirers, and has written 
some very valuable articles for cyclopedias. 
He has likewise been one of the book editors of 
the United Brethren Publishing house, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, for many years. 

Since 1890, when the Young People's 
Christian union of the United Brethren church 
was organized, he has been a member of its 



492 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



executive council, and three years the editor 
of its literature. 

In 1S91 the degree of doctor of divinity 
was conferred upon Mr. Drury by the Western 
college, his alma mater, and also by the West- 
field college of Illinois. 



BREDERICK ECRI, a well-known citi- 
zen of Dayton, and treasurer of the 
Permanent Building & Savings asso- 
ciation, was born in Holmes county, 
Ohio, May 8, 1844, a son of Jacob and Cath- 
erine (Spreng) Ecki, natives of Alsace, France. 
The father, Jacob, had served a year in the 
French army, when he purchased his release, 
in order to come to America. He brought his 
family across the ocean in 1835 and settled in 
Holmes county, where he bought 160 acres of 
land, then practically in the wilderness, the 
woods abounding with all kinds of game. His 
means were somewhat limited, but he was in- 
dustrious and ambitious, set bravely to work 
with his ax, cleared up his land and built the 
primitive log cabin, and by dint of persever- 
ance cleared up his original farm, adding to it 
until he had accumulated 267 acres of arable 
land. He and his wife were members of the 
Evangelical association, and in that faith the 
father died in 1868 and the mother in 1881, 
the parents of twelve children, of whom five 
are deceased. Of the seven still living, three 
are residents of Dayton. 

Frederick Ecki was reared on the farm in 
Holmes county and inured to out-door labor, 
but found time to secure an education in the 
common schools, which were then quite well 
advanced in the methods of public instruction. 
At the age of eighteen years, in April, 1862, 
he came to Dayton and began an apprentice- 
ship at the machinist's trade with W. H. 
Pease, the establishment being now known as 
the Buckeye Iron & Brass works. While here 



employed, he enlisted in May, 1S64, in com- 
pany B, One Hundred and Thirty-first regi- 
ment Ohio national guard, under Capt. James 
Turner, which regiment was called out for the 
1 OO-day service and did garrison duty at Fort 
Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md. On his return 
from this military service, he resumed his en- 
gagement with the Buckeye Iron & Brass 
works, with which he has since been uninter- 
ruptedly employed — making a total of thirty- 
five years in that service, with the exception 
of the three months that he was in the army. 
In April, 1874, he assisted in organizing the 
Permanent Building & Savings association, in 
which he has been a director for about sixteen 
years, and for nearly eight years the treasurer. 

Mr. Ecki was happily married, in Dayton, 
in 1867, to Miss Fredericka Kirschner, who 
was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1845, 
and who, having lost her mother, was brought 
at the age of six years to the United States by 
her father. To this marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Ecki have been born seven children, in the 
following order: Clara, Ida, W. H. H., George 
F., Florence, Ellen (deceased) and Anna C. 
The parents are members of the Evangelical 
association, and in politics Mr. Ecki is a repub- 
lican. Fraternally he is a member of the 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the 
National Union, and socially he holds that 
high position in the esteem of his neighbors 
and the surrounding country which his indus- 
try and correct deportment as a citizen through 
life have so worthily won. 

W. H. H. Ecki, the third child and first- 
born son of Frederick and Fredericka Ecki, 
was born December 10, 1871, and was edu- 
cated in the common schools of Dayton, 
graduating from the high school in 1890; he 
then read law with O. F. Davisson, graduated 
from the Cincinnati Law school in 1893, and 
was admitted to practice in the same year. 
He has met with success, and has his office 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



493 



with O. F. Davisson, one of the prominent 
lawyers of Dayton. Mr. Ecki is now the at- 
torney for the Permanent Building & Savings 
association. 



t*S~\ EV. E. LEE FLECK, pastor of the 

I /^ Second English Lutheran church, 

P Dayton, Ohio, was born in Blair 

county, Pa., September 8, 1856, and 

is of German extraction. 

Conrad M. and Mary (Crossman) Fleck, 
his parents, were born in Blair county and 
Indiana county, Pa., respectively, and Peter 
Fleck, grandfather of Conrad M. , was a hero 
of the Revolutionary war, his remains lying 
now interred in the cemetery at Culp post- 
office, or, as the place is known historically. 
Sinking Valley. Conrad M. Fleck was a mem- 
ber of the Twelfth Pennsylvania cavalry dur- 
ing the late Civil war, and sustained serious 
and lasting injuries in defense of his country's 
flag. The family of Conrad M. Fleck and 
wife comprised eleven children; of these Anna 
died in her third year; Benjamin C. is a teach- 
er, is married, and lives in Indiana county. 
Pa.; E. Lee is our subject; Bliss L. , twin of 
E. Lee, is the wife of Levi Knott, residing in 
Altoona, Pa.; Mary Catherine died at eighteen 
years of age, unmarried; Elmer Ellsworth died 
in childhood; Martha Ellen is married to Jacob 
Otto, and lives in Loco, Ind. ; Ethelbert died 
in childhood, her sister, Alice May, dying at 
the same time; Irene Gertrude, wife of Jacob 
Tate, resides in Altoona, Pa. ; and Sallie E. 
is now Mrs. Henry Emery, and lives in Sink- 
ing Valley, Pa. The mother of this family 
died February 25, 1895, on tne °ld homestead 
in Blair county, Pa., where the father still 
makes his home. 

E. Lee Fleck lived in his native state until 
1875, when he went to Illinois, where he worked 



on a farm for one or two seasons, then went to 
Iowa, worked upon the railroad for a short 
time, and then resumed farming in Cedar 
county, in the same state. He next attended 
the high school at Clarence, Iowa, and then, 
in September, 1878, entered the Carthage col- 
lege, in Hancock county, 111. Here he com- 
pleted a six-years' collegiate course and passed 
his final examinations, but before the time ar- 
rived for the award of diplomas the institution 
collapsed under financial difficulties. Mr. Fleck 
then returned to Clarence, Iowa, but in the fall 
of the same year, 1884, came to Ohio and en- 
tered the Wittenberg Theological seminary at 
Springfield, from which he graduated in May, 
1887. He immediately began the work of or- 
ganizing the Third English Lutheran congre- 
gation of that city, holding, at the same time, 
the pastorate of the congregation at Rockway, 
a suburb of Springfield. 

In March, 1888, Mr. Fleck married Miss 
Olive Hosford, who had been his classmate 
during his entire course at Carthage college, 
and was graduated in the same year; being a 
native of Hamilton, in the same county, she 
succeeded in securing her diploma and was 
properly entered on the catalogue, a fortune 
that did not fall to the lot of non-residents. 
In the fall of the year of his marriage the 
health of Mr. Fleck failed, and he was obliged 
to resign his ministerial duties and retire to 
Hamilton, 111., to recuperate. In August, 
1889, having somewhat regained his health, 
he accepted the pastorate of a congregation at 
Sidney, Neb., where he remained until No- 
vember, 1893, when he was called to Dayton 
and assumed the pastoral charge of the Second 
English Lutheran church, although the church 
building had not at that time been erected. 
Mr. Fleck organized the mission, and during 
the summer of 1894 a handsome and commo- 
dious edifice was completed at a cost of $16,- 
000, with a seating capacity for about 800 



494 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



persons. The membership of the church is 
150, and the Sunday-school enrollment is 240. 
On the organization of the congregation, eighty 
members were drawn from the First English 
Lutheran church, a proportionate number of 
Sunday-school scholars were similarly obtained 
and other communicants and scholars came 
from sundry outside societies. 

The parents of Mrs. E. Lee Fleck, Harlow 
and Mary (Wright) Hosford, were born in Ohio 
and Scotland, respectively — the father in 
Brookfield, Trumbull county, in 1824, and the 
mother near Edinburgh, in the same year. 
The Wright family came to America when 
their daughter Mary (Mrs. Hosford) was but 
fifteen years of age, and settled in Hamilton, 
111., where Mr. and Mrs. Hosford were married. 
To this last-named couple have been born 
six children, viz: Harris Truman, a farmer, 
and married; Anna Elizabeth, wife of Monroe 
Hanson; Isaac Newton, married, and by call- 
ing a farmer; Edwin Wright, also a farmer; 
Harriet Olive, now Mrs. Fleck, and Mary 
Jane, the wife of Samuel Hyndman; all of 
whom, excepting Mrs. Fleck, live in or near 
Hamilton, 111. The mother of this family was 
laid to rest April 6, 1895, and the father, who 
had his experience in the outbreak against the 
Mormons at Nauvoo, 111., still lives near Ham- 
ilton, not far from the scene of the Mormon 
troubles of about the year 1846. 

To the happy marriage of Rev. and Mrs. 
E. Lee Fleck have been born three children, 
viz: Vera Mary Olive, in Hamilton, 111., Feb- 
ruary 1, 1 891 ; Harlow Conrad, in Sidney, 
Neb., December 28, 1892; and Irene Belle, in 
Dayton, Ohio, April 26, 1895. 

In his politics Mr. Fleck is independent of 
party lines, but is strong in his advocacy of 
temperance. He was one of the champions 
of the prohibitory amendment to the constitu- 
tion of Iowa, in 1882, and his proclivities are 
still in favor of prohibition, as that word is 



understood in party politics. Fraternally he 
is a member of the order of Sons of Veterans 
and of the Knights of Pythias. 



BD. BITTINGER, M. D., of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Elkhart, Ind., Feb- 
ruary 6, 1865. He is a son of George 
L. and Augusta (Johnson) Bittinger, 
both of whom are still living and are residing 
in Huntington count}', near Fort Wayne, Ind. 
The father is a native of Pennsylvania and the 
mother of New York state. Both went to In- 
diana during their younger days, and it was in 
that state that their marriage occurred. 

Dr. Bittinger was reared in Elkhart and 
Fort Wayne. His early education was ob- 
tained in the Fort Wayne public schools; later 
he attended Taylor university (then known as 
the Methodist college), at Fort Wayne, follow- 
ing which he began studying medicine, in that 
city, with Dr. G. A. Ross, a well-known phy- 
sician, as his preceptor. He took the regular 
course at the Hahnemann Medical college and 
hospital, Chicago, graduating from that insti- 
tution in 1888, and first entered upon the prac- 
tice of medicine in Chicago, where for a time 
he was associated with Dr. W. S. Harvey, one 
of the professors of Hahnemann college. In 
the summer of 1888, Dr. Bittinger located in 
Dayton, and, opening an office at his present 
location, No. 23 West Fourth street, began 
what has proved a most successful career in 
medicine and surgery. He is a member of the 
American Institute of Homeopathy, of the 
Ohio state Medical society, and of the Day- 
ton Homeopathic Medical society, being presi- 
dent of the last named body. Dr. Bittinger is 
surgeon for several of the street railway com- 
panies of Dayton, and a medical examiner for 
several well-known life insurance companies, 
among which are the Pacific Mutual, of San 
Francisco, and the American Union, of New 




^/(^Mcatstffrr- fy. A 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



497 



York city, and is chief medical director for the 
United Order of American Craftsmen. He is 
also a member of the Knights of Pythias frater- 
nity and of the Present Day club. As a physi- 
cian and surgeon Dr. Bittinger ranks among 
the prominent members of his school in Dayton 
and Montgomery county. As a citizen he is 
progressive and liberal in his ideas, ready al- 
ways to lend his assistance to movements look- 
ing toward the advancement of the city and 
the public good. His career, both professional 
and private, has been not only successful, but 
consistent, and has earned for him a place 
among the representative citizens of the beau- 
tiful Gem City. 

Dr. Bittinger was married in the fall of 
1889, to Mrs. Jennie Darrow (nee Emerick), a 
member of one of the old and influential fami- 
lies of Germantown, Ohio. To their union 
two daughters — Eugenia and Ruth — have been 
born, who, with one son, Willie, from the first 
marriage of Mrs. Bittinger, constitute the 
family circle. 



a APT. WILLIAM EDWARD FAY, 
commanding company Seven, Na- 
tional Home for Disabled Volunteer 
Soldiers at Dayton, was born at 
Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, on December 
28, 1837. His parents removed to Cincinnati, 
where he grew to manhood under the parental 
roof, and received a liberal and thoroughly 
practical education, which was completed in 
the Kentucky Military institute, where he was 
graduated in 1859. This school was originated 
on a plan similar to that of West Point Mili- 
tary academy, and held a position second only 
to that institution. 

Anthony Fay, the father of William E., 
was a native of New England, who had made a 
liberal fortune in the lumber business at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. He was a son of Massachusetts, 

16 



and was proud to trace his lineage back to 
Plymouth Rock. His wife, Mary Vail, was a 
native of the county where William E. was 
born, and her family was among the first to 
establish itself in western Ohio. Her father, 
Moses Vail, was a Quaker, and it is said that 
he refused to locate in Cincinnati, but kept on 
to Franklin, because he thought the former 
would never grow into a large city. He died 
when his daughter Mary was twelve years of 
age. The Vails were a numerous family, and 
it is said that at one time half the population 
of Franklin were, in one way and another, re- 
lated to it. 

Capt. Fay has two sisters and one brother 
now living, he being the eldest of the family. 
One sister, Mrs. Emma Hamilton, the widow of 
Samuel Hamilton, is now abroad with her son, 
who has just attained his majority. Mr. Ham- 
ilton was a very successful banker and real- 
estate dealer. George Anthony Fay, the 
youngest of the living children, is a resident of 
Dyersville, Tenn. , where he is engaged in an 
extensive lumber business. He made a very 
admirable record as an officer of the United 
States revenue department. The other mem- 
ber of the family, Mrs. Laura Pugh, has her 
home at Shelbyville, Ind. 

Capt. Fay began his mature life with an 
inclination towards the vocation of teaching; 
but almost immediately on his graduation, 
passed into the military service of the United 
States, for which he was so well prepared. Dur- 
ing the presidential campaign of i860, his name 
was prominently associated with the organiza- 
tion and training of the Wide Awakes, his 
company leading the great procession in the 
city of Cincinnati, that followed the election 
of Lincoln. He entered the army August 6, 
1861, receiving the appointment of adjutant 
of the Thirteenth Missouri volunteer infantry, 
organized at Saint Louis. His regiment was in 
the western army, and participated in many 



498 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



important and memorable engagements. At 
Fort Donelson it was the first regiment to 
place a nag on the captured fortifications. 
Here 15,000 prisoners were taken, and half 
as many more broke the lines and escaped. 
At Shiloh the Thirteenth was in the thick 
of the fight, and here Capt. Fay had his horse 
shot from under him, the animal falling upon 
him and causing an injury from which he has 
never recovered. He, however, remained on 
the field and accompanied his regiment to 
Corinth, where he was prostrated with typhoid 
fever, and sent to the hospital. Upon his re- 
covery, he reported for duty, and was with his 
regiment during the winter of 1862-3 in the 
vicinity of Corinth. In the early spring fol- 
lowing, he was ordered to Trenton, Tenn., 
where two companies of his regiment were 
mounted and served as scouts. Here a rebel 
colonel was captured, whom Capt. Fay ac- 
companied to Jackson, Tenn. , alone, and 
there turned him over to the proper authorities. 
After the war had closed the father of Capt. 
Fay went south and built a mill near where 
this officer (Col. Dawson) had his home, and 
the two families grew to be the most intimate 
friends. 

Capt. Fay took part in the siege and cap- 
ture of Vicksburg, being among those soldiers 
who were stationed at Haines' Bluff, on the 
Yazoo river, to protect the rear of the Union 
forces from threatened attacks by Gen. John- 
ston. After the fall of Vicksburg he was 
ordered to Helena, Ark., in Kimball's pro- 
visional division. By this time Adjutant 
Fay's ability and special qualifications lifted 
him into prominence, and he was successively 
appointed assistant adjutant-general and as- 
sistant inspector-general of the Second brigade 
of this provisional division, also known as the 
Arkansas expedition. The city of Little Rock 
was easily captured in September, 1863, and 
here the command remained until the spring 



of 1864, when it was started to join Gen. 
Banks' expedition against Shreveport, and 
had progressed as far as Camden, Ark., when 
word came that that movement had failed. 
It was confronted by a strong rebel force, and 
at once began a running fight to reach Little 
Rock. It had several encounters with the 
enemy, but finally was the first to reach and 
hold the city. Our subject formed his line of 
battle five times in one day on this forced 
march and was always ready to fight whenever 
opportunity was offered. The last battle in 
which he participated occurred in the march 
above described, and was fought at Jenkins' 
Ferry, April 30, 1864, on the Saline river. 
He was mustered out of service in November, 
1864, with the rank of captain, being at home 
at that time seriously sick. 

Capt. Fay established himself as a lumber 
merchant at Saginaw, Mich., when his health 
had sufficiently recovered to admit of his en- 
gaging in active business. In 1870, after four 
years' labor in this line, he returned to Cincin- 
nati, and secured a political office, which he 
held for several years. He was then engaged 
as bookkeeper in the counting room of an ex- 
tensive wholesale hardware firm. Later on, 
this same firm put him in charge of its found- 
ries and shops, which position he resigned to 
enter the office of the Cincinnati exposition, 
where he served as chief clerk in the secre- 
tary's office, attending to its correspondence 
and advertising. He proved a very valuable 
worker for this corporation, and it was re- 
luctant to let him enter the service of the city, 
which desired him to act as inspector of street 
improvements. He, however, severed his con- 
nection with the exposition, and was in the 
employment of the city for several years, his 
duties being very agreeable to him, as they 
were largely in the field of civil engineering. 
Capt. Fay was then connected with the con- 
struction of a railroad in northern Georgia, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



499 



where he acted as paymaster of the contract- 
ors, and confidential secretary of the manage- 
ment. When this road was completed, he 
returned to Cincinnati, and opened an office 
as estimating engineer, receiving plans from 
architects, and giving figures as to the cost of 
excavations, foundations, bridges, railroad 
work, and similar construction. In this he 
was highly successful until the depression of 
1893 put an end to active work, and deprived 
him of remunerative business. He entered the 
home in May, 1896, and was almost immedi- 
ately put into the command which he now 
holds. 

Capt. Fay and Miss Laura Eugenia Dalton 
were married January 15, 1867. She was of 
Revolutionary stock, and her father, Joseph 
Dalton, true to the family traditions, was a 
soldier in the Union forces, enlisting from 
Oshkosh, Wis. No children were born to 
Captain and Mrs. Fay, and after an almost 
ideal wedded life of nearly twenty-nine years, 
he was called upon to mourn her death, which 
occurred September 16, 1895, a t Cincinnati. 

Capt. Fay is a member of Union Veteran 
Legion, No. 41, of Cincinnati, and has long 
been identified with the Christian or Disciples' 
church. He is an uncompromising repub- 
lican, coming of an old-line whig family for 
two generations back. Personally he is a gen- 
tleman of education and broad culture, whose 
companionship is a privilege to all who admire 
true character and genuine manliness. 



» m ELORA D. FLEMING, junior mem- 
J^T'C ber of the firm of Maxwell & Flem- 
M M ing, was born in Union City, Ind., 
February 20, 1870, and is the son of 
David and Catherine Fleming, both natives of 
Ohio. Mr. Fleming's paternal ancestors were 
Scotch, his great-great-grandfather having been 
a Highlander. His grandfather came to Amer- 



ica prior to the American Revolution, and was 
a soldier in that glorious struggle. Mrs. Cath- 
erine Fleming, whose maiden name was Allen, 
and who is still living, is descended from an 
old English family, which was first repre- 
sented in the United States by her great- 
grandfather, who settled, many years ago, in 
Virginia. The family of David and Catherine 
Fleming consisted of two children, William 
H., an engineer of Dayton, and Zelora D. 

Zelora D. Fleming was educated in Saint 
Mary's institute, Dayton, and the Dayton Com- 
mercial college, graduating from the latter 
institution. He then became a clerk with a 
mercantile firm of the city, in which capacity 
he continued until entering the service of the 
Illinois Central railroad, where he was em- 
ployed for eighteen months, becoming profi- 
cient in telegraphy during that time. For 
nine months he was an employee of the P., C. , 
C. & St. L. railroad, running between Chicago 
and Logansport, and in 1891 engaged in busi- 
ness for himself, teaming and furnishing teams 
for the Rathbone Lumber company, Chicago. 
He was thus engaged until 1893, in September 
of which year he disposed of his business at 
Harvey, 111. , a suburb of Chicago, and his head- 
quarters, where he purchased and still owns 
valuable real estate. He returned to Dayton, 
and after about eighteen months embarked in 
his present business, purchasing property for 
the purpose on National avenue. This busi- 
ness consists of handling cut and dressed stone 
of all kinds, obtained from the firm's quarries, 
to operate which requires the labor of from 
fourteen to twenty men during the greater part 
of the year. The annual output is as high as 
288 carloads of stone, the greater part of 
which is disposed of in Dayton, though quite 
a large amount is shipped to other cities of 
Ohio and states adjacent. In addition to the 
business of the firm, Mr. Fleming is individu- 
ally engaged in handling coal and fuel of all 



500 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



kinds, in which his success has been most 
encouraging from the beginning. 

On the 20th day of August, 1891, Mr. 
Fleming married Miss Fay Mary McCormick, 
who is a native of the county Mayo, Ireland, 
and was brought to the United States when 
eight years of age, her parents locating first in 
New York city, thence moving to Yonkers, 
where, in Mount Saint Vincent convent, she 
received a liberal education. Her brother, 
Michael McCormick, is a merchant tailor of 
Dayton, in which calling two other brothers 
are also engaged — James in this city and John 
in the city of New York; another brother, 
Dennis McCormick, is a resident of Indian- 
apolis, Ind., and her only sister, Delia lives in 
New York city. The father of Mrs. Fleming 
and two sons, Patrick and William, reside, at 
this time, in their native isle. 

Mr. Fleming has the mature judgment, 
sagacity and other qualities of the successful 
business man and citizen. He is independent 
in politics and liberal in his religious views. 



8t 



'ARREN E. BEEGHLY, one of the 
younger members of the Dayton 
bar, was born in Montgomery coun- 
ty, at the Beeghly homestead, near 
the soldiers' home. His parents were Abra- 
ham and Catherine (Wolf) Beeghly, well known 
and greatly esteemed in their community. 

Warren E. Beeghly received his prelimi- 
nary education in the public schools of Dayton, 
and afterward attended Ashland college for 
two years. He then entered the Miami Com- 
mercial college, graduating from that institu- 
tion in 1885. He next taught school for three 
years in district No. 12, Van Buren township. 
Then, attending the Cincinnati Law college, 
he graduated there in June, 1890, and on the 
1st of September following began the practice 
of the law in the office of the Hon. George W. 



Houk. Since the untimely and lamented death 
of that distinguished gentleman, Mr. Beeghly 
has been in practice alone. 

Mr. Beeghly organized the Buckeye Build- 
ing & Loan association April 1, 1892, and 
has since been its secretary and attorney. He 
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the 
K. A. E. O., of the Independent Order of For- 
esters, and of Mystic lodge, F. & A. M. In 
all these fraternities he is in good standing and 
is considered a useful member, as he is en- 
dowed with sound judgment, and with good 
business qualifications. Mr. Beeghly is as yet 
unmarried. 



a APT. JAMES R. FLETCHER, com- 
mander of company Twelve, Na- 
tional Home, D. V. S., was born in 
London, England, January 20, 1845; 
his parents, Samuel and Margaret (Castle) 
Fletcher, married in England, and came to the 
United States when he was eighteen months 
old, settling at Trenton, N. J., where the 
father for many years held a prominent posi- 
tion in the iron mills. Samuel Fletcher was a 
successful business man, accumulated a hand- 
some competence and, died in the city of Tren- 
ton at the age of fifty-five years; his wife sur- 
vived him and reached the ripe old age of 
eighty-two, before being called from the scene 
of her earthly labors. 

The early years of Capt. Fletcher were 
spent in Trenton, in the schools of which he 
received his first educational training and later 
obtained a knowledge of the higher branches 
of learning in an academy of the city, complet- 
ing the prescribed course of study. On the 
5th day of June, 1862, he enlisted in company 
I, Fourteenth New Jersey infantry, and after the 
battle of Winchester, where his bravery under 
most trying circumstances attracted the atten- 
tion of the officers of the regiment, he was 




WARREN E. BEECHLY. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



503 



promoted first lieutenant of company D, in 
recognition of meritorious conduct. He com- 
manded his company during the remaining 
years of the war, and proved a true soldier at 
the head of his men in many of the bloody 
battles in which the First brigade, Third divi- 
sion, Sixth army corps, participated. Among 
the more noted engagements in which he took 
part were the battles of the Shenandoah val- 
ley, Gettysburg, Fredricksburg, the Wilder- 
ness and Petersburg, and he was under Gen. 
Sheridan at the final surrender 'of the Confed- 
erate forces at Appomattox. He was mus- 
tered out of the service as first lieutenant, 
acting captain, in June, 1865, after gallantly 
serving his country for over three years, which 
covered the most trying and critical period of 
the war. His military career thus completed, 
he returned to the old home in New Jersey, 
where his mother was then living. After 
spending three years amid the scenes of his 
boyhood days, the captain went to Cleveland, 
Ohio, where he found employment as an iron 
worker, following his trade in that city during 
the greater part of fourteen years. He also 
filled a clerical position in the Cleveland post- 
office for some time, and later was an employee 
in the revenue department at the same place; 
he was also clerk at the Cataract House in 
Cleveland, being thus employed when failing 
health, superinduced by previous exposure 
while in the army, compelled him to retire 
from active life and to become an inmate of 
the national soldiers' home, at Dayton, for 
treatment. The date of his admission to the 
home is June 4, 1894, since which time he has 
filled various official positions, having had 
charge of company Twelve for about one year. 
The captain has been married, but at this time 
is alone in the world, his wife having died, 
and he having no living children. He is a 
member of the K. of P. fraternity, belonging 
to lodge No. 46, Cleveland, of which he is 



past chancellor, and he was for two years 
commander of Commodore Perry post, G. A. 
R., Cleveland. He is an adherent to the 
principles of the republican party, and was 
reared in the faith of the Episcopal church. 



^* i 'OSEPH FRANK, ex-meat inspector of 
M the city of Dayton, and one of the 
{% J well known citizens of Montgomery 
county, was born in Bavaria, Germany, 
October 6, 1859. His education was received 
partly in the old country and partly in the 
United States. His father, Isaac Frank, 
brought the family to this country in 1871, 
coming at once to Dayton, Where he is now one 
of the oldest butchers of this city. Young 
Frank went to work with his father in the meat 
business when between sixteen and seventeen 
years of age, having previously been engaged 
in driving cattle to and from the stock yards. 
Remaining with his father till he was nineteen 
years of age, he then went to Cincinnati, where 
he was engaged for three years as a butcher. 
Returning to Dayton, he and his brother, Isa- 
dore, embarked in the grocery and meat mar- 
ket business, which they followed for about 
two years, when Mr. Frank engaged in butch- 
ering and dealing in cattle on his own account 
at Brookville, Montgomery county, Ohio, at- 
tending the Dayton market. He then spent a 
year in traveling for his uncle, Jacob Wein- 
reich, formerly president of the Dayton city 
council, and, upon returning to the occupation 
of butcher, he purchased the meat market of 
F. J. Schmitt, on Third street, and operated 
it for two years. In March, 1891, he accepted 
the position of city salesman with N. Jacobs & 
Co., which he still holds, and on May 1, 1895, 
he was appointed by the city council meat in- 
spector for the city for one year. 

Mr. Frank was married in August, 1888, to 
Victoria Mayer, formerly of Houma, Terre 



504 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Bonne parish, La., and to this marriage there 
have been born three daughters and one son, 
as follows: Jennie, Bertram, Bertha and 
Sarah. Mr. Frank has served several years on 
the democratic county central committee and 
is treasurer of the committee and also of the 
Gravel Hall democratic club, as well as of 
several societies. He is one of the directors of 
the Old Men's Invalid home of Cleveland, 
Ohio; is a member of the Odd Fellows' en- 
campment and of the Knights of Pythias, and 
holds the position of commissary sergeant on 
Col. Coffman's staff. He is a member of the 
Jewish organization known as the O. K. S. B., 
and is the representative to the grand lodge of 
the order. In all these various orders and 
societies Mr. Frank maintains good standing 
and has the esteem of all the members. In 
business matters he has always been successful 
and is in every way a useful and worthy citizen. 



QICHAEL FREUDENBERGER, a 
retired farmer, living at 2612 East 
Fifth street, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born near Hesse-Darmstadt, Ger- 
many, November 25, 1826. He is a son of 
Christian and Sybilla (Blitz) Freudenberger, 
both natives of Germany. Two children were 
born to Christian and Sybilla, viz: Conrad 
and Michael. Christian Freudenberger was a 
farmer by occupation, and lived and died in 
Germany. His first wife, who was the mother 
of the above-named children, and who was 
like himself a member of the Lutheran church, 
died in 1S28, and he afterward married Miss 
Margaret Martin, by whom he had six children. 
Four of these are still living, as follows: 
George, John, Catherine, widow of John Kling, 
and Mary. 

The paternal grandfather of Michael was a 
farmer in his native country, in which he lived 
and died. He was a man of quiet disposition, 



reared a family of four children and bore an 
excellent reputation. The maternal grandfa- 
ther, Johannes Blitz, was also a native of Ger- 
many, reared a family of two children, and 
died in his native land when over seventy years 
of age. 

Michael Freudenberger was reared on his 
father's farm in Germany, received a good 
common-school education, and remained at 
home until his early manhood. In 1852 he 
sailed for the United States, landing in New 
York, and five weeks later came to Dayton, 
Ohio, where for the next two years he worked 
for George Harris in his dairy. For one year 
afterward he was in the employ of Pierce & 
West, and at the end of this time, established 
himself in the diary business, in which he was 
engaged for a period of thirty-two years. His 
dairy was next to his present place of residence, 
and was then entirely in the country, timber 
land extending as far as the present Linden 
avenue. 

On November 7, 1858, he married Miss 
Magdalena Sauer, daughter of Johannes Adam 
and Margaret (Eckert) Sauer. To this mar- 
riage there have been born twelve children, as 
follows: Magdalena, Louise, Celia, Elizabeth 
K., Christian, George, William, Emil, Albert, 
Bertha, August and Ida. Of these, Magda- 
lena, Christian, George, William, Emil and 
Bertha are dead. Elizabeth K. married Will- 
iam C. Kette, of Dayton, and has two children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Freudenberger are members 
of the German Lutheran church, and in politics 
Mr. Freudenberger is a democrat. At one 
time he owned eight acres of land in Dayton, 
which he platted, and sold off a large part in 
city lots. He also sold six acres to the Na- 
tional Improvement company, in the eastern 
part of the city. In 1891 he erected his pres- 
ent comfortable and attractive residence. He 
has been a citizen of Dayton for forty-five 
years and has done his share toward bringing 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



505 



about its remarkable growth and development. 
Few men stand higher in the estimation of 
their fellow-men than does Mr. Freudenberger, 
who, although not a native of this country, is 
yet one of the most patriotic of citizens. 



aHRISTIAN FROMM, retired me- 
chanic of Dayton, Ohio, residing at 
No. 678 South Main street, was born 
in Wurtemberg, Germany, April 18, 
1838, and is a son of Christian and Mary Kath- 
arina (Seifried) Fromm, also natives of Wur- 
temberg. 

Christian Fromm, the father, was twice 
married, his first wife being named above, who 
became the mother of four children, viz: 
Christian, whose name opens this sketch; Mrs. 
Katharina Loudenschlager, now a widow and 
residing in Dayton; Mrs. Fredericka Nohr, 
who resides on West Fifth street, Dayton, 
and Mrs. Magdalena Meyers, who has her 
home in Louisville, Ky. The second marriage 
of Christian Fromm was with Maria Kopf, also 
a native of Wurtemberg, and to his marriage 
were born two daughters, viz: Mrs. Mary J. 
Darr and Mrs. Louisa Durr, both wives of 
farmers living in Montgomery county, Ohio. 

Christian Fromm, the subject of this no- 
tice, received a good common-school education 
in his native country, and at the age of fifteen 
came to America with his parents, who settled 
in Dayton, Ohio, in 1853. Here the father 
resumed his trade of stonecutting, which he 
had learned and followed in the old country, 
and which he here continued until advancing 
years compelled his retirement. His death 
occurred in Dayton, August 6, 1891, his second 
wife having died on May 8th of the same year. 

Christian Fromm, Jr., on coming to Day- 
ton with his parents, was at once apprenticed 
to the cabinetmaking trade, and followed 
that vocation until the opening of the Civil 



war, when he enlisted, in August, 1861, in 
company B, First Ohio volunteer infantry, 
which was assigned to the army of the Cum- 
berland. Mr. Fromm took part in the battles 
of Shiloh, Corinth, Miss., Perryville, Stone 
River, Murfreesboro, Kenesaw Mountain, in 
the siege and in the capture of Atlanta, where 
his term of enlistment expired, and the regi- 
ment was ordered to Chattanooga, where it 
was mustered out of the service. Mr. Fromm 
then returned to Dayton, where he entered 
the employ of the Globe Iron works, and there 
spent twenty-eight years, and in 1894 retired 
from active labor. 

The marriage of Mr. Fromm took place in 
Dayton, September 18, 1865, to Miss Lizzie 
Eberle, a native of Boston, Mass., and of Ger- 
man parentage. This union was blessed by 
the birth of five children, who, in order of 
birth, were named Otto F. , now a hardware 
merchant of Dayton; Bertha, Edith, Emma 
and Cora, the daughters being still unmarried 
and living with their parents. A peculiarity 
with the Fromm family is the fact that to 
every marriage that has taken place for gen- 
erations back, the first child born was the only 
son. The year 1891 was one of deepest sor- 
row to Mr. Fromm, for in that year he was 
bereft of father, step-mother and wife — the 
death of his wife occurring March 25th. 

In religion Mr. Fromm was reared in the 
faith of the German Lutheran church. His 
children are members of the English Lutheran 
church, of which his wife was also a devout 
member. Fraternally, Mr. Fromm is a mem- 
ber of Old Guard post, No. 21, Grand Army 
of the Republic, and of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen. In politics, he entered the 
army as a democrat, but voted for Lincoln for 
the presidency in 1864, and has ever since 
been a republican. 

Mr. Fromm has ever lived an industrious 
life, and his retirement from active labor was 



506 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



induced by the fact that his health was begin- 
ning to fail through encroaching years. He 
had charge of the millwright department of 
the Globe Iron works for many years, which is 
proof that his reputation as an excellent me- 
chanic was well earned. At one time during 
the long period of his employment by this com- 
pany he temporarily withdrew and engaged in 
the furniture business, for which his early ex- 
perience had well qualified him, but the panic 
of 1873 proved fatal to this venture; other- 
wise, he has enjoyed a prosperous career. He 
has the good fortune to be surrounded by a 
loving family and a host of warm-hearted 
friends, who highly esteem him, and his wan- 
ing days are passing in peace and comfort. 



BREDERICK P. BEAVER, founder 
and president of the Beaver Soap 
company, situated at the corner of 
Hopeland and Concord streets, Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in this city, November 
29, 1845. He is a son of J. N. F. and Caro- 
line (Snyder) Beaver, both of whom have died, 
the former in August, 1856, and the latter in 
March, 1861. They were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, the one having been born near Cham- 
bersburg, the other near Lancaster, and were 
respectively of French Huguenot and Prussian 
descent. They came to Ohio before they were 
married, the mother in 18 19, and the father in 
1835, and were married in Dayton, Ohio, in 
1844. For some years J. N. F. Beaver was 
one of Dayton's active business men, being 
first engaged in the manufacture of candy, and 
later in selling coal and wood. Still later he 
became engaged in the wholesale notion busi- 
ness with Jacob Coffman, under the firm name 
of Coffman & Beaver, which style continued 
until the death ot Mr. Beaver. He was a dea- 
con in the Baptist church, and was a strong 
republican. His parents, Philip Beaver and 



his wife, came to Dayton a short time prior to 
their death, which occurred in this city. 

George Snyder and his wife, parents of 
Caroline Snyder, also came to Dayton and 
here died. The former for a time conducted 
a hotel where the present Cooper house stands. 

Frederick P. Beaver was one of a family 
of five children, as follows: Edward C. , of 
Frankfort, Ind., a railroad agent for the Van- 
dalia line; Hattie A., widow, of J. A. Crebs, 
of Dayton; Charles H., who died in infancy; 
Ida A., wife of Edward Canby, of Dayton, 
Ohio; and Frederick P. 

Frederick P. Beaver was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton, and at the age of 
sixteen was a paper carrier. Afterward he 
took a commercial course, and in 1863 accepted 
a position as bookkeeper with Chamberlain & 
Parker. On May 12, 1864, he enlisted in the 
100 days' service, and, after serving his time 
in the army, returned to Dayton, re-entered 
the employ of Chamberlain & Parker, and re- 
mained with them until 1869. Then, going 
to Toledo, he carried on a branch store for 
them under the name of Frederick P. Beaver, 
being thus occupied for two years. Going 
then to Hopkinsville, Ky. , he became a mem- 
ber of the firm of Brownell, Orr & Co., the 
firm operating a planing-mill. Here he re- 
mained one year, when he returned to Dayton 
and purchased the interest of Edward Sweet, 
in the firm of Chadwick & Sweet, furniture 
dealers, the name becoming Chadwick & Beaver, 
and so continuing for five years. Mr. Beaver 
then established the Silver Star baking powder 
business, which lasted but a few months, and 
in which he lost most of his earnings; but, 
nothing daunted by failure, he started, in a 
small way and with but small capital, the 
Beaver Soap company, which, under the man- 
agement of himself and associates, has grown 
to its present prosperous condition. It was 
started in 1879 in a one-story frame building 







J^ 





u'X^^^i- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



509 



on Commercial street, near Fifth, and the first 
year's output did not exceed 1,200 gross of 
soap. Since then he has made four removals, 
enlarging the business each time, or rather 
moving only when the increasing business ren- 
dered it necessary. The present plant has 400 
feet street frontage and is seventy feet deep. 
The buildings have two and a half acres of 
flooring, and constitute one of the large manu- 
facturing establishments in the city of Dayton, 
which city is known all over the civilized world 
for the great number and excellence of her 
manufacturing industries. There are employed 
in these works some seventy-five hands, and 
the goods manufactured are sold all over the 
country — Grandpa's Wonder, Beaver's Pine 
Tar and Grandma's Laundry soap being the 
especial brands made by the concern. When 
the business was founded Mr. Beaver started 
alone. In 1883 he took in Robert Marsh, 
who, however, remained associated with him 
but a short time, and in 1885 he accepted as 
a partner W. D. Chamberlin, whose biograph- 
ical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 
The firm name then became Beaver & Co., 
and in September, 1893, the business was in- 
corporated under the name of the Beaver Soap 
company. The officers of this company at the 
present time are as follows: F. P. Beaver, 
president; W. D. Chamberlin, vice-president; 
and C. F. Snyder, secretary and treasurer. 

Mr. Beaver was married, November 29, 
1893, to Miss Emma J. Thompson, daughter 
of Ralph and Mary J. Thompson, of Terre 
Haute, Ind. Mr. Beaver is a member of the 
First Baptist church, and resides at the north- 
east corner of Second and Perry streets. He 
is one of the liberal-minded men of the city of 
Dayton, is progressive, intelligent, well in- 
formed, and keeps himself fully abreast of the 
times. Socially and religiously Mr. Beaver 
enjoys high standing, possessing the sincere 
esteem of the entire community. 



>^r*OSHUA G. GALLOWAY, postmaster 
m of the national military home, Mont- 
(• J gomery county, Ohio, was born in Bal- 
timore, Md., July 30, 1843. He is a 
son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Gorsuch) Gallo- 
way, both natives of Maryland, and born, re- 
spectively, in 1 8 16 and 1822. 

Joshua Galloway, who was a coppersmith 
by trade, lost his life at the age of thirty-three 
years, at the Relay house, on the Baltimore & 
Ohio railroad, in Maryland, he being at the 
time an engineer on the road. He was de- 
scended from a family of Scotch-Irish and 
Welsh extraction, who came to America prior 
to the war of the Revolution, in which war 
Aquilla Galloway, an ancestor, took an active 
part in liberating the colonies from the tyranny 
of Great Britain, and was also a soldier in the 
war of 1812. Of the four sons born to Joshua 
Galloway, William, the eldest, was killed at 
the battle of Beverly, in West Virginia, Octo- 
ber 29, 1864, when his brother, Joshua G., 
standing at his side, caught him in his arms as 
he fell from his death wound; John was a vol- 
unteer in the Twenty-fourth Ohio infantry, 
served through the Civil war, is now a resident 
of Dayton and is employed as assistant fore- 
man in the Globe Iron works; James was a 
soldier in the First Ohio volunteer infantry, 
and later in the Eighteenth regiment of volun- 
teer infantry from the same state, was wound- 
ed at the battle of Stone River before he was 
fifteen years of age, and is now engaged as a 
repairer of machinery in Dayton. 

Joshua G. Galloway was educated in the 
public schools of his native city, and also by 
private tutors. Upon coming to Dayton, Ohio, 
he began working in a paper mill when he was 
but eleven years of age. At the opening of the 
Rebellion he enlisted, in April, 1861, in com- 
pany K, Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, and served three months at Camp Den- 
nison, Ohio. He next enlisted, in September, 



510 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1861, in company G, Forty-fourth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, and served in the battles of 
the mountains of what is now West Virginia 
and in eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
in all of the engagements of his regiment, be- 
ing with Gen. Burnside at the siege of Knox- 
ville, Tenn., in the fall of 1S63. Having re- 
ceived his second honorable discharge, he 
again enlisted while in the field, January 4, 
1S64, in the Eighth volunteer cavalry, com- 
pany G, and served under Gen. Phil Sheridan 
in the Shenandoah valley, going through 
with Gen. Hunter to the conflict at Lynch- 
burg. The scope of this biographical no- 
tice will hardly permit a full mention of 
the services rendered by Mr. Galloway 
as a soldier. Suffice it to say that, beside 
what has already been mentioned, he assisted 
at Cumberland Gap, fought against the rebel 
raiders, Rosser, Morgan, Jenkins, Moberlyand 
others, and on January II, 1865, was cap- 
tured by a band of Rosser's men at Beverly, 
W. Va., when the entire Thirty-fourth regi- 
ment of Ohio volunteer infantry was also cap- 
tured. After thirty-five days' confinement in 
Libby prison at Richmond, Va., he was re- 
leased on parole, and found his way to Camp 
Chase, Ohio, where he was granted a furlough 
to await notice of his final exchange. In May, 
1865, he was ordered to report at Columbus, 
Ohio, where he received his final discharge, on 
June 19 following. 

After the war Mr. Galloway engaged with 
Barney & Smith as a painter in their car shops 
at Dayton, and subsequently became a molder 
in a foundry of the same city, a trade which 
he followed from 1870 until August, 1893. 
While thus employed he became deeply inter- 
ested in the affairs of laboring men, and iden- 
tified himself with the Iron Molders' union and 
for several years served as its president. Of 
this union he was a delegate to the national 
convention held at Saint Louis in 1888, and 



to the convention at Detroit in 1890; he also 
held the office of corresponding secretary of 
the Iron Molders' union for several years, and 
in every position proved himself capable and 
fully worthy of the confidence reposed in him 
by his fellow-craftsmen. Mr. Galloway was 
also appointed by the president of the Iron 
union of North America to represent that or- 
ganization in the grand conference with the 
Manufacturers' association at Chicago, and 
having been one of the organizers of the Iron 
union and for a number of years a member, 
his experience and ability made him a most 
efficient representative of its interests. The 
object of the formation of the Iron union is to 
secure the settlement of labor questions be- 
tween employers and employees by arbitration 
rather than by strikes and turbulence, and in 
the advocacy of this humane and effective 
method of settling these troubles Mr. Gallo- 
way stands prominent. 

September 12, 1865, Mr. Galloway was 
united in matrimony with Miss Clara J. Server, 
daughter of Jacob and Mary Server, residents 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, the father of 
Mrs. Galloway being a mechanic as well as a 
farmer. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Gallo- 
way have been born nine children, viz: Clara, 
employed in the post-office at the soldiers' 
home at Dayton; Lydia, a teacher in the Sev- 
enteenth district public school of Dayton; Et- 
tie and Mellie, both students in the Dayton 
high school; Robert, Frank and Mary, who 
are in the Twelfth district school; George, 
who died at the age of five years and three 
months; and James, who died at birth. The 
family are identified with the United Brethren 
church. 

In politics Mr. Galloway is a Jeffersonian 
democrat, but in the debatable field of taxa- 
tion he decidedly favors the single-tax system. 
His first public position was that of superin- 
tendent of the Dayton employment office, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



511 



which came to him without solicitation, and 
which he filled for fourteen months; he was 
next appointed, August 3, 1893, as postmaster 
of the national military home, which office is 
rated as third class and gives employment to 
four persons. 

Fraternally Mr. Galloway is a member of 
Dayton lodge, No. 273, I. O. O. F. ; of Old 
Guard post, No. 73, G. A. R. , and is past 
colonel of encampment, No. 82, U. V. L. He 
has been identified with the Knights of Labor 
since 1876, is past master workman of district 
assembly No. 121, was its representative in 
the national assembly at Atlanta, Ga., in 1889; 
has been an active member of the Dayton 
Trades assembly since its organization in 1882, 
served four years as its secretary, and is ener- 
getic in establishing crades and labor assem- 
blies throughout the state of Ohio. 

Mr. Galloway's long and active connection 
with labor organizations has been instrumental 
in making him a careful and exact reader and 
a close student of finance, as also of parlia- 
mentary usage and of the perplexing labor 
problems of the day. He is an intelligent and 
enthusiastic advocate of the laboring man's 
rights — possessing the ability to present his 
views in such a manner as to carry conviction 
of his earnestness and sincerity. As a worker 
and public speaker among his co-laborers he 
stands in the front rank, as he did in defense 
of his country. 



eDWARD A. FRY, member of the firm 
of Berk & Fry, undertakers, 127-129 
East Fifth street, is a native of the 
city of Dayton, Ohio, where he was 
born March 23, 1842. His father, Henry A. 
Fry, a native of Pennsylvania, came to Dayton 
about the year 1830 and here married Miss 
Sarah M. Snyder, who was also born in the 
Keystone state. Henry A. Fry was for some 



years a furniture dealer and undertaker and is 
remembered as a successful business man in 
the early days of Dayton. He died in June, 
1847 ; his widow survived him many years, 
departing this life at a ripe age in 1890. The 
Fry and Snyder families are of German de- 
scent and representatives of both came to the 
United States in ante-Revolutionary times, 
locating in Pennsylvania near the cities of 
Chambersburg and Harrisburg respectively. 

The immediate family of Henry A. Fry 
consisted of two sons and one daughter, Ed- 
ward A. being the third in order of birth. 
Charles H., the eldest of the family, is, at this 
time, a jeweler at Fort Worth, Tex., where 
he has been engaged in business since about 
the year 1886. He went south when a young 
man of twenty and was conscripted into the 
rebel army, with which he served during the 
greater part of the war of the Rebellion. The 
second child, Clara S., married a Mr. Phelps, 
a resident of Dayton and an extensive manu- 
facturer of salt, his business being in the state 
of Kansas. 

Edward A. Fry was five years old when 
his father died and his whole life thus far has 
been passed as a resident of his native city. 
His educational advantages embraced the cur- 
riculum of the public schools and his inde- 
pendent business career began in 1865, in 
October of which year, in partnership with W. 
H. McGowen, he embarked in the livery busi- 
ness. After spending three years as a member 
of this firm, Mr. Fry disposed of his interest 
and built a barn of his own, which he stocked 
throughout and operated with encouraging 
success for about ten years, selling out in 1878 
and purchasing an interest in the undertaking 
establishment of Berk & Waymire. 

This firm began business in Dayton in 
1865, and is one of the leading establishments 
of the kind in the city, having much more 
than a merely local reputation as skilled and 



512 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



competent undertakers. Mr. Fry succeeded 
Mr. Waymire, and the style of the firm became 
Berk & Fry. 

As a business man, Mr. Fry is gifted with 
good sense and judgment, and his success 
financially has been thoroughly deserved. His 
standing among the business men of the city is 
high, and he is warmly esteemed as a useful 
citizen and member of society. Across the 
street from his present business location, and 
upon the site of the old home where he was 
born, Mr. Fry has erected a fine four-story 
building for mercantile purposes, beside which 
he owns other valuable property in the city. 

In politics Mr. Fry has always been a re- 
publican, keenly alive to the best interests of 
his party, but aspires to no official position; he 
is a member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows, 
and with his family attends the First South 
church. 

Mr. Fry married December 3, 1868, Miss 
Sarah F. Warble, of Dayton, Ohio, daughter 
of Samuel and Caroline Warble. This union 
is blessed with two children — Fannie B., wife 
of John E. Weiffenbach, a wholesale grocer of 
Dayton, and Charles E., an employee in the 
electric department of the Dayton Fan & 
Motor company. 



**S~\ EV. JOHN BAPTIST FROHMIL- 
I /«^ LER, pastor of the Roman Catholic 
_^W church of the Holy Rosary, at Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
many, in 1850, and at the age of two years 
was brought by his parents to America. He 
received parochial, seminary and college edu- 
cation, was ordained to the priesthood in 
1875, an< 3 immediately thereafter was ap- 
pointed assistant priest of the church of the 
Holy Trinity at Dayton. He served in this 
capacity until 1888, when he organized his 
present congregation in North Dayton, which 



now comprises a membership of 1,185 souls 
as communicants, and a parochial school 
where 175 children are instructed in element- 
ary knowledge and receive wholesome relig- 
ious training. 

Since assuming his present pastoral charge, 
Rev. Father Frohmiller has erected a fine brick 
church edifice and parsonage at a cost of about 
$25,000 for the buildings and grounds. He, 
in person, superintended the construction of 
the buildings mentioned, and managed the 
financial expenditure necessary to carry for- 
ward the work to completion, and while he is 
too modest to claim any credit to himself for 
the good work already done, he is yet awarded 
great praise by the good people of Dayton for 
the noble task he has thus far accomplished 
and still continues to prosecute. The secular 
language of the church is German, and both 
German and English are taught in the school, 
and in connection with the congregation are 
the usual societies for the edification of the 
members and the promotion of true friendship 
and brotherly love. 



a APT. JOHN BIRCH is a familiar 
name in the business and commercial 
interests of the city of Dayton, espe- 
cially in real estate and insurance 
lines. Capt. Birch has his office in the Canby 
building, on South Main street. He is of 
English nativity, was born in Manchester, 
April 17, 1836, and came to this country with 
his parents when a lad of only eight years, and 
spent his youthful days at Hamilton, Butler 
county, Ohio. His parents were Thomas and 
Ann (Turner) Birch, both natives of Manches- 
ter, England. His father was a skilled machin- 
ist, and was engaged in England in the manu- 
facture of machinery used in cotton mills, and 
continued in the same business at Hamilton 
until 1852, when he removed to Brookville, 




^1 ^,^J_ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



515 



Ind., and engaged in mercantile pursuits until 
1857. He then located in this city, retired 
from active business, dying two years later at 
the age of fifty-six, his wife living to be six 
years older, and passing away in 1868. They 
had ten children, five boys and five girls. 
Three sons and three daughters are now liv- 
ing, the captain being sixth in the order of 
birth. The remaining five are: Thomas, in 
the gas and steam-pipe business in Cincinnati, 
the firm with which he is connected being 
known as the Stacey Manufacturing company; 
Jeffrey, a machinist in Covington, Ky. ; Eliza- 
beth, the wife of Samuel DeVou, having her 
home in Hamilton; Jane, the wife of John 
Brady, living at Coalton, Ohio, where her 
husband is postmaster; and Louisa, who mar- 
ried Theodore Titus, a locomotive engineer at 
Fort Wayne, Ind. 

Capt. Birch learned in early life the ma- 
chinist's trade, which has been his mainstay 
for many years. He began it under his father's 
eye while the family were still residing in Ham- 
ilton, and continued it after the family had gone 
to Indiana, where he completed his apprentice- 
ship, so that when he came with his parents to 
this city he was ready to take a journeyman's 
position with Chapman & Edgar, only leaving 
their employ to enlist in April, 1861, in com- 
pany C, First Ohio volunteer infantry. The 
regiment was ordered to proceed directly to 
Washington, and was among the first troops 
to enter the Confederate territory. 

The young soldiers first heard rebel guns 
at Vienna, where their train was fired upon by 
an ambushed enemy. The regiment was in 
the disastrous rout at Bull Run, July 21, 1861, 
and its members relate with much gusto that 
it was one of the fleetest "runners" after the 
battle. This they can well afford to admit, 
for, with scarcely an exception, they after- 
ward retrieved their reputation on many a 
hard-fought field of slaughter. When the 



First had completed its term of enlistment, 
it was mustered out, nearly all its members re- 
enlisting in other organizations for the war, 
for by that time the serious character of the 
struggle in which the nation was engaged had 
become apparent. Mr. Birch returned to 
Dayton, and enlisted a number of men to be 
known as the Fremont body guards. But on 
reaching Benton barracks, it was found that 
not enough men had been called together for 
this purpose, so all that he had brought be- 
came a part of the Thirteenth Missouri, and 
he was commissioned as second lieutenant of 
company K. Later on, when credit for en- 
listed men was claimed by every community 
sending volunteers to the front, the regiment 
was designated as the Twenty-second Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and with this organization 
his name is found. At Fort Donelson the 
regiment was conspicuous for its determined 
gallantry, and here John Birch began a long 
and honorable military career. He was at 
Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, Corinth, Iuka, 
at the second battle of Corinth, at the capture 
of Vicksburg, and in several of the tremen- 
dous battles that preceded its surrender. 
The regiment was ordered to Little Rock, 
Ark., where it was engaged in guarding the 
railroad and in a general guerilla warfare with 
the scattered rebel bodies during the remain- 
der of its service. May 14, 1862, Lieut. 
Birch received promotion as first lieutenant, 
and in August of the same year he received 
his commission as captain of company B, 
Twenty-second Ohio. He was mustered out 
of service at Camp Dennison, November 18, 
1864. During his stay with his regiment he 
was detailed to many important duties, such 
as mustering officer for five months at Camp 
Dennison, and on the general court martial at 
Little Rock. 

When Capt. Birch re-entered the ranks of 
the great army of peaceful labor, it was in the 



516 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



capacity of machinist in the employ of Mc- 
Gregor & Callahan, of this city. After being 
with them for several years, he received the 
appointment of foreman at the Phoenix Iron 
works, where his stay was also protracted. 
He was then chosen superintendent of the J. 
R. Brownell Engine department, and here he 
was active for four years, and for a fifth year 
was purchasing agent for the same institution. 
This completed his connection with mechan- 
ical pursuits, and on the first day of June, 
1896, he opened his present office, buying and 
selling real estate, and doing a brokerage and 
insurance business. 

The Birch family are strong, robust men, 
above medium height, and its members have 
generally taken a leading position wherever 
found. A brother of our subject, William, was 
a major in the Ninety-third Ohio infantry, and 
was killed in the battle of Missionary Ridge; 
another brother, Jeffrey, was also in the serv- 
ice, and was badly wounded in front of Atlanta; 
another brother, Joseph, died at the compar- 
atively early age of twenty-six. Two sisters 
lived to maturity, and were happily married. 
Both are now deceased, Mrs. Mary M. Stevens 
dying March 1, 1S96, at Louisville, and her 
remains resting in the cemetery at Dayton. 
The other sister, Mrs. Ann Bail, died at 
Turner Station, Ky. , and is there buried. 
Capt. Birch, while acting as mustering officer 
at Camp Dennison, was ''mustered" into the 
great army of matrimony, in September,' 1862, 
Miss Ellen Brady being associated with him in 
this enlistment, whose term of service was, "so 
long as you two shall live." She was a daugh- 
ter of Peter Brady, a well-known contractor of 
Dayton. Two children were born of this 
union, Clara May, the older, being the wife of 
Charles J. Geyer, business manager of the 
Dayton Evening Herald, and the mother of 
three children, Mercedes Grace, Bertram and 
Mary. Her brother, Thomas J., was a most 



promising and attractive young man, who lived 
to be only a little over twenty-one, dying July 
20, 1888. Both were graduates of the Cen- 
tral high school, and the son had already won 
a good standing for himself as a traveling sales- 
man, when his fatal illness came upon him. 
Capt. Birch is a member of the order of Chosen 
Friends, and of encampment No. 145, Union 
Veteran Legion. He is independent in his po- 
litical affiliations, but, being an ardent temper- 
ance advocate, is desirous of the success of 
the party committed to that principle as its 
corner-stone. He was long associated with 
the republican party, but, of late years, has 
followed more closely the dictates of his per- 
sonal judgment. Mrs. Birch is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 



^"^EORGE H. GEBHART, member of 
■ ^\ the Dayton bar, was born in this 
\^^M city, November 5, 1867. He is a 
son of George A. Gebhart, junior 
member of the firm of S. T. & G. A. Gebhart, 
of Dayton. His grandfather was Judge Her- 
man Gebhart, whose name is familiar to every 
one acquainted with the history of Dayton. 

George H. Gebhart was educated in the 
public schools and the high school of his na- 
tive city. Leaving the high school in the third 
year he entered the select school of John Trues- 
dell, which was established in the fall of 1885, 
for the purpose of fitting young men, with 
thoroughness, for such colleges as they might 
wish to enter. In this school young Gebhart 
prepared for Yale college, and afterward spent 
one year in that institution and returned to 
Dayton. In 1888 he entered the Cincinnati 
law college, remaining there until 1890, when 
he was graduated, and in the same year was 
admitted to the bar at Columbus, Ohio. He 
next entered the law office of Gottschall & 
Brown as a student, remaining with them until 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



517 



1894, and engaged in office work for the firm. 
Beginning the practice of law in Dayton, he 
has since continued with credit and success. 
Mr. Gebhart was married in March, 1894, 
to Miss Daisie Brock, of Cincinnati, and to 
them a daughter has been born, named Elli- 
nor. Mr. Gebhart is a young man of industry 
and ambition, and, being well educated in 
schools and colleges of high standing, he is 
well equipped for the work of an arduous and 
honorable profession. 



@ 



EORGE H. GEIGER, M. D., is 
one of the well-known physicians and 
surgeons of Dayton, of which city he 
has been a resident since March, 
1872. He is a native of Urbana, Ohio, was 
born April 14, 1849, and is a son of Judge 
Levi Geiger. 

Levi Geiger is of German extraction, but 
descends directly from an old American fam- 
ily, extensively known throughout the country 
as prominent in the learned professions, espe- 
cially in law, medicine and theology. He is 
most active as a member of the republican 
party; he has been a member of the bar of 
Champaign county, Ohio, for many years, and 
for five years has been an occupant of the 
bench. He married Miss Rosalinda Gleason, 
of Holmes county, Ohio, and by this union 
became the father of six children, viz. : Julia, 
wife of S. L. B. Stone, and Rebecca, wife of 
John Banta, both of Urbana; George H. ; 
Charles L. , who died in Urbana in 1895; Ida; 
still residing in Urbana, and Jessie (Mrs. Pat- 
ton) of Greensburg, Pa. 

Dr. George H. Geiger was educated in the 
public schools of his native city and at the 
Wesleyan university of Delaware, Ohio, and 
after graduating from the latter, entered a 
drug-store in Urbana, and later a store of the 
same class in Dayton, and was altogether 



about nine years in the pharmaceutical trade. 
He then read medicine with Prof. Pierce, of 
Urbana, attended the Starling Medical college 
of Columbus, and graduated from the latter in 
the class of 1872, when he at once located in 
Dayton and has since been one of the most 
active and useful practitioners of the city. Up 
to 1890 his time was given to general medical 
practice and surgical operations, and in this 
year he began to give especial attention to the 
treatment of disorders arising from the abuse 
of alcohol and of morphia. This branch of 
the profession he has since followed with a 
constantly increasing success. Dr. Geiger has 
an extended fraternal and societary connec- 
tion, being a member of the Miami lodge, 
Knights of Pythias, Dayton division, No. 5, 
and surgeon of the Fourth regiment, uniform 
rank, Knights of Pythias; a member of Dayton 
lodge, No. 15, Order of Chosen Friends; and 
also medical examiner for each of these bodies. 
He also holds the same relation to the Mich- 
igan Mutual Life Insurance company at 
Dayton. 

Dr. Geiger was married, June 21, 1869, to 
Miss Sallie A. Taylor, of Urbana. This mar- 
riage resulted in the birth of five children, in 
the following order: Frank L. , now a ma- 
chinist, of Middletown, Ohio; Charles H., a 
druggist, of Wheeling, W. Va.; Grace R. , 
Parker G. and Helen J. 



>Y*ONATHAN H. GERLAUGH, once a 
m prominent but now a retired farmer, 
/• 1 living on East Fifth street, Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Beaver Creek town- 
ship, Greene county, Ohio, March 10, 1823. 
He is a son of John Adam and Catherine 
(Hanes) Gerlaugh, both natives of Maryland. 
They were the parents of ten children, five of 
whom are still living, as follows: Robert W., 
of Warren county, 111.; Arthur, of Greene 



518 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



county, Ohio; Jonathan H. ; Frances, wife of 
Benjamin E. Clark, and Mary Jane, now Mrs. 
Emanuel Hawker. 

John Adam Gerlaugh, who was a farmer 
by occupation, and a patriot soldier of the war 
of 1812, removed to Ohio in the fall of 1807, 
settling in Beaver Creek township, Greene 
county, where he bought land and lived the 
rest of his life, excepting a very short time, 
dying in Illinois in 1856, when on a visit to his 
son. He was then sixty-eight years and eleven 
months of age. His wife, who died about five 
years before him, was a member of the Lu- 
theran church. 

Adam Gerlaugh, the paternal grandfather 
of Jonathan H., was a native of Maryland and 
came to Ohio about 1807, entering three quar- 
ter sections of land in Greene county for all of 
his children. He, however, lived in another 
part of the county from that where he entered 
this land and died at an advanced age. The 
maternal grandfather was a native of Mary- 
land, a farmer by occupation, and died in his 
native state. 

Jonathan H. Gerlaugh was born and reared 
in Greene county. Receiving his education in 
the common schools, he remained at home un- 
til he arrived at mature years. He began life 
for himself by renting land of his father in 
1855, but as his father died the next year, the 
property was divided among the children, and 
Jonathan continued to farm in Mad River 
township, where he lived twenty-two years. 
Then, removing to a farm a little above Cham- 
bersburg, he lived there until July, 1877, when 
he came to Dayton, which city has since been 
his home. He at first lived at the corner of 
Third and Van Lear streets, but later removed 
to his present home, where he owns eight acres 
of land and two houses. He erected his hand- 
some brick residence in 1894. Mr. Gerlaugh 
owns two farms, one of 160 acres, well im- 
proved, in Darke county, Ohio, and one of 



seventy-seven and one-half acres about one 
and a half miles from Dayton, on the Xenia 
(Ohio) pike. 

March 1, 1855, he married Miss Catherine 
Jane Lantz, daughter of John and Catherine 
Lantz. To this marriage there were born no 
children. Mrs. Gerlaugh died March 3, 1876, 
a member of the First Lutheran church of 
Dayton. For his second wife Mr. Gerlaugh 
married Miss Margaret Davidson, daughter of 
William and Ann Davidson, of Chambersburg, 
Montgomery county. To this marriage there 
have been born two children — Jonathan and 
Morton. The latter died at the age of thir- 
teen. Jonathan is attending a commercial col- 
lege. Mrs. Gerlaugh is a member of Linden 
avenue Baptist church, and is a most excel- 
lent woman. Mr. Gerlaugh is a republican in 
politics, and as such served one term as trus- 
tee of Mad River township. For seventy-three 
years he has lived within five miles of Dayton, 
and has always been an active, industrious and 
useful citizen. 



aALVIN A. BONNER, M. D., of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born about two miles 
from the city of Dayton, in Van Bu- 
ren township, on the 30th day of Au- 
gust, 1857, the son of John N. and Mary 
(Moler) Bonner, the former of whom died in 
1884 — the mother still surviving. John N. 
Bonner was also a native of Ohio, having 
been born on the same farm where his son 
first saw the light of day. His father, John 
Bonner, was one of the early pioneers of the 
state and contributed his part in reclaiming 
the now prolific and beautiful section where he 
located so many years ago. Calvin A. Bonner 
was reared under the sturdy and invigorating 
discipline of the farm, and his preliminary 
education was received in the district school 
and supplemented by a course of study in the 




J/' Chtxruu^. OL- P cltf-Zs-z^iXsy — s 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



521 



graded schools. When he was seventeen 
years old he was unfortunate in meeting with 
an accident while engaged in his farm duties, 
which rendered him a cripple for about three 
years. During the first two years he was 
treated at home, and while obliged to use 
crutches, he nevertheless made practical use 
of the forge which his father had erected on 
the farm, as well as of the carpentering tools, 
and thus manufactured many useful articles 
demanded in connection with the farm work. 
One of his early enterprises was in the manu- 
facture of Portland cutter sleighs, for which 
he found a ready demand. Being then sent 
to Indianapolis, Ind., for treatment, he there 
became a resident of the home of his uncle, 
who was a leading physician of Indianapolis, 
and under his effective direction devoted his 
attention to the study of medicine for the 
period of one year, after which he returned to 
his home and again resumed his connection 
with farm work and the forge. One day a 
casual visitor called on young Bonner, and 
found him at work at the forge. This caller, 
who was the proprietor of the Dayton Forge & 
Iron works, was impressed with the skill of 
the workman; and insisted on the young man's 
going with him to learn the business. He 
consented, and went to the city, where he was 
placed in charge of the engine and steam 
hammer in the above named establishment, 
thus becoming a competent operative. 

After a period of about a year he was taken 
sick with typhoid fever and sent home. Upon 
his recovery he took charge of a portable en- 
gine, and continued at this work until the D. 
H. Morrison Bridge company built their new 
plant in Dayton, when he secured employment 
in operating the portable engine which sup- 
plied the motive power of that plant for some 
time. When a stationary engine was secured, 
he was retained in the capacity of engineer, 
continuing his connection with the industry for 

17 



a period of about four years. The doctor is 
possessed of much mechanical ability, and his 
practical knowledge in this line would have 
insured to him a successful career in that di- 
rection had he chosen to devote himself to the 
same. During the time that he was employed 
in the Bridge works all his leisure hours were 
spent in continuing his studies in medicine, 
and during this time he furnished the capital 
to purchase a drug store in the city of Dayton, 
being associated in the enterprise with J. G. 
Sponsel, under the firm name of Sponsel & 
Bonner. He disposed of his interests in this 
establishment at the end of three years, hav- 
ing in the meanwhile devoted as much time as 
possible to the study of medicine, in connec- 
tion with his pharmaceutical work. He con- 
tinued as clerk in the drug store for one year 
after selling out, and then went to Milford, 
Ohio, and there assumed charge of a drug 
store, owned by a local estate, and conducted 
the business one year, after which he was for 
an equal length of time in charge of a drug 
store at Lawrenceburg, Ind. In May, 1884, 
at Saint Louis, Mo., Dr. Bonner was united in 
marriage to Miss Jeannette Charch, daughter 
of John S. Charch. In the latter part of the 
same year he returned to Dayton, and here, 
in the following spring, he effected the pur- 
chase of the drug business of W. E. Hooven, 
conducting it during a period of about five 
years. At the same time he continued his 
preparation for that profession which he had 
determined to adopt as his vocation in life. 
He pursued a thorough course of study in the 
Medical college of Ohio, in Cincinnati, grad- 
uating as a member of the class of 1890, most 
admirably equipped for successful practice as 
a physician and surgeon. In 1891 he disposed 
of his drug business and has since given his un- 
divided attention to his profession, having 
gained a representative practice and a large 
measure of success. 



522 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



The doctor renders stanch allegiance to the 
republican party and its principles, and fra- 
ternally he is prominently identified with the 
Masonic order, the Independent Order of 
Foresters, the Knights of Pythias, Sons of 
Veterans, and the Patriotic Order Sons of 
America. He was one of the charter members 
of the Iola division of the uniform rank of the 
Knights of Pythias, and was the first member 
of the Dayton lodge to join the uniform rank 
of the Sons of America. Dr. and Mrs. Bonner 
became the parents of three children, two of 
whom are deceased, the survivor being a 
daughter, Mary Elizabeth. 




HE GEM CITY STOVE COMPANY, 
located on Linden avenue, in Dayton, 
dates its inception back to March 17, 
1884, when the now important indus- 
try was founded by Messrs. Henry R., Charles 
M. and August M. Gummer. In May, 1885, 
the business was incorporated with a capital 
stock of $23,000, which has since been raised 
to $100,000. At the time of the company's 
incorporation Henry R. Gummer was made 
president, Charles M. Gummer vice-president, 
and J. Lee Natches secretary. The last named 
is now deceased, his successor as secretary of 
the company being A. J. Conover. The di- 
rectors of the company are H. R. , C. M., and 
A. M. Gummer, and S. D. and A. J. Conover. 
The enterprise now stands as the most exten- 
sive of the sort in Dayton, and the success 
which has attended it is the best voucher for 
the ability and the well directed efforts of its 
founders. When the industry was first estab- 
lished, the business was conducted on Taylor 
street, but in 1 890 the plant was removed to 
the present location on Linden avenue, where 
better facilities were afforded for the prosecu- 
tion of the business, which had largely ex- 
1 its original proportions. This removal 



occurred' in August, and in the following De- 
cember the plant was destroyed by fire. Noth- 
ing daunted by this misfortune, the company 
at once began the work of rebuilding, and at 
the present time the great demands placed 
upon the institution cause the utilization of an 
aggregate floor space of nearly 125,000 square 
feet, the main building being five stories in 
height. The company manufactures the Clear- 
mont cooking and heating stoves, and the Per- 
fect gas ranges, the latter being in use from 
Maine to California, and the products of the 
establishment find sale in the most diverse sec- 
tions of the Union, the superior character of 
the output being such as practically to test the 
capacity of the plant in meeting the demands 
placed upon it. Employment is afforded to a 
corps of 200 operatives. 

When the Messrs. Gummer started in busi- 
ness, in 1884, they instituted operations upon 
a very modest scale, having only five men in 
their employ and personally giving their atten- 
tion to the various practical and mechan- 
ical portions of the work. From this small 
nucleus the business has grown to its present 
magnificent proportions, the pronounced suc- 
cess which has marked the successive stages of 
progress standing in perpetual evidence of the 
thorough . business principles upon which the 
enterprise is conducted. The average output 
of the establishment is 1,000 stoves each week, 
and this fact is indicative of the magnitude of 
the business controlled by the company. 

The three brothers are natives of Dayton, 
and in the public schools of this city they re- 
ceived their educational training. Early in 
life they entered upon that industry which has 
made their success in the business world, se- 
curing employment in the stove works of Greer 
& King, with whom they remained until 18S4, 
when they formed a partnership among them- 
selves and engaged in business on their own 
responsibility. They are recognized as among 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



523 



the most active and energetic business men of 
Dayton. 

Messrs. S. D. and A. J. Conover were also 
born and reared in Dayton, and are among the 
well-known citizens of the Gem City. S. D. 
Conover is prominently identified with the coal 
business of the city, with which line of busi- 
ness A. J. Conover was also identified for 
several years. 



^/^\ EY. FRANCIS JOSEPH GOETZ and 
I /«^ the Holy Trinity congregation. — The 
I W clerical life of Rev. Francis Joseph is 
so closely interwoven with the origin 
and development of Holy Trinity Catholic con- 
gregation, of this city, that neither one could 
be satisfactorily complete without a sketch of 
the other. The main facts in connection with 
the origin of this congregation are therefore 
presented herewith. As early as 1858 it be- 
came apparent that the rapidly increasing Cath- 
olic population could not be properly ministered 
to by the parent congregation, Emanuel's, 
which was founded as early as 1833. The de- 
mand for another German Catholic church 
became imperative. Saint Mary's, on Xenia 
avenue, then comparatively a farming district, 
was organized. The out-of-the-way location 
was unsatisfactory to many Catholics who lived 
in the central and northern portions of Day- 
ton, and they determined to have a congrega- 
tion of their own. At first seemingly insur- 
mountable obstacles presented themselves. 
But the sturdy and determined good men, 
under the leadership of the venerable pioneer 
Catholic, Henry Ferneding, who is now in his 
eighty-fifth year, seconded by Theodore Bar- 
low, were never discouraged and persevered 
until their efforts were crowned with glorious 
success. With such stanch supporters of the 
cause as Lawrence Butz, Sr. , Henry Hilge- 
fort, Bernard Alke, Theodore Husche, Frank 



Fritsch and many others, success was assured. 
The serious undertaking of establishing a new 
congregation was undertaken and pushed to 
completion. No sacrifice was too severe, no 
burden too heavy. In i860 the present site 
of the church, corner Fifth and Bainbridge 
streets, was purchased, plans drawn, the con- 
tract awarded to Bernard Lemper, and the 
erection of the present church, 60x135 Ieet 
in dimensions, and with a spire 200 feet in 
height, was begun. At that time these pro- 
portions seemed enormous, but the wise heads 
in the lead cared nothing for the adverse opin- 
ions of others, and since then the history of 
the church has fuliy vindicated them. 

Long before the church was complete, the 
Most Rev. Archbishop Purcell invited Rev. 
F. J. Goetz to take charge of the new congre- 
gation. The youthful priest arrived in Dayton 
in May, 1861. They were just putting in the 
pews and erecting a temporary altar. After 
that time, a grand organ was purchased, the 
side altars built, the steeple finished, and the 
pastoral residence and two school-houses 
erected, Father Goetz all the while making 
collections from house to house. 

In the beginning the congregation num- 
bered scarcely 1 50 families. The Sisters of 
Notre Dame were engaged to teach the girls' 
school, which has ever since been under their 
charge. The boys' school was taught for a 
number of years by lay teachers, succeeded by 
the Brothers of Mary of the Saint Mary's in- 
stitute, or Nazareth, of Dayton, Ohio. 

August 15, 1886, when the silver jubilee 
of the congregation was celebrated, it was out 
of debt. The past history of the congrega- 
tion can be summed up in the few words: "It 
is a grand triumph of true Christianity, and 
the Catholic faith which inspired the founders 
and lives in their progeny." The present trus- 
tees of the church are Henry Westendorf, 
John Ziegler, Jos. Lenz, George Lause, Theo- 



52-4 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



dore Lienesch, secretary and treasurer. The 
first secretary and treasurer of the congrega- 
tion was Jos. Ferneding, who died in Novem- 
ber, 1862. He was succeeded by C. J. Fer- 
neding, who filled this position without com- 
pensation for a quarter of a century, when he 
resigned and the present incumbent was elected 
in January, 1887. 

In February, 1851, Francis Joseph Goetz 
entered the seminary of Saint Sulpice, Paris, 
where he completed his philosophical and 
theological studies, and was ordained a priest 
August 15, 1855, in the chapel of Saint Sul- 
pice, by the Rt. Rev. Bishop de Goesbriand. 
After celebrating his first mass in the village of 
his nativity, Sufflenheim, and preaching his 
first sermon there, he embarked for America 
October 22, 1855, reported to Archbishop 
Purcell, and was assigned to the congregation 
at Marges, Carroll county, Ohio, on February 
1, 1856. From that time on he was active in 
the missions embracing Marges, Lodi, Canal 
Dover, Zanesville and Hessen-Huebel in Stark, 
Tuscarawas, Muskingum and Carroll counties, 
until September, 1858. The young but ener- 
getic priest overcame many severe trials in a 
heroic manner, until he arrived at Mount Saint 
Mary's of the West, Cincinnati, where he taught 
French, German and philosophy for several 
months. On the 15th of August, 1886, the 
congregation celebrated its silver jubilee, but 
prior to this, in 1871, Father Goetz was most 
instrumental in the organization of the order 
of the Knights of Saint George of Holy Trin- 
ity congregation. The care of the great con- 
gregation became now too much for one pastor. 
Hence, Rev. J. D. Kress was appointed assist- 
ant in 1872. He was succeeded by Rev. N. 
Nickels, of Saint Mary's institute, in 1874. 
In July, 1875, Rev. J. B. Frohmiller came 
and remained until 188S. He in turn was 
succeeded by Rev. B. Luebberman, who re- 
mained until 1890. The Revs. J. G. Franz 



and Herman Ellerbrock had charge of the 
congregation during a European tour of the 
rector. Rev. Ellerbrock remained until August, 
1 89 1. Then came Rev. P. Sigisbert Zarn, 
O. S. B., who was assistant until 1894. The 
present assistant is Rev. Henry G. Kues. 

The merits of Rev. F. J. Goetz as rector of 
the Holy Trinity congregation were of such 
high order that the present archbishop of Cin- 
cinnati, the Rt. Rev. William Henry Elder, 
made him the permanent rector of Holy Trin- 
ity congregation in December, 1894. He is 
respected and beloved by thousands in Day- 
ton, regardless of religious creed, and all 
who know him wish Father Goetz, now past 
sixty-eight years of age, many more years of 
health and happiness and enjoyment of the 
fruits of his faithful and persevering labors in 
the vineyard of the Lord. 



f y ■ * ENRY CELLARIUS is a native of 

l^\ the old town of Schwarzburg-Rudol- 
F stadt, in the province of Saxony, Ger- 
many, where he was born on the 29th 
of November, 1831. His father, a man of 
eminent ability, was Rev. H. F. E. Cellarius, 
who held distinguished ecclesiastical prefer- 
ment as clergyman of the reigning prince of 
Schwarzburg. He was highly educated, was 
possessed of great literary attainments and 
thorough scholarship, being particularly well- 
read in the classical languages. A brother of 
Henry followed in the footsteps of his honored 
father, and is now a clergyman of the Lutheran 
church in Germany. 

Henry Cellarius was reared in his native 
town, being afforded the best of educational 
advantages, beside enjoying the beneficial in- 
fluences and surroundings of a home of culture 
and refinement. He began his studies as a 
child of five years, and completed his college 
course at the age of nineteen. In 1850, am- 




y 




y 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



527 



bitious to make for himself a place in the 
world, he determined to seek his fortune in 
America. This project met with paternal op- 
position and discouragement, but the mother 
sympathized with the young man and lent her 
influence to aid him in effecting the object of 
his ambition. The first week of September, 
of the year mentioned, Mr. Cellarius landed at 
Castle Garden, in the city of New York. He 
recalls the fact that just an hour after the boat 
on which he took passage had reached that 
city, the great Swedish vocalist, Jenny Lind, 
arrived at the same place to begin a triumphal 
tour ever memorable in the musical annals of 
our nation. 

From the metropolis Mr. Cellarius made 
his way to Memphis, Tenn., where he re- 
mained about one year, having there secured 
employment in a grocery store. From Mem- 
phis he came to Ohio and located in Cincin- 
nati, in 1 8 5 1 , and there remained until 1858, 
filling a clerical position in a dry-goods estab- 
lishment. In August of the year last named 
he came to Dayton, and this city has ever 
since been his home. Upon his arrival here 
he opened a dry-goods store for Bouck, Aley 
& Co., the establishment being located at the 
corner of Fifth and Wayne streets. He suc- 
cessfully conducted this enterprise for a few 
years, after which he accepted a position as 
salesman in the wholesale dry-goods house of 
Perrine, Lytle & Shaw, with whom he re- 
mained about four years, when, by reason of 
impaired health, he determined to return to 
his old home in the fatherland for a season 
of rest and recreation. He remained in Ger- 
many for a year and a half, but within this 
time failed to receive the looked-for benefit in 
the recuperation of his strength. After his de- 
parture for his native land his wife engaged in 
the millinery business upon a modest scale, 
and she was successfully carrying on this en- 
terprise at the time of his return to the United 



States. After his health was restored Mr. 
Cellarius entered upon the same business, en- 
larging its scope and securing a representative 
patronage. He later engaged in the business 
of handling men's hats and caps and built up 
a lucrative trade, continuing operations in this 
line for a number of years. In the early 'sixties 
he became identified with the Dayton Building 
& Savings association, and was chosen presi- 
dent of the corporation. In 1870 he became 
secretary of the old Ohio association, and was 
successful in bringing its affairs into excellent 
condition before the business was brought to a 
termination, and afterward he was one of the 
chief promoters jf the new Ohio Building & 
Savings association, being chosen secretary of 
the same. The Permanent Building & Sav- 
ings association was organized April 4, 1874, 
and Mr. Cellarius was one of those chiefly in- 
strumental in its establishment. Of this asso- 
ciation, whose business is of extended and im- 
portant scope and has been conducted upon 
the highest principles of commercial integrity 
and according to the most approved methods, 
our subject became the first secretary and has 
ever since held this position, his well-directed 
efforts having been most potent in furthering 
the prosperity of the association and gaining 
for it the confidence and support of the public. 
The president of the association is John Geyer; 
vice-president, Joseph Straub; and treasurer, 
Fred Ecki — the entire official corps being rep- 
resentatives of the substantial business inter- 
ests of the city. 

In his political adherency Mr. Cellarius is 
a supporter of the principles and policies of 
the democratic party, while in his fraternal 
relations he is identified with the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen. 

Mr. Cellarius was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary C. Haessig, of Cincinnati, in July, 
1858. Mrs. Cellarius is a native of Switzer- 
land, whence she emigrated to America with 



528 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



her father, in 1852 or 1853. To this union 
there have been born seven children, of whom 
five are living, namely: Herman F., Fred J., 
Augustus R. , Lydia and Ida. The religious 
association of Mr. Cellarius and family is with 
the Lutheran church. 



WOHN GEYER, M. D., physician and 
A surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, with offices 
(•J at No. 330 South Wayne avenue, was 
born in Lindau, Austria, January 31, 
1846, and is a son of Lawrence and Anna 
(Krater) Geyer. Dr. Geyer was well educated 
in the common and high schools of his native 
city, and at the age of twenty years emigrated 
to the United States, locating first in Boston, 
Mass. , removing afterward to Newark, N. J., 
where he began reading medicine with Dr. 
Hickey. Later he attended the college of 
Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, for two 
terms, and still later, in 1876, graduated at 
the department of medicine of the Wooster 
university at Cleveland, Ohio. From that 
time until 1878 he was engaged in the practice 
of his profession in Pittsburg, Pa., and he then 
removed to Lawrence, Mass., where he re- 
mained until 1880, when he went to Muscoda, 
Grant county, Wis., where he spent five years. 
In 1885 Dr. Geyer located in Portsmouth, 
Ohio, and there spent eighteen months, mak- 
ing his final move to Dayton in the spring of 
1887. During all these years he has been 
engaged in general practice, and with success, 
especially since he came to Dayton. 

Dr. Geyer is a member of the Montgomery 
county Medical society, of the Ohio state 
Medical association, as well as of the Man- 
chester Medical society, of New Hampshire, 
and the Wisconsin state Medical association. 
He is also a member of the Odd Fellows order, 
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and 
of the Independent Order of Foresters. He 



is medical examiner for the latter two frater- 
nities. In Dayton he has succeeded in building 
up a lucrative practice, being very popular 
with all classes, and especially so with the sick, 
because of his kindly and genial disposition. 

Dr. Geyer was married at Newburyport, 
Mass., to Miss Lina B. Moeller, a Boston lady, 
and a daughter of Dr. Frederick Moeller. He 
and his wife are the parents of five children, 
as follows: Emma L. , teacher of languages 
in Eufala, Ala., Union Female college, and a 
graduate of Wellesley college; Bertha; Albert, 
deceased; Annie and Carl. He and his wife 
are communicants of the Third street Luther- 
an church, and take an active interest in re- 
ligious matters. The doctor was the first of 
his family to come to the United States, but 
since he came three of his sisters have followed 
him and all are well pleased with their choice 
of a home in the land of the free. 



aURTISS GINN, M. D., one of the 
youngest physicians and surgeons of 
Dayton, was born in Miamisburg, 
Ohio, in 1872. He is a son of Dr. 
Charles F. and Harriet (Whitmore) Ginn. Dr. 
Ginn was educated first in the public schools, 
attended Oberlin college for three years, and 
after graduating from that institution went to 
Cleveland, Ohio, in 1890, and there entered 
the office of Dr. Biggar, with whom he was a 
student during his entire stay in Cleveland, 
being at the same time a student in the Cleve- 
land Medical university, from which he gradu- 
ated in 1895. His aim has always been to be 
a general practitioner, and with the careful 
preparation which he has made and the deter- 
mination which he brings into his profession, 
Dr. Ginn will doubtless prove a valuable addi- 
tion to the medical fraternity of Dayton. He 
has given much attention to surgery, and is a 
member of the Montgomery county Homeo- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



529 



pathic Medical society and also of the Miami 
valley Medical society. Fraternally, Dr. Ginn 
is an Ancient Free & Accepted Mason. He 
is one of the progressive, active young physi- 
cians of Dayton, and is rapidly acquiring a 
good practice. He is the first interne of the 
Deaconess hospital, and has been connected 
therewith since April, 1895. He was appointed 
attending surgeon on the homeopathic staff of 
the Deaconess hospital in April, 1896. 



a 



HARLES O. GRAUSER, sergeant on 
the Dayton metropolitan police force, 
was born in Germantown, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, June 3, 1835, ar >d 
is a son of Christian and Margaret (Dininger) 
Grauser, both natives of Germany, who, when 
children of about fourteen years, came to the 
United States with their parents, and, on 
reaching mature years, were married in Mont- 
gomery county. 

Christian Grauser was a musician of more 
than ordinary merit and took his first lessons 
in this art in Germany, where, even in child- 
hood, he was organist in a church. His 
musical education was finished in this country, 
and he became proficient in execution upon 
many kinds of musical instruments. He pos- 
sessed a natural faculty for composition, his 
maturer years being largely devoted to the ex- 
ercise of this gift. He was a teacher of more 
than local reputation, and for many years 
conducted classes, in both vocal and instru- 
mental music, in Germantown. He and his 
wife were members of the Lutheran church, 
and in this faith he died in 1855. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Grauser were born eight children, in the 
following order: Lewis H., a cooper by trade 
and a resident of Germantown; Amelia J. was 
a blacksmith, and died, in 1892, in Detroit, 
Mich., where he had located with his family; 
Bianca is the wife of P. E. Bechtold, a shoe 



merchant of Germantown; Charlotte is the 
widow of O. G. H. Davidson, who was a 
prominent business man of Dayton, was sheriff 
of Montgomery county for four years, also tax 
commissioner, and whose son is now a city 
official; Mrs. Elizabeth Izor died in young 
womanhood, her husband, who was a grain 
merchant, being also deceased; Charles O. is 
the subject of this memoir; Augusta, now Mrs. 
Urschel, has been twice married, her first hus- 
band having been Cornelius Bitman, and her 
present husband being a farmer of Greenville, 
Darke county, Ohio; Melozina was first married 
to Cyrus Hiester, and after his death became 
the wife of Horace Hippie, a farmer near 
Germantown. 

Charles O. Grauser early learned the trade 
of shoemaking in Germantown and followed 
the business for about twelve years, and was 
also engaged in farming to some extent. In 
1866 he came to Dayton and became turnkey 
of the county jail, his brother-in-law, O. G. H. 
Davidson, being at that time county sheriff; 
later Mr. Grauser served as deputy sheriff for 
eighteen months, and was next employed as 
sanitary policeman for two and a half years. 
March 19, 1874, he was appointed to the regu- 
lar police force, and now enjoys the distinction 
of being the oldest member, in point of serv- 
ice, of the Dayton police department, his term 
reaching nearly twenty-three years, during 
which period he has served in all positions from 
that of patrolman to the highest on the force. 

Mr. Grauser was first united in marriage in 
1856, with Miss Julia Rowe, of Germantown, 
the union resulting in the birth of one child, 
Walter, who became a telegraph operator, was 
a bright and promising young man, but died at 
the age of seventeen years. Mrs. Grauser 
died on July 17, 1870, and in 1873 Mr. Grauser 
married Miss Susan Wright, a native of Miami 
county, Ohio, and to this marriage have been 
born two children: Earnest, who is a carriage- 



530 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



trimmer by occupation, is unmarried, and is 
living at home with his father, and Clarence, 
who is a student in the city high school. 

Mrs. Grauser is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Mr. Grauser is a member 
of Friendship lodge, No. 21, Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows, of Germantown, and of 
the Dayton lodge of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, No. 48; also a member of 
the Dayton Police Benevolent association, of 
which he was a charter member, and has been 
the president for three years. Mr. Grauser 
has been a most faithful officer, and as a citizen 
is universally respected. 



eLVIN HENRY COE, a representative 
insurance man of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Oakland, Oakland county, 
Mich., May 3, 1847, a son of Alonzo 
and Elizabeth Coe. Alonzo Coe, a native of 
Edinburg, Portage county, Ohio, was a physi- 
cian by profession, and at the outbreak of the 
Civil war entered a Michigan regiment as sur- 
geon, served in the Union army until the strife 
was over, and died in Mexico, Ind., in 1891. 
The mother, Elizabeth Coe, was born in Corn- 
wall, Canada, and died at the early age of 
twenty-two years when her only child, Elvin 
Henry, was very young. The paternal ances- 
tors traced their genealogy to England, and 
the maternal were of Irish extraction. 

Elvin H. Coe, after the death of his moth- 
er, was practically without a parental home, 
and was reared principally among strangers, 
although for a time he found a home with an 
uncle, William M. Olmstead, of Portage coun- 
ty, Ohio. After he entered his uncle's house 
he was permitted to attend the district school 
for three terms — the school-house being at a 
distance of three miles away, thus causing him 
a walk of six miles daily, beside which he was 
compelled to work at clearing early and late. 



While living with his uncle, Mr. Coe enlisted 
in company I, One Hundred and Fourth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and his service was princi- 
pally in the First brigade, Second division, 
Twenty-third army corps; with this command 
he participated in the battle of Snow's Pond, 
Ky. , siege of Knoxville, Cumberland Gap, 
siege and capture of Atlanta, Lookout Mount- 
ain, Missionary Ridge, Spring Hill, Columbia, 
Franklin, Nashville, Fort Fisher, New Berne, 
N. O, and was with Gen. Thomas until 
the close of the war. " In the three years' 
service of the One Hundred and Fourth Ohio 
volunteer infantry they soldiered in five rebel 
states, participated in the annihilation of one 
great rebel army and received the surrender of 
another; fought in twenty-three different bat- 
tles, in which they captured more than 10,000 
rebel prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery, and 
twenty-five stand of colors; they marched more 
than 3,400 miles, rode 3,000 by rail, 1,300 by 
water; they uncomplainingly endured many 
hardships of hunger and thirst, cold and heat, 
disease and wounds, and laid hundreds of their 
comrades in the silent tomb." 

On being mustered out of the service at 
the close of the war, Mr. Coe went to Ravenna, 
Portage county, Ohio, and began work as 
brakeman on the Atlantic & Great Western 
railroad in July, 1865, but was shortly after- 
ward promoted to be conductor, and served in 
this capacity, with the same company, for 
twenty-five years. While yet a brakeman, 
however, he had an opportunity of demon- 
strating the truth of the saying, "bread cast 
upon the waters will return after many days." 
A penniless boy had appealed to him for trans- 
portation to Hudson, Ohio, in order to attend 
school, and Mr. Coe interceded for him with 
the conductor, and with success. Years later, 
when Mr. Coe had been overtaken with mis- 
fortune, was without money, and anxious to 
secure work however menial, the penniless 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



533 



lad, now assistant general passenger agent of 
the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad 
company, reading of the death of Mr. Coe's 
son and of other mishaps that had befallen 
Mr. Coe himself, came all the way from New 
York, and as the result of the interview ap- 
pointed the latter as agent in Ohio for the 
American Steam Boiler insurance company, at 
a salary of $25 per week. This led up to his 
present extensive business, and it is needless 
to say that Charles B. Squire and Elvin H. 
Coe are bound by ties equally strong as if they 
were brothers. 

January 27, 1876, Mr. Coe married Miss 
Catherine E. Jones, a native of Aurora, Trum- 
bull county, Ohio, the ceremony taking place 
in Ravenna. In 1878 Mr. Coe and wife came 
to Dayton and have resided here continuously 
ever since that time. To their marriage have 
been born four children, viz: George E., 
who was a traveling salesman, but, while tem- 
porarily employed on a railroad, was accident- 
ally killed in the twenty-second year of his 
age; Jennie A., who is her father's very effi- 
cient stenographer and bookkeeper; Minnie I., 
who is an accomplished vocalist, a member of 
the Third Presbyterian church choir, and is 
recognized as the best alto soloist in Dayton; 
Grace L., who is a pupil in one of the city 
schools. Mr. and Mrs. Coe are members of 
the Memorial Presbyterian church, in which 
Mrs. Coe is active in home missionary work, 
having been for years secretary and treasurer 
of the mission society attached to that congre- 
gation, and she is also prominent in other be- 
nevolent work. Fraternally Mr. Coe was 
made a Mason in Rockton lodge, No. 316, at 
Kent, Ohio, and still holds membership with 
that lodge; he is also a member of Old Guard 
post, No. 21, Grand Army of the Republic, 
and of the Garfield club, a political organiza- 
tion of Dayton. 

Mr. Coe has always shown industry and 



diligence in whatever he has been called upon 
to do, and has worked out his own success. 
Beginning with but a limited education, he 
found this fact a serious inconvenience; but he 
has traveled with his eyes and ears open, and 
has been a life-long student of men and their 
ways. He has been an omnivorous reader, 
and is now exceptionally well informed upon 
general subjects and upon insurance matters in 
particular. His railroad work carried Mr. 
Coe through Dayton for ten or twelve years 
prior to his permanent settlement in this city, 
during which period he made many warm 
friends, whom he still claims, and since coming 
here has made friends with hundreds of others, 
who hold him in high regard and esteem, both 
as a business man and in social life. 



HLBERT H. GRIM. — Among the rep- 
resentative business men of Day- 
ton is Albert H. Grim, president of 
the A. H. Grim company, proprietors 
of one of the leading furniture and carpet 
houses in the Gem City. Mr. Grim is the 
youngest of four children of Louis and Theresa 
( Brodbeck ) Grim, and was born at Danville, 
Highland county, Ohio, on August 12, i860. 
He was reared in Ripley, Ohio, to which place 
his parents removed when he was but six years 
of age. He was educated in the public 
schools, and learned the furniture business with 
his father, with whom he remained until he 
was twenty-five years of age. In 1885 Mr. 
Grim came to Dayton and accepted a position 
as traveling salesman with the Stomps-Burk- 
hardt company, furniture manufacturers, re- 
maining with that firm for a period of eight 
years, during most of which time he traveled 
over fourteen states. On July 1, 1893, ne 
established the business of A. H. Grim & Co., 
which firm was incorporated into the A. H. 
Grim company in February, 1895, with Mr. 



534 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Grim as president, A. F. Hochwalt as secre- 
tary and treasurer, and E. O. Pryor as a direct- 
or. Their business was located at No. 422 
East Fifth street until in March, 1S96, when 
they removed to their present quarters at 
Nos. 122 and 124 East Fifth street, in a build- 
ing erected especially for them, which is one 
of the conspicuous business blocks in the city. 
This company carries a complete line of furni- 
ture, carpets, stoves and household goods, 
which is entirely new and especially selected 
for the trade. The company occupies four 
floors and basement, 45 x 99 feet, and has the 
model building of the city for this business. 
Mr. Grim is thoroughly equipped for and 
conversant with the business, having been 
reared to it from boyhood, and to his experi- 
ence, judgment and fine business ability is 
due, in a great part, the enviable position his 
company holds in the commercial world. He 
is progressive, wide-awake and enterprising. 
He gives his entire time and attention to the 
affairs of the company, and if he cherishes one 
ambition above another it is that of seeing the 
A. H. Grim company maintain its present 
standing in the business circles of the commu- 
nity. Mr. Grim is quite prominent in fraternal 
society circles. He is a member of Humboldt 
lodge, No. 58, Knights of Pythias, of court 
Harmon, No. 131 1, Independent Order of 
Foresters, and of Gem City council, No. 1, 
Fraternal Censer. Mr. Grim was married on 
May 1, 1883, in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss 
Philipina Gross, daughter of Peter Gross, and 
to them have been born the following children: 
Elsie, Theresa, Huldah and Leona. The eld- 
est child born is deceased. The father of Mr. 
Grim is of German birth. From Danville he 
removed his family to Ripley, Ohio, in 1866, 
where he has since resided. For years he was 
successfully engaged in the furniture business, 
but is now retired, he being in his eighty-sixth 
year. His wife is of Swiss birth and is in her 



seventy-sixth year. They are the parents of 
four children, as follows : Louis, born Decem- 
ber 18, 1849, a furniture dealer of Ripley, 
Ohio ; Joseph, born in 1853, and residing in 
Ripley ; Emil, who died in childhood, and 
Albert H., our subject. 



>^OHN L. GUSLER, of Dayton, Ohio, 
■ ex-sheriff of Montgomery county, was 
/• 1 born at Liberty, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, July 27, 1856. He is a son of 
Solomon B. Gusler, who removed to Mont- 
gomery county, in April, 1849, from Perry 
county, Pa., where he was born July 31, 1821. 
By occupation he has been a farmer all his 
life, and is still farming in Jefferson township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, where he has lived 
since 1850. He has never held political office, 
but is a thorough democrat in principle. His 
life has been one of honest and straightfor- 
ward dealing with his fellow-men, and he en- 
joys the well-earned esteem of his neighbors. 
He married Mary Ann Hoffman, who was born 
May 27, 1827, about four miles from Millers- 
town, Perry county, Pa., and who is still liv- 
ing. To their marriage seven children were 
born, four of whom are still living, and all resi- 
dents of Montgomery county, Ohio. 

John L. Gusler was reared on the farm in 
Jefferson township, and received his education 
in the public schools of Liberty. Upon arriv- 
ing at the age of eighteen years he began busi- 
ness life as a clerk in the grocery store of D. O. 
Kimmel, at Liberty, with whom he remained 
for two years, at the end of which period he 
went to Iowa, and worked for two years on a 
farm. Returning home, he remained two years 
on his father's farm, aud during this time 
served as constable of Jefferson township. 
This office he resigned to accept a position with 
A. D. Wall, successor to Samuel C. Schwarz, 
clothier, of Dayton. Mr. Schwarz then pur- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



535 



chased the store from Mr. Wall, Mr. Gusler 
remaining with him until 1883. At that time 
he embarked in the clothing business for him- 
self in Dayton, and continued thus engaged 
until 1892. In that year he was elected on 
the democratic ticket to the office of sheriff of 
Montgomery county, and filled that office ac- 
ceptably to the people of the county for one 
term of two years. He was renominated for 
sheriff in 1894, but, with the entire democratic 
ticket, was defeated, running ahead of the rest 
of his ticket, however, about 1,100 votes. 

Retiring from the office of sheriff Mr. Gus- 
ler purchased, January 17, 1895, the Palace 
livery stables, located at Nos. 233 and 235 
South Jefferson street, one of the largest and 
best arranged plants in the city, and conducted 
the same until September, 1896. Mr. Gusler 
is a member of the Knights of Pythias, of the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen, of the 
Elks, of the Eagles and of the Foresters. He 
was married March 6, 1 881, to Miss Emma 
Miller, a daughter of John Miller, of Jefferson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio. To this 
marriage there have been born two children, 
Otho Evan, who died an infant, December 8, 
1883, and Laura L. , who was born July 29, 
1885, now with her parents. 



^•y w * ILLIAM F. HAAS, who merits con- 

M m sideration in this connection by 

mj^J reason of being one of the repre- 
sentee young business men of Day- 
ton, the city of his nativity, is at the head of 
the firm of William F. Haas & Co., the most 
extensive dealers in bicycles and wheel supplies 
in this section, with headquarters at No. 115 
East Third street. Among the leading bicycles 
handled by the firm are the Liberty, Rambler, 
Crescent, Ideal and Patee, all of which are 
known for their many points of superiority as 
attractive and serviceable machines. The firm 



also carry full lines of bicycle sundries and sup- 
plies and maintain a repair shop which is com- 
plete in all its equipments and in charge of 
competent workmen. The firm are immediate 
successors to A. W. Gump & Co., whose in- 
terests they purchased in 1895. The members 
of the present firm are William F. Haas, and 
L. W. Winters, both of whom have been asso- 
ciated with the business as conducted by their 
predecessors, being, therefore, fully conver- 
sant with all details relative to the successful 
management of the enterprise. They are 
young men who show the distinctive American 
push and progressiveness, and their correct 
methods, unvarying courtesy and unswerving 
business integrity have gained to them the 
measure .of success which is justly their due. 

William F. Haas, the immediate subject of 
this review, was born in the city of Dayton, on 
the 7th of April, 1864, a son of Henry and 
Christina (Fishbach) Haas, both of whom 
were born in Germany, whence they came to 
the United States in their early childhood. 
They became residents of Dayton prior to their 
marriage, and here the death of Henry Haas 
occurred in the year 1889, he having been for 
some time a well-known salesman in a leading 
mercantile establishment of this city. The 
mother is still living, retaining her home in 
Dayton. They became the parents of eight 
children, namely: Clara E., Mary J., Ella 
M., Arthur D. (deceased), William F., Walter 
E., Harry L. , and Ida M. The children are 
all unmarried with the exception of Harry L. , 
who was united to Miss Bertha Klugle. 

William F. Haas has passed his entire life 
in the city of his birth, and his educational 
opportunities were those afforded by the ex- 
cellent public schools of the place. At the 
age of thirteen years he entered upon his first 
business experience as a clerk in the establish- 
ment of D. W. Winters & Brother, with whom 
he remained for two years, after which he was 



536 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



for an equal length of time in the employ of 
Legler, Prugh & DeWeese. His next move- 
ment was one which showed good judgment 
and grew out of his desire to acquire a knowl- 
edge which would be of reliable value to him 
as a resource. He entered the Buckeye Iron & 
Brass works for the purpose of learning the 
trade of a machinist, remaining in the employ 
of this company for a period of five years, after 
which he was for a time identified with his 
present business, finally passing from the posi- 
tion of an employee to that of proprietor. The 
success of the enterprise is one of which the 
firm may well feel proud, and the establish- 
ment enjoys a local popularity on a par with 
the high personal standing of the interested 
principals. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Haas is iden- 
tified with Wayne lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F., 
and is also a zealous member of the Y. M. C. A. 
In his religious associations he is connected 
with the Raper Methodist Episcopal church, 
in which he is a steward, as well as an assist- 
ant superintendent of the Sunday-school. His 
home is located at 213 Howard street. 



aHARLES HENRY CRAWFORD, 
deceased, formerly one of the promi- 
nent and valued citizens of Dayton, 
was born in Johnstown, N. Y., Jan- 
uary 16, 1820. His father and mother, Jona- 
than and Elizabeth Crawford, were the parents 
of four children, viz: William, deceased; 
Charles Henry, and two daughters, Mrs. M. N. 
Wheaton and Mrs. E. D. Payne, who resided 
for many years in Dayton, both of them women 
of excellent qualities and strong character. 

The family having in 1821 removed to Mil- 
ton Center, Saratoga county, lived there one 
year, and then removed to Rock City Falls, in 
the same county, where they remained until 
1830. Of his boyhood at Rock City Falls 



Mr. Crawford always retained the most vivid 
and pleasant recollections. It was there that 
he acquired the rudiments of his education, in 
the little school-house on the edge of the vil- 
lage, with its rude writing desks and benches; 
and it was there also, when in his eighth year, 
that he received his first religious impressions, 
attending meetings in the houses of the neigh- 
bors with his mother. He ever remembered 
his Sunday-school teacher, Oliver Whitehead, 
with affection and reverence. 

In 1830 the family removed to Milton 
Stone Meeting House, where Rev. Thomas 
Powell was pastor, and where Mrs. Crawford 
had previously united with the church. Here 
they lived for about two years, when, on the 
death of Jonathan Crawford's father, they re- 
turned to the old homestead in Saratoga 
county. On the farm young Charles Henry, 
strong and active, became exceedingly helpful 
in the .work, his father's approval being to him 
a constant incentive to industry. During the 
winter months he attended district school 
about a mile away. Naturally of a studious 
disposition, he needed no other stimulus, made 
rapid progress in all his studies, and felt great 
pride in standing at the head of his class and 
in receiving the approval of his teacher. He 
also attended a singing class and thus began to 
cultivate a talent by means of which he added 
much to his own and others' happiness during 
the rest of his life. 

Arriving at the age of sixteen years he 
cheerfully assented to the proposition of his 
father that he learn a trade, and so was ap- 
prenticed to Paddock & Townsend, saddlers, 
of Troy, N. Y., with whom his brother, Will- 
iam, had been engaged two years. On March 
1, 1836, he left home and was soon employed 
in his new position, and he ever afterward sup- 
ported himself. 

In 1829 Archibald and Ziba Crawford, 
uncles of Charles Henry, established them- 




foslsK^/ 



/i-mX 



(Z fr£r«-«r^" 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



539 



selves in the manufacture of lasts and shoe 
pegs in Dayton, and in 1839 they extended to 
their young nephew an invitation to take a po- 
sition in their factory. The firm in Troy with 
which he was engaged failing about this time, 
he accepted the invitation. After a journey of 
eleven days and ten nights he arrived in Day- 
ton, November 4. His uncles had just com- 
pleted a new building for their factory, on the 
canal, a building which' is still standing. At 
the end of three years Mr. Crawford became 
a third owner of the business, and continued 
a member of the company most of the rest of 
his life. He became well known as a just and 
honorable business man, an amiable partner 
and unusually thoughtful in every time of trial 
and business care. The title of the firm 
changed several times, until at length it be- 
came, as stated in the sketch of William H. 
Crawford, the Crawford, McGregor & Canby 
Co., this title being assumed, however, sev- 
eral years after the death of Charles Henry 
Crawford. 

In 1839, soon after his arrival in Dayton, 
Mr. Crawford joined the choir of the First 
Baptist church, and remained a member thereof 
for forty years. In 1841 his mind became 
seriously interested in the subject of religion, 
and on the 10th of January of that year he 
joined the church, being baptized with several 
others by the pastor, Rev. John L.. Moore. 
From that time until the end of his life he 
was consecrated to the interests of religion 
and the welfare of his fellow men. 

Mr. Crawford was married September 15, 
1846, to Miss Melvina Smith, of New Carlisle, 
Ohio, who had been his schoolmate in Saratoga 
county, N. Y. She was a daughter of Warren 
A. and Amanda Smith. She was a graduate 
of the seminary at Granville, Ohio, and a mem- 
ber of the Baptist church in New Carlisle. 
Their married life was an unusually happy one, 
but doomed to be cut short by her untimely 



death, which occurred in August, 1847. Three 
years later Mr. Crawford married Miss Sarah 
J. Comstock, of Hoosic Falls, N. Y. , who had 
been a teacher of music in the Cooper acad- 
emy at Dayton, Ohio, when E. E. Barney was 
principal. Two years after their marriage she 
died. In 1856 he married Miss Sarah N. 
Thresher, a daughter of Ebenezer Thresher, 
and for twenty-four years they lived together a 
gentle and affectionate life. They gave to their 
children the benefit of wise, patient and loving 
counsel, and of a pure and pious example. 
This wife died in 1880, after a lingering ill- 
ness, and thus Mr. Crawford was a widower 
for the third time. The business of his life 
was, however, not neglected, and his home was 
under the care of his daughter, Mrs. Charles 
W. James. Until a few weeks before his death 
he appeared to be in his usual health, when he 
became enfeebled by a slow malarial fever, and 
died November 25, 1887. The funeral serv- 
ices occurred the following Monday in the First 
Baptist church, and his remains were laid for- 
ever to rest in Woodland cemetery. 

Mr. Crawford was possessed of remarkable 
calmness and self-control. On one occasion, 
when his factory was burning, he was asked: 
"How can you take it so calmly?" he replied: 
"It will do no good to fret." On other and 
more important occasions he was equally self- 
controlled. He was nearly always at church 
twice on Sunday, and a regular attendant at 
Sunday-school and at prayer-meeting, and al- 
ways ready to perform his duty to his church 
and to the community in general. From April, 
1866, until the time of his death, he was a 
deacon in his church, and for several years he 
was superintendent of the Sunday-school. He 
always sympathized with the young, and he 
was one of the trustees of the Young Men's 
Christian association, as well as of the Widows' 
home of Dayton. It was a habit of his life to 
be doing little deeds of kindness, and among 



540 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the last acts of his life was one of thoughtful- 
ness for the poor. No mistake is made in say- 
ing that like Barnabas of old, the "son of con- 
solation," "he was a good man, full of the 
Holy Ghost and of faith." 



aOL. JOHN A. GORGAS was born in 
the city of Philadelphia, Pa., March 
1 8, 1828, and is the son of George 
and Eliza (Ashtonj Gorgas, both na- 
tives of the Keystone state and of French and 
English descent, respectively. The colonel's 
ancestors, upon both sides, were among the 
earliest settlers in the vicinity of Philadelphia, 
and the names appear frequently in the early 
annals of Germantown and Roxborough. Mrs. 
Eliza Gorgas died in her native city of Phila- 
delphia, at the age of forty, and her husband 
departed this life at Newark, N. J., when 
sixty-three years old. These parents had a 
family of four sons and four daughters, who 
reached years of maturity, and two daughters 
who died in childhood. The eldest of the 
family, Edmund J., now seventy-eight years of 
age, was a soldier in the late war and served 
in the same regiment with his brother, John A.; 
George Gorgas, the second in order of birth, 
also served three years in the army and died in 
1895, at Bridgeport, Conn.; Robert islivingin 
Philadelphia, and has been a life-long invalid; 
the sisters are all deceased. 

Col. Gorgas received a common-school 
education and early learned the miller's trade 
and coachmaking, in both of which he ac- 
quired much more than ordinary proficiency. 
He was successful in business from his earliest 
venture and was carrying on a very lucrative 
establishment at the breaking out of the war. 
Previous to that time, he had been identified 
with the militia service of his native state, hav- 
ing enlisted in the infantry corps, national 
guard of Pennsylvania, in 1850. On the re- 



organization of the corps, as the second regi- 
ment national guard of Pennsylvania, in 
i860, he was appointed corporal of company 
C, and later, at the first call of President 
Lincoln for volunteers for the three months' 
service, he was promoted first sergeant, com- 
pany C, Nineteenth Pennsylvania infantry; the 
regiment, having offered its services, was mus- 
tered into the army of the United States in 
1 861. At the expiration of the term of enlist- 
ment, the government having no troops to re- 
lieve the Nineteenth, the regiment, on the 
appeal of Gen. Dix, voted to remain in the 
service until properly relieved. The colonel 
was mustered out with his regiment August 
29, 1 86 1, and upon its re-organization for the 
three years' service as the Ninetieth Pennsylva- 
nia infantry, September following, he was com- 
missioned first lieutenant of company C. 

On the 7th of March, 1862, he was made 
captain of his company and served as such, 
taking part with the regiment in all of its 
many engagements until March, 1863, at which 
time he resigned his commission on surgeon's 
certificate of disability. Subsequently, at the 
call of the governor of Pennsylvania for volun- 
teers, he re-entered the service while still suf- 
fering from his wounds, and recruited com- 
pany B, for the Fifty-second Pennsylvania in- 
fantry, of which he was commissioned cap- 
tain, his commission bearing date July 1, 1S63. 
He was mustered out with the regiment Sep- 
tember 1st of the same year, and immediately 
thereafter was instrumental in organizing the 
One Hundred and Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania, 
of which he was commissioned and mustered 
in as major July 2, 1S64. He served in this 
capacity until the 17th day of the following 
October, when he was mustered out with the 
regiment, and received special orders to recruit 
a regiment for the Union legion of Philadel- 
phia. He succeeded in raising 1,500 men 
in twenty-one days. This regiment was or- 






OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



541 



ganized and became the Two Hundred and 
Thirteenth Pennsylvania, and Col. Gorgas was 
made colonel of the same, and as such was 
mustered into the service of the United States 
March 4, 1865. He received orders from the 
war department to report to the commanding 
officer at Baltimore, Md. , but, the command 
not being armed, he was unable to comply 
with the order. After ten companies were 
armed, he received further orders and trans- 
ferred two companies of 100 men each, with 
their officers, to the governor of Pennsylvania, 
leaving 300 men in excess of the 1,000 re- 
quired to fill the Two Hundred and Thirteenth, 
as a nucleus for the organization of the One 
Hundred and Fourteenth Pennsylvania; with 
these he reported to the commanding officer at 
Baltimore. In six weeks this regiment had its 
full complement of 1,000 men, fully armed and 
equipped. 

The colonel's command was divided; three 
companies, under Lieut. -Col. Jacob N. Davis, 
were ordered to Monocacy and Fort Dix, while 
the remaining companies, under Col. Gorgas, 
went to Annapolis, Md. , to relieve Col. Root, 
of the Ninety-fourth New York, and Brig. -Gen. 
Chamberlain at Camp Parole; later, after re- 
lieving Brig. -Gen. Graham, of the United 
States army, Col. Gorgas assumed command 
of the district of Annapolis, Md. It was a de- 
tachment of his regiment that captured, near 
Monocacy Junction, Atzeroth, the attempted 
assassin of Sec. Seward. Col. Gorgas was re- 
lieved by Maj. Werrel, of the Two Hundred and 
Fourteenth Pennsylvania, and ordered to Alex- 
andria, Va. , with his regiment, and dismantled 
the forts at that place and Washington. He 
was mustered out of the service November 18, 
1865, but subsequently, upon the re-organiza- 
tion of the Second regiment, national guard, 
of Pennsylvania, he enlisted as private in com- 
pany C; was elected and commissioned cap- 
tain of company B, September 4, 1867. May 



17, 1S69, he was commissioned major of the 
regiment, re-elected to the same position June 
5, 1874, and on the 25th of January, 1877, 
was made lieutenant-colonel. He served with 
the regiment under Lyle in the Pittsburg riots 
of 1877, and resigned his commission as lieu- 
tenant-colonel in 1880. 

In 1888 the colonel came to the national 
home, D. V. S., and was soon afterward placed 
in command of company Eighteen, a position 
of responsibility, which he still fills. Col. 
Gorgas possesses rare mechanical skill, and 
since becoming an inmate of the home, has de- 
voted his leisure to manufacturing various ap- 
pliances for use in the construction of carriages, 
one of which is very valuable. His last device 
is a bicycle lock and holder, recently patented, 
which, with the appliances above noted, has 
won him recognition as a mechanical genius of 
high order. 

Col. Gorgas was married in 1852 to Miss 
Martha Crouse, of Philadelphia, who died in 
1882, leaving two sons — John A., Jr., and 
William L. — the former born while his father 
was in the army. John A., Jr., is a young 
man of fine intellectual attainments, a lieuten- 
ant in the United States naval reserve, with 
headquarters at Camden, N. J., and at this 
time is second in command of the monitor 
Ajax. He is married and has one child, 
Josephine, by name. William L. Gorgas is a 
coach blacksmith at Sharon Hill, Pa. He is 
married and has a family of two children, both 
daughters. Col. Gorgas is a member of the 
I. O. O. F., K. of P., I. O. R. M., and G. A. R. 
In religion he is a Methodist. 



'ILLIAM G. HAEUSSLER, clerk of 
the board of education of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
March 30, 1856. His parents, Jacob 
and Fredericka ( Maechtlen ) Haeussler, were 



m. 



542 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



both natives of Wurtemberg, Germany, and 
came to the United States in 1848, locat- 
ing immediately in Cincinnati. There Jacob 
Haeussler was engaged in the grocery and 
daily market business for a number of years, 
gaining wide acquaintance and general respect, 
and died in his adopted city November 8, 1881. 
He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, taking great interest in religious work. 
He was an active worker in behalf of the re- 
publican party, and was a member of the Odd 
Fellow fraternity. His widow is now living 
with her son, William G., in Dayton, Ohio, 
and is in her seventy-ninth year. 

William G. Haeussler was educated in Cin- 
cinnati, graduating from the public schools, 
and at the age of eighteen years entering Nel- 
son's Business college in that city. He gradu- 
ated from that institution in 1875, and soon 
after secured a position as bookkeeper for the 
firm of L. R. Hull & Co., commission mer- 
chants of Cincinnati, with whom he remained 
for some time, and later accepted a similar 
place with the furniture manufacturing firm of 
Meyer & Merkle. From this position he went 
to a similar one, in the employ of Louis & Co., 
continuing with this firm until 1885, when he 
came to Dayton, taking charge there of the 
office of I. & C. Van Ausdal, with whom he 
remained for six years. He next became the 
bookkeeper of the Farmers' Friend Manufactur- 
ing company, of Dayton, one of the largest 
manufacturers of farming implements in the 
country, and was with that company for three 
years, when the business was purchased by 
John W. Stoddard & Co. From this time Mr. 
Haeussler was the general agent of the Home 
Life Insurance company, of New York, for 
Dayton and Montgomery county, until April 
18, 1895, when he was elected clerk of the 
board of education of Dayton, which position 
he still holds. 

In each of these responsible positions Mr. 



Haeussler has been faithful to his trust, hold- 
ing the confidence of his employers; and in 
the history of the Dayton schools no board of 
education has ever enjoyed the services of a 
clerk more efficient, more industrious or more 
courteous than the present incumbent of that 
important office. 

Mr. Haeussler was married, May 29, 1879, 
to Miss Bertha Dornbusch, daughter of Capt. 
Henry Dornbusch, a pioneer of Davton. To 
their marriage there have been born four chil- 
dren, as follows: Bertha; Henry, deceased; 
William, deceased; and Charles. Fraternally, 
Mr. Haeussler is a member of the Masonic and 
Odd Fellow orders, and religiously he and his 
wife are faithful members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 



y^V'RNST ZWICK, founder of the Zwick 
m 1 & Greenwald Wheel company, of 
\^^ Dayton, Ohio, was a native of Lob- 
ten, province of Schlesien, guberna- 
atoril district of Breslau, Germany, where he 
was born on June 16, 1822. He was reared 
to manhood in the old country, where he re- 
ceived his education. In 1852, when thirty 
years of age, he came to the United States. 
He landed at New Orleans, and came up the 
river to Cincinnati. Failing to find employ- 
ment in Cincinnati he came to Dayton, and 
here began to learn the wood-turning trade, at 
which he worked until 1859, when, with his 
savings, he engaged in business for himself, 
turning for furniture factories, finally getting 
into the hub and spoke business, and a few 
years later was engaged in the manufacture of 
wheels complete. During the war the firm of 
Zwick & Bookwalter was organized to carry on 
the above business, and was succeeded by 
Zwick, Bookwalter & Kneisly, and that firm 
was in turn succeeded by Zwick, Kneisly & 
Co., A. W. Pinneo being the company. The 




£ 



fr/z-nS>T~ 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



545 



last named firm was succeeded by Zwick, Pin- 
neo & Daniels, which continued until 1875, 
when Mr. Zwick withdrew from it. In 1881 
Mr. Zwick established the firm of Zwick, 
Green wald &.Co., manufacturers of wheels, 
which firm was composed of himself, Jacob 
Greenwald, who had been with the old firm of 
Zwick, Pinneo & Daniels as superintendent 
for more than twenty years, Fred Rogge and 
Frank Kammann. Mr. Zwick died on No- 
vember 30, 1888. He was a prominent mem- 
ber of the Regular German Baptist church, 
and took great interest in church work, he and 
his wife having assisted in the organization of 
the first church of that denomination in Day- 
ton. Mr. Zwick was a devout Christian and 
devoted to his family and friends. He was of 
quiet, unassuming disposition, caring nothing 
for display or public office, and though a 
strong republican in politics, did not take part 
in public matters more than to make use of 
the ballot. In business affairs he was active 
and alert, progressive and enterprising, always 
looking to the advancement and building up of 
the business industries of which he was the 
head and controlling spirit, and always am- 
bitious to extend and increase their scope. 
When he came to America he was possessed 
of neither means nor trade, was already mar- 
ried and had a family, yet when he died he 
left a competency, all of which had been ac- 
cumulated by strict business methods, and 
which was left to his four sons. 

Mr. Zwick was married in Berlin, Ger- 
many, on June 29, 1849, to Sophie Wilke. 
Mrs. Zwick was a native of Lichterfelde, near 
Neustadt, Eberswalde, in the gubernatorial 
district of Pottsdam, where she was born on 
April 18, 1819. Her death occurred on Janu- 
ary 6, 1888. To Mr. and Mrs. Zwick seven 
children were born; the first was an only daugh- 
ter, Sophie, who was born in Berlin, and died 
on the boat en route from New Orleans to 

18 



Cincinnati. The other six were boys, all born 
in Dayton, two of whom died in infancy. The 
surviving sons, who inherited the father's large 
interests in the Zwick & Greenwald Wheel 
company, are Henry, Joseph, Samuel and 
William. 



^y~|»ILLIAM W. HACKNEY is a general 
M M mechanic of the city of Dayton, 

\JL>^ where he has made his home for 
many years at 1700 East Third 
street. He is a son of Montgomery county, 
in this state, the date of his birth being August 
27, 1832. He is a son of Josiah D. and Char- 
lotte (Smith) Hackney, his father hailing from 
New Jersey; his mother was born in eastern 
Ohio and reared in Randolph township, Mont- 
gomery county. The Hackney family is of 
the old Quaker stock, and traces its history 
back to the stirring times of William Penn. 
The original Hackney emigrants to America 
came from London, or rather from Hackney, 
a suburb of that great city. On his mother's 
side Mr. Hackney traces his family back to 
German sources, the Smiths having settled in 
Pennsylvania, where they remained for many 
years. The maternal great-grandfather was a 
soldier in the Revolution, and was one of two 
men spoken of in history as losing their lives 
when Washington crossed the Delaware to 
attack the English and Hessians at Trenton. 
His name is lost to his descendants, but tra- 
dition fixes the fact beyond question. 

Josiah D. Hackney was a " bound boy " in 
New Jersey, and ran away, seeking a better 
and happier life for himself. He came into 
Montgomery county as early as 182S, crossing 
the mountains on horseback. He was a stone- 
mason and bricklayer, and found his services 
in great demand in this new and growing 
country. He married, in November, 1831, a 
niece of Dr. Jacob Weybright, a pioneer physi- 



540 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



cian of the county. William W. was the eld- 
est of four children born of his father's first 
marriage, and of these but two are now living. 
Charles A. has his home in Kansas City, Mo. ; 
Mary C. , the wife of Elias Coates, is dead, and 
her remains are buried in Darke county, near 
Gettysburg; Henry Harrison was accidentally 
killed by falling from a wagon in 1874. The 
wife and mother died February 25, 1840. The 
father again married in 1 841 , his second wife 
being Miss Catherine Blackburn, who bore 
him seven children, three being still alive. 
John Bruff resides in Darke county, Ohio, and 
Susan Jane is a resident of the same county, 
being the wife of John Macarter, ex-postmaster 
of Arcanum; the other sister, Frances, is a 
resident of this city, and is the wife of William 
Lehman. Four of this family died either in 
childhood or infancy. The father died in 
Saint Mary's, Auglaize county, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 19, 1853, to which place he had but re- 
cently removed. Many of the most substantial 
brick houses of the northern part of Mont- 
gomery county stand as monuments to his 
industry. 

William W. Hackney received a common- 
school education, considered very good for the 
times, at Union, and worked on the farm until 
he reached the age of twenty. He then ap- 
prenticed himself to the gunsmith's trade un- 
der the instruction of Henry Sheets, in Union. 
He followed this trade one year in Union, and 
three years in Cincinnati, after he had com- 
pleted his apprenticeship, and came to this 
city in 1855, and here he has lived continu- 
ously for more than forty-one years. He was 
married in Dayton, January 1, 1855, by Rev. 
Father David Winters, to Miss Isabelle Minick, 
a native of Fairfield, Ohio. Her parents were 
Virginians, and she inherited much of the 
grace and beauty of the best Virginian stock. 
To this marriage were born a son and a daugh- 
ter, both of whom are in mature life. The 



daughter, Mary Virginia, is the wife of Henry 
S. Fuller, editor of the School, of New York 
city, and the son, L. W. Edward, is business 
manager of the same publication; both are 
residents of New York city. Mrs. Hackney died 
May 5, 1 87 1, in this city, at the present home, 
of the family. Mr. Hackney remained a wid- 
ower for nine years, but on June 17, 1880, he 
married Mrs. Caroline Bowers (nee Lydenberg). 
She was the widow of John Bowers, and is a 
daughter of John Lydenberg, born in Green- 
ville, but a resident of this city from the time 
she was two years of age. One son has come 
of this marriage, William W., born July 10, 
1883. Mrs. Hackney's family is one of the old 
Knickerbocker stock. 

Mr. Hackney has been a life-long demo- 
crat, and has served in various official posi- 
tions in this city, having been land appraiser, 
assessor, for three terms a member of the 
school board, and also a member of the board 
of equalization. His religious affiliations have 
been along the lines of Universalism, though 
he has been a member of the Memorial Pres- 
byterian church for many years. He was ini- 
tiated into the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows in 1863, and has filled all official stations 
in his local lodge. 



* ^y w * ALTER E. HAAS, doing business 
MM under the firm-name of Walter E. 

\J^J Haas & Co., at No. 20 West Fifth 
street, Dayton, Ohio, is a native of 
the city, and was born June 5, 1866, a son of 
Henry and Christina (Fishbach) Haas. He 
was educated in the public schools of Dayton, 
and also at the Miami Commercial college, 
and early engaged in mechanical drafting and 
pattern-making, which gave him remunerative 
employment in his native city for six consecu- 
tive years. After having completed the learn- 
ing of his trades he was first employed by the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



547 



Callahan Manufacturing company and then by 
the Buckeye Brass & Iron works, which filled 
out the period of time mentioned, and next 
engaged in his present business, succeeding 
Henry C. Gump February 7, 1894, and in this 
he has achieved prompt success. He carries 
a full stock of the best makes of bicycles, in- 
cluding the Crescent, Tribune and Eagle, 
making of these a specialty, but also handling 
other makes or brands of wheels. In type- 
writing machines Mr. Haas makes a specialty 
of the Blickensderfer, which is probably the 
lowest-priced first class machine in the world, 
but other machines for type-writing are also 
carried by him. He has fully equipped repair 
shops, and repairs suited for his specialties. 

Mr. Haas is a young man of energy and 
progressive spirit, and is very popular. He is 
a member of Iola lodge, No. 83, Knights of 
Pythias, and also of Raper Methodist Episco- 
pal church, discharging fully his obligations to 
both church and society. His residence is in 
a most pleasant neighborhood, at No. 213 
Howard street. 



If 



OUIS P. HAGEDORN, member of 
the city council of Dayton as repre- 
sentative from the Eighth ward, is a 
native son of this place, born Octo- 
ber 5, 1852, and is descended from German 
ancestors. 

The father of our subject was Henry Hage- 
dorn, who was one of the pioneer settlers in 
Dayton. A native of Germany, he emigrated 
to Ameriica when a young man landing at Bal- 
timore, Md., whence he proceeded to Wheel- 
ing, W. Va., from which point he made the 
overland trip by stage to Saint Louis, Mo. 
He then took up his residence in Dayton 
in 1832, and here he devoted his attention 
to work at his trade, that of blacksmithing, 
until the time of his death, which occurred 



in 1 86 1. He was a man of thorough in- 
tegrity and honored for his worth of charac- 
ter. His widow survived him until 1884. Her 
maiden name was Annie M. Wageman, and 
she, also, was a native of Germany. That 
her parents were among the pioneers of Day- 
ton may be inferred when it is stated that they 
here celebrated, in 1866, the fiftieth anniver- 
sary of their marriage in this city. Henry 
and Annie M. Hagedorn became the parents 
of ten children, four of whom are living at the 
present time: Josephine is the wife of Anthony 
Schumackers, of Dayton; Katherine is the 
wife of Henry Hummeldorf, of Cincinnati; 
Mary is the wife of John B. Kline, of Elm- 
wood, Ohio; and Louis P. is the subject of 
this review. 

Louis P. Hagedorn received his education 
in Dayton and Cincinnati, his mother having 
removed with her family to the latter city after 
the death of the husband and father. In the 
meanwhile Louis P. had been fitting himself 
for the practical duties of life, having learned 
the upholstering trade, through which he was 
enabled to earn the requisite money for con- 
tinuing his education. He completed a course 
in Bryant & Stratton's Business college in the 
Queen City and continued to work at his trade 
in Cincinnati until 1880, when he returned to 
Dayton, where he entered the employ of M. 
Ohmer's Sons, with whose establishment he 
has ever since been identified. 

In October, 1895, Mr. Hagedorn was 
elected to the city council, at a special election 
which was called to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of James B. Wheeler. At the April 
election in 1896 he was re-elected by one of 
the largest majorities accorded any candidate 
on his ticket. In his political adherency he is 
a stalwart democrat, but in his efforts to further 
the best interests of the municipality, the ele- 
ment of partisanship has not manifested itself 
in his official acts. Mr. Hagedorn served as a 



548 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



member ot the decennial appraisement board, 
to which position he was appointed by the 
council in 1890. He thus served for a period 
of about eighteen months, within which time 
he rendered effective aid in the re-appraise- 
ment of every piece of real estate in the city. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Hagedorn is 
identified with court Cooper, Independent Or- 
der of Foresters, and with the Alsace-Lorraine 
society. He was one of the organizers of the 
Thurman democratic club, which has wielded 
considerable influence on political affairs in the 
city and county. 

Mr. Hagedorn has been twice married. 
His first wife died in May, 1873, and in No- 
vember, 1895, death again entered his home, 
taking from him his beloved second wife, who 
left seven children — Frank, Lillie, Ella, Ag- 
nes, Clara, Annie and Ida. In religion Mr. 
Hagedorn clings to the faith of his fathers, be- 
ing a devout member of St. Mary's Roman 
Catholic church. 



EUGO COOK, a prominent manufac- 
turer and inventor, of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Dublin, Ind., in 1858, 
and is the son of Ignatz and Maria 
(Stuber) Cook, of German extraction. Hugo 
Cook was educated in the public schools of In- 
dianapolis, and in a technical school in Saint 
Louis, Mo. He also received instruction in 
mathematics and surveying from Prof. Ste- 
phens, of Indianapolis. After spending about 
three years in this line, Mr. Cook turned his 
attention to the manufacture of sewing ma- 
chines, in which he was engaged for several 
years, during which time he invented several 
machines and made various improvements 
thereon. He is practically the inventor of the 
first rotary shuttle machine. Following this 
period, he turned his attention to the invention 
of automatic machinery, and placed on the 



market various machines and devices of that 
character. For several years he manufactured 
special machinery, and turned out various 
automatic screw machines; also a successful 
machine for the manufacture of bicycle spokes, 
etc. He invented a cash register, a total add- 
ing machine, and in the fall of 18S8 came to 
Dayton with his machine and associated him- 
self with the National Cash Register company, 
for the manufacture of the same. This is to- 
day one of the greatest machines of its kind. 
The above company is manufacturing Mr. 
Cook's inventions and improvements on the 
above register, of which there are many. In 
1895 a company was organized in Dayton for 
the purpose of manufacturing gas engines. 
This company was incorporated with Mr. Cook 
as president, and Charles A. Craighead and 
William Kinnard among the directors. The 
plant is located at No. 1 126 East Third street, 
and the goods manufactured are from the pat- 
ents of Mr. Cook. He is one of the most 
skilled and thorough men in the manufacturing 
business in Dayton; his inventions are practical 
and much sought after, and are covered by 
many patents. He enjoys a reputation in the 
business world for progressiveness and enter- 
prise, coupled with integrity and sound busi- 
ness principles. Mr. Cook is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar 
and a member of Reed commandery. He was 
married, in 1879, to Miss Maria Wilmer. He 
resides at Oakwood, where he has an experi- 
mental shop, in which he spends a large por- 
tion of his time. 



WOHN A. HAHNE, clerk of the city of 
fl Dayton, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
A 1 in January, 1857, and is a son of Frank 
^^^ A. and Theresa M. Hahne. In 1858 
his parents removed from Cincinnati to Day- 
ton, taking up their residence on Franklin 




^J&^rjr &*<{ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



551 



street, where they have ever since lived. 
Frank A. Hahne has been retired from active 
business for about ten years. 

John A. Hahne was reared in Dayton from 
the age of one and a half years, and attended 
the parochial schools and the Saint Mary's 
institute, a college established in 1849, gradu- 
ating from the latter in 1 87 1. When fifteen 
years of age he began an apprenticeship in a 
drug store, that of the old firm of Kelso & 
Bennett, on the corner of Third and Saint 
Clair streets. With this firm he remained 
three years, and with its successor, J. B. 
Walters, ten years. He then established him- 
self in business, opening a drug store on the 
corner of Fifth and Commercial streets, which 
he operated for eleven years, thus being en- 
gaged in the drug business for a period of 
twenty-four years. 

In 1887 Mr. Hahne was elected to the city 
council from the old democratic Seventh ward, 
and was re-elected in 1889. In 1890 he was 
elected president of the city council, when that 
body was composed of thirty members, two 
from each ward, receiving the unanimous sup- 
port of the council. In 1891 he was elected 
city clerk, was re-elected in 1893, and was 
again re-elected in 1895, receiving on each oc- 
casion the unanimous vote of the council, 
democrats and republicans alike, he being a 
democrat. In 1893, owing to the increasing 
labor connected with his office, he retired from 
the drug business, in order that he might de- 
vote his entire time and attention to his pub- 
lic duties. Mr. Hahne has never married, 
owing to the untimely death of a lady to whom 
he was betrothed. 

Mr. Hahne comes of a prominent family. 
An uncle of his, Rev. John F. Hahne, was 
for many years pastor of Emanuel church, 
the first Catholic church established in Day- 
ton, and he is related in the same degree to 
Rev. Charles J. Hahne, the present pastor of 



this church. Rev. Charles H. Hahne, a 
brother of John A., is pastor of a Catholic 
church in Cincinnati, and another brother, Dr. 
H. A. Hahne, filled for two years the office of 
coroner of Montgomery county, retiring in 
January, 1895. Mr. Hahne is a member of 
the Knights of Saint George, of the Catholic 
Knights of Ohio, of the Independent Order of 
Heptasophs, and of several democratic clubs. 
The above brief recital of the principal events 
of his life is sufficient to show that he is un- 
usually popular, and that the confidence of the 
people of Dayton is his to a very great degree. 



%S^\ EV. W. A. HALE, D. D., pastor of 
I /^ the First Reformed church of Dayton, 
P was born in Jefferson county, Ohio, 
June 29, 1847. He graduated from 
Harlem Springs college in 1868, and imme- 
diately thereafter entered the ministry. For 
eight years he performed faithful duty at vari- 
ous points, meeting, through his fervor and 
eloquence, a success in itself remarkable and 
of great benefit to his several flocks and to the 
church in general. October 1, 1876, he was 
called to Dayton as pastor of the First Re- 
formed church, and here, for a period of over 
twenty years, his sermons have been a theme 
of wide comment and commendation. Per- 
sonally, he is a genial gentleman, popular with 
all classes of citizens. As a minister he is 
earnest, eloquent and logical, enjoying the 
confidence and esteem of his faithful con- 
gregation. 

The First Reformed church. of Dayton was 
organized in 1833 by Rev. David Winters, D. 
D. At the advent of Dr. Hale the congrega- 
tion numbered 184 members. After that, the 
edifice became so crowded at each service 
held by Dr. Hale that it became necessary to 
form other congregations, the result being that 
four additional Reformed churches now adorn 



552 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and bless the city of Dayton, viz: The Second, 
the Trinity, the Fourth and the Memorial. 
During the twenty years of Dr. Hale's pastor- 
ate he has admitted into his congregation 
1,200 members, and the present membership 
is 725, notwithstanding the constant drains 
that have been upon it by the other congrega- 
tions now existing in every section of the city. 
Seldom indeed has it been, during recent 
years, no matter what the weather, that the 
attendance at the First church has not been 
large, and there have been special occasions 
when the edifice was not spacious enough to 
accommodate those desirous of attending; 
while the four other Reformed churches, the 
offspring of Rev. Dr. Hale's spiritual labors, 
are all in a most flourishing condition. 



ar 



ILLIAM HALL, deceased, who for 
thirty-one years was a resident of 
Dayton, Ohio, was born at Holly- 
wood, near Manchester, Yorkshire, 
England, June 16, 1827, and died in Dayton, 
Ohio, April 9, 1894. When but three years 
of age he was brought to America by his par- 
ents, James and Ann Hall, who settled in Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

James Hall was a contractor and builder, 
and erected some of the most imposing 
churches, theaters and other public buildings 
in the principal cities of the United States, 
and at the time of his death had the contract 
to erect the Third street Presbyterian church 
building in Dayton. He was a quiet, conserva- 
tive gentleman, given to the exercise of broad 
charity, did much good in his day for the gen- 
eral public, and was officially connected with 
Saint Xavier college, of Cincinnati, Ohio. His 
family consisted of eight children, of whom 
four are still living, the subject being the third 
born of the family. 

William Hall, whose name opens this biog- 



raphy, was reared in Cincinnati, graduated 
from St. Xavier college, and adopted as his 
life-calling the art of ornamental plastering, 
and also the business of contracting, which lat- 
ter occupation he followed for two years after 
the decease of his father. In 1863 he came 
to Dayton, where he engaged in his calling as 
an ornamental plasterer until 1885, when he 
retired from active industry. He was married, 
in Cincinnati, to Miss Ann Case, who still sur- 
vives, and to this marriage were born chil- 
dren, in the following order: Mary; James 
and Elizabeth, deceased; Harry, who married 
Miss Agnes Donahue, and who is a resident of 
Helena, Mont. ; William, who is an electrician, 
and also in the bicycle trade in Dayton; Susie 
B., a stenographer, and Charles S., who is 
associated with his brother William in the 
bicycle business, both of these young men being 
noted for their activity and business enterprise. 

William Hall, whose name is mentioned 
above, was born in Cincinnati, June 16, 1858, 
but was reared in Dayton, and was educated 
in the public schools of the city. At fourteen 
years of age he began learning the locksmith's 
trade, which led him to the study and investi- 
gation of applied electricity, and in 1883 he 
began business on his own account as electri- 
cian and locksmith, which combined business 
he conducted until early in 1893. In that 
year Mr. Hall added bicycles to his stock in 
trade, and from the latter has developed a sub- 
stantial and remunerative source of income. 

Charles S. Hall, brother of William Hall, 
was born in Dayton, Ohio, January 4, 1874. 
He was educated in the Dayton public schools, 
and since 1888 has been associated with Will- 
iam in business. These brothers, being excel- 
lent mechanics and electricians, have built up 
an extensive and profitable trade, secured 
through their strict fidelity to the interests of 
their customers. In the bicycle line they carry 
the Columbia, Hartford and other makes, with 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



553 



all bicycle repairs and sundries. The Hall 
brothers are members of the Young Men's 
Christian association, as well as of Christ Epis- 
copal church, while William is also a Knight 
of Pythias, being a member of Miami lodge, 
No. 32, and of Dayton division, No. 5, uni- 
form rank. The)' are young men of natural 
ability and high character, and enjoy an excel- 
lent reputation in the business community. 



a APT. JASPER NEWTON HALL de- 
scends from English people, who set- 
tled in Virginia in ante-Revolution- 
ary times; his grandfather was a cap- 
tain in the war of 18 12, and his parents, 
Thomas and Maria (Bousman) Hall, were na- 
tives of Ohio, where they lived and died. Two 
sons and one daughter comprised the family of 
Thomas and Maria Hall, Jasper N. being the 
first in order of birth; the second son, John, 
went to the Pacific coast in 1857 and is now a 
farmer and fruit grower of Douglass county, 
Ore. ; the sister, Anna, is a widow, who also 
resides in the above county and state. 

Capt. Jasper N. Hall was born near the 
town of Saint Paris, Champaign county, Ohio, 
October I, 1835, and passed his youthful years 
in assisting his father on the farm, attending 
in the meantime the country schools. He 
made the most of his opportunities, studied 
early and late, and such was his progress, 
that, at the age of eighteen, he was sufficiently 
advanced to teach in the common schools, and 
was thus engaged until the breaking out of the 
Civil war. He was one of the first to respond 
to the call for volunteers, enlisting in April, 
1 86 1, for the three months' service, in com- 
pany H, Twentieth Ohio infantry, spending 
that period principally in guarding the B. & O. 
railroad, in what is now West Virginia. He 
re-enlisted in August, 1862, as first sergeant of 
company E, One Hundred and Thirteenth 



Ohio infantry, and was assigned to duty in the 
army of the Cumberland under Gen. Rose- 
crans. In the many campaigns and battles in 
which his command participated, Capt. Hall 
bore a brave part; he was engaged in the ma- 
neuvers with Morgan's guerrilla band in Ken- 
tucky, participated in the battle of Franklin, 
Tenn., and on the 20th of September, 
1863, was captured at the battle of Chicka- 
mauga and held a prisoner of war for nineteen 
months. He was first confined in Libby prison, 
Richmond, Va. , thence was removed to the 
Pemberton building, in the same city, and later 
was incarcerated in prison No. 4, Danville, 
Va. From the last named place he was re- 
moved in May, 1864, to the notorious Ander- 
sonville prison, where he endured sufferings be- 
yond description, until his removal to Jackson- 
ville, Fla., where he was liberated in April, 
1865. Though the war was over when they 
were released, the prisoners were kept in ig- 
norance of the fact, and it was not until after 
being told to shift for themselves that suspicion 
was soon afterward confirmed, when they met 
a detachment of Union troops, by whom they 
were taken to camp and properly looked after. 
During his imprisonment, Capt. Hall upon 
three occasions succeeded in eluding his guards 
and escaping, once from Richmond, again 
from Danville, and lastly from Andersonville, 
only to be recaptured, being tracked and over- 
taken the last time by bloodhounds. While 
in prison at Danville he suffered from typhoid 
fever and smallpox, and at Andersonville was 
so reduced by disease that his life was depaired 
of. When taken prisoner his weight was 160 
pounds, and at the time of his release he had 
become so emaciated as to weigh barely ninety- 
four. Few men possessed vitality sufficient to 
withstand such long-continued suffering and 
privation, yet the captain came through it all 
and still retains a remarkable degree of phys- 
ical vigor. 



554 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



After his liberation he was taken to An- 
napolis, Md., where he received treatment, 
and, being sufficiently recovered, was dis- 
charged at Camp Chase, Ohio. The captain 
then turned his attention to the profession of 
teaching, which he followed for a livelihood in 
his native state until 1868, when he went to 
Oregon, where he was similarly engaged for a 
period of fifteen years. Abandoning the edu- 
cational field, he engaged in cattle-raising, 
which he followed with most encouraging suc- 
cess until 1888-9, when, on account of a very 
severe winter, he met with severe financial 
reverses, he and his partner losing cattle to the 
amount of $30,000. Out of this reverse the 
captain emerged with about $1,700, which he 
invested in mining in Colorado, only to seethe 
last of his earthly savings disappear, the ven- 
ture proving disastrous from the beginning. 
After disposing of his watch in order to pay a 
doctor's bill, he returned to Ohio, and for some 
time attempted, without avail, to secure a po- 
sition in the public schools. Being a stranger 
and having in his possession no recommenda- 
tion as an instructor, he was unsuccessful in 
his search for employment, and finally decided 
to apply for admission to the national soldiers' 
home; accordingly, in 1891, he became an in- 
mate, since which time he has had lucrative 
employment in the institution, first as superin- 
tendent of the annex and soon afterward as 
captain of company Twenty-four, which latter 
position he has held for four years. Capt. Hall's 
company numbers about 120 men, and he has 
discharged his official functions in a manner 
highly creditable to himself and to the satis- 
faction of the management of the institution. 

Capt. Hall was married in the year 1862 
to Miss Lillie Whiton, of Boston, Mass., who 
has borne him four children, viz: John Court- 
land, a resident of Oregon; Pearl, a teacher in 
the public schools of Clarke county, Ohio; Mrs. 
M. Dibert, who resides in Dakota, and Thomas 



Vinton, a resident of Oregon, where he prac- 
tices medicine. The captain has a pleasant 
home in Dayton, where both himself and his 
estimable wife are highly respected. He has 
been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 
1866, and is also an active worker in the G. 
A. R. and U. V, U. Politically the captain 
affiliated with the democracy until 1884, since 
which time he has been a supporter of the 
republican party. 



^/\ ENNICK BROS., brass founders and 

1 jobbers, located at Nos. 141 5 and 
/^J 141 7 East Fifth street, Dayton, 
erected their foundry in the summer 
of 1896, and do a jobbing business in heavy 
and light brass castings. The building is 
33x96 feet, and the firm gives employment to 
five men, the members themselves, William 
and Herman Dennick, being expert artisans 
whose hands and brains are constantly em- 
ployed in the work. 

John Dennick, their father, is a Hessian by 
birth and came to America when a young man; 
his wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna 
Arnold, was born in Germany, and was but a 
little girl when brought to the United States 
by her parents. John Dennick served in the 
Union army during the war of the Rebellion 
and bravely defended the flag of his adopted 
country. He is a stone-eutter by trade, and 
for some years operated a stone-yard in Day- 
ton and was also engaged in contracting. To 
his marriage with Miss Arnold have been born 
five children, viz: Mary, widow of Albert Slus- 
ser; John; William, senior of the firm of Den- 
nick Bros. ; Sarah, wife of John Linkert, and 
Herman, the junior partner in the same firm. 

William Dennick was born in Lebanon, 
Ohio, February 15, 1S62, and Herman Sep- 
tember 16, 1 866, and both were educated in 
the public schools. At the age of eight years 





y/^T^T/l^sl 



'*A 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



559 



William began to earn his livelihood by work- 
ing on a farm for four years, and then entered 
the employ of the Buckeye Brass foundry, of 
Dayton, at a compensation of $2 per week for 
two years, at all-round work. He was then 
apprenticed for two and a half years at the 
trade of brass molding, and after learning the 
art went to Cincinnati, and secured one of the 
best positions in the business, with the Lunk- 
enheimer Brass foundry, earning at the end of 
six months, $3. 50 per day. At the termina- 
tion of a period of five years he resigned his 
position as foreman of the brass foundry, passed 
two or three months in Dayton and then went 
to Chicago, where, after working about two 
weeks in a brass foundry, he was appointed 
foreman, which position he held for eighteen 
months; he next visited Greensburg and Pitts- 
burg, Pa., being employed about six months at 
his trade; next passed two weeks in Chicago, 
and finally returned to Dayton and started in 
business alone, with a capital of $65, in a 
small building at the corner of McLain and 
LaBelle streets, doing his work without an as- 
sistant. A short time thereafter he associated 
with himself his brother Herman, forming the 
firm noted at the opening of this sketch, and 
which is now doing the largest brass jobbing 
business in the state of Ohio. In their small 
shop 20x33 f eet . these brothers, in 1895, turned 
out over $17,000 worth of work and consumed 
over 250,000 pounds of brass. In their new 
and more extensive plant, with their energy 
and skill to back them, it is not at all unrea- 
sonable to foretell a more lucrative trade in 
the future through an increased volume of 
business. 

William Dennick was united in marriage, 
September 27, 1894, with Miss Nettie Clark, 
of Springfield, Ohio. They are members of 
the Baptist church and make their home at 
No. 440 May street. 

Herman Dennick was fourteen years of age 



when he entered the employ of the Buckeye 
Brass foundry, where he was first engaged as 
a utility hand for six months, in order that he 
might become familiar with the business, and 
for the two years following was employed as a 
coremaker. He was next employed by the 
Stoddard Manufacturing company, with which 
he remained for six months, and then for one 
year and nine months was employed in the 
Barney & Smith Car works, learning the car- 
penter's trade. For one season he worked at 
outside carpenter work, then went to Cincin- 
nati, where for nine months he attended to the 
smelting furnaces of the Lunkenheimer Brass 
foundry, and then returned to Dayton, where 
he was employed for nine months in the con- 
struction of the levee. After this he had charge 
of Wholler's Brass foundry for four years and 
a half, and then became associated with his 
brother William in the present business, as 
alluded to above. 

Herman Dennick is a member of the Im- 
proved Order of Red Men, and of the Fulton 
council, American Mechanics. He and his 
brother are republicans in politics, and, as 
business men, enjoy high standing. 

Herman Dennick was married November 
12, 1896, in Dayton, to Stella Clark, who was 
born in Canton, Ohio, December 12, 1873, 
and is a sister of Mrs. William Dennick. The 
family residence is at No. 815 East May street. 



QHARLES J. HALL, official court re- 
porter and a member of the board of 
education of Dayton, was born in 
Butler township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, February 3, i860. His parents, Austin 
H. and N. A. (Patty) Hall, were natives of 
Montgomery county, and during the progress 
of the late Civil war, in 1862, Austin H. Hall 
enlisted in the One Hundred and Twelfth regi- 
ment, Ohio volunteer infantry, which was, after 



560 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the battle of Corinth, consolidated with the 
Sixty-third regiment. In the latter part of 
1863 Mr. Hall was taken ill, and his superiors, 
thinking him sufficiently recovered to go to the 
front, refused him a furlough until, when 
finally granted, it came too late to be of any 
service to him, as he died on the boat, between 
Memphis and Cairo, the next day after start- 
ing for home. 

Charles J. Hall was reared on the farm in 
Butler township, in his fifteenth year removing 
to Dayton to attend school. From the high 
school he graduated in 1879, and afterward 
took a complete course of study in the Miami 
Commercial college. After teaching school in 
Miami county for one year, he made a more 
thorough study of shorthand with John Col- 
lins, the only court reporter in the county at 
that time, and in the spring of 1882 became 
stenographer for John W. Stoddard & Co. , in 
which position he remained until the spring of 
1890. In the spring of 1891 he was appointed 
official court reporter, and in the spring of 
1895 ne was nominated as a republican from 
the Third ward for a position on the board of 
education, was elected by a majority of fifty- 
five of the male vote and of 488 of the female 
vote, a total majority of 543 over his demo- 
cratic opponent, and was the only republican 
elected to office in his ward. He was chair- 
man of the committee on centennial • cele- 
bration by the schools,, and during his service 
on the board kept well posted as to the gen- 
eral policy and routine business of that body, 
being as strong an opponent of that which he 
thought wrong as he was earnest in his sup- 
port of all measures for the elevation of the 
standard of the school work. 

In December, 1896, he was reappointed 
one of the official reporters of the courts of 
Montgomery county, and as his term as mem- 
ber of the board of education was almost com 
pleted, he deemed it advisable to resign from 



the board so that nothing should interfere 
with his giving his time entirely to his profes- 
sional duties. 

Mr. Hall is a member of the Gem City 
Knights of the Ancient Essenic order and of 
Earnshaw camp, Sons of Veterans. He was 
married January 1, 1885, to Miss Alice Pierce, 
of Concord township, Miami county. To 
their marriage there have been born five chil- 
dren, four of whom are now living, viz: Rus- 
kin Pierce, Elizabeth Mary, Charles Ralph 
and Alice Lois. 

James Hall, the grandfather of Charles J., 
was one of the very earliest settlers of Mont- 
gomery county, coming here from South Caro- 
lina, in about 1804, with his father, William 
Hall. He was one of the lieutenants in the 
great Harrison demonstration which occurred 
in Dayton in the memorable campaign of 1840, 
and was also a captain in the Black Hawk 
war. His father, William Hall, did service 
for his country in the battle of the Cowpens, 
in South Carolina, during the Revolution, and 
died in this county in 1858, aged about ninety- 
six years. 

Charles J. Hall's grandfather, James Patty, 
was a native of Montgomery county, Ohio, of 
Quaker stock, and was one of the first school- 
teachers in Dayton. Thus it will be seen that 
on both sides of the family Mr. Hall is de- 
scended from pioneers of the county in which 
he now lives, and is therefore in a peculiar 
manner identified with this county's interests. 
Being a well-educated young man, he is pre- 
pared to advance the cause of education for 
the young, and is strongly devoted to religious 
movements as well as to educational progress, 
believing that these should go hand in hand, 
although not necessarily the public schools. 

While Mr. Hall's term of official service on 
behalf of the public schools was short, it was 
long enough to enable him to do much valua- 
ble work, not least of which was the intelli- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



561 



gent and effective assistance rendered by him 
in the establishment of a revised course of 
study and the adoption of modern text books. 



a APT. EDWARD HAMILTON is a 
native of Dublin, Ireland, where his 
birth occurred on the 17th of March, 
1838. He is of English and Scotch 
ancestry and combines in a very marked de- 
gree the rugged and sterling qualities character- 
istic of those two peoples. Capt. Hamilton 
was educated in his native isle and there served 
an apprenticeship at silversmithing, in which, 
in due time, be acquired considerable profi- 
cency, working at the trade until his immigra- 
tion to the United States in 1852. For some 
time after landing upon American soil, he 
carried on his chosen calling in New York 
city, but in 1855, yielding to a desire of long 
standing, he entered the military service, en- 
listing in the First United States dragoons, 
with which he bore a gallant part in the war 
against the Indians in Oregon and other regions 
of the far west. The roster of the above 
command contains the names of a number of 
men who have since figured prominently in 
the military history of the United States, and 
achieved national reputations. Among these 
were Gen. Grant, who at that time ranked as 
second lieutenant; Gen. Philip Sheridan, a 
first lieutenant of artillery, and Gen. A. J. 
Smith, who held a captain's commission, and 
with all three of whom Capt. Hamilton sus- 
tained relations of cordial friendship. 

Capt. Hamilton served with the First 
dragoons five years, the regular term of enlist- 
ment, participated in many bloody battles with 
the Indians, met with a number of thrilling 
adventures and had many narrow escapes from 
the savages. He was discharged at Fort Van- 
couver, W. T., March 28, i860, after which 
he returned to New York city, where he later 



re-entered the service as an unattached recruit. 
Subsequently he went to Carlisle barracks, Pa., 
where he was enlisted as sergeant, and his first 
duty was to drill a body of soldiers known as 
the Anderson body guards, a regiment organ- 
ized in Philadelphia by order of the secretary 
of war, with the stipulation that they be 
drilled by officers of the United States army. 
Early in 1861, the captain was stationed 
at Harper's Ferry at the time that military 
station was blown up, after which he returned 
to Carlisle, where he served as drill-master of 
recruits until 1864, in the spring of which 
year he joined the Fifth United States caval- 
ry, company E, serving with the same under 
Gen. Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley cam- 
paign. He was with this command through all 
the memorable Virginia campaigns, took part 
in the leading battles of the war, and after the 
surrender of Appomattox received his dis- 
charge only to enlist again, this time in the 
Twelfth United States infantry, with which he 
served two enlistments of three years each. 
He was first sergeant of company E, stationed 
at Camp Gaston, Cal., and had the priv- 
ilege of going to the scene of his military 
operations, on the western coast, on the first 
through train over the Pacific railroad. At 
the expiration of his second term of enlist- 
ment, in 1 87 1, Capt. Hamilton went to Massa-, 
chusetts, where he worked at his trade for four 
years, but so strong was his attachment to a 
military life, that in 1875 he again entered the 
army, enlisting in company E, Twenty-second 
United States infantry, with which he served 
for five years, the greater part of which time 
was spent at Fort Wayne, Mich. , and two years 
inTexas. He was honorably discharged in 1880, 
with the rank of sergeant, bearing with him, 
at the time, recommendations from all of his 
various enlistments, as a brave and gallant 
soldier and a most trustworthy and efficient 
officer. Immediately following this latter dis- 



562 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



charge Capt. Hamilton re-entered the United 
States service at Columbus, Ohio, for five 
years, but by reason of disability was not per- 
mitted to remain with the army the full term, 
having been discharged in 1883; this service 
was in company G, Fourteenth United States 
infantry. 

Shortly after his discharge Capt. Hamilton 
went to Detroit, Mich., where his daughter at 
that time resided, and was appointed a guard 
of the house of correction in that city, holding 
the position for a period of four years. Re- 
signing this place, he next took the road as a 
commercial traveler, selling goods and collect- 
ing for a New Orleans wholesale house, in 
which capacity he continued until 1890, when 
he became an inmate of the Central branch, 
national military home for disabled volunteers, 
at Dayton. For some time after coming to 
the home Capt. Hamilton was sergeant of the 
"Firing squad" ; later was promoted captain 
and placed in command of barrack No. 7, 
designated as company Seven, which has an 
enrollment of ninety men. 

From the foregoing synopsis it will be seen 
that Capt. Hamilton's life has been one replete 
with duty, faithfully and patriotically done in 
the service of his adopted country, a record of 
which any man might justly feel proud. For 
a period of twenty-three years he gave his best 
energies to the nation, in whose behalf all the 
positions of preferment opened by other voca- 
tions were offered a willing sacrifice, and it is 
doubtful whether there is another man now in 
the home who has seen as much service or 
earned a more honorable record. For disa- 
bilities received while in the discharge of his 
duty at the front the captain is the recipient 
of a liberal pension, but his greatest compensa- 
tion is the reflection that he bore his part 
bravely and uncomplainingly through the try- 
ing period when the destiny of the nation was 
trembling in the balance. 



Capt. Hamilton married Miss Ellen Morri- 
son, of Carlisle, Pa., who has borne him three 
children, two living: Sarah, who married 
Joseph Yeager, sergeant of police, Detroit, 
Mich., and Edward J., a musician at the 
home. In political and in religious matters 
Capt. Hamilton is independent in all that the 
term implies. 



>-j*OHN FREDERICK DITZEL, carpen- 
■ ter and contractor, of No. 313 Johnson 
(9 j street, Dayton, Ohio, was born near 
Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, June 15, 
1848. He is a son of Frederick and Eva 
(Natt) Ditzel, both of whom were born in Ger- 
many. They were the parents of six children, 
three sons and three daughters, five of whom 
are still living, as follows: John F. ; Eva, wife 
of Elias Breidenbach; James; Elizabeth, wife 
of Rolla Gallaher, and Alice, wife of Jackson 
Carroll. 

Frederick Ditzel was a butcher in early 
life, in Germany, and came to the United 
States about 1856, locating in New York city. 
After a year or two he located near Palmyra, 
Wayne county, N. Y., living there until the 
breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, in 
1 86 1. He enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Sixtieth New York volunteer infantry, in which 
regiment he continued for three years, within 
two months, his services to his adopted coun- 
try ending with his death in Baton Rouge, La., 
from the effects of a wound received at Fred- 
ericksburg, Va. He was then in his thirty- 
ninth year. His wife ..survived until April, 
1 89 1, when she died in her sixty-fourth year. 
She was a member of the German Evangelical 
church, and Mr. Ditzel, while in Germany, 
was a member of the Lutheran church, but, 
upon coming to this country, both joined the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



565 



John F. Ditzel was about eight years of 
age when brought to this country by his par- 
ents. His early education he received in the 
state of New York, and in 1864 came to Ohio, 
soon after his father's death, and located at 
Alpha, Greene county, where he lived three or 
four years, working in a mill and in Harbine's 
still-house, or distillery. About three years 
were then spent on a farm, after which he re- 
moved to Dayton, where the first work he 
found was on the streets, after which he was 
employed by the contractor who was construct- 
ing the hydraulic race of the Dayton View 
Hydraulic company. For several years after- 
ward he was engaged in a tobacco factory, and 
then, on the advice of Dr. Crook, sought out- 
door occupation on account of ill health. 
After working thus for a painter for one year, 
he learned the carpenter's trade, at which he 
worked two years for John Hoehn, and then 
entered the employ of the late John Rouzer. 
After remaining with this well-known con- 
tractor for eight years, Mr. Ditzel returned to 
Mr. Hoehn and remained with him a short time, 
or till his death. The entire business was then 
taken up by Mr. Ditzel, who has since been 
engaged in doing contract work on his own ac- 
count, and has met with most gratifying suc- 
cess. Among the buildings which he has 
erected are eight school-houses and several 
churches in Dayton, beside numerous resi- 
dences, all of which show honest, careful work. 
He also built a large school-house in Lebanon, 
Warren county. 

On December 25, 1872, Mr. Ditzel was 
married to Miss Catherine Klinkert, daughter 
of Mathias and Margaret (Oneth) Klinkert, 
the former of whom came from Alsace-Lor- 
raine, and the latter from Frankfort, on the 
Main. To this marriage there have been born 
six children, as follows: Henry Adam, Charles 
Edward, Bertha May, Bessie Savilla, John 
Milton, and Nellie Naoma. Bessie died when 



eleven years of age; Henry A. married Miss 
Lillie Frank, daughter of Judge Frank. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ditzel are members of the 
English Evangelical association. Fraternally 
Mr. Ditzel is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of 
Pythias, and politically he is a republican. He 
has served as a director of the workhouse for 
five years, and as president of the workhouse 
board for three years. 

He erected his present home, at 313 John- 
son street, in 1875, though he has been a 
resident of Dayton for thirty-two years. After 
his father's death, John, the eldest son, sup- 
ported the family as they grew up, or until 
each was able to care for himself. He is now 
rearing to good citizenship a family of his own, 
fine children, healthy, strong and- intelligent. 
Mr. Ditzel and a few others organized the 
English Evangelical association, which began 
with a membership of twenty-six, and now has 
a Sunday-school attendance of 200. The as- 
sociation started with no financial strength, 
Mr. Ditzel raising $1,500 by mortgaging his 
own home, and with this money purchasing 
the lot on which the church improvements now 
stand. Mr. Ditzel also organized the Builders' 
exchange, starting its first subscription and 
writing its first rules of order. He is thus a 
public-spirited man, full of hope for the best 
in all things, and willing to labor in order that 
that hope may be 'realized. He is most genial 
and generous, with a character above reproach 
or suspicion, and has hosts of warm and ad- 
miring friends. Such men are the safety and 
the salvation of the city, state and country. 



>»y»OSEPH M. HAND, of No. 214 East 
■ Fifth street, Dayton, Ohio, was born 
m J in this city October 2, i860, a son of 
John and Barbara (Keiffer) Hand, both 
natives of the town of Sarlonie, on the banks 
of the river Rhine, Germany. 



566 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



John Hand, the father, came to the United 
States in 1849, and for a short time resided in 
Cincinnati, whence he came to Dayton and 
worked at his trade of shoemaking until his 
sight began to fail. In 1869 he purchased a 
tract of eighteen acres of land six miles south 
of Dayton, and engaged in gardening, in which 
he has been very successful. Mrs. Barbara 
Hand was born in March, 1822, and died July 
23, 1884. Of the ten children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Hand there survive but three, viz: An- 
gelica, wife of Julius Burgmeier; Mary, the wife 
of Henry Gross, and Joseph M. 

Joseph M. Hand was about nine years of 
age when his parents located upon the garden 
tract above mentioned, where for nine years 
he assisted his father in its cultivation, thus 
aiding the latter to pay for the property. At 
the age of eighteen years he was released from 
further home obligations and became a fire- 
man on the Toledo, Cincinnati & Saint Louis 
railroad, but a number of years later resigned 
his position in order to learn the barber's trade 
under Henry Gross. After some years he 
purchased the shop from his instructor, and 
has since been in business for himself, becom- 
ing one of the best known barbers in Dayton. 

The marriage of Mr. Hand took place Feb- 
ruary 13, 1884, with Miss Rose L. Sweetman, 
daughter of John and Rose Sweetman, both 
now deceased. This union has been blessed 
with three children, viz: Roselee, Lawrence 
J. and Walter J. The family are conscien- 
tious and devout members of the Sacred Heart 
Catholic church and in politics Mr. Hand is a 
democrat. He has for sixteen years been a 
member of the order of Knights of Saint John, 
and since joining has been an officer almost 
continuously, being now captain of commandery 
No. 132, and having passed through the minor 
offices of secretary, treasurer, president and 
lieutenant. He has won the captaincy through 
meritorious services, having been largely in- 



strumental in placing the commandery on its 
present substantial footing, both in its military 
and financial standing. He is also district or- 
ganizer of the Knights, having as the field of 
his labors the counties of Montgomery, Greene, 
Preble, Miami and Clarke. Mr. Hand is like- 
wise a charter member of Dayton court, Inde- 
pendent Order of Foresters, and for a number 
of years has been its treasurer. 

Mr. Hand's success in business is due to his 
own unaided efforts, to his industry and energy. 



eDWARD F. HAMM, plumber and 
gas-fitter, of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
in Cleveland, April 30, 1861. Daniel 
Hamm, his father, was a native of 
Germany, born in 1833. While still a young 
man he came to America and settled in Cleve- 
land, Ohio, where he married Miss Margaret 
Schermer, also a native of Germany, but who, 
when a child, was brought to America by her 
parents, who located in Cleveland. Daniel 
Hamm was reared to milling, but since com- 
ing to America has been engaged in railroad- 
ing, being now employed by the "Big 4" 
company as foreman of car inspection. He 
first came to Dayton twenty-six years ago, 
and has ever since been a resident of the city, 
with his home at No. 129 Montgomery street. 
Edward F. Hamm is the eldest in a family 
of three children — his sister, Ella, being the 
wife of August Gummer, one of the proprietors 
of the Gem City Stove works, and his brother, 
Charles, being a plumber, in his employ. Ed- 
ward F. attended the Cleveland schools until 
the removal of the family to Dayton, and 
after this removal attended the schools of Day- 
ton for a few years, after which he was em- 
ployed, for a short time, in the table-slide fac- 
tory. He then took up railroad work and for 
the first year was a car inspector, and for four 
years thereafter a fireman. When a little over 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



567 



twenty years of age he became an apprentice 
at the plumber's trade in Dayton, and after 
having secured a full knowledge of the busi- 
ness, he worked as a journeyman in Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, in Kansas City, Mo., and in Cleve- 
land, Ohio. One year was spent in contract 
work in Urbana, Ohio, when Mr. Hamm re- 
turned to Dayton and in March, 1893, opened 
his present plumbing and gas-fitting shop, in 
which he has established a prosperous and 
steadily increasing trade. 

Mr. Hamm was reared in the faith of the 
Lutheran church. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, to which party his father and brother 
also belong. He is not connected with any 
secret society, neither has he ever married. 
As an industrious, faithful and public-spirited 
citizen he enjoys the respect of all with whom 
he is brought into contact, either in social or 
business circles. 



eLLSWORTH C. HALTEMAN, pat- 
ternmaker, of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in this city April 23, 1862. He 
is proprietor of the Central Pattern 
works, located at No. 26 South Saint Clair 
street. The business was established in 1892, 
under the above name, at the crossing of 
Wayne avenue and the railroad, and in 1895 
removed to Nos. 10 and 12 North Canal street, 
and in April, 1896, removed to their present 
location. These works turn out all kinds of 
patterns and of the finest workmanship, the 
trade of the concern extending all through 
Ohio and Indiana. High grade work is made 
a specialty. The best patternmakers, both in 
wood and metal, are here employed, and drafts 
and models are also made and disposed of. 

Mr. Halteman is a son of Christopher and 
Margaret (Wagoner) Halteman. The mother 
has died, but the father lives at No. 386 North 
Main street, Dayton, Ohio. He is one of the 



best and most skillful patternmakers of Day- 
ton, and has resided in this city since 1841. 
He was born in Columbus, Ohio, October 31, 
1839, and is a son of Tobias and Rebecca 
(Grady) Halteman, natives of Montgomery 
county, Pa., and of Pennsylvania-Dutch de- 
scent. The Halteman family have for several 
generations been mechanics, so that the sub- 
ject of this sketch comes naturally by his pecu- 
liar talent. Tobias Halteman, together with 
his wife and four children, removed to Dayton 
in 1 84 1. He was a weaver by trade, but after 
locating in Dayton followed various occupa- 
tions until his death, which occurred in 1849, 
his wife dying in 1855. They were members 
of the German Reformed church. They 
reared a family of nine children, as follows: 
Sarah, now deceased; Joseph, a shoemaker of 
Urbana, Ohio; Elizabeth, deceased; Abraham, 
deceased ; Nancy, deceased ; Christopher ; 
Henry, a farmer living near Eaton, Ohio; 
Aaron, deceased, and Hattie, wife of Henry 
Groeweg, of Dayton, Ohio. 

Christopher Halteman was early taught to 
labor, the father having died while the son was 
yet young. He had to assist in supporting not 
only himself, but the rest of the family. For 
some time he worked in a cotton factory, but 
later learned the cabinetmaker's trade, which 
he followed for some twelve years. He then 
became a millwright and patternmaker, and is 
still pursuing the latter vocation, in which, 
though self-taught, he is exceedingly proficient. 
He has been at work in the millwright depart- 
ment of the Brownell company's works for 
twenty-two years, and has been foreman of 
the department for fifteen years. As a repub- 
lican, he has taken an active part in political 
affairs. He served in the city council of Day- 
ton, from the Second ward, for one term, and 
was the candidate on the republican ticket for 
water works trustee. Fraternally, he is a 
member of Wayne Lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F. 



r,c,s 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Halteman was married, first, in 1859, 
to Miss Margaret Wagoner, who died in 188 15. 
She was the mother of six children, as follows: 
William, a speculator at Port Townsend, 
Wash.; Ellsworth C. , the subject of this 
sketch; Elizabeth, wife of Frank Certner, of 
Dayton; Priscilla, wife of L. Landis, of Day- 
ton; Franklin, deceased; and Lee, a pattern- 
maker of Dayton. Mr. Halteman was mar- 
ried to his second wife, Miss Minnie Stone, in 
October, 1892. They now reside at No. 386 
North Main street. 

Ellsworth C. Halteman was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton, and afterward at- 
tended Dennison university at Granville, Ohio, 
for one year. Prior to going to college he had 
learned the trade of patternmaker. Upon 
leaving Granville he went to Hamilton, Ohio, 
and there became an employee of Black & 
Clawson, manufacturers of paper-mill ma- 
chinery. After being there employed for one 
year, he went to Middletown, and remained 
three years with the Lotterratt Machine com- 
pany. Returning to Dayton he established the 
business of his own, whose nature and extent 
have been above noted. Mr. Halteman is one 
of the progressive young business men of Day- 
ton, and is rapidly pushing to the front as a 
manufacturer of the most reliable and most 
skillfully made patterns to be found anywhere 
in the state. His entire attention is given to 
his business. 

Mr. Halteman was married in June, 1890, 
to Miss Estella Moser, daughter of Alfred 
Moser, the jeweler. She was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, and is now the mother of two children, 
Alfred and Ruth. Mr. and Mrs. Halteman 
are members of the Baptist church, and reside 
at No. 326 West Fourth street. They are 
among the best of the citizens of Dayton, and 
are everywhere held in high esteem. Mr. 
Halteman has for years been an active mem- 
ber of the Young Men's Christian association, 



and, since 1895, has been teaching pattern- 
making in the manual training department of 
that institution. He was engaged for one 
year in teaching drafting in Middletown, and 
has always been earnest in all good works. 



>Y*OHN G. FEIGHT, contractor and 
m builder, of 1040 West Fourth street, 
(• 1 Dayton, Ohio, was born in Germany, 
August 31, 1 83 1, and in 1832 was 
brought to America by his parents, Frederick 
and Magdalena Feight, who first located in 
Pennsylvania, but in 1838 came to Dayton. 
Here Frederick Feight, though he had been a 
butcher in his native land, engaged in market 
gardening, being among the first here to enter 
upon that line of industry. His family con- 
sisted of six children, viz: John Frederick, a 
carpenter, but for the past five years an in- 
valid; Rebecca, wife of John H. Fickensher, a 
carpenter; Louisa, married to Jacob Kuntz, a 
barber; John G. ; Jacob Henry, a furniture 
dealer; and David, the keeper of a feed store — 
all residing in Dayton. The father of this 
family died in 1869, at the age of seventy-six 
years, and the mother a year later, aged sev- 
enty-eight. 

At the age of eighteen years John G. Feight 
became an apprentice under Daniel Coffin, a 
well-known carpenter of Dayton. He served 
two and one-half years as an apprentice, re- 
ceiving a compensation of $3, $4 and $5 per 
month, in accordance with his advancement in 
the knowledge of the trade and his increased 
usefulness to his employer. After completing 
his apprenticeship he went to Platteville, 
Grant county, Wis., where for nearly nine 
years he worked as a contractor and builder. 
While in that state he enlisted in company K, 
Forty-fourth Wisconsin volunteer infantry, and 
served in the Civil war from February, 1865, 
until the close of that great conflict, when he 




6 



f^-v-i, i/o^^A- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



571 



was honorably discharged with the rank of ser- 
geant. December 28, 1865, he returned to 
Dayton, and has since been engaged at his 
present business, and if all the houses he has 
erected in this city and vicinity were concen- 
trated in one locality they would constitute a 
good-sized town. 

Mr. Feight was married in Wisconsin, Sep- 
tember 10, 1862, to Miss Eunice Harries, a 
native of Wales, who died January 1, 1892, in 
Dayton, leaving three sons, viz: Alfred G., 
of whom further mention is made in a bio- 
graphical notice following this; John E. , a pav- 
ing contractor, who married Miss Bertha Bru- 
ner, and is now the secretary of the Evening 
Press association of Dayton; and George Au- 
gustus, a carpenter, who is working with his 
father. Mrs. Feight, the mother of the above- 
named children, was an exemplary christian 
woman, a member of Christ Episcopal church, 
and was greatly beloved by all who had the 
privilege of her personal friendship. 

Mr. Feight has been quite active and influ- 
ential in political affairs in the city and county, 
was one of the organizers of the republican 
party of the county of Montgomery, and served 
as a member of the city council from 1876 to 
1882. He is an honored member of the Ma- 
sonic order, and also a member of the Grand 
Army of the Republic. 

Alfred Grant Feight, county auditor of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and son of John 
G. Feight, mentioned above, was born in 
Platteville, Wis., August 14, 1863, and was a 
child of three years when brought to Dayton, 
Ohio. His youthful days were spent in the 
city schools, where he attained the seventh 
grade, passed through the high school and also 
the Miami Business college, of Dayton, hav- 
ing in the meantime learned the carpenter's 
trade. At the age of nineteen years he be- 
came a bookkeeper in the wholesale hardware 
store of Tischer & Reisinger, in Dayton, re- 

19 



mained there three years, and then engaged in 
contracting and building, a business which he 
has followed for ten years. In 1890 he was 
elected by the republicans a member of the 
Dayton city council, and in 1895 was elected 
as county auditor. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic order. 

Alfred Grant Feight, in 1886, married Miss 
Lucy Webber, a native of Dayton and a daugh- 
ter of Henry Webber, a respected contractor 
and builder. Mrs. Feight is a highly accom- 
plished woman, was educated in the schools of 
her native city, and is to-day an ornament to 
the social circle in which she moves. 



VORUS E. HALL, member of the John 
F. Hall Coal company, of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Jackson county, 
Ohio, September 2, 1861. His par- 
ents were John F. and Amanda (Stevenson) 
Hall, the former a native of England, and the 
latter of Pennsylvania. They were the parents 
of six children, as follows: Isaac, Vorus E., 
William, Charles, Frank and Nettie. 

John F. Hall came from England to the 
United States in 1836, landing in New York 
and remaining there for two years. In 1838 
he came to Ohio, locating in Jackson county, 
and was there engaged for many years as a 
miner and shipper of coal. He was a man of 
enterprise, with correct business methods, up- 
right and honorable in his dealings with his 
fellow-men. His death occurred in January, 
1895, when he was sixty-eight years of age. 
His wife still lives in Jackson, the county seat 
of Jackson county, where she and he had lived 
for so long, and where she now has many 
friends, who well remember Mi. Hall as a con- 
sistent Christian and as a firm supporter of the 
Christian church of that place, of which he was 
a deacon for many years, and of which Mrs. 
Hall is still a member. 



572 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



The paternal grandfather of Vorus E. was 
a native of England and was born, lived and 
died in Derbyshire. The maternal grandfather, 
Isaac Stevenson, was a native of Pennsylvania, 
and the son of a German. An early settler in 
Jackson county, he endured all the hardships 
and trials of pioneer farm life; but being of a 
remarkably strong constitution, he lived to be 
i oi years of age. 

Vorus E. Hall was reared in Jackson county, 
and educated there in the district schools. 
Early in his youth he began to work with and 
for his father, and when he became of age was 
given by his father an interest in the business 
in which he was engaged. Ever since then he 
has been engaged in the coal business, travel- 
ing for his father for the eight years preceding 
1892, in which year he came to Dayton and 
took charge of the office here. He and his 
brothers constitute the company of which he 
is president. This company gives employment 
on the average to about 500 men. The Day- 
ton office was opened September 2, 1892, and 
other agencies are located at Toledo, Detroit 
and Ironton. On September 12, 1895, the 
Dayton office was made general headquarters, 
and since then the business has been transacted 
mainly from this city. 

On December 25, 1882, Mr. Hall was mar- 
ried to Miss Hannah Griffith, daugther of 
Daniel and Mary Griffith. To this marriage 
have been born fourchildren, as follows: Annie, 
Frederick, Gracie and McKinley. Mr. Hall is 
a member of Salt Lake lodge, No. 416, I. O. 
O. F., Jackson, Ohio, and also of the United 
Commercial travelers, and of the Elks. Po- 
litically he is a republican, and while living at 
Jackson he served as member of the city coun- 
cil for two terms. 

Besides his coal business Mr. Hall is inter- 
ested in the real-estate business and in the gen- 
eral merchandise business at Coalton and at 
Mount Vernon Furnace, Ohio. He is a man 



well and widely known for his integrity and 
honorable business career, and also as a de- 
scendant of one of the oldest and best families 
in Jackson county. 



* w « * ENRY K. HARKER, M. D., of Day- 
l'\ ton, was born in Dayton, September 
\ P 25, 1853, and is a son of William J. 
and Susanna (Howell) Harker. The 
father is a native of Kentucky, having been 
born near Paris, in that state, and came to 
Dayton with his parents when he was about 
six years of age. In 1847 he removed to Cin- 
cinnati, but returned to Dayton in 1895. The 
mother was born in Lebanon, Warren county, 
Ohio, and both parents are now residing in 
Dayton. 

Dr. Harker was reared in Cincinnati, where 
he was educated in the public schools. He 
read medicine in Cincinnati and in Denver, 
Colo., and graduated from Pulte Medical col- 
lege, Cincinnati, in 1876. He began the 
practice of medicine in Cincinnati in the same 
year, and continued in the practice in that city 
until April, 1894, when he located in Dayton, 
where he has since continued his practice, his 
success being marked from the beginning. 



<V^~\ ENJAMIN F. HARGRAVE, of Day- 

l(^^ ton, Ohio, special agent of the Mu- 
JK <m J tual Life Insurance company, of New 
York, was born at Ironville, Ashland 
county, Ohio, and is a son of Richard and Su- 
sanna Hargrave. The parents were both na- 
tives of Pennsylvania, who came to Ohio in 
1824, settling in Ashland county. Benjamin 
F. was educated in the common country vil- 
lage schools. He came to Dayton in 1861 as 
clerk in the offices of the Cincinnati, Sandusky 
& Cleveland Railroad company. In 1864 he 
went to Sandusky, where for almost a year he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



573 



was agent for the same company. He returned 
to Dayton in the latter part of 1865 and took 
charge of the company's business under the 
administration of the Cincinnati, Sandusky & 
Cleveland and Cleveland, Columbus & Cincin- 
nati Railway companies, continuing as agent 
until 1884. Mr. Hargrave is interested in sev- 
eral enterprises in Dayton, being the vice-pres- 
ident of the Woodsum Machine company, pres- 
ident of the Boda House Furnishing company, 
and secretary and treasurer of the Clingman 
Gas Machine company. 

Mr. Hargrave served for a short time as a 
member of the Dayton city council, from the 
First ward, resigning from that body on ac- 
count of the demands of his business affairs. 
He also served for six years as a member of 
the board of election of the city. 



>y*OHN W. HARRIES (deceased), one 
Jj of the pioneer inhabitants of the city of 
/• ■ Dayton, was born in 1783, in the town 
of Gebledewyll. in Csermarthenshire, 
Wales, a county bordering on the Bristol 
channel. He was a son of William and Cath- 
erine (Waters) Harries, both natives of South 
Wales. In 1810 John W. Harries married 
Miss Mary Williams, and soon afterward set- 
tled on a farm in the vicinity of his birthplace. 
There they lived until 1820, and there four 
sons and one daughter were born to them, as 
follows: Thomas, John, David, William and 
Ann. In the fall of 1823 they emigrated to 
the United States, landing in New York, where 
Mr. Harries embarked in the wholesale and 
retail grocery business, and there his wife, the 
mother of the above-named children, died. In 
1826 he married Miss Mary Elizabeth Conk- 
lin, of Huntington, Long Island, daughter of 
Elkanah R. and Rebecca (Smith) Conklin, 
both of whom were natives of Huntington. 
The Conklins came originally from England. 



To this second marriage of Mr. Harries there 
were born in New York city Charles and Caro- 
line, and in Dayton, Ohio, Mary, Rosetta and 
Emma. 

In the spring of 1829 Mr. Harries, with his 
family, came to Ohio, arriving in Dayton on 
July 5th of that year, on the canal boat Ex- 
periment, having made the journey from Cin- 
cinnati by canal. The eldest son, Thomas, 
remained in New York, continuing his educa- 
tion, and the family that arrived in Dayton 
consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Harries and six chil- 
dren. Shortly after reaching Dayton Mr. 
Harries engaged in brewing, notwithstanding 
his means were limited, as well as his knowl- 
edge of the business. But by dint of perse- 
verance and considerable native ability he 
made a success of the enterprise, and continued 
to follow it actively until the last year of his 
life, dying February 22, 1873, in the ninetieth 
year of his age. In the accumulation of prop- 
erty he was unusually fortunate, and at the 
time of his death was one of the wealthy men 
of the city. He was a man of strong and 
marked character, and although he enjoyed 
few opportunities for intellectual development 
in his youth, yet his native ability and shrewd- 
ness, together with good common sense and 
an intuitive knowledge of men, compensated 
for his want of scholarship and learning; and 
it is possible that his life was a greater success 
through the aid of natural gifts than it would 
have been through acquired educational ad- 
vantages. He won the friendship of men by 
the frank, open generosity of his nature, and 
governed them by the strength of his will and 
by the originality and force of his character. 

The great secret of his prosperity was the 
promptness and accuracy of his decisions, 
which quality seemed to be with him intuitive. 
While others reasoned, and argued, and 
weighed the probabilities of a case, he promptly 
resolved and acted. Mr. Harries had great 



574 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



power of concentration and of self-control, 
while his self-reliance was unbounded, and he 
was also capable of the most rigid self-denial. 
He was a man of many virtues. With a heart 
tender and warm, his hand was ever open, 
ready and willing to lend aid to charitable en- 
terprises, and no worthy cause ever appealed 
to him in vain. By reason of his high charac- 
ter, good deeds and noble example, he is emi- 
nently deserving of a foremost place in the 
annals of self-made men. 

His second wife died August 20, 1871. Of 
the children, mention maybe made as follows: 
Thomas, the eldest son, who remained in New 
York, was for more than forty years a pastor 
on Long Island. He is now deceased. John, 
the second son, is one of the well known and 
highly honored citizens of Dayton; David was 
for years engaged in the brewing business in 
Cincinnati, and is now deceased; William is 
now a resident of Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and Charles resides in Dayton; Ann is a widow 
and resides in Dayton; Caroline is also a widow 
residing in Dayton; Mary is dead; Rosetta is 
the wife of John H. Gorman, of Dayton, and 
Emma, now deceased, was the wife of William 
H. Simms. 

The following words, communicated at the 
time of his death, are wprthy of reproduction 
in this connection: 

John W. Harries is dead, and the places 
which knew him so long and so well shall know 
him no more forever. His friendly face, his 
familiar form, his cordial greetings, will never 
be seen or heard on earth again. On the 22d 
of February, at 1 : 10 p. M., he breathed his last. 
For several days he seemed on the point of 
dissolution, but such were his amazing tenacity 
of life and strength of will that he appeared to 
set death itself at defiance. Long and hard as 
the struggle was, however, he fell asleep at 
last, and a strong man passed away as peace- 
fully as a tired infant goes to rest in its moth- 
er's lap. Mr. Harries was a self-made man. 
Born in Wales, he came to this country in 



early manhood in quest of fortune, relying 
upon his character, his energy and his brains. 
His career strongly illustrates all the virtues, 
while it was far from most of the faults which 
characterize that remarkable class of brave 
men who rise by the inherent force of their 
own native and unaided powers. He earned 
his money by the sweat of his brow, and yet did 
not unduly estimate its value, nor pride him- 
self upon its possession. In its use he was as 
liberal as a prince. Poverty could not depress; 
fortune did not spoil him. Wealth made him 
neither ambitious of the countenance or ac- 
quaintance of the rich or great, nor forgetful 
of the rights and feelings of the poor. In all 
his relations or dealings with men he was sin- 
gularly just. He never forgot old friends or 
past favors. He had no false pride and never 
turned his back on a poor man. He was in 
many particulars a very remarkable person. 
Fixed in his convictions, he was in no wise in- 
tolerant of the opinions of other people. With 
few advantages of early education, native 
shrewdness, fine' common sense, and close ob- 
servation supplied the place of scholastic at- 
tainment. He was a reader of men, not of 
books. Without public position of any sort 
he was the best known, the most popular and 
influential man in the community in which he 
so long resided. 



aRIAH C. HARTRANFT, one of the 
prominent and scholarly members of 
the Dayton bar, was born in Dela- 
ware township, Northumberland coun- 
ty, Pa., near the village of Dewart. From 
the age of five years until he was nine years of 
age, he attended public and private schools, 
and for two years after that he worked on the 
farm in summer and attended common school 
in winter. He then attended Dewart academy 
regularly until February 9, 1861, soon after 
which date he enlisted as a private soldier in 
company D, Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, 
and served with this regiment in the western 
armies until the close of the war. He was 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



575 



mustered out of service at Macon, Ga., Sep- 
tember 23, 1865, as major of the First battal- 
ion of the regiment. He was a true and faith- 
ful soldier all through the war, ever ready to 
perform any duty, no matter how dangerous 
or unpleasant. 

In January, 1866, he re-organized the De- 
wart academy, and taught school six months, 
until the trustees found a teacher with sufficient 
"book learning," to carry it on. In Septem- 
ber, 1866, he entered Dickinson seminary at 
Williamsport, Pa., and continued a student 
there three years, and in 1870 removed to Day- 
ton, Ohio, where he has since remained. Upon 
arriving in Dayton, Maj. Hartranft entered 
the office of John Scott and read law under 
his instruction. He was admitted to the bar 
at Columbus, Ohio, October 15, 1871, and 
formed a partnership May 18, 1872, with Lewis 
R. Pfoutz, under the firm name of Pfoutz & 
Hartranft, which firm continued in existence 
until the death of the senior member, in May, 
1892. On May 23, 1892, he formed a partner- 
ship with Daniel H. Pfoutz, a son of his for- 
mer partner, under the old name, and this 
firm continues at the present time. Mr. 
Hartranft is a member of Old Guard post, G. 
A. R., and of the Veteran legion. He is rec- 
ognized by his professional associates and by 
a large body of clients as a man of ability and 
learning, amply deserving of the success which 
attends his practice of the law. 



>-j»AMES OTTO HARTSHORN stands 
■ among the leading photographers of 
(% 1 Dayton, and may be classed as among 
the prominent business men of this 
city. He is a member of the well-known firm 
of Anderson & Hartshorn, whose photographic 
studio, at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, 
is equipped with the most approved modern 
mechanical and art accessories, for both por- 



traiture and commercial photography, as well 
as for the work in crayon, India ink, water 
colors, pastel, etc. 

Mr. Hartshorn was born in Monroe county, 
Ohio, on the 8th of August, 1869. While 
quite young he was deprived of his parents, 
and for a number of years he found an abiding 
place in the homes of various friends, being a 
lad of but thirteen years at the time when he 
entered the serious conflict of life upon his 
own responsibility. He was employed on a 
farm until he had reached the age of eighteen 
years, availing himself of the limited educa- 
tional advantages afforded by the district 
schools. At the age last mentioned he came 
to Dayton and for a short time was employed 
in a cotton-batting factory. 

Having a predilection for photographic 
work, in February, 1888, he entered a studio 
in Dayton and for eighteen months applied 
himself zealously to familiarizing himself with 
the intricate processes of successful photog- 
raphy. At the end of this time he secured a 
position in the studio of Hollinger, the Dayton 
photographer, under whose effective direction 
he prosecuted his technical study and labor for 
nearly five years. On the 1st of February, 
1894, he formed a partnership with Charles F. 
Anderson, and they opened their present stu- 
dio, at the corner of Fifth and Main streets, 
where they have built up a most successful 
business, by reason of their superior produc- 
tions and their unvarying courtesy. 

In politics Mr. Hartshorn is a member of 
the prohibition party. In his religious affilia- 
tions he is a member of the Central Baptist 
church. In connection with his business in- 
terests he holds a membership in the state 
association of photographers, taking a lively 
interest in its affairs. 

The marriage of Mr. Hartshorn was sol- 
emnized on the 19th of March, 189 1 , with 
Miss Ella M. Huesman, of Dayton. They 



576 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



became the parents of three children, namely: 
Howard F., Grace and Ethel, the last named 
being deceased. 



%*/^\ ENJAMIN F. HATHAWAY, livery- 
lf*^ man, of No. 309 East Second street, 
J^9 Dayton, is a son of Elijah and Sarah 
(Jameson) Hathaway, and a native 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, born September 
2, 1841. 

His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Hath- 
away, was a native of Maryland, but early 
came to Ohio, settled in Warren county, and 
there reared a family of ten children. Elijah 
Hathaway, father of Benjamin F., was born 
in Warren county, where he grew to manhood, 
and there married Sarah Jameson, a native of 
the same county. Soon after this marriage 
Elijah Hathaway and wife came to Montgom- 
ery county and settled near Brookville, on a 
farm of eighty acres, on which they passed the 
greater part of their lives, Mr. Hathaway pur- 
suing his vocation of agriculturist. He died 
at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. Mary 
Dunkan, in Harveysburg, Warren county, in 
the year 1886, at the age of seventy-five years. 
His widow survived until 1S94, when she died 
at the age of seventy-two years. To them 
two children were born — Mary, wife of Martin 
V. Dunkan, now of Dayton, and Benjamin F., 
whose name opens this sketch. 

Benjamin F. Hathaway was reared on the 
home farm and was educated in the common 
schools of his native county. After the age 
of twenty years he was engaged for some time 
in the sale of lightning rods, and then for nine- 
teen years was engaged in saloon-keeping in 
Dayton. Selling his place, he purchased the 
livery equipment of Renner & Long, and has 
since been doing a general livery business. 

In 1874 Mr. Hathaway married Miss Mary 
Blackburn, a daughter of Samuel Blackburn, 



of Dayton, and this marriage has been blessed 
with one child, Maud. The family residence 
is at No. 210 Brabham street. In politics Mr. 
Hathaway is a republican; as a business man 
he is enjoying the success which is earned by 
diligence and close attention to the demands 
of the public. 



ar 



ILSON S. HAWKER, one of the 
most active young business men of 
Dayton, was born June 14, 1853. 
He is now the head of the Dayton 
Pattern & Model works, located at the corner 
of Fourth and Saint Clair streets, the com- 
pany having been organized in January, 1896, 
by Wilson S. and Frederick Hawker. He is 
a son of Emanuel and Mary J. (Gerlaugh) 
Hawker, both of whom are living in Dayton. 
The Hawker family is of German descent and 
is located principally in Ohio, having come 
originally to this state from Pennsylvania. At 
the early founding of Dayton three brothers 
came to Ohio, their names being Frederick, 
Adam and Abraham, and established the 
Hawker settlement some six miles from Day- 
ton. Adam Hawker was a minister of the 
German Reformed church, to which he de- 
voted his life, and was one of the most promi- 
nent ministers of that denomination in this 
part of the country. Abraham and Frederick 
were farmers. 

Frederick, the grandfather of Wilson S., 
was the father of the following children: 
Perry, Simon, Emanuel, Martin, Rebecca, and 
two other daughters. Emanuel was reared to 
farm life, and followed the occupation of farm- 
ing until thirty-five years of age, when he re- 
moved to Dayton, and became engaged in the 
livery business on Fourth street, continuing in 
this occupation for a number of years. Re- 
moving to Illinois he lived there for a short 
time and then went to Wisconsin, where he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



577 



engaged in farming. He and his wife reared a 
family of four children, as follows: Murray 
W. ; Cora M., deceased; Wilson S. and 
Louella. 

Wilson S. Hawker was reared in Dayton, 
educated in the public schools, and at the age 
of eighteen entered the service of the Smith & 
Vaile company, where he acquired the trade 
of patternmaker. Here he remained for three 
years, at the end of which time he went to 
Springfield, and was employed by the Cham- 
pion Agricultural works for some fourteen 
months as patternmaker. Returning to Day- 
ton, he worked for the John W. Stoddard 
Manufacturing company for about a year. 
After spending a few months in traveling in 
the east, he located at Norwalk, Conn., where 
he passed a year in the employ of the Ray- 
mond Foundry company. Going from Nor- 
walk to Philadelphia, Pa., he spent some seven 
years there, engaged with four different con- 
cerns, among which were the Abraham Cox 
Stove company, and the Neafie & Leary Ship 
Building company. He was for a time man- 
ager of the pattern department of the Barr 
Pumping Engine company, and then with the 
Eynon-Evans Manufacturing company in the 
same capacity, returning to Dayton, Ohio, in 
January, 1895. During 1895 Mr. Hawker 
was engaged in the manufacture of specialties, 
and in 1896 he added to his business the man- 
ufacture of patterns and models, forming the 
industry of which he is now the head. He is 
one of the most progressive young business 
men of Dayton, and has three patented spe- 
cialties of his own devising. His is the largest 
plant of the kind in Dayton, and is most com- 
pletely equipped, furnishing employment to a 
goodly number of men. Mr. Hawker is him- 
self a practical patternmaker and a general 
mechanic, and his particular business is a val- 
uable addition to the little manufacturing 
world that comprises Dayton. Frederick 



Hawker retired from this firm on July 1, 1896, 
leaving Wilson S. as sole proprietor. Mr. 
Hawker was married July 19, 1887, to Miss 
Lois E. Bouton, of Ansonia, Conn., by whom 
he has two children, viz: Chester B. and 
Roland G. He is an attendant upon the serv- 
ices of the Baptist church, and is known as a 
business man and a citizen of high integrity. 
As will be seen by the reading of this brief 
sketch, Mr. Hawker is one of the men who 
has carved out success for himself, beginning 
at the lowest round and building up a business 
of his own which is now one of the prosperous 
institutions of Dayton. He is still a young 
man, and having had large experience and 
possessing unusual ability in his special field of 
invention and manufacture, the future prom- 
ises for him still wider prosperity. 



at 



INFIELD SCOTT HAWTHORN, 
one of the most extensive coal deal- 
ers of Dayton, was born January 24, 
1850, in a portion of the city not 
then incorporated. His father, John Haw- 
thorn, an early settler of Montgomery county, 
was born in New Carlisle, Clarke county, Ohio, 
May 19, 1822, but became a resident of the 
suburb of Dayton, above alluded to, when a 
boy, and attended school with Robert W. 
Steele, Wilbur Conover and others, who after- 
ward became prominent' among the business 
and professional men of the city. He was a 
plowmaker in his early days, but later engaged 
in various kinds of occupations. For a short 
time he was a soldier in the One Hundred and 
Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and was 
stationed at Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md. , 
on garrison duty. His death took place in 
Dayton, November 30, 1889, through an acci- 
dent of which further mention will be made. 
His wife, who, prior to marriage, was Miss 



578 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Sarah R. Bertles, was born in Adams county, 
Pa., in 1 83 1, and is now a member of the 
family of her son Winfield S. Of the family 
of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. John Haw- 
thorn, Winfield S. is the eldest; Clara, now 
Mrs. John A. Fisk, resides in Toledo; David 
died in July, 1873, in young manhood; Will- 
iam is a merchant of Dayton, is married, and 
is the father of four children; Melissa died in 
February, 1873, at about seventeen years of 
age, and Bertles died at the age of twenty-six. 

Winfield S. Hawthorn was educated in the 
public schools of Harrison (his native) town- 
ship and early learned the carpenter's trade. 
For twenty years he worked at his trade, and 
for seven years of this time was a contractor 
and builder. He was then superintendent of 
the Dayton school buildings for three years; 
he next acted as solicitor for the Dayton In- 
surance company for three years, and in June, 
1893, ne entered upon his present business, at 
No. 222 South Williams street, where he has 
established a large and lucrative trade. 

The marriage of Mr. Hawthorn took place 
in 1 88 1, in Dayton, to Miss Allie Black, a na- 
tive of Peru, Ind., and a daughter of Samuel 
Black, who, with his wife, died when their 
daughter, Allie, was but a child. In 1889 a 
disastrous gas explosion occurred at Mr. Haw- 
thorn's residence, through which every mem- 
ber of the family, save two small children, was 
more or less injured; one child was instantly 
killed, and Mr. Hawthorn's father, John Haw- 
thorn, died eventually from the injuries sus- 
tained at the time, while Mr. Hawthorn him- 
self was so badly injured that he will carry 
scars to the grave. This explosion made a 
complete wreck of the dwelling and utterly de- 
stroyed its contents. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorn have been born 
six children, of whom William, the eldest, was 
the victim of the explosion above alluded to; 
the others are still under the parental roof 



and are named John, Eugene, Helen, Plinney 
and Ruth. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hawthorn are members of 
the Presbyterian church, and in politics Mr. 
Hawthorn is a republican. Fraternally, he is 
a Freemason, an Odd Fellow and a Knight of 
Pythias. In the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows he is a P. G. of his lodge and a P. C. 
P. of his encampment and in his social and 
business relations he holds the well-merited es- 
teem of his fellow-citizens. 



BRANK CAREY GARRETT, secretary 
of the Odd Fellows' National Bene- 
ficial association, of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in this city June 8, i860, 
and is a son of John and Rose (Winters) Gar- 
rett, who are natives of southern Pennsylva- 
nia. The family is a combination of several 
nationalities, with the German element pre- 
dominating. 

John Garrett, the father of Frank C. , was 
born on a farm and passed his early life there, 
afterward learning the trade of carpenter. 
Rose (Winters) Garrett was born and reared 
in Shippensburg, a beautiful village in the 
Cumberland valley of Pennsylvania. After 
their marriage they remained for some years 
in Pennsylvania, removing to Ohio in 1854 
and locating in Dayton, where they have since 
resided. John Garrett, after being employed 
by several firms, associated himself with the 
John Rouzer company as foreman some thirty 
years ago, and has ever since been connected 
with this concern, by whom he is highly re- 
garded. In politics, he has been, since the 
organization of the party, a republican, but 
has never sought political preferment of any 
kind. He and his wife are the parents of five 
children: John, Alice, Lillie, Frank C, and 
Charles* W. 

Frank C. Garrett was reared in the city of 




F. C. GARRETT. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



581 



Dayton and educated in the public schools, 
graduating with high honors from the high 
school in 1879. Soon afterward he devoted 
his time to teaching music, to which he has 
given much attention, having written a number 
of very fine and popular instrumental and vocal 
compositions. His musical abilities have won 
for him a high place among local musicians, 
and for a number of years he was organist 
of the First Presbyterian church. Later he 
held the same place in the Linden avenue 
Baptist church, but resigned in order to accept 
a position as tenor in the choir of the Third 
street Presbyterian church. This latter posi- 
tion he was compelled, because of multiplied 
official duties, to resign. 

After teaching for a short time he entered 
the office ol D. L. Rike & Co., as bookkeeper 
and cashier, remaining with them until July, 
1884, when he engaged in business for himself 
for about a year. He then accepted a posi- 
tion as bookkeeper in the office of the Odd 
Fellows' National Beneficial association, which 
position he filled until the latter part of 1894, 
when he succeeded to the secretaryship of the 
organization. He is also grand scribe of the 
grand encampment, I. O. O. F., of Ohio — in 
both of these offices succeeding James Ander- 
ton. Mr. Garrett's politics are republican and 
of a pronounced character. Since 1885 his 
time has been devoted entirely to secret society 
work, in its many phases, and in this direction 
he seems to have a peculiar aptitude. He has 
been elected to numerous positions of trust and 
honor in the order of Odd Fellows, to which 
his time is devoted, and is at present repre- 
senting his district in the grand lodge for the 
second term. He is a member of Montgomery 
lodge, No. 5; Dayton encampment, No. 2; 
canton Earl, No. 16, P. M., I. O. O. F. He 
is also a member of Iola lodge, No. 83, K. of 
P. ; of Mystic lodge, No. 405, F. & A. M. ; and 
of Unity chapter, No. 16. He is a member of 



Dayton lodge, No. 58, B. P. O. of E. ; a charter 
member of Gem City senate of the Knights of 
the Ancient Essenic order and of kremlin Mos- 
cow, Imperial Order of Muscovites, at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio; and also has the honor of being 
chosen as a permanent representative to the 
supreme kremlin, I. O. M. 

Mr. Garrett was married June 28, 1888, to 
Miss El-Fleda Houser, a native of Troy, Ohio, 
to which union two children have been born — 
Earle and Edythe. As members of society, 
Mr. and Mrs. Garrett are held in high esteem. 



*-|-» EMUEL E. HECKER, M. D., phy- 
r sician and surgeon, of Dayton, Ohio, 

^^ was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
November 14, 1852. He is a son of 
John H. and Catherine (Eshelman) Hecker, 
the latter of whom is now deceased and the 
former is a resident of Lancaster county, Pa. 
On his father's side of the family Dr. Hecker 
is of German descent. The family has for sev- 
eral generations furnished members of the 
learned professions. John H. Hecker was 
himself a physician, but is now retired. He 
and his wife were the parents of children 
as follows: Jacob K., a chemist of Philadel- 
phia, Pa.; David F., an attorney-at-law of 
Lebanon, Pa. ; Samuel, a baker of Reading, 
Pa.; John H., a practicing physician of Leb- 
anon, Pa.; Lemuel E. ; George, a musician of 
Philadelphia, Pa.; Grant and Lucinda, living 
at home, and one now deceased. 

Lemuel E. Hecker was educated in public 
and high schools. After spending some years 
prospecting in California, he studied medicine 
with his father, who was in the active practice 
of medicine some forty-five years. He was a 
graduate of the Franklin College of Medicine 
at Philadelphia. Lemuel E. Hecker graduated 
from the Cincinnati College of Medicine and 
Surgery at Cincinnati, as a member of the class 



582 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of 1885, and first entered upon the practice of 
his profession at Lafayette, Ind., but owing to 
an accident to his wife he was obliged to give 
up his practice and to travel with her abroad 
for the benefit of her health. She, however, 
died in 1888, and after her death Dr. Hecker 
located in Dayton, where he has established 
himself permanently and successfully as a gen- 
eral practitioner. 

Dr. Hecker is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society and of the Ohio 
state Medical association. His first wife was 
named Mary Ross. By her he had one child, 
Lee Addison. He was married subsequently 
to her death, in 1888, to Miss Catherine Joe, 
of Dayton, Ohio. Both he and his present 
wife are members of the Memorial Presbyte- 
rian church, which was organized as a New 
School Presbvterian church in 1868. 



k/^\ OLLA O. HEIKES, one of Dayton's 
I ^Z representative citizens, is a native of 
\ P this city, and was born December 25, 
1856, a son of Jacob and Catherine 
Heikes, and was here reared to manhood, re- 
ceiving his education in the city public schools, 
and at the Smithson college, at Logansport, 
Ind., and also at Ann Arbor, Mich. Going 
hence to Nebraska he for sometime conducted 
a cattle ranch, and then went to Utah, where 
he engaged in the same occupation. After 
five years of this life he returned to Dayton, 
and became associated with his father until 
1886 in the nursery business, to which he had 
been reared. For the next three years he 
acted as advertising agent for the La Fevre 
Arms company; was then with the Hunter 
Arms company for three years, and then be- 
came salesman for the Winchester Repeating 
Arms company, his territory embracing the 
whole of the United States. He had himself 



always been fond of a gun, and began practice 
in its use at the early age of five years. 

In 1879 Mr. Heikes entered the lists as a 
crack shot, and at Brownville took his first 
prize at trap shooting, where he made the sec- 
ond best average in a class of forty competi- 
tors; at Corry, Pa., in 1889, he broke 181 
straight targets, following this record on the 
next day with 170 straight. In 1893, at Day- 
ton, Ohio, he broke 500 targets thrown from 
five traps, using three double-barreled guns 
and loading the same himself, in thirty-seven 
minutes and forty seconds. He has made over 
a dozen runs of over 100 consecutive shots 
without a miss, and at an exhibition at Indian- 
apolis, Ind., in 1896, broke 100 targets, 
thrown from five traps, in four minutes and 
thirty seconds. These are but a few examples 
of his wonderful dexterity as a marksman, and 
his home is adorned with many valuable tro- 
phies won at shooting tournaments. For the 
past ten years he has devoted his entire atten- 
tion to this line of skill and sport, having ap- 
peared in all the principal cities of the United 
States, and has everywhere been triumphant. 

In 1890 Mr. Heikes was chosen by the 
United States Cartridge company as one of ten 
experts to travel, advertise and shoot against 
all competitors in forty of the largest cities in 
the country, and during the entire tour Mr. 
Heikes never missed an engagement. In 1891 
he made his first record, making 450 targets 
in fifty-two minutes and fifty seconds, and be- 
ing the first ever to reach such a score; April 
9, 1892, he surpassed this achievement, break- 
ing 500 targets in forty minutes and forty 
seconds; and February 22, 1894, he broke 500 
targets in thirty-seven minutes and fifteen sec- 
onds. These three feats have never been ex- 
celled and all were accomplished with the Win- 
chester gun. At Lexington, Ky. , in 1893, he 
made 114 straight; at the Eureka Gun club 
contest, Chicago, in April, 1895, he made 117 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



583 



straight; at Saratoga, N. Y., in May, 1893, 
he made 100 straight. At Dayton, Ohio, in 
January, 1894, he made 468 hits out of a pos- 
sible 500; at Hamilton, Ont., in January, 1894, 
he made twenty live birds and 155 targets — 
a total of 175 straight. At Chicago, May 18, 
1894, in the gold cup championship of Amer- 
ica, he scored eighty-one out of a possible 100, 
but at Columbus, Ohio, for the state cham- 
pionship cup, had scored forty-nine in a possi- 
ble fifty. At Elwood, Ind., June 24, 1894, 
he made a straight run of fifty; June 27, at 
Columbus, Ohio, he made 100 at unknown 
angles and at Chattanooga, September 19, 
made 137 straight. His record for 1895 is in 
keeping with his previous achievements. Feb- 
ruary 27, 1896, he made the world-beating 
record of 100 targets in four minutes and 
twenty seconds. Afterward, at an exhibition 
at the same place (Indianapolis, Ind.) of the 
Limited Gun club, of rapid shooters, targets 
were thrown up by hand — first two, then four, 
then six — but he broke all before reaching the 
ground. Mr. Heikes has won for himself a 
world-wide reputation as a marksman, and the 
people of Dayton follow his career with inter- 
est, knowing that his upright character and 
strict integrity, no less than his wonderful skill 
in his unique profession, reflect credit upon his 
native city. 

Mr. Heikes is a member of the Knights .of 
Pythias. On January 12, 1881, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Cora L. Warbinton, daughter of 
John Warbinton, one child, Hprace W., be- 
ing born to the marriage in 1881, and he and 
family reside at No. 304 Grafton avenue. 



>-j*OHN HOBAN is president of the city 

A council of Dayton, and foreman of the 

/• 1 brass foundry of the Buckeye Iron & 

Brass works, a business which was 

established in 1844, in a small way, by Geo. 



W. Hoglen and W. H. Pease. Mr. Hoban's 
father, Patrick Hoban, died about 1878. 

John Hoban was born in Dayton, May 31, 
1857, and received his education in the public 
and parochial schools of this city. At the 
age of twelve years he left school and went to 
work for the Dayton Gauge company. After 
some time he became engaged in trimming 
carriages, and continued this line of work for 
about five months. Not being satisfied with 
this occupation, he became an employee with 
the Buckeye Iron & Brass works as cleaner of 
castings, and after a time became a core- 
maker and at last a molder. After serving 
four years at the molder's trade he was made 
foreman of the shops, a position which he has 
since held continuously for eighteen years, 
making a period of twenty-five years of un- 
broken employment in one establishment. 
This fact alone speaks volumes for the effi- 
ciency, faithfulness and skill of Mr. Hoban in 
a place of trust and responsibility. When he 
began working for this company there were 
but one molder and two boys employed, while 
at the present time there are sixty men in the 
shops, all under his supervision. 

Mr. Hoban was married in October, 1881, 
to Mary Mescher, of Dayton, and to them 
there have been born seven children, all sons, 
six of whom are still living, as follows: Charles, 
John, William, Edward, Albert and Harry. 
The other died in infancy. Mr. Hoban is a 
member of the Catholic church, of the Ancient 
Order of Hibernians, of the Knights of St.. 
John, and of the National Union. 

In. the spring of 1891 Mr. Hoban was 
elected a member of the city council of Day- 
ton from the Fourteenth ward as a democrat. 
In 1893 he was elected from the Seventh 
ward and in 1895 was re-elected from the 
same ward. He was chosen president of the 
council in 1895, ar >d is now filling that honora- 
ble position with credit and ability. 



584 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. Hoban's long period of service with 
the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, his repeated 
elections to the city council, and finally his 
elevation to the presidency of that body, are 
all indicative of a strong personality, of thor- 
ough integrity and of a persistant devotion to 
principle, that are alike admirable and valuable 
to the community at large. 



^""V'AMUEL FLETCHER GEORGE, 
*^^^j* M. D., of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 

K. j Elmira, N. Y., on February 16, 1843. 
Dr. George's paternal grandfather 
was Lemuel George, who was the first of the 
family to come to America. He was a native 
of Wales, where he learned the tanner's trade, 
and was married. Upon coming to the United 
States he located at Utica, N. Y., where he 
established a large tannery, and accumulated 
quite a fortune. He was an Episcopalian in 
religion. To Mr. George and wife a son and 
daughter were born — Lemuel and Margaret. 
Lemuel George (the younger), father of our 
subject, was born in Utica, N. Y., in Febru- 
ary. l 799- He received a collegiate education, 
became a minister of the Methodist church, 
and followed that calling all his life, filling pul- 
pits in Albany, Seneca Falls, Ithaca, Geneva, 
Elmira, Horseheads, Corning, Bath, Syracuse 
and Oswego and other cities, all in central 
New York. He was an eloquent pulpit orator, 
strong and earnest, with great power to move 
his congregation. He was an extemporaneous 
speaker, full of magnetism, and met with won- 
derful success all through his ministerial work. 
He was married in Auburn, N. Y., to Rhosilla 
Lowell, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., in 
1 801, a daughter of Simon and Cynthia 
Lowell, and a cousin of the poet, James Rus- 
sell Lowell. Her mother was Cynthia Stone, 
who was a sister to the mother of Gen. 
Benjamin Butler. Through the Stone family, 



Vice-president Arthur was a cousin to our sub- 
ject; thus it will be seen that Dr. George was 
a second cousin to several of our most distin- 
guished men, including Gen. J. B. Stone, late 
of Detroit, and others. The father of Dr. 
George died on July 15, 1872, at Seneca Falls, 
N. Y., to which city he had retired. The 
death of the mother occurred in Buffalo, N. 
Y., in February, 1892. To these parents the 
following children were born: William L., 
Henry S., Edward and Edwin (twins), Mel- 
vina C, Horace C. , Elizabeth E., J. Russell, 
Charles W., Mary H„ Samuel F., and 
Francis W. 

The boyhood days of Dr. George were 
spent in Elmira, Corning, Horseheads, and 
Syracuse, N. Y. He attended the public 
schools until he was fifteen years of age, and 
and then entered what was known then as the 
Knoxville academy, in Steuben county, N. Y. 
He was next at the Syracuse high school, 
making his home in that city with an uncle, a 
minister. About two weeks after Fort Sumter 
was fired upon, young George obtained money 
from his uncle and returned to his home, then 
in Elmira, his intention being to enlist. On 
account of his youth (eighteen years), his fa- 
ther would not give his consent to his entering 
the army. The young fellow was a natural 
tactician, and had had some training, and it 
was not long until he was employed by the 
state to drill recruits, at which he was engaged 
during all of 1861. In the spring of 1862 he 
organized a company, and entered the service 
as major. His enlistment papers were made 
out early in 1862, but it was not until August 
of that year that his father reluctantly signed 
them. He then became a member of the 
Fiftieth regiment of New York engineers. 
Until December of the above year he was on 
detail at Syracuse, and then left for the front, 
and five days after leaving home he was in the 
battle of Fredericksburg, Va. He was with 





avCvvfi^ 




, V> , 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



587 



the army of the Potomac until the surrender of 
Lee, his regiment building all bridges and 
throwing all pontoons for the army. Though 
his clothes were often perforated by bullets, 
he did not receive even a scratch during the 
service. He was mustered out of service at 
Fort Barry, Va., in May, 1865. Returning to 
Elmira, where his parents were then residing, 
Dr. George remained for a time, and then 
going to Syracuse took up the study of medi- 
cine, at which he continued for about three 
years. He then entered the Reformed college 
at Macon, Ga. , where he graduated. In 1869 
he gave up the study of medicine and took a 
position as clerk in a wholesale tobacco and 
cigar house in Syracuse, entering the establish- 
ment at a salary of $12 per week. Thirty 
days later he was head clerk and in a manner 
had charge of the business of the house. After 
holding this place for about one year, he left it 
to engage in the grocery business in an en- 
deavor to save money he had loaned to a gro- 
cery dealer; sixty days later, however, the 
grocery firm failed, and he lost all. This firm 
had an indebtedness of $2,250, but in the fol- 
lowing year he liquidated the entire amount. 
While in this business he read law and was ad- 
mitted to practice. His next venture was in 
the purchase of a lot in Syracuse on time; he 
borrowed money and erected a handsome resi- 
dence, which property he sold at a good profit 
and thus got on his feet again. He then en- 
tered Hobart college, to prepare himself for 
the ministry, and was graduated in the class 
of 1873. During the summer of that year he 
began the publication of a newspaper known 
as the Anti-Monopolist, at Buffalo, N. Y., 
Philadelphia, Penn., and Richmond, Va. , with 
headquarters at Buffalo. During this time he 
also published the Buffalo Sunday Transcript. 
At this he was engaged until 1875, when he 
sold out the Transcript, and, going to Philadel- 
phia, took charge as general manager of the 



Philadelphia Evening Chronicle newspaper. 
He continued as general manager of the Chron- 
icle for a period of six months, during which 
brief time he canceled an indebtedness of 
$80,000 against the plant, and sold the paper 
with a profit of $25,000 to the proprietors. 
Dr. George then suggested the plan of a morn- 
ing newspaper to Messrs. McClure, McLaugh- 
lin and other newspaper men, which resulted 
in the Philadelphia Morning Times, of which 
paper Dr. George became the manager. In 
1876, however, he established the Camden 
(N. J.) Tribune, a morning paper, which was 
sold three months later. Dr. George then 
gave up newspaper life and returned to the 
practice of medicine in Philadelphia. In 1877 
he removed to Harrisburg, Pa., and the fol- 
lowing year went to York, Pa., and continued 
his practice for a year. Then returning to 
Buffalo, N. Y. , Dr. George practiced until 
1882, when he removed to Dayton, where he 
has since practiced. In 1886 Dr. George 
graduated from the Eclectic Medical college, 
of Cincinnati. Since coming to this city Dr. 
George has been connected with various en- 
terprises, among them the National Medicine 
Case company, of Dayton, of which he is 
president. 

Dr. George is a speaker of considerable 
ability and note, and frequently addressed 
audiences on the line of social economy and 
other subjects. In Independence square, Phil- 
adelphia, on July 25, 1875, he addressed fifteen 
thousand people. All his life he has been a 
warm friend and supporter of the people, and 
has never lost an opportunity of lifting up his 
voice in their behalf. Dr. George was a re- 
publican until 1880 when he joined the green- 
back-labor party. He affiliated with the dem- 
ocratic party until 1892, and then went to the 
people's party. All this time he never changed 
his views, however, and was always found with 
the party holding those views. During the 



:,.ss 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



campaign of 1896 he was quite active, deliv- 
ering numerous speeches. 

Dr. George was married in May, 1875, to 
Miss Elizabeth A. Abbott, who was born in 
Philadelphia, and is the daughter of Hezekiah 
Abbott, a contractor and builder of that city. 
To this union the following children have been 
born: Charlotte M., Benjamin Butler and 
William Van Buskirk. Dr. George is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic, Odd Fellows, Ancient 
Order of United Workmen and also of the 
Grand Army of the Republic fraternities, and 
of the Episcopal church. 



a 



HARLES HERBY, architect, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, with his office in room No. 
27, Beckel building, was born in 
Northampton county, England, April 
14, 1846, and in 1849 came to America with 
his parents, William and Elizabeth (Johnson) 
Herby, who settled on a farm seven miles west 
of Dayton. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Herby were seven in number, of whom three 
died in infancy, the eldest in England, while 
two boys and two girls lived to years of ma- 
turity. That part of the family which came to 
America was on the ocean twenty-one days 
and was twenty-two days in making the trip 
from New York to Dayton, overland traveling 
facilities at that early day being of the most 
meager description. The family home in 
Montgomery county was retained until 1880, 
when the parents removed to Newton, Harper 
county, Kan., where the father died in 1883, 
soon after which Charles brought his mother to 
his home in Dayton, where she died in Novem- 
ber, 1895. 

Charles Herby passed his earlier years on 
his father's farm, and was educated in the dis- 
trict schools. At the age of eighteen years he 
enlisted in company K, Thirty-first regiment, 
Ohio national guard, and performed garrison 



duty at Baltimore, Md., from May 4, 1864, 
until August 23, of the same year. Upon at- 
taining his majority, he apprenticed himself to 
the carpenter's trade, which he learned thor- 
oughly, and followed the business of contractor 
and builder for about twenty years without in- 
termission. About the year 1882 he became a 
resident of Dayton, and in 1890 decided to de- 
vote his time wholly to architectural work and 
is now ranked among the most successful drafts- 
men in the city. 

The marriage of Mr. Herby took place, in 
1871, to Miss Sarah C. Cunningham, a native 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, and a daughter 
of Joseph and Emily Cunningham, the former 
of whom was a prominent farmer, and is now 
deceased. Of the ten children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Herby, five died in infancy. Of the 
five survivors, Daisy is her father's housekeeper; 
Walter E. is a clerk; Roy is a carriage-trim- 
mer, and James A. Garfield and Wilbur are at- 
tending school. In politics Mr. Herby is a re- 
publican and his religious relations are with the 
Raper Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
he is a class leader, and is at present assistant 
superintendent of the Mission Sunday-school. 




HOMAS BABBITT HERRMAN, the 
junior member of the firm of Baggott 
& Herman, of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in this city March 27, 1867, and 
is a son of Ezra A. and Margaret (Edgar) 
Herrman, both of whom were natives of Day- 
ton. Henry Herrman, the father of Ezra A., 
came from Germany to the United States 
when he was quite young. He was for many 
years a merchant and grain dealer, on Main 
street, in Dayton, and was one of the best 
known men in Montgomery county. 

Margaret Edgar was a daughter of Samuel 
D. Edgar, who was born in Montgomery coun- 
ty, and who was one of its prominent citizens, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



589 



especially during the war of the Rebellion, when 
he was connected in many ways with work 
for the relief of families of soldiers absent in 
the army of the Union. He was a son of 
Robert Edgar, who was born at Staunton, 
Va. , February 8, 1770, settled in Dayton in 
1796, at about the time the founders of the 
town arrived, and on September 17, 1798, 
married Mrs. Margaret Gillespie Kirkwood, a 
native of Philadelphia, born April 6, 1772. 
The ancestors of Robert Edgar came to this 
country from Ireland during the early settle- 
ment of the country, and located in Virginia, 
where Robert was born. He first came to 
Dayton on a surveying expedition in the inter- 
est of the government, and returned to Cin- 
cinnati, then Fort Washington, or perhaps Lo- 
santiville, but within a short time came back 
to Dayton, where he then remained. He came 
overland, the other settlers for the most part 
coming by boat up the Miami river, He built 
the first cabin in Dayton for Col. George New- 
corn, who served as a soldier in Wayne's cam- 
paign against the Indians, and in the war of 
1812. This first log cabin stood just south of 
the original location of the Centennial log 
cabin, which now stands in Van Cleve park, 
on the river bank, and which Mr. Edgar also 
built for Col. Newcom. Mr. Edgar boarded 
with Col. Newcom, paying for his board by 
furnishing the table of Newcom Tavern with 
a deer once a week, and shooting the deer in 
the swamps near by. The contract for build- 
ing the second log cabin, referred to above, is 
in the possession of Mr. Herrman. Robert 
Edgar also erected, about 1800, the first saw- 
mill and the first gristmill in Montgomery 
county, and himself operated them. He died 
February 25, 1853. 

Ezra A. Herrman, the father of Thomas B. , 
was a tobacco merchant in Dayton for many 
years, and is still living, as is also his wife. 

Thomas Babbitt Herrman was educated in 



the public schools of Dayton. Leaving school 
in 1883, he went to South Dakota, and, with 
his father, engaged in farming and cattle rais- 
ing until 1887, when he returned to Dayton 
and traveled for the next two years as sales- 
man. In 1 89 1 he began reading law in the 
office of Judge Baggott, read for about a year, 
and again went on the road for a period of 
two years. Returning to Dayton he again 
took up the study of the law, and was gradu- 
ated at the Cincinnati Law college in May, 
1895, and in June, 1895, became a partner of 
Judge Baggott in the practice of the law. 

While on the road Mr. Herrman was ap- 
pointed adjutant of the First battalion, Third 
regiment, O. N. G., in June, 1893, and served 
during the miners' riots at Wheeling Creek, in 

1894, being honorably discharged in January, 

1895. Mr. Herrman has an abundance of 
energy and application to business, and doubt- 
less will make his mark in the profession upon 
which he has so recently entered. 



^y^VATRICK HICKEY, of the quarter- 
ly W master's department of the National 
M Military Home for Disabled Volunteer 

Soldiers, at Dayton, Ohio, was born 
in Susquehanna, Pa., March 17, 1840, and 
when a babe was taken by his parents, John 
and Bridget (Hennessy) Hickey, to the city of 
Buffalo, N. Y. , where he was educated in the 
public schools. He was taught the carpenter 
and joiner's trade by his father, and while 
working at this trade he enlisted in company 
I, Twenty-first New York volunteer infantry, 
and served from May 1, 1861, to May, 1863 — 
the last year as second lieutenant, in command 
of his company — in the Fifth army corps, 
arrny of the Potomac. He took part in all 
the duties of his regiment, which were of a 
varied character, until the second battle of 
Bull Run, where he found his first general en- 



590 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



gagement, under Gen. Pope, in the latter part 
of August, iS62. Here the captain and first 
lieutenant of his company were killed and Mr. 
Hickey was placed in command; he was at the 
battle of South Mountain, and, under Gen. 
George B. McClellan, was engaged in the bat- 
tle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, and was 
there wounded. December 13, 1862, he 
fought under Gen. Burnside at the battle of 
Fredericksburg, where about 13,000 Union 
soldiers lost their lives. On being mustered 
out of service, Lieut. Hickey enlisted in the 
Sixteenth New York cavalry and served until 
the ciose of the war. He was orderly sergeant 
of company B, and his duties were mostly of 
a special character, he being for many months 
under the control of no commander excepting 
the secretary of war. It was by a portion of 
his company that John Wilkes Booth, the as- 
sassin of President Lincoln, was subsequently 
captured. He was present at the grand re- 
view at Washington, D. C. , and on the con- 
solidation of his regiment with the Thirteenth 
New York cavalry he was commissioned an of- 
ficer and was mustered out. 

On his return to Buffalo, Lieut. Hickey 
worked at the carpenter's trade until 1882, 
when, by reason of his wound and the ravages 
of time on his general health, he availed him- 
self of the beneficent provision made by a 
grateful country and entered the national mili- 
tary home at Dayton. Here he was employed 
in various duties until the past two and a half 
years, when, as a reward for his commendable 
conduct and general capability, he was placed 
in his present position in the quartermaster's 
department. 

The parents of Lieut. Hickey were natives 
of Ireland, but were brought to America in 
their infancy. They were married in Geneva, 
N. Y., and became the parents of six sons, 
of whom four, Thomas, John, William and 
Patrick, served as soldiers in the Civil war. 



Of these, Thomas and John have died since 
the close of that struggle, presumably from the 
infirmities, incurred while in the service — and 
this is' thought more especially to have been 
the case with John, who had been for many 
months a prisoner at Andersonville. The par- 
ents died in Buffalo, N. Y. , the father's death 
resulting from injuries caused by a fall. Pat- 
rick Hickey was never married. He is a mem- 
ber of the Home post, G. A. R., and in politics 
is a life-long republican. He is a man of high 
character and standing, and is sincerely re- 
spected by each and every inmate of the 
military home. 



eMIL C. HAESELER, the well known 
dealer in furniture, carpets, mattresses, 
oil-cloths, etc., at No. 137 East Fifth 
street, Dayton, was born in Cincin- 
nati August 16, 1850, a son of Ernest and 
Louisa (Gross) Haeseler, who were of German 
birth, but came from Paris to America in 1848. 
Ernest Haeseler was a cabinetmaker of 
the highest class, and had followed his calling 
in Paris for seventeen years prior to his com- 
ing to the United States, and here, in 1850, he 
made for J. M. Brunswick & Bro. the first bil- 
liard table manufactured in Cincinnati, and 
probably the first one made in any part of the 
west. He came to Dayton in 1880, resign- 
ing his position with the Brunswick Bros., and 
accepted employment at the Barney & Smith 
Car works, as an expert cabinetmaker, execut- 
ing all the fine veneer work done in the shops. 
His wife died in 1882, in the faith of the Lu- 
theran church. They had a family of four chil- 
dren, born in the following order: Emil C, 
whose name opens this biography; Anthony, 
superintendent of repairs at the Amos Whitely 
Machine company, Springfield, Ohio; August, 
of the firm of Irwin & Haeseler, dry-goods 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



593 



merchants on West Third street, Miami City 
(Dayton); and one child that died in infancy. 
The father had been a member of the I. O. O. 
F. since 1850; he was also a member of the 
order of Druids, and in religion had been born 
and reared a Catholic. His death was caused 
by an accident which befel him in the car 
works at Dayton, March 2, 1894, and in him 
Dayton lost one of the most artistic wood- 
workers that ever entered her borders. 

Emile C. Haeseler received his education 
in the common and intermediate schools of 
Cincinnati, and in 1862, when twelve years of 
age, began his first wage-earning in the lab- 
oratory of Dr. Roback, on Hammond street, 
during his vacation from school. The follow- 
ing vacation, 1863, he worked for John D. 
Sparks, and in 1864 entered the employ of 
Carroll & Co., booksellers and stationers, with 
whom he remained until the great fire of 1865. 
He next tried wood-carving, but disliked the 
employment, and eight months afterward, in 
1866, entered upon an apprenticeship at up- 
holstering, requiring a service of four years, 
with A. C. Richards, No. 12 East Fourth 
street, Cincinnati. Emile worked one year 
as a journeyman, and in May, 1871, went to 
Fort Wayne, Ind.. thence to Chicago, where 
he worked for Thayer & Tobey, and after the 
great fire visited some of the western towns, 
returning to Chicago in 1872. In 1874 he re- 
turned to Cincinnati and worked for the Rob- 
ert Mitchell Furniture company until July, 
1875, and then came to Dayton and entered 
the Barney & Smith car shops for a two-weeks' 
stay. He was prevailed upon to return, after 
an absence of six weeks, and was given charge 
of the upholstering department, which position 
he retained for upward of twenty years, mak- 
ing many advances and improvements in 
the class of work under his charge, and being 
the patentee of the spring-edge cushion, now 

universally adopted by railroad companies. 
20 



In 1895 he left the employ of the Barney & 
Smith company and engaged in the hardware 
business on his own account; but, not liking 
this, he three months later, November 1, 

1895, embarked in upholstering at Nos. 1129 
and 1 131 South Wayne avenue. February 15, 

1896, he placed a large and varied stock of 
furniture at No. 137 East Fifth street, occu- 
pying three floors. At his factory he turns out 
every style and shape of upholstery, including 
sofas, couches, lounges, mattresses, etc. 

Mr. Haeseler is a stockholder and director 
in the Tivoli Fruit & Land company. He is 
a member of Saint John lodge, F. &. A. M. ;. 
Unity chapter, Rose Croix, No. 18, and is 
past chancellor, K. of P., and member of 
Humboldt lodge, No. 58, and Humboldt di- 
vision, No. 12, uniform rank, K. of P., and 
was the representative of his lodge in the 
grand lodge in 1893 and 1894. He is also 
vice-president of the Dayton Gymnastic club, 
and a great admirer of all athletic and field 
sports. He is public-spirited in a high degree, 
is a tireless and energetic worker for the good 
of the community, and it is largely due to his 
exertions as a member of the South Park Im- 
provement association, that this part of the 
city has been so much benefited by recent pro- 
gressive measures. In politics Mr. Haeseler 
is a sound republican. 

Mr. Haeseler was united in marriage, in 
June, 1878, with Miss Jennie Cramer, of 
South Wayne avenue, and this union has been 
blessed with two children — Charles and Ed- 
ward. Of these, Charles, the elder son, was 
born February 12, 1879, was educated in the 
Dayton public schools, and also graduated 
from Wilt's business college in November, 
1895; he is now bookkeeper for his father. 
Edward, the younger son, was born Septem- 
ber 20, 1880, and is a student at Saint Mary's 
college, of Dayton. The family have their 
home at No. 108 South Bonner street, and are 



594 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



among the mcst respected of the residents of 
Dayton. Mrs. Haeseler is a consistent mem- 
ber of the First Baptist church. 



>-j , ° SEPH E - HIMES, assistant in the 
M wound-dressing department of the na- 
m 1 tional military home, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Chester county, Pa., March 
28, 1837, his parents, Benjamin and Eliza 
(Townsend) Himes, being natives of the same 
county. The father was a soldier in the late 
Civil war, and died of disease contracted while 
in the service, and the mother, who had been 
a nurse in the hospital at Philadelphia during 
the same turbulent period, passed away at her 
peaceful home in Chester county. Of their 
family of six children, a son and daughter are 
deceased; of the living, beside Joseph E. , his 
brother, Eleazer, served eight years in the 
marine corps of the United States and fought 
through the whole of the Civil war; James was 
in the volunteer army and served also through 
the entire Rebellion; Townsend was an emer- 
gency man at the time of the rebel invasion 
under Gen. Lee. 

Joseph E. Himes learned the carpenter's 
trade in youth, and worked at the trade many 
years afterward. He first enlisted April 18, 
1 86 1 , for three months, in company G, Twenty- 
second Pennsylvania infantry, served out his 
term on guard duty in Baltimore, Md. , and 
was honorably discharged August 7, 1861. 
Three days later he enlisted, for three years, 
in company C, Seventy-second Pennsylvania 
volunteer infantry, and served the entire term 
in the army of the Potomac. He was on the 
Peninsula, under Gen. McClellan, and fought 
at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862, and at Seven 
Pines, June 1. At the battle of Savage Sta- 
tion, June 29, he was wounded in the head. 
Joining Pope, the regiment took part in the 
second battle of Bull Run; then followed South 



Mountain, Antietam and first and second Fred- 
ericksburg; the regiment then started on the 
Gettysburg campaign, where it participated in 
the second and third days' battles. It was the 
corps to which Mr. Himes was attached that 
received the historical charge of Pickett's men 
at the Bloody Angle. The winter of 1863 
was spent at Brandy Station, and in the spring 
of 1864 the memorable Wilderness campaign 
was begun, in which Mr. Himes fought in the 
battle of the Wilderness proper, at Spottsyl- 
vania. Cold Harbor and Petersburg. At the 
latter point the term of enlistment expired, 
and the Seventy-second lef.t the trenches and 
started for home. 

After his 'return from the field, Mr. Himes 
resumed his trade in Schuylkill county, Pa., 
and this he followed, in its various branches 
and in different parts of the country, until 
1 891, being thirteen years of this time em- 
ployed in the Baldwin locomotive works, of 
Philadelphia. In 1878 he was sent, with thir- 
teen others, to Russia, to set up and start 
forty locomotives that had been sold to the 
government of that country, and was absent 
about four months. 

Mr. Himes was married in Schuylkill coun- 
ty, Pa., in 1 866, to Miss Sarah A. Bausman, 
who died, in Philadelphia in 1880, leaving three 
sons — Pierson G., Townsend J. and Charles — 
all machinists and all residentsof Philadelphia. 
In May, 1891, Mr. Himes came to the sol- 
diers' home, where he was first employed in 
the carpenter shops, but for the past two years 
has been in the hospital service. He is a 
member of encampment No. 82, Union Veteran 
League, of which he has been officer of the 
day for three years, and is also an Odd Fellow. 
In politics he is a life-long republican, and 
was an ardent supporter of McKinley and the 
sound money platform; and his father and 
brothers were members of the same political 
party. In religion he is liberal in his views, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



.7.1.-, 



and while he was reared a Baptist, his parents 
were of Quaker stock. Mr. Himes by his good 
qualities, has made many personal friends 
since he has been an inmate of the disabled 
soldiers' home. 



HLBERT F. HOCHWALT, secretary 
and treasurer of the A. H. Grim Co., 
is one of the well-known young busi- 
ness men of Dayton. He was born 
in this city December 24, 1869, and is the son 
of George and Theresa (Lothammer) Hochwalt. 
George Hochwalt was born in Hesse-Darm- 
stadt, Germany, in 1823, and died in Dayton 
in 1894 after an honorable business career, at 
the ripe age of seventy-one years. He came 
to America with his parents, Henry and Eva 
Hochwalt, in 1833, and his parents, after a 
short stay in Baltimore, came to Dayton, 
where they spent the remainder of their lives, 
dying at an advanced age. Their son George 
remained in Baltimore and learned the shoe- 
maker's trade. After completing his appren- 
ticeship he came to Dayton in 1840 and opened 
up a shop. His business prospered, and in 
1844 he was the first to put in a stock of east- 
ern factory shoes, thus establishing the first 
shoe store in the city. He was in the shoe 
business for fifty years, and for forty-six years 
conducted the leading shoe stores of Dayton, 
retiring from active business in 1890, and 
dying four years later. The deceased was al- 
ways a devout Catholic, and was a trustee of 
Emanuel congregation, with which he affili- 
ated during his residence in Dayton. His 
wife, who is still living, is sixty-four years of 
age. She was born in Canton, Ohio, and is 
the second wife of George Hochwalt. To his 
first marriage five children were born, as fol- 
lows: Henry, of Dayton, a traveling shoe 
salesman; Mary, wife of Joseph Krebs, of Day- 
ton ; George W. , in the insurance business in 



Dayton; John, a shoe dealer in Chicago; Miss 
Josephine, residence in Dayton. From the 
second marriage there were also five children, 
viz: Edward A., secretary of the Schwind 
Brewing company, of Dayton; Emma J., wife 
of F. J. Burkhardt, of Dayton; Charles O, 
shoe dealer, Cleveland, Ohio; Albert F. and 
Dr. Gustave A. Hochwalt, of Dayton. 

Albert F. Hochwalt was reared in this city 
and received his early education in the paro- 
chial schools. When he was thirteen years 
old he entered Saint Mary's institute, where 
he graduated at the age of seventeen. He 
then associated himself with his father in the 
shoe business until 1890. After this he was 
with D. C. Arnold, shoedealer, until 1893, 
when he became connected with the A. H. 
Grim company, and in 1894 became one of 
the members of the company, to whose busi- 
ness he has since given his entire attention. 
Albert F. Hochwalt is well known'in society 
circles, being a member of Herman court, I. 
O. F., No. 131 1 ; also of A. S. C. colony. No. 
4. He was married September 7, 1892, to 
Miss Adele Butz, daughter of Charles and Til- 
lie Butz. They have two children, Bert G. 
and Cyril E. All are members of Emanuel 
Catholic congregation. 




HEODORE HOLLENKAMP, one of 
the founders of the Dayton Ale brew- 
ery, was born in Hanover, Germany, 
November 2, 1834, a son of Henry 
H. and Kate (Gerling) Hollenkamp, and was 
reared on a farm. At the age of twenty-four 
years he came to America, and for thirteen 
years lived in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, after 
working for some time at any available employ- 
ment, he found permanent occupation in the 
breweries of the city and thoroughly learned 
the business. He then went to Xenia, where 
he associated himself with an uncle in a brew- 



596 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ery, continuing there in business for eleven 
years. The uncle died in 1871, and then Mr. 
Hollenkamp came to Dayton and has ever 
since lived here. 

In 1885 Mr. Hollenkamp, with John Ale- 
schleger as partner, established the Dayton 
Ale brewery, but the partnership lasted two 
years only, when Mr. Aleschleger was suc- 
ceeded by Henry Kramer, and this association 
was continued until July, 1895, since when 
Mr. Hollenkamp has been the sole owner. 
The output of the plant, which is located at 
the corner of Brown and Hickory streets, con- 
sists exclusively of ale and porter, with a pro- 
duction of about 5,000 barrels annually, mostly 
consumed in Dayton. 

The marriage of Mr. Hollenkamp took place 
in Cincinnati, November 22, 1870, to Miss 
Anna Tepe, a native of Hanover, Germany, 
the union resulting in the birth of six children, 
viz: Anna, Elizabeth, Lena, Katie, Theodore 
and Benjamin. The family are members of 
the Emanuel Catholic church of Dayton, and 
stand well in the esteem of the community in 
which they live. Mr. Hollenkamp has achieved 
a creditable success in business, having begun 
his life in Cincinnati without a dollar, and 
being now one of the solid capitalists of Day- 
ton. He is broad-minded and open-hearted, 
ever ready to give assistance to the needy and 
to aid all enterprises for the public good. In 
politics he is a stanch democrat, but has never 
been a seeker of public office. 



^yry'ARREN E. HOOVEN, M. D., No. 
mm 1 60 1 East Fifth street, Dayton, is 

\JL/1 ;i most experienced physi- 

cians and surgeons of the Gem City. 
He was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
May 12, 1838, a son of John and Hooven 
McCahan) Hooven, both now deceased. 

John Hooven and his wife were natives of 



Juniata county, Pa., and when newly married 
came overland to Ohio, to find Dayton a small 
hamlet of but few houses, a store and a black- 
smith shop. Mr. Hooven purchased a tract 
of 160 acres of land near Brookville, Clay 
township, Montgomery county, and this he 
converted into a productive farm, on which he 
and wife spent the remainder of their life. He 
became one of the solid men of Clay township, 
was a local leader in public affairs, and for six- 
teen years was township assessor. Of Scotch- 
Irish extraction, he possessed all the hardihood 
of physique and mental tenacity of purpose of 
the combined races, and having been, in his 
early days, a school-teacher, he was ever an 
advocate of free and universal education. He 
and his wife were parents of children as fol- 
lows: Elliott and Eliza Ann died in early child- 
hood; John, a coal-dealer, died in Dayton 
about the year 1890; Susan, now deceased, 
was the wife of W. B. Marshall, who was 
killed at the battle of Shiloh; Frank M. is a 
resident of Marshall county, Iowa; Hannah is 
the wife of B. H. Reed, of Union City, Ind., 
and the youngest is Warren E., whose name 
opens this biography. 

Warren E. Hooven was educated in the 
common schools, and for five years was him- 
self a school-teacher. He read medicine un- 
der Dr. Robert Toby, at that time a resident 
of West Baltimore, Montgomery county; he 
next attended the Cincinnati college of Medi- 
cine and Surgery in 1859-60, then practiced 
with his preceptor until 1865, when he located 
in Ansonia, Darke county — in the meantime 
attending the Miami Medical college of Cincin- 
nati, from which he graduated in 1871. In 
1883 he left Ansonia and came to Dayton, 
where his professional skill has gained for him 
a large list of patients. 

Dr. Hooven has been a member of the lo- 
cal board of United States pension examiners 
since August, 1893, ar >d is now its president. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



597 



He is also a member of the medical societies 
of Darke and Preble counties; of the Dayton 
lodge of Free & Accepted Masons; of the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, Dayton lodge; 
of the Greenville chapter, F. & A. M., and of 
Linden lodge, Knights of Pythias. In politics, 
he is one of the leaders of the democratic 
party, and in 1890 was appointed a member of 
the Dayton board of civil affairs, which office 
he filled for two years, during which period he 
was largely instrumental in bringing about 
much of the paving and sewer construction of 
the city, being both patriotic and progressive, 
and desirous of seeing Dayton improved by 
modern thoroughfares and better sanitation. 

The marriage of Dr. Hooven took place in 
Montgomery county, in i860, to Miss Marietta 
R. Riley, a native of the county, a daughter of 
George \Y. H. Riley and a second cousin of 
the poet. James Whitcomb Riley. To the 
marriage of the doctor have been born six chil- 
dren, of whom but two survive, namely: Edith, 
now the wife of Dr. E. B. Bayliss, of Parkers, 
W. Va., and Clement W., agent for the "Big 
4" Railroad company at Anderson, Ind. , and 
one of the company's most trusted employees. 
Mrs. Marietta R. Hooven is a faithful member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the 
doctor, who has made a thorough success pro- 
fessionally and' financially, is one of the most 
highly respected citizens of Dayton. 



^y w ^ ILLIAM P. HUFFMAN, deceased, 
MM who was one of Dayton's foremost 

\JL>^ citizens and bankers, was born in 
this city on October 18, 1813, and 
was the son of William and Lydia (Knott) 
Huffman. His grandfather, William, who 
was of German descent, and his grandmother, 
who was of English descent, emigrated to 
America from Holland, some time in the de- 
cade following 1730, and settled in Mon- 



mouth county, N. J., where their son, Will- 
iam, father of William P., was born on May 
24, 1769, and where, on June 14, 1 801, he 
married Lydia Knott, who was born in the 
same county on January 19, 1779. One son 
and four daughters were born to their union. 
The family came west and settled in Dayton, 
where both parents died, the father January 
23, 1866, and the mother March 21, 1865. 

William P. Huffman received a fair English 
education, and read law for a time, not with 
the idea of adopting that profession, but 
solely to acquire a more thorough business 
equipment. Early in 1837 he left this city 
and for ten years was occupied in farming; but 
in 1848 he returned to Dayton and for many 
years was extensively engaged in banking, 
real-estate and building operations. He was 
prominently identified with a number of en- 
terprises, among which were the Third street 
railway, Dayton & Springfield pike. Cooper 
Hydraulic company, and the Second National 
bank, of the last of which he was the organ- 
izer and president up to his death. For fifteen 
years Mr. Huffman was a member of the board 
of trustees of Dennison university, at Gran- 
ville. He was a member of the Linden avenue 
Baptist church. A man of clear, sound, 
practical judgment, and exceedingly conserva- 
tive and reliable in all transactions, the name 
of William P. Huffman stood as a synonym 
for wisdom and safety in the business circles 
of Dayton. As a man of integrity and moral 
worth, he was a strong factor in molding the 
Christian sentiment of the community of 
which he was so long a worthy and honored 
citizen. On October 18, 1837, Mr. Huffman 
married Anna M., daughter of Samuel Tate, 
of this county, and to this union the following 
children were born: William, deceased; Mar- 
tha Bell, wife of E. J. Barney, of Dayton; 
Lydia H., wife of James R. Hedges, of Day- 
ton; Charles T. , deceased; Lizzie H., widow 



598 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of Charles E. Drury, of Dayton; Samuel, who 
died in childhood; Torrence, of Dayton; Frank 
T., of Dayton; George P. and Anna M. 



ar 



'ILLIAM HUFFMAN, late of the 
firm of Huffman & Co., of Dayton 
and Piqua, limestone dealers, was 
born in Mad River township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, September 5, iS38,ason 
of William P. and Anna M. (Tate) Huffman, 
natives of the same county. William P. Huff- 
man and his wife were the parents of ten chil- 
dren, as follows: William; Martha Bell, wife 
of E. J. Barney, president of the Barney & 
Smith Manufacturing company, of Dayton; 
Lydia, wife of J. R. Hedges; Charles, de- 
ceased; Lizzie, widow of Charles E. Drury; 
Samuel, who died in childhood; Torrence; 
Frank T. ; George P., and Anna M., the latter 
of whom lives with her mother. 

William P. Huffman was a banker and real- 
estate dealer. He assisted to organize the 
Second National bank, and afterward the Third 
National bank, being president of each in suc- 
cession, until he retired, in 1886. He was a 
trustee of Dennison university from 1867 until 
his death, which occurred July 2, 1888, when 
he was seventy-five years of age. Politically 
Mr. Huffman was a war democrat, and was, as 
his widow is, a member of the Baptist church. 
William Huffman, the father of William 
P. Huffman, was born in New Jersey, May 
24, 1769. His ancestry were of German de- 
scent, but came to this country from Holland, 
somewhere between the years of 1730 and 
1740. He was married June 14, 1801, to Miss 
Lydia Knott, a native of New Jersey. Mr. 
Huffman came to Ohio in 181 2, and was long 
engaged in business in Dayton. He built the 
first stone house in the place, either on the 
present site of the Third National bank or on 
that of the Beckel house. He was a volunteer 



in the war of 18 12, and marched to Fort Piqua 
for active duty, but, the services of the com- 
pany of which he was a member were not re- 
quired. He had one son, William P., and 
four daughters. He died January 23, 1866, 
in his ninety-seventh year. 

Samuel Tate, the maternal grandfather of 
the second William Huffman, came to Ohio 
from Pennsylvania in 1818, settled near Day- 
ton, and lived there until his death at eighty- 
three years of age. He was of Scotch- Irish 
descent, his ancestry coming from the north of 
Ireland. He was a distiller and a miller, and 
retired from business in the 'fifties. 

William Huffman, the subject of this sketch, 
lived on the farm in Greene county until he 
was ten years old. Then coming to Dayton 
he attended the common schools for a time. 
Going back to the farm he operated the same, 
also a sawmill for some years, and then re- 
turning to Dayton he engaged in quarrying and 
selling limestone, and was thus engaged until 
June 6, 1896, when his death occurred. 

Mr. Huffman was married January 30, 1862, 
to Miss Emily Huston, daughter of Israel and 
Elizabeth (Harshman) Huston. To this mar- 
riage were born fourteen children, nine of whom 
are living, as follows: Harriet, Emily, Daniel 
A., Elizabeth, Susan, W. P., McCurdy K., 
Eugene B., and Otto V. Harriet married R. 
M. Wickersham, of Cincinnati, and has one 
child. Emily married Whitney H. Brown, 
now of Webb City, Jasper county, Mo., and 
hasonechild. Elizabeth married L. P. Hazen, 
of Cincinnati, and has one child. Susan mar- 
ried Frederick T. Darst, of Dayton. 

Mrs. William Huffman died April 25, 18S5. 
She and her husband were members of Linden 
avenue Baptist church. Fraternally, Mr. Huff- 
man was a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an Odd 
Fellow, and a Knight of Honor. He was in 
Masonry a Scottish-rite Mason, a Knight Tem- 
plar and a Shriner. Politically he was a demo- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



599 



crat, and as such served two terms as a mem- 
ber of the city council, and as president of that 
body for one term. He was a member of the 
Dayton board of education for three years, and 
also served on the school board in the country 
district in which he lived for a number of years. 
He was police commissioner in Dayton four 
years, and for three years a trustee of the 
water works, and during his incumbency of 
the latter office was largely instrumental in 
placing this department of the city's business 
upon a paying basis. Under the new law 
creating a board of city commissioners, he 
was one of the first members of that body, and 
was actively concerned in securing sewerage 
and street paving. These improvements are 
among the most important in any city, and 
Dayton's rapid and extensive adoption of them 
is in great measure due to William Huffman's 
energy, public spirit and determination. Mr. 
Huffman held various offices connected with 
business concerns. At the time of his death 
he was manager of the Cooper Hydraulic com- 
pany, and of the National Improvement com- 
pany. He was a director in the City National 
bank, and in the Davis Sewing Machine com- 
pany, and was president of the Miami Building 
& Loan association. 

Mr. Huffman established his limestone 
business in 1873, and in busy seasons gave em- 
ployment to about 1 50 men, getting out build- 
ders and contractors' stone. He was not only 
successful in his business, but exerted a great 
influence in the political and public affairs of 
the city. He never lost interest in his early 
occupation as a farmer, and throughout his life 
owned and cultivated large tracts of land. Mr. 
Huffman was of a pleasant and genial disposi- 
tion, and drew about him a large circle of loyal 
friends. He lived his entire life in Montgomery 
and Greene counties, most of the time in Day- 
ton, and aided largely in the development of 
both county and city. 



HH. IDDINGS, M. D., a leading med- 
ical practitioner of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born at Pleasant Hill, Miami county, 
Ohio, January 1, 1840. When eight- 
een years of age he graduated from the Friends' 
academy, a local educational institution. He 
pursued the study of medicine while working 
on his father's farm, and during the winter of 
i860 attended his first course of lectures in the 
Cincinnati college of Medicine. Subsequently 
■he took a course in Bellevue Hospital Medical 
college, of New York city, graduating there in 
1866. After practicing five years in Arcanum, 
Darke county, Ohio, he located in Dayton, 
where he has since been engaged in the con- 
tinuous practice of his profession, a period of 
twenty-five years. He was appointed United 
States pension examiner at Dayton, serving in 
that capacity from 1884 until 1888. Beside 
a number of other local offices which he has 
filled, he has been health officer of the city of 
Dayton for eight years, and is occupying that 
position at the present time. 

Dr. Iddings is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society and of the state 
Medical association. He is a member of Saint 
John's lodge, F. & A. M., and also of Reed 
commandery, No. 6, and is a Knight Templar. 
Dr. Iddings has succeeded in a marked degree 
financially, being possessed of much valuable 
property. His residence, No. 344 South Main 
street, is among the desirable homes in the 
city, and was erected by himself. His office 
is No. 136 South Ludlow street. Politically 
Dr. Iddings is a stanch democrat. He has 
been a member of the school board for several 
years, and was president thereof for two years. 
For five years he was connected with Saint 
Elizabeth's hospital as physician, and for sev- 
eral years he has been physician at the jail. 
He is recognized as being among the most suc- 
cessful physicians of the city of Dayton, fol- 
lowing general practice. Dr. Iddings is of 



600 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Scotch descent, and belongs to a family of 
great longevity. 

Davis Iddings, his father, is still living at 
Pleasant Hill, and is eighty-four years old. 
Mrs. Sarah Iddings (nee Hill), his mother, died 
January i i, 1896, at the age of seventy-eight, 
having lived upward of fifty-seven years in the 
house in which she died. They were both 
members of the Christian church. 

A. H. Iddings, the subject of this sketch, 
was married at Pleasant Hill, Miami county, 
Ohio, June 8, 1859, to Miss C. A. DeBra, a 
native of that county and a daughter of Daniel 
DeBra, and to this marriage there has been 
born one child, Vinnia Velantia. Mrs. Iddings 
is a member of the Grace Methodist Episcopal 
church, and both are members of a large and 
pleasant social circle. 



a man well qualified for the position he holds, 
or for any place requiring expert mechanical 
knowledge and skill. 



OLIVER PERRY HUTCHINS, su- 
perintendent of the Dayton infirmary, 
was born in Vinton county, Ohio, 
May 8, 1856. He is a son of Amer- 
icus and Elizabeth (Tremain) Hutchins, the 
former of whom was the son of a Scotch-Irish- 
man, O. P. Hutchins, was reared on a farm 
in Vinton county, Ohio, and was educated in 
the public schools of his county. For the past 
eighteen years he has been a machine worker. 
From Vinton county he removed to Miami 
county in 1876, and in 1886 he came to 
Dayton. For the past six or seven years he 
has been employed in the Barney-Smith Manu- 
facturing company's works in Dayton; that is, 
up to April, 1895, when he was appointed 
superintendent of the Dayton infirmary, which 
position he now occupies. 

Mr. Hutchins was married October 14, 
1884, to Miss Irene Oilman, of Indiana, and 
a daughter of Aaron Oilman. Mr. Hutchins 
is a member of Iola lodge, No. 83, Knights of 
Pythias, and in politics is a republican. He is 



>"j*OHN HILLER, now living in retire- 
m ment at No. 601 North Main street, 
(8 j Dayton, Ohio, was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., February 6, 1836, a son 
of John and Annie (Rush) Hiller, natives of 
the same county. 

Mr. Hiller's great-grandfather, John Hiller, 
was the founder of the American branch of the 
family, having come in 1682 from the Palati- 
nate of Germany. The father of the present 
John Hiller was born in 1788 and died in his 
native county in 1864; his mother was born in 
1795 and died in 1858. Of their family of 
eight children all are living, and were born in 
the following order: Caspar, in the nursery 
business, at Conestoga, Pa., is married and 
has a family; Catherine is the widow of Jacob 
Myers and resides in Montgomery county, 
Ohio; Fannie is the wife of Michael Benedict, 
of Conestoga, Pa. ; Annie is married to God- 
fred Peifer, of Galena, 111. ; Barbara is the 
widow of Martin Whitmore, and lives in Lan- 
caster county, Pa.; Jacob is a carpenter of the 
same county; John, the seventh born, is the 
subject of this biography; Mary is the widow 
of a Mr. Eschleman, and has her home in the 
city of Lancaster, Pa. 

John Hiller was educated in the common 
schools of Lancaster county, Pa., and came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1S54, being 
then eighteen years old. He here began 
school-teaching and followed that profession 
until the outbreak of the Civil war, when he 
enlisted at Dayton, in May, 1861. and spent 
three months, within the borders of the state, 
in the Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry. Sep- 
tember 5, 1 86 1, he enlisted in company C, 
Forty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
served one year in Crook's brigade, in West 




j^&. &<Ma, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



603 



Virginia, where he shared in the engagement 
at Lewisburg, May 23, 1862, which was an 
open-field fight between the Thirty-sixth and 
Forty-fourth Ohio regiments on the one side, 
and five regiments of Confederates on the other 
— the result being the killing and capturing of 
381 rebels. In the fall of 1862, the Forty- 
fourth Ohio was sent to Kentucky, where Col. 
S. A. Gilbert had an independent command, 
and the regiment was mounted for about a 
year, and took part in the battle of Somerset. 
About September, 1862, it was placed in the 
Twenty-third army corps, which, in conjunc- 
tion with the Ninth army corps, captured 
Knoxville, under command of Gen. Burnside, 
and in the fall of 1863 was besieged in the same 
city by Gen. Longstreet. 

In January, 1864, the Forty-fourth Ohio re- 
enlisted as veterans, and was thereafter known 
as the Eighth Ohio volunteer cavalry. For 
some time Mr. Hiller was in the quartermas- 
ter's department, where he did efficient detail 
duty, as shown by testimonials still in his pos- 
session. One of the conditions on which the 
Forty-fourth re-enlisted was that the men 
should have the privilege of electing their offi- 
cers, staff and line, and this condition was ac- 
cepted by Sec. of War E. M. Stanton, who 
sent out a general order to that effect. Upon 
this arrangement Mr. Hiller was elected cap- 
tain of his company, and served as such from 
January until June, 1864, but was not yet mus- 
tered in with that rank, as an arbitrary ruling 
by the governor of Ohio nullified the action of 
the secretary of war, though this ruling was 
not generally made known until June. Mr. 
Hiller, finding that he could not be mustered 
in with his proper rank, asked to be reinstated 
in the quartermaster's department, and while 
so serving was captured by the enemy at Win- 
chester, Va., was imprisoned at Richmond, 
and afterward at Salisbury, N. C, but made 
his escape in December, 1864, and for this act 



was granted a furlough by Gen. Grant. After 
a service lasting through four years and three 
months, Mr. Hiller was honorably discharged, 
and returned to his former home in Mont- 
gomery county. 

He now resumed his profession as teacher, 
serving as principal of graded schools, and, in 
vacation, conducting normal training schools, 
in which he prepared young men for entering 
upon professions, and many of his pupils in 
these vacation classes are to-day successful 
physicians, lawyers and teachers. He was 
especially noted for his skill in teaching the 
higher mathematics, having but few equals in 
the state, many pupils coming to him to take 
special courses in mathematics after they had 
graduated from colleges. In 1879 he was 
elected county surveyor, and ably filled the 
office until 1881. At this time he was a can- 
didate for the state legislature, but sickness 
prevented his making a systematic canvass of 
his district, and defeat was the result. Since 
1 89 1 he has lived a retired life, not being in 
the enjoyment of good health, and is a pen- 
sioner for disabilities incurred in the army. 

The marriage of Mr. Hiller was solemnized 
October 19, 1866, with Miss Elizabeth P. 
Zufall, who was born in Washington county, 
Ohio, June 18, 1848. Her parents, Moses 
and Eliza (Hannold) Zufall, were natives of 
Pennsylvania, and of French and English de- 
scent. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hiller 
has been blessed with five children, viz: An- 
nie, married to James Nolan, of Dayton, and 
now on a visit to Ireland; John A., who mar- 
ried Miss Mary E. Redmond, daughter of 
Col. Joseph H. Redmond, a civil engineer, re- 
riding at Walnut Hills, Cincinnati; Mary E., 
wife of David E. Heeter, a farmer of Perry 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio; Charles, 
and Lily Heeter, who died in infancy. 

In politics Mr. Hiller was a democrat after 
leaving the army until 1892, when he became 



fi04 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



a republican, and has since been stanch in his 
support of the latter party. He and his wife 
are liberal in their religious views and are not 
connected with any church organization. Fra- 
ternally Mr. Hiller is a member of the Union 
Veteran Legion. Mr. Hiller, as has been in- 
dicated, is a man of liberal education, and is 
a constant reader and student. He has been 
successful in life, and enjoys the confidence 
and esteem of all who know him. 



* y ■ * ERMAN ISRAEL, dealer in coal and 

l^\| kindling, at No. IQ Dutoit street, 
I P Dayton, Ohio, was born in Germany 
March 30, 1868, a son of Benjamin 
and Bertha Israel, also natives of Germany, 
who came to America in 1882, and now reside 
in Dayton. Of their eight children all are 
residents of Dayton with the exception of one 
son and one daughter, who live in Chicago. 
They are named in order of birth, as follows: 
Herman, Mrs. Dora Lewin, Max. David, Min- 
nie, Rose, Willie and Harry. Mrs. Lewin and 
David make their home in Chicago, while all 
the others still live with their parents. 

Herman Israel was fourteen years of age 
when he accompanied his parents to America 
in 1882, and with them located in Dayton. 
Although he had availed himself, as far as his 
youth permitted, of the excellent school ad- 
vantages afforded by his own government be- 
fore leaving Europe, he nevertheless supple- 
mented this education by an attendance, for a 
few years, in the common schools of his adopted 
city of Dayton, after which he turned his at- 
tention to the performance of any honorable 
labor which might furnish him a livelihood. 
In 1 89 1 he united with his father in conduct- 
ing the coal and kindling business, handling 
various sorts of fuel, and this business they 
continued for about four years, when the elder 
Mr. Israel withdrew, leaving the younger man 



to prosecute the enterprise alone. About this 
time Herman Israel removed his stock and of- 
fice from Third street, where the business had 
heretofore been carried on, to his more con- 
venient quarters at No. 19 Dutoit street, where 
he has since commanded a flourishing and 
profitable trade. Being a young man of fine 
business attainments and being genial, prompt 
and reliable, his efforts have met deserved 
success. 

In his political views Mr. Israel is repub- 
lican. He attends the Jefferson street syna- 
gogue, and in the social and fraternal societies 
of the city he takes a profound interest, as is 
evidenced by his numerous connections with 
them. He is a member of Gem City lodge, 
No. 795, I. O. O. F. ; of Linden lodge, No. 
412, K. of P.; of Columbia lodge, No. 1280, 
K. iS: L. of H., and of Dayton lodge, No. 
183, O. K. S. B., being president of the last 
named, and having held various official posi- 
tions in each of the other orders. He has 
formed some very pleasant social relations and 
connections since making his home in Dayton, 
and is esteemed for his individual character, as 
well as for his strict integrity as a business man. 



BRANK E. JAMES, one of the young- 
est members of the Dayton bar, was 
born in Greene county, Ohio, August 
27, i860. William James, his father, 
was also born in Greene county, and died there 
in 1890. The James family is of Welsh origin, 
and its earliest American members settled in 
New Jersey. On the mother's side, Mr. James 
is of Quaker descent. The James family were 
among the earliest settlers of Greene county, 
where there still reside many of the name. 

Frank E. James was reared on his father's 
farm in Greene county, and received his early 
education in the country schools. Afterward 
he took a course of study at Xenia college, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



605 



and still later he took a five years' course at 
Antioch college, at Yellow Springs, Ohio. 
During four years of this time he was a mem- 
ber of the faculty at Antioch, pursuing his 
studies at the same time he was engaged in 
teaching. 

Mr. James began reading law in the office 
of the Hon. John Little, of Xenia, during the 
winter of 1887, and was thus engaged for four 
months. He then came to Dayton and pur- 
sued his lav/ studies under the direction of 
Hon. R. M. Nevin, being admitted to the bar 
through an examination before the supreme 
court of the state, at Columbus, Ohio, in 
1 89 1. Since that time Mr. James has been 
actively engaged in practice in Dayton. He 
has also been quite prominent in local politics, 
though he has never held office of any kind. 
In the spring of 1895 he was mentioned as a 
candidate for common pleas judge on the re- 
publican ticket, but did not submit his name 
to the convention. 

For three years Mr. James has been a 
member of the faculty at Beck's Commercial 
college, of Dayton, as a lecturer on law and 
political economy. He was married May 10, 
1894, to Miss Ida M. Kimmell, of Montgom- 
ery county. While yet a young man in the 
practice of his profession, his close attention 
to its demands has been rewarded by a gratify- 
ing measure of success. 



HE. & H. G. JENNER, father and 
son, physicians of Dayton, Ohio, with 
offices at No. 1913 East Third street, 
are among the most prominent and 
successful practitioners in the city. Alexander 
Ewell Jenner was born in Philadelphia, Pa., 
in 1S30. He is a son of Abraham and Julia 
(McLaughlin) Jenner, the former of English 
and the latter of Scotch-Irish descent. When 



Alexander Ewell was but a small boy his par- 
ents located near Mansfield, and there he 
grew to manhood on a farm. His ancestry 
have been to a considerable extent members of 
the medical profession, his father and grand- 
father both having been physicians of note, so 
that he has a decided natural aptitude for the 
profession, if there is any truth in the doctrine 
of heredity. 

Abraham Jenner, his father, was a promi- 
nent physician, first in Philadelphia, Pa., and 
later, for many years, in central Ohio, where 
he continued to practice up to the time of his 
death, which occurred January 31, 1869. Be- 
side his standing as a successful physician he was 
prominent in many other ways, being a poli- 
tician of note, a representative of the people of 
his district in the Ohio state general assembly. 
In politics he was a democrat, and was a most 
useful man in his section of the state as a pio- 
neer settler. He reared a family of ten chil- 
dren, to all of whom he gave a good education, 
as he was a firm believer in the cultivation of 
the intellectual powers. Two of his sons 
adopted the medical profession, Alexander E. 
and Charles W. jenner, the latter of whom 
located in Denver, Colo., and became one of 
the leading physicians of that progressive city. 
Another brother, John W. Jenner, adopted 
the legal profession, and has just retired from 
the circuit judgship of the Fifth district of 
Ohio, after having served in that position for 
twelve years. He is now living in Mansfield. 
Another brother, Samuel Eberly Jenner, is at 
the present time a prominent member of the 
bar in Mansfield, Ohio, and is also a leader in 
local politics. The other children were daugh- 
ters. Mary, now deceased, was the wife of 
Rev. Mr. Douglas, a minister of the Lutheran 
church; Sarah is the widow of O. D. Harris, 
of Washington, D. C. ; Emily is the wife of 
Judge Amherst Franklin, of Ottawa, Kan. ; 
Hattie is the widow of William Franklin, of 



606 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Kansas; Martha is the widow of H. Burrows, 
of Delta county, Colo., and Anna F., now de- 
ceased, was the wife of Dr. Alban, of Walla 
Walla, Wash. 

Alexander E. Jenner was reared near Mans- 
field, Ohio, was educated first in the public 
schools and received his advanced education in 
Oberlin college. He then began the study of 
medicine with his father, and later attended 
Bellevue Hospital Medical college, New York, 
which institution was founded in 1861, Dr. 
Jenner being among its first students. After 
graduating from this institution he located at 
Crestline, where he remained until 1873, when 
he received the appointment of superintendent 
of the Soldiers & Sailors' Orphan asylum at 
Xenia, Ohio. This position he held until 
1874, when he removed to Dayton, Ohio, and 
has been located here ever since, engaged in 
the practice of his profession. For a short 
time he was connected with the Dayton 
Leader, a weekly paper, and was also inter- 
ested in the drug business with his son. His 
practice in Dayton is both extensive and lucra- 
tive. He has taken an active part in political 
affairs and has been state senator two terms. 
His affiliation has been with the democratic 
party, and in the interest of this party he has 
been quite prominent in local politics. He is 
a member of the Montgomery county Medical 
society, and also of the Ohio state Medical 
association. 

Dr. Jenner married Miss Anna Andrew, a 
daughter of John and Rhoda Andrew. She is a 
native of Washington county. Pa., and is the 
mother of five children, as follows: Frances, 
wife of W. M. McCully, of Newark, Ohio, en- 
gaged as a manufacturer of oil tank wagons, 
etc.; Albert N., deceased, who was in business 
for some time as a druggist, and later became 
a locomotive engineer, dying at the age of 
thirty-one; Harry Garrabrant, now in the prac- 
tice of medicine in partnership with his father; 



Robert Austin, a physician and surgeon located 
at Kingston, Ohio, who graduated from the 
Miami Medical college, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
the class of 1895; and Emily May, wife of 
Kneisley Jewell, dealer in paints and oils, of 
Dayton, Ohio. 

Harry G. Jenner, M. D., was born Septem- 
ber 1, 1866, was educated in the public schools 
of Dayton, Ohio, and later attended Yale col- 
lege, graduating in the class of 1888, with the 
degree of bachelor of philosophy. He at 
once began the study of medicine with his 
father, afterward attending Bellevue Hospital 
Medical college, graduating therefrom in the 
class of 1890. Then in the further prosecu- 
tion of his studies he took a trip abroad, trav- 
eling through England, Scotland and Ger- 
many, consuming some eight or ten months in 
this way, and then returned to Dayton, and 
became his father's partner in the practice of 
medicine. He has been thus successfully en- 
gaged ever since. He is a member of the 
Montgomery county Medical society, of the 
order of Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pyth- 
ias, and of the Independent Order of Forest- 
ers. Politically he is a democrat, and was 
called on by his party friends to make the 
race for the position of county coroner. While 
he is yet a young man yet he has made an un- 
usually creditable record, both in the way of 
preparation for one of the most honorable and 
useful of the professions, and also in the suc- 
cess with which he has met in that profession. 
The Jenner family are all members of the 
Presbyterian church. 

In closing this sketch of the lives of the 
Doctors Jenner, it is proper to add that Dr. 
A. E. Jenner was during the war appointed 
assistant surgeon of the Twenty-eighth Ohio 
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and, soon 
afterward, was appointed surgeon of the Fifth 
Ohio, with which he served until the close of 
the war. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



609 



* w * ENRY HOLLENCAMP, merchant 

|r\ tailor, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 

^P Cincinnati, Ohio, October 31, 1850, 

and is a son of Herman Henry and 

Mary T. (Welimeyer) Hollencamp, natives of 

Hanover, Germany. 

Herman Henry Hollencamp, father of our 
subject, was a molder by trade, came to Amer- 
ica about the year 1840, located in Cincinnati, 
and in 1851 came to Dayton, where he fol- 
lowed his trade until his death. Here he lost 
his wife, who died in 1874, at the age of sixty 
years, and here his own death occurred, in 
1889, at the age of seventy-two years. Their 
three children, in the order of birth, were: 
Henry; Mary S., deceased wife of William 
Popplemeyer, and Philomena, who is now Mrs. 
Henry Weber, of Dayton. 

Henry Hollencamp, who was an infant of 
twelve months when brought to Dayton by his 
parents, suffered from poor health in his child- 
hood, and was thereby debarred from acquir- 
ing more than an ordinary common-school ed- 
ucation; but as years passed, and with them 
he gained strength, he became, through self- 
instruction, capable of transacting the affairs 
of an ordinary business life. For two years, 
in his boyhood days, he worked in a foundry 
for McGregor & Callahan, now W. P. Calla- 
han & Co. At the age of fifteen years he en- 
tered the tailoring establishment of Col. Henry 
Miller, a well-known merchant tailor, as an 
apprentice, worked with his needle on the 
bench, learned the business in all its branches, 
and early demonstrated his ability to manage 
employees and to control the workings of the 
shop. At the age of twenty-two years he was 
able to engage in business for himself, succeed- 
ing Toban & Breene in the long-established 
business of William Breene. 

In 1873 Mr. Hollencamp formed a partner- 
ship with Christ Edelmann in the merchant- 
tailoring business in Dayton, but, 1873 being 



a year of financial panic, the partnership lasted 
for two years only, when Mr. Hollencamp as- 
sumed the entire indebtedness of the firm, and, 
with indomitable will, overcame all obstacles, 
conquered failure with success, and is to-day 
among the leaders in his branch of industry in 
Dayton. He employs a large number of cut- 
ters and salesmen for the disposition of ready- 
made wearing apparel. Until 1888, Mr. Hol- 
lencamp occupied the premises at No. 7 South 
Jefferson street, Odd Fellows temple, when, 
having met with abundant success, he pur- 
chased the ground at the corner of Jefferson 
and Market streets, in 1888, and erected the 
fine four-story stone and brick building, known 
as the Hollencamp block, 60x50 feet, to 
which he added, in 1894, another building, 
fifty feet deep, which is used for his stores and 
for office purposes. He believes in furnishing 
employment to home people, and at present 
has in his employ at least seventy-five hands. 
Mr. Hollencamp was married, May 16, 
1876, to Miss Kate Grenlich, and this union 
has been blessed with six children, of whom 
Emma Kate and Barbara died in their infancy; 
those living are named Charlie H., Frank An- 
drew, Mary Theresa and Henry Herman. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hollencamp now reside at 415 West 
Second street, are dutiful members of the 
Catholic church, and stand high in their social 
relationship. Mr. Hollencamp, who has made 
his own fortune, is recognized as one of the 
keen and shrewd business men of Dayton, 
solid in his finances, competent in his manage- 
ment, and honorable in all his transactions. 



SOBERT THOMAS JOHNSON, vice- 
president and manager of the Kuntz- 
Johnson Lumber company at Dayton, 
Ohio, is a native of county Tyrone, 
Ireland, and was born January 12, 1845. 1° 
1850 his parents, George and Sarah (Taggart) 



610 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Johnson, came to America, bringing their three 
surviving children, having lost a fourth in its 
infancy. The parents were of Scotch-Irish 
descent, and the father, who was born in 1810, 
is a resident of Springfield, Ohio, in which city 
the mother died June 11, 1891. The father 
spent the greater part of his business life in 
contracting and railroading, but about twenty- 
years ago laid aside all business cares and is 
now living in retirement. The sister of Robert 
T., Mrs. Jane Hall, resides in Springfield, and 
is the widow of James A. Hall, who was aeon- 
tractor and builder; the only brother, William, 
is at present superintendent of the P. P. Mast 
Buggy company. 

Robert T. Johnson, the youngest of the four 
children born to his parents, passed his early 
life in Springfield, where he was educated in 
the public schools; when he was in his six- 
teenth year he entered the joint office of the 
United States and American Express compa- 
nies, and for several years was employed as 
clerk, messenger and agent, both stationary 
and traveling. In 1867 he accepted the agency 
of the Dayton & Union Railroad company at 
Union City, Ind., and in 1872 took the joint 
agency of the Dayton & Union and the Bee 
Line or Big Four system, at the same place. 
Id March, 1877, he was transferred to Green- 
ville, Ohio, and in March, 1881, returned to 
Union City, where he remained until March 1, 
1883, when he formed a partnership with 
Peter Kuntz, of that place, for the purpose of 
establishing the present business in Dayton. 
The plant is valued at '$100,000 and gives em- 
ployment to an average of thirty men in the 
preparation of building material, and is in an 
altogether prosperous and flourishing condition. 

Mr. Johnson was united in marriage, Feb- 
ruary 22, 1866, with Miss Cynthia E. Lenox, 
a native of Sidney, Shelby county, Ohio, and 
a daughter of Alfred and Frances E. (Gish) 
Lenox, both now deceased. Mrs. Johnson 



was educated in Union City, Ind., and is a 
thoroughly accomplished woman, being very 
active in the social and religious societies at- 
tached to Grace Methodist Episcopal church. 
Her husband is a member of the official board 
of this church, and was formerly president of 
the Y. M. C. A. in Dayton. In his politics 
Mr. Johnson affiliates with the democratic 
party, has served several terms as a member 
of the city council in Union City, and in Day- 
ton exerts a quiet but powerful influence in the 
selection of candidates and the management of 
the local elections. 

Mr. Johnson is an ardent Freemason and 
a very prominent member of the fraternity. 
He received the symbolic degrees in Turpin 
lodge, No. 401, having been initiated March 

20, 1S74. He filled various subordinate posi- 
tions in the blue lodge, and received the de- 
gress in capitulary Masonry in Union chapter, 
No. 94, was advanced and presented December 

21, 1 87 5, and was received, acknowledged and 
exalted December 22, 1875, and filled several 
official positions in this chapter. He was ad- 
mitted a member of Greenville lodge, on di- 
mit, January 27, 1880, and was elected wor- 
shipful master December 14, 1880, filling the 
office one year. February 16, 1880, he was 
admitted to Greenville chapter, and was elected 
captain of the host December 20, 1880. Mr. 
Johnson entertains a very warm feeling toward 
his brothers of Greenville lodge, who first made 
him feel the force of the benefits conferred by 
speculative Masonry. Some time after locat- 
ing in Dayton Mr. Johnson was again dimit- 
ted and became a member of Saint John's 
lodge, No. 13, of Unity chapter, No. 16, and of 
Reed commandery, No. 6, and on November 
17, 1892, received the ineffable degrees in an- 
cient and accepted Masonry. His relations 
with the Dayton Masons have been of the 
most pleasant character and he has received 
ready and just recognition of his merits as a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



611 



bright brother. In the commandery he is now 
rilling the office of senior warden; and in busi- 
ness, family and social relations he has found 
that his "lines have fallen in pleasant places." 



^V^V AVID JONES, dealer in coal and 
I wood, Dayton, was born in Mont- 
/^^J gomeryshire, near Newtown, Wales, 
November II, 1835, and came with 
his parents to the United States in 1857, lo- 
cating in Franklin county, Ohio, where his 
father, Evan Jones, engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. David's mother, whose maiden 
name was Jane Powell, also a native of Wales, 
died in Franklin county, Ohio, in 1863; the 
father died in 1881. Evan and Jane Jones 
were the parents of nine children, David being 
third in order of birth; John died at the age of 
about thirteen years; Evan served in the Third 
Ohio infantry and died before the expiration of 
his period of enlistment; Jane married Reese 
Jones and died in Franklin county, Ohio; 
Richard resides at West Jefferson, Ohio, where 
he carries on the trade of carpenter and 
builder; he served through the late war in the 
Thirtieth Ohio infantry; Edward, also a soldier 
in the late war, is a farmer and stock raiser in 
Kansas; Thomas served during the Civil war 
in the One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Ohio 
infantry and died in the Indian territory; Susan 
died at the age of sixteen; Elizabeth married a 
Mr. Richmond and died in Dayton, Ohio, 
leaving two children. 

The early life of David Jones was spent on 
his father's farm, and he followed the pursuit 
of agriculture until attaining his majority, when 
an accident, which resulted in the breaking of 
his collar-bone, caused him to change his plans 
of life. Leaving the farm, he accepted a posi- 
tion as an attendant in the insane asylum at 
Columbus, Ohio, the duties of which he dis- 
charged for a period of three years, and then 



accepted a similar place in the hospital for the 
insane at Hopkinsville, Ky. Here he remained 
for less than one year, on account of the de- 
struction of the institution by fire. Returning 
home, he soon afterward came to Dayton and 
secured a situation in the insane asylum, 
where he continued as attendant and night 
watchman for three years. In the meantime 
the national guard of Ohio was organized, 
and David was enrolled as a member. He 
was called into active service May 3, 1863, pro- 
ceeding with his command to Baltimore, Md., 
and was for some time stationed at Forts 
Federal Hill and Marshall. He served 100 
days, the duty of a guard during that time 
being to relieve the disciplined soldiers and 
permit them to meet Gen. Lee's invasion of 
Pennsylvania and Maryland. Returning to 
Dayton at the expiration of his term of serv- 
ice, Mr. Jones entered the employ of the 
Dayton & Michigan railroad as freight brake- 
man. Later he became baggage- master, and 
finally was put in charge of a freight train as 
conductor. He served ably in these subordi- 
nate positions, winning the confidence of the 
management of the road, and was subse- 
quently promoted to be passenger conductor, 
a position which he filled for fourteen years, 
during the last six of which he ran a train be- 
tween Cincinnati and Toledo. 

In 1882 Mr. Jones retired from the road 
and engaged in his present business, which has 
proved, financially, very successful. He is a 
public-spirited man, well known in the busi- 
ness circles of Dayton for his integrity and 
honesty of purpose, and enjoys in an eminent 
degree the good will and confidence of those 
with whom he has relations of a business or a 
social nature. He is a member of the Old 
Guard post, G. A. R., of Dayton, belongs to 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and since his 
twenty-first year has been an unswerving sup- 
porter of the principles of the republican party. 



612 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



He was married, in 1863, to Ellen Haley, of 
Dayton, daughter of Edward Haley, and there 
have been born to this union five children, viz: 
Mattie, Alfred, Carrie, Daisy and Alice. Alfred 
is married and is engaged in business in Day- 
ton; Carrie died at the age of three years, and 
Daisy when six months old; Alice is the wife of 
E. R. McLean, and Mattie is bookkeeper for 
the firm of Evans cS: Davis, of Dayton. Mrs. 
Jones is one of a family of four, two brothers 
and two sisters. Luke Haley died in early 
manhood; Margaret, now Mrs. Ware, resides 
in Springfield, Ohio, and Edward Haley is ser- 
geant on the police force in Dayton. 



(D 



AJ. DAVID CLARK HUFFMAN, 
M. D., surgeon of the Central 
branch, N. H. D. V. S., near Day- 
ton^ Ohio, is a native of Westmore- 
land county, Pa., is a son of Jacob and Louisa 
(Metzger) Huffman, of German descent, and 
was born November 4, 1843. H e attended 
the public schools of his district until the time 
of his enlistment, in March, 1862, in company 
C, Eleventh regiment, Pennsylvania volunteer 
infantry, and served with his regiment until 
after the battle of Antietam, September 17, 
1862, when he was placed in the hospital on 
account of sickness, and was mustered out in 
November of the same year. In March, 1865, 
having in the meantime read medicine, he 
was appointed assistant surgeon to the Thir- 
teenth Pennsylvania cavalry; but, as the Rebel- 
lion was brought to an end soon afterward, he 
saw no active service in this capacity. 

Dr. Huffman received his literary education 
in Sewickley academy and Allegheny college, 
at Meadville, Pa., and graduated in medicine 
from the Jefferson Medical college, of Phila- 
delphia, in 1866. He located for practice at 
McKeesport, Pa., and met with gratifying suc- 
cess until 1889, when he was appointed on the 



medical staff of the national soldiers' home, at 
Dayton, Ohio, served one year in this capacity, 
and in Ma)', 1893, was appointed to his pres- 
ent position as surgeon of the institution. 
While at McKeesport he was surgeon for the 
National Tube works, and for twelve years sur- 
geon for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad com- 
pany, and his varied and extended practice in 
these positions fully qualified him for the very 
responsible office he now fills. As surgeon of 
the home, he is third in rank among its offi- 
cers, and has six assistants. 

Dr. Huffman is a member of the Mont- 
gomery county Medical society, of the Alle- 
gheny county (Pa.) Medical society, of which 
he was vice-president in 1892; also a member 
of the Pennsylvania state Medical society and 
of the American Medical association; of Alli- 
quippa lodge, No. 375, F. & A. M., of Mc- 
Keesport, of which he was master; Tancred 
commandery, No. 48, of Pittsburg; Ohio con- 
sistory, thirty-second degree, S. P. R. O., of 
Cincinnati, and of Veteran post, No. 5, G. A. 
R. , and in 1894 was appointed aid-de-camp on 
the staff of national commander, Gen. Adams. 

Dr. Huffman was united in marriage July 
3, 1872, with Miss Georgia Wolfe, who is a 
native of Pennsylvania, born June 4, 1855. 
Dr. and Mrs. Huffman are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. 



aHARLES FREDERICK KAMRATH, 
Sr., member of the Dayton city 
council from the Tenth ward, and a 
successful business man of that city, 
was born in Prussia, December 21, 1843. 
Reared and educated in his native country, he 
there learned the trade of butcher, and at the 
age of nineteen years he entered the German 
army and served three years. In the war be- 
tween Prussia and Austria, sometimes called 
The Seven Days' War, which was fought 





'I —"If 



LVfrJl^<~&^~-^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



615 



by those countries, after the death of Ferdi- 
nand VII, king of Denmark, over the control 
of the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and 
Lauenburg, Mr. Kamrath was of course in 
the army of Prussia, and participated in the 
decisive and historic battle of Koniggratz, or 
Sadowa, which occurred July 3, 1866. He 
was wounded in the right leg by a splinter 
from a bomb, which exploded in front of him, 
and on account of this wound he was in the 
hospital five months. After recovering from 
his injury he secured a furlough for a year and 
came to the United States, landing in New 
York April 4, 1867. After a fortnight spent 
in that city and in Pittsburg, he came direct to 
Dayton, where he has ever since resided. 
About five years after settling in Dayton he 
opened a butcher shop at the corner of Fifth 
and Henry streets, and afterward opened a 
shop on the corner of Third and Terry streets, 
about the same time purchasing his present 
place of business and residence, on the corner 
of May and June streets. Here he has suc- 
cessfully carried on business ever since. 

Mr. Kamrath was married first, in 1868, to 
Bertha Felitz, who was born in Prussia. She 
died in 1882, leaving four children, viz: 
Charles F., Jr., who was manager, secretary 
and treasurer of the Troup Manufacturing 
company, of Dayton, and is now engaged in 
merchant tailoring; Elizabeth, wife of Samuel 
Dornbusch, of Dayton; Bertha and Rosa. In 
1883 Mr. Kamrath married Rosa Gerttz, of 
Dayton. Mr. Kamrath is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias and of the Butchers' asso- 
ciation. He and his family are members of 
the Lutheran church. 

For many years Mr. Kamrath has been 
quite active in politics in Dayton. In 1891 he 
was appointed city meat inspector, holding 
that office for one year. In the spring of 1894 
he was elected to the city council from the 
Fifth ward, now the Tenth ward. 



m. 



21 



ILLIAM J. JONES, treasurer of the 
Stoddard Manufacturing company, 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born in Ham- 
ilton county, Ohio, November 22, 
1843, and is a son of David C. and Eliza 
(Shumard) Jones, both of whom were born in 
Ohio. The father was a farmer by calling. 
He removed to Butler county, Ohio, in about 
1850, and in 1890 came to Dayton, where his 
death occurred in May, 1893. His widow 
died in December, 1894. Both parents were 
life-long members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

W. J. Jones was reared on the farm in 
Hamilton and Butler counties, and received a 
common-school education. When about nine- 
teen years of age he learned the carpenter's 
trade, which he followed for about three years. 
In February, 1866, he came to Dayton and 
entered Greer's Commercial college and took 
the full course, leaving, however, before re- 
ceiving his diploma, to take temporary charge 
of a set of books for the firm of Haas & 
Mitchell. Two months later he returned to 
college, intending to remain until he obtained 
a diploma, but being considered by the princi- 
pal as proficient, he was given his diploma 
without further study. He then took charge 
of the books of the lumber firm of William 
Seeley & Co., with which firm he remained 
about three and a half years, leaving there to 
take charge of the books of D. W. Stewart & 
Co., where he remained for seven years. He 
was next bookkeeper for C. Wight & Son, 
with whom he remained until December 1 , 
1879, when he took a similar position with 
J. W. Stoddard & Co. In 1884, when this 
firm was incorporated into the Stoddard Man- 
ufacturing company, Mr. Jones became a stock- 
holder, and in 1886 was elected treasurer of 
the company. 

The Buckeye Building & Loan association 
was organized April 1, 1893, Mr. Jones being 



mi; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



one of the incorporators, and he has ever since 
been one of the directors, and most of the 
time has been treasurer and member of the 
finance committee. 

Mr. Jones was married, in 1869, to Miss 
Luvina McClellan, of Springdale, Hamilton 
county, Ohio, a daughter of James McClellan, 
and to this union one son has been born, Frank 
McClellan Jones, who is a draughtsman at the 
Barney & Smith Car works. Mr. Jones is a 
member of the Park Presbyterian church and 
of Montgomery lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F. 



Ky^ ALTER D. JONES, a prominent 
Mm and successful attorney-at-law of 

mJL^l Dayl m, Ohio, was born at West 
Milton, Miami county, Ohio, Feb- 
ruary 18, 1850. He is a son of Samuel and 
Annie (Jay) Jones, both of whom were natives 
of Ohio. The Jones family came to Ohio 
from Georgia and the Jay family from Mary- 
land. Both families were among the early 
settlers in this state. 

Walter D. Jones spent his younger days 
on a farm in Miami county, and received his 
elementary education in the public schools. 
Later he attended Earlham college at Rich- 
mond, Ind., from the time he was fifteen years 
of age until he was eighteen, and then went 
to Spiceland, Ind., college, where he gradu- 
ated in 1 87 1. He then engaged for three 
years in teaching school in Ohio and Iowa, and 
afterward began reading law in Richmond, 
Ind., with his cousin, Louis D. Stubbs, going 
from that city to Ann Arbor, Mich., entering 
the law department of the university of Mich- 
igan, and graduating there in 1876. His 
graduation from that institution admitted him 
to practice in Michigan, and upon removing to 
Dayton, Ohio, he was admitted to practice in 
this state. He spent about six months in the 
law office of John Howard, who was, from 



1839 to 1878, the year of his death, one of 
the most brilliant and successful lawyers of 
Dayton, a city famous for its able bar. In 
the spring of 1877 Mr. Jones opened an office 
for himself and for some years practiced alone. 
For eight years he was in partnership with 
Charles J. McKee, but owing to the failing 
health of Mr. Jones, the partnership was dis- 
solved. The two lawyers occupied the same 
office, however, for thirteen 3'ears. Mr. Jones' 
office at the present time is at No. 22 East 
Third street. He is well read in the law, has 
clear, safe judgment, and unites with strong 
good sense a quality of humor which has won 
for him a host of friends in both professional 
and social life. 

Mr. Jones is a member of the order of 
Odd Fellows. He was married in 1874 to 
Sina A. Harvey, of Wilmington, Clinton 
county, Ohio. To this marriage there have 
been born eleven children, four sons and seven 
daughters, all of whom are living. Mr. Jones 
and his wife are worthy members of the United 
Brethren church. 



kJ^\ EV. JOHN KAUFMANN, pastor of 
I /«^ Emanuel Evangelical church, Com- 
_P mercial street, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Fluorn, ober amt Oberndorf, 
Wurtemberg, German}', August 13, 1834, a 
son of John George and Anna (Ruoff) Kauf- 
mann, the former of whom died in German}' 
at the age of fifty-nine years, and the latter at 
at the age of seventy. The father was for 
many years mayor of Fluorn in his native 
province, but resigned his office some time be- 
fore his death, being succeeded by his brother, 
through election. 

John Kaufmann received his elementary 
education in his native land and in his native 
tongue, and when twenty years of age came 
to America in 1854, two years after his brother 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



617 



Andrew, who died some thirty years ago in 
Terre Haute, Ind., leaving a family. John 
first located in Marshall, Clark county, 111., 
worked at farming till 1863, at the same time 
acquiring an English education. In 1863 he 
became an exhorter in the Evangelical asso- 
ciation, and was licensed to preach in Septem- 
ber of the same year, after which he served 
the Clay county (Ind.) mission one year; next 
served the mission two years at Bunker Hill, 
Miami county, Ind., and then two years at the 
church in South Bend, Ind., next, two years 
in the First church at Indianapolis, Ind. He 
then officiated at Olney, 111., for three years, 
1 whence he came to Dayton, Ohio, and had a 
charge from 1873 to 1876, during which period 
his present church edifice and parsonage were 
erected. In the last-mentioned year the con- 
ference divided, and Rev. Mr. Kaufmann united 
with the South Indiana conference, and was 
placed in charge of the Marshall circuit, over 
four congregations, and officiated for three 
years; he was then again stationed at Brazil 
and remained a year and four months, when, 
on the death of the presiding elder, Rev. H. L. 
Fisher, of the Olney (111.) district, Mr. Kauf- 
mann was elected his successor. Here he 
served until the convening of the conference, 
when he was re-elected to the Olney district, 
and served for two years — his home during all 
this time being at Marshall, 111. ; he was then 
re-elected to Olney for four years, then to the 
Louisville district, where he served for three 
and a half years. In April, 1893, at Dayton, 
the conferences were reunited and the con- 
solidated body is now known as the Indiana 
conference. By this body Rev. Kaufmann 
was appointed to his present charge. 

The Emanuel Evangelical church was or- 
ganized in 1840, Rev. A. B. Schaefer being 
the first minister. It has always been pros- 
perous, although recently an English mission 
has drawn away thirty-five of its members. 



Its present membership is 226, and its Sun- 
day-school enrollment is 200; its property, in- 
cluding church building and parsonage, is 
valued at $23,500. Rev. Mr. Kaufmann, 
during his incumbency, has done his full share 
toward maintaining the prosperity of the con- 
gregation, and has always been active and 
earnest in his ministerial labors. He has 
served as a member of the general conference 
for five terms, and has be.en a delegate to the 
board of missions and a trustee of the North- 
western college for many years. He is elo- 
quent and fervid, devoted and faithful, has 
everywhere been received with great favor, 
and has left the impress of his piety on every 
charge which has had the good fortune to sit 
under his ministrations. 

Rev. Mr. Kaufmann was married at Mar- 
shall, Clark county, 111., December 31, 1858, 
to Miss Mary Susanna Snyder, a native of 
Allentown, Pa., born September 24, 1836. 
The fruit of this union has been thirteen chil- 
dren, of whom the only one deceased was 
named Gideon, who was killed in a railroad 
accident at the age of twenty years. Two 
sons and two daughters are married, viz: 
Aaron, twin brother of Gideon, a commercial 
traveler of Olney, 111. ; Otto, on the old farm 
in Marshall, 111; Elizabeth, the wife of William 
Voigt, a salesman of Terre Haute, Ind. , and 
Mary, married to Henry Bamesberger, of Mar- 
shall, 111. The other children are named Ed- 
ward William, John Franklin, Samuel, Har- 
mon, Oscar, Orestes, Lillian and Flora. Of 
these, Harmon is a member of the firm of 
Kaufmann & Horner, at Olney, 111; John and 
Samuel are bridge carpenters; Oscar is clerk- 
ing in his brother's store in Olney, 111., and 
Orestes is at home with his parents and his 
sisters, Lillian and Flora. 

In his politics, Rev. Mr. Kaufmann has been 
a warm supporter of the republican party dur- 
ing all his forty-two years' residence in America. 



618 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



lS~\ AVID KEMP, a retired farmer and 
I prominent citizen of Dayton, Ohio, 
/^^J was born in Mad River township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, November 
8, i S 1 6. He is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Herring) Kemp, the former a native of Fred- 
erick county, Md., and the latter of Switzer- 
land. They were the parents of six children, 
three sons and three daughters, five of whom 
are still living, as follows: George W. ; Mar- 
garet; Barbara, wife of William Steele; David, 
and Catherine, wife of Mathias Burrows. 

Joseph Kemp was a farmer by occupation, 
came to Ohio in i 806, with his parents, who 
located in Mad River township, and there Jo- 
seph followed farming until his death, which 
occurred in 1824, when he was but thirty-six 
years old. He served in the war of 181 2 as a 
teamster, and supplied provisions to the troops. 
His wife died in 1861, aged seventy-six years. 
She vvas a member of the United Brethren 
church. 

Ludwig Kemp, the father of Joseph Kemp, 
was of German descent and a native of Mary- 
land. The name in Germany was spelled 
Kempf, but to simplify it the last letter was 
dropped early in the history of the family in 
this country. He removed to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, in 1806, purchased land in Mad 
River township, and lived thereon until his 
death. He and his devoted wife lie side by 
side in the Kemp burying ground. They 
reared a family of five sons and two daughters. 
Mr. Kemp, though of slender build, was of 
strong constitution, and of much refinement in 
his habits and tastes. He was successful in 
the accumulation of property, and at one time 
was quite wealthy, but divided his estate 
among his children, and eventually nearly all 
of it passed into the hands of his grandchildren. 

David Kemp lived on the old farm until he 
was seventeen years of age, and then moved 
into Dayton, for the purpose of learning the 



tailor's trade, which he successfully followed 
for about eighteen years. Then, owing to ill 
health he was obliged to abandon that occupa- 
tion, and, in accordance with the advice of his 
physician, went to California in 1849. He re- 
mained in that state nine years, engaged in 
mining a part of the time, and in this occupa- 
tion accumulated considerable wealth, return- 
ing to Ohio, sound in health and strong as in 
youth. Mr. Kemp has since been engaged in 
superintending his farming operations, though 
not personally engaged in physical labor. His 
farm lies in Mad River township, contains 
sixty-three acres of land, and was purchased 
by him in 1854, while at home on a visit from 
California. 

Mr. Kemp was married November 14, 1867, 
to Miss Catherine Callahan, a native of South 
Carolina, and daughter of William and Sarah 
(Forest) Callahan, of Greenville district, that 
state, but afterward residents of Louisville, 
Ky. No children have been born to this mar- 
riage. Mrs. Kemp is a member of the Baptist 
church, to which denomination her parents be- 
longed. Mr. Kemp became an Odd Fellow in 
1838, and has been a member of the order 
ever since. After his return from California 
he lived on the old homestead farm until his 
marriage in 1867, when he moved to Dayton, 
living on Tecumseh street one year. Then, 
after living on Maple street for a year, he pur- 
chased his present home at No. 201 Bainbridge 
street, where he and his wife have resided for 
the past twenty-six years. Politically Mr. 
Kemp is a stalwart democrat, but has never 
sought nor desired office of any kind. He is 
now one of the oldest residents of Montgomery 
county, being over eighty years of age. He 
and his wife are living in a quiet and happy 
manner, surrounded by numerous friends, and 
enjoying the results of the labors of earlier 
years, and the fullest confidence and esteem of 
all that know them. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



(319 



^yyMLLIAM HUGHEY KEMPER, a 

MM director and the assistant superin- 

\jL^ tendent of the Crawford, McGregor 
& Canby company, of Dayton, and 
superintendent of the company's plant at Gay- 
lord, Otsego county, Mich., was born in In- 
dianapolis, Ind., April 14, 1841. His parents 
were John M. and Elizabeth (Hughey) Kemper, 
the former of whom was a native of Kentucky 
and the latter of Dayton, Ohio, and the only 
daughter of William Hughey, one of the pio- 
neers of that city. John M. Kemper was for 
many years a contractor and builder of Indian- 
apolis, and died in that city in 1878. His 
widow then removed to Dayton to make her 
home with her son, whose name opens this 
biography. 

William Hughey Kemper was reared in In- 
dianapolis, and was educated there in the 
public schools. In 1857 he began working at 
the lastmaker's trade in Indianapolis, and con- 
tinued thus engaged until 1861, when he re- 
sponded to the first call for troops to suppress 
the Rebellion. He became a private soldier 
in the Eleventh Indiana volunteer infantry — 
Gen. Lew Wallace's zouaves. In 1862 he 
enlisted in Gen. Harrison's regiment, the Sev- 
entieth Indiana, with which he served until 
the close of the war. He was in the Georgia 
campaign, marched with Sherman to the sea, 
was at Raleigh, N. C. , when Lee surrendered, 
and participated in the grand review at Wash- 
ington, D. C, at the close of the war. 

The war having come to an end, Mr. 
Kemper returned to Indianapolis and entered 
the employ of the successors to the firm with 
which he had been engaged before his enlist- 
ment. In 1869 he removed to Dayton, taking 
a position with the last-manufacturing firm of 
Crawford & Coffman, the place given him be- 
ing that of foreman of the boot-tree depart- 
ment. Remaining with this firm through all 
its changes, when the name became Crawford, 



McGregor & Canby he became assistant su- 
perintendent, and in July, 1895, was made su- 
perintendent of the Gaylord branch in Michi- 
gan. In March, 1896, when the company was 
incorporated, he became a member of the new 
corporation. 

Mr. Kemper was married in Indianapolis 
in 1 861, to Lizzie M. Connolly, of that city, 
and to this marriage there have been born five 
children, four of whom are still living. These 
are as follows: Albert H., vice-president of 
the Brownell Manufacturing company, of Day- 
ton; William R., with Callender & Patterson, 
of Dayton; Ida E., and John Sanford, ma- 
chinist, with the Brownell Manufacturing com- 
pany. Frank E. died in 1875, m tne ninth 
year of his age. 

Mr. Kemper has always been a successful 
business man, having been steadily promoted 
from one position to another as the result of 
faithful performance of his duty, and of the 
appreciation and esteem of his employers. 



Ky w ^ ALTER S. KIDDER, the assistant 
MM manager and treasurer of the Dr. 

\JL/^ Harter Medicine company, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Urbana, 
Champaign county, Ohio, August 17, 1866, 
was educated in the public schools of that city, 
and in 1879 entered the employ of a grocery 
firm. Three months later he entered a furni- 
ture house to learn upholstering, and at the 
expiration of a year entered the 'office of the 
Indiana, Bloomington & Western Railroad com- 
pany, to learn telegraphy. After three months, 
he was appointed night operator, and was, in 
due course of time, promoted to day operator 
and clerk. In 1882 he accepted the chief 
clerkship of the Nickel Plate and Big Four Rail- 
way companies at Green Springs Junction, and 
in 1883 was assigned as bill clerk to Spring- 
field, Ohio, which position he held until 1887, 



620 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



when the Ohio, Indiana & Western company 
relinquished its business on the Cincinnati, 
Sandusky & Cleveland line. He was then 
made chief clerk of the Cincinnati, Sandusky 
& Cleveland company, at Springfield, which 
position he held from October 10, 1887, until 
May 3, 1888, when he was made chief clerk 
in the auditor's office of the Cincinnati, San- 
dusky & Cleveland railroad, which place he 
held until March, 1890. He then resigned to 
accept a position as manager of the Hayner 
Distilling company, which he held until May 3, 
1894, when he entered upon his present re- 
sponsible office. 

The marriage of Mr. Kidder took place 
August 27, 1889, to Miss Georgianna Hayner. 
Mr. Kidder is affable and courteous, and is rec- 
ognized as a young man of the highest type of 
business capabilities, and this estimation of his 
character is abundantly substantiated by his 
career up to the present time. But it now be- 
comes necessary to make a digression and to 
give a sketch of the lives of the gentlemen who 
stand at the head of the well-known company 
of which Mr. Kidder is the assistant manager 
and treasurer. 

Dr. M. G. Harter was born in Harrison 
county, Ky., in 1S17, of Virginian parents, 
who moved from Rockingham county to Ken- 
tucky in 1795. Jacob D. Harter, the father 
of the doctor, was a volunteer in the war of 
18 1 2, and in 1820 came to Ohio and settled 
in the wilderness of Miami county, in Eliza- 
beth township. He was reared among the 
pioneers and educated in the frontier schools, 
but, as he had always manifested a disposi- 
tion in his youthful days to become a physi- 
cian, he was permitted to prepare himself 
under the preceptorship of a practicing mem- 
ber of the profession for entrance to the uni- 
versity of the city of New York, from the 
medical department of which he was gradu- 
ated, and then returned to Ohio and engaged I 



in active practice. For several years he alter- 
nated his practice with further attendance at 
the best medical colleges in the country, and, 
finally, after settling down to practice, became 
dissatisfied with the formulas of his prede- 
cessors and originated new compounds for the 
cure of the most prevalent disorders, and 
these have since made his name well known. 
These preparations, being in constant demand 
throughout the country on account of their 
efficacy, were at first packed in plain brown 
paper and shipped by his own hands; but the 
demand became so great that he was forced 
to give up his practice and to devote his entire 
attention to the compounding of his remedies. 
This he continued to do at Troy, Ohio, until 
May, 1866, when, in order to avail himself of 
greater shipping advantages by which he could 
reach the remoter parts of the country, he 
removed to Saint Louis, Mo., where he died 
in 1875. I n i895 the business was removed 
to Dayton, where the immense laboratory is 
now located and where ample railroad facili- 
ties for the shipment of preparations to all 
points are at hand. While in Saint Louis, 
Mo., the doctor formed a joint stock company, 
July 4, 1873, with a capital stock of $300,000, 
and to the incorporators this capital netted a 
handsome dividend until the dissolution of the 
company in 1894. 

Samuel K. Harter, brother of Dr. M. G. 
Harter, was born in Miami county, Ohio, in 
1823, and was there reared to manhood on the 
home farm, receiving in the meantime a good 
academical education. In 1846, after leaving 
school, he engaged with J. M. Hart, of Troy, 
in the iron and hardware business under the 
firm name of Hart & Harter, which firm was 
steadily successful for thirty years, and was 
terminated only by the death of the senior 
partner, when Mr. Harter continued the busi- 
ness alone and still conducts it, making a rec- 
ord of half a century in this trade. In 1863, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



621 



Mr. Harter also took an interest in the manu- 
facturing concern of his brother, Dr. M. G. 
Harter, which he still holds. Before the 
death of Mr. Hart, the firm of Hart & Harter 
largely invested in farm lands, which are still 
held by Mr. Harter. He is also a director in 
the Miami county branch of the State bank of 
Ohio, was one of the organizers of the First 
National bank of Troy, and has been a director 
thereof ever since the beginning, being its 
largest stockholder; he was also one of the 
original stockholders in the Dayton & Michigan 
Railroad company; he was one of the prime 
movers in establishing the Troy Carriage com- 
pany, and has been one of its directors ever 
since. For years Mr. Harter was president of 
the Troy board of education, was mayor of 
the city several years, and was also for a long 
time president of the Knoop's Children's home 
of Miami county. He is probably the largest 
landholder in Miami county, and as a business 
man and citizen his name stands to-day with- 
out a blemish. 



aHRISTIAN GOTTLIEB KELLNER, 
proprietor of Kellner's dye works, at 
128 Saint Clair street, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Saxony, Germany, No- 
vember 13, 1850. He is a son of Christian 
Gottlieb and Johanna Christina (Fuchs) Kell- 
ner, to whom there were born eight children, 
seven sons and one daughter, six of whom are 
now living, as follows: Frederick, of Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ; Wilhelm, of Greitz, Germany; 
August, of the same place; Heinrich, of New 
York city; C. Gottlieb; and Hermann, of San 
Francisco, Cal. The eldest and youngest of 
the family, Christian and Paulina, are dead. 

Christian Kellner, the father, was a farmer 
in his native country, served as a soldier in the 
German army, and died in Germany about 



1855. His wife survived him until 1895, and 
died at the age of seventy-four years in the 
old country. 

The paternal grandfather, Johan Kellner, 
was a farmer in Germany, and lived to be 
about seventy-five years of age. The mater- 
nal grandfather, Johan Gottlieb Fuchs, was 
likewise a farmer in Germany, and died in 1879 
aged seventy-eight years. 

Christian Gottlieb Kellner, the subject of 
this sketch, was reared in Germany and there 
received a good education, growing to man- 
hood on his father's farm. When yet a small 
boy he began to learn to print wall paper, and 
to weave and print cloth, and these occupa- 
tions he followed in Germany for many years, 
or until 1873, when he emigrated to the United 
States, landing in New York on the 12th of 
July. Soon afterward he went to Philadelphia, 
and remained there engaged in the same oc- 
cupations for seven years. Since then he 
traveled extensively in the United States, with 
the view of informing himself as to the condi- 
tion of the people of the different sections, and 
as to the climate, etc., of the several states, 
and on his wedding trip, in 1894-5, ne visited 
the Mid-winter fair in California. 

Mr. Kellner arrived in Dayton, June 27, 
1 88 1, and almost immediately purchased the 
dye-house of C. H. Frank. Since then he has 
been continuously in the business, which is 
steadily growing, and is increasing in popular- 
ity as well as in proportions. Mr. Kellner is 
one of the successful and enterprising business 
men of Dayton, and a most excellent citizen. 

Mr. Kellner was married June 9, 1894, to 
Miss Elizabeth Uhrich, daughter of John and 
Rosa (Steiner) Uhrich. To this marriage there 
has been born one child — Henry William. Mr. 
Kellner's business place is in the first hotel 
building ever erected in Dayton. Mr. Kellner 
intends, in 1897, to replace this old building 
with a new and modern structure, which will 



622 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



be better adapted to the necessities of his busi- 
ness, and will be more in keeping with the ap- 
pearance of the city at large. 



at 



TLLIAM M. KINNARD. — Among 
the younger manufacturers # of Day- 
ton, Ohio, few, if any, have had a 
more successful career or attained 
a place of more prominence than William M. 
Kinnard, head of the Kinnard Manufacturing 
company. Mr. Kinnard is a native of the 
Keystone state, having been born in Harris- 
burg, Pa., on August 27, 1857, and is the son 
of John D. and Martha (Brown) Kinnard. 
The boyhood days of Mr. Kinnard were spent 
in a manner common to the average boy of his 
time and surroundings. He attended the pub- 
lic schools until during his fourteenth year, 
and then left school to begin an apprenticeship 
at the printing and bookbinding trade, at which 
he served five years. In November, 1878, 
three months after completing his apprentice- 
ship, Mr. Kinnard left Harrisburg and came to 
Ohio, stopping at Dayton on his way to Cin- 
cinnati, in which latter place he expected to 
find employment at his trade. Being, how- 
ever, in urgent need of employment, as his 
finances were ebbing, he decided to remain 
here, at least temporarily, if he found any- 
thing to do. He secured a place in the Odell 
printing and binding establishment almost im- 
mediately, and a few weeks later, when a 
change in the proprietorship of the business 
was made, the firm becoming that of Odell & 
Mayer, he was made superintendent of the con- 
cern. During the following four years Mr. 
Kinnard's services as superintendent were so 
valuable, and so apparent to his employers 
were his abilities, that, at the end of that 
period, he was offered and accepted a partner- 
ship in the firm. However, while an invoice 
of the plant and stock was being made, pre- 



paratory to the admission of Mr. Kinnard to 
the firm, the senior partner, Mr. Odell, died, 
and the business was consequently terminated. 
Mr. Kinnard then formed the Troup-Kinnard 
company, for the manufacture of blank books 
and stationery, which firm continued with suc- 
cess until the fall of 1887, when it was suc- 
ceeded by the Troup Manufacturing company, 
from which, however, Mr. Kinnard retired, 
selling his interest to the incorporated concern. 
Following this, Mr. Kinnard spent several 
months in the west, recuperating his health, 
which had become somewhat impaired by too 
close application to his duties. 

He returned to active business in the spring 
of 1888, when he, with three other well-known 
gentleman, purchased the interest of J. B. 
Sefton in the Crume & Sefton Manufacturing 
company, of which concern he was made sec- 
retary and treasurer. This position he filled 
until his resignation in the winter of 1893. In 
this year he was one of five organizers and in- 
corporators of the Dayton Autographic & 
Register company, of which he became secre- 
tary, and so continued during the first year of 
its existence. The gentlemen connected with 
Mr. Kinnard in this enterprise were Messrs. 
E. J. Barney, John W. Stoddard, George P. 
Huffman, O. M. Gottschall, W. E. Crume and 
John Kirby, Jr. In 1893 Mr. Kinnard also 
organized and established the Merchants' Sup- 
ply company, which company was absorbed 
in August of the same year by the Carter- 
Crume company. The latter corporation was 
an amalgamation of the Crume & Sefton Co., 
the Merchants Supply Co., the Dayton Auto- 
graphic cSc Register Co., of Dayton, Carter 
& Co., of Toronto, Canada, and Carter &Co., 
Rodswell & Co., and the H. Houseman Art 
Metal Co., all of Niagara Falls, N. Y. This 
company is one of the largest concerns in the 
country, with a capital stock of $1,800,000, 
with head offices at Niagara Falls, N. Y., and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



625 



branch offices at Dayton, Ohio; and with 
plants at Niagara Falls, N. Y. , Dayton, Ohio, 
Toronto, Canada, and Saginaw, Mich. Upon 
the formation of the new concern, Mr. Kin- 
nard was made treasurer of the western de- 
partment and held that office until 1895, when 
he resigned, but continues as a director of the 
company. In February, 1896, he organized 
the Kinnard Manufacturing company, for the 
manufacture of flour sacks and water-proof 
fiber signs, this being now one of the success- 
ful enterprises of the city, and to which he 
devotes the greater portion of his time and 
attention. 

Mr. Kinnard is the inventor and patentee 
of upward of forty patents, all of which he has 
disposed of except his first issue. The career 
of Mr. Kinnard has been a most active one, 
and success has crowned his efforts to a marked 
degree. Still a young man, in the very prime 
of life, he has established a splendid business 
reputation, and is rated among the leading and 
substantial men of a city noted for its conserv- 
ative and practical business men; and all this 
has been accomplished by his own efforts and 
in a comparatively short time. When he came 
to Dayton, in 1878, Mr. Kinnard was possessed 
of no friends in the city, and of small means. 
Not only has he thrived and met with success 
in business, but he has aided very materially 
at the same time in advancing the prosperity 
of his adopted city, and has contributed his 
share toward the development of her enter- 
prises and institutions. His name has been 
connected, as organizer and promoter, with 
several of the leading and prosperous indus- 
tries of the city, to the development of all of 
which his energy, talents and means were given. 
To come into a strange city, without friends or 
means, and, within less than twenty years' 
time, to rise by one's own efforts and ability to 
a position of prominence in the manufacturing 
life of a conservative city like Dayton, to be 



connected at one time or another with so many 
of her leading industries, and to have had a 
guiding hand and interest in them, is an 
achievement of which a man and his friends 
may well be proud. 

Mr. Kinnard was married in Dayton, in 
1883, to Grace, the daughter of Joseph R. 
Gebhart, one of the well-known and useful 
business men of Dayton. To this union one 
son has been born — Joseph Rittner Gebhart 
Kinnard. Mr. Kinnard is a member of the 
Dayton club, of the Y. M. C. A., and of 
the Masonic fraternity. He is an enthusiastic 
lover of all outdoor sports and recreations, es- 
pecially with the gun, and is a member of sev- 
eral outdoor clubs. Personally Mr. Kinnard 
is genial, liberal-minded and progressive, and 
his characteristics and manners are such that 
he has gained a wide circle of friends and 
admiring acquaintances. 



EENRY S. KIMMEL, M. D., of No. 
103 Valley street, Dayton, is a native 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, and was 
born December 3, 1833, a son of 
Michael and Catherine (Armentrout) Kimmel, 
both now deceased. 

His great-grandfather came from Switzer- 
land to America in 1760, settled in York coun- 
ty, Pa. , served gallantly through the Revolu- 
tionary war, and reared a family of eight chil- 
dren, who were named Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, 
Philip, David, Solomon, Michael and Lizzie. 
Of these children, David was the progenitor of 
the Ohio branch of the family, the others hav- 
ing scattered to different parts of the United 
States, and all reaching worthy positions in 
life — the only one, however, so far as known, 
who attained any political prominence being 
Judge Kimmel, of Baltimore, Md., who, beside 
filling his judicial functions with ability, also 
served two terms in congress. 



626 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



David Kimmel, grandfather of Henry S., 
came from Somerset county, Pa., to Ohio in 
the spring of 1817, and settled on a farm six 
miles west of Dayton, where he died, Septem- 
ber 25, 1827, aged eighty-four years, the farm 
falling to the lot of his son Lewis, and later to 
his grandson Lewis, son of Lewis. David 
Kimmel had been twice married, and to his 
first union were born two children, of whom 
but little, if anything, is now known; to his 
second marriage the following-named children 
were born: Susan, who was married to Michael 
Beeghly, and died March 5, 1858; John, who 
was born November 30, 1795, and died Sep- 
tember 10, 1877; Jonas; David, who was born 
August 14, 1S00, and died August 17, 1863; 
Lewis, who died April 22, 1876, in his seventy- 
second year; Hannah, deceased wife of David 
Murray; Michael, father of our subject, was 
born January 10, 18 10, and died October 29, 
1878; and Magdalene, the youngest, was mar- 
ried to Christian Forney, and died January 
25, 1858. The family were all members of 
the Dunkard church. 

Michael Kimmel and his wife, Catherine 
(Armentrout) Kimmel, had born to their mar- 
riage eight children, viz: Henry S., whose 
name opens this sketch; Aaron, a farmer of 
Montgomery county, Ohio; Mary, wife cf B. 
C. Jackson, of Darke county; George, of Mont- 
gomery county; Sarah, wife of B. F. Keller, of 
Darke county; Michael C. , deceased; David, 
deceased; and Susan, wife of John Shank, of 
Montgomery county. 

Dr. Henry S. Kimmel, after passing through 
the usual preliminary course of literary in- 
struction, began reading medicine, in 1858, 
with Dr. J. L. Gephart, of Liberty, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, and, after due prepara- 
tion, entered the Cincinnati college of Medicine 
and Surgery, from which he graduated with 
the degree of M. D., and at once entered upon 
the practice of his profession in Brookville, 



Montgomery county. He then removed to 
Liberty, in the same county, and in the latter 
town conducted a store, and was also a justice 
of the peace and township treasurer for a num- 
ber of years. In 1882 he came to Dayton, and 
here, in addition to attending to his duties as 
a practitioner of medicine, he also conducts a 
successful drug business. 

Politically Dr. Kimmel is a stalwart repub- 
lican, and in his fraternal professional associa- 
tion is a member of the Ohio Medical and 
Montgomery county Medical societies, while 
in his secret societary connection he is an Odd 
Fellow. He is the husband of Miss Mary 
King, a native of Germantown, Montgomery 
county, whom he married June n, 1861, the 
union resulting in the birth of three children: 
Delia, now the widow of I. T. Holt; Annie, 
wife of Rev. J. W. Winder, a Presbyterian 
minister of Galesville, Wis. ; and Vesta, wife 
of J. Orville Clemens. Dr. Kimmel has been 
very successful in his profession, having been 
thoroughly educated therein, and is sincerely 
esteemed as a citizen. 



aHARLES S. KING, dealer in coal, 
feed, lime, etc., of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Harrison township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, February 12, 1851, 
and is a son of William B. and Louisa P. (Spin- 
ning) King. The father, William B. , was born 
in 1822, in what is now a portion of the city 
of Dayton, and the mother, two years his jun- 
ior, is also a native of Montgomery county. 
The grandparents of Charles S. King, on both 
sides, were early settlers of this section of 
Ohio, and the great-grandfather, King, was one 
of the first settlers in the territory now em- 
braced within the limits of Dayton. 

To William B. King and wife have been 
i born nine children, of whom five only are now 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



627 



living, viz: Jennie, wife of E. A. Townley, 
who is engaged in mercantile business in Terre 
Haute, Ind. ; Charles S., whose name opens 
this biography; Elizabeth, who is still unmar- 
ried and resides with her parents; Susan, who 
is married to Charles Allen, a farmer and gar- 
dener, residing in Springdale, Ohio; and Lou- 
isa (Mrs. William Day), of Dayton. Of the 
four deceased, Mary, Herbert and Allie died in 
childhood, and Wilmer Gurley died in Dayton 
in 1885. 

Charles S. King passed the earlier part of 
his life on his father's farm in Harrison town- 
ship, and was educated in the common schools. 
While still quite young he was employed to as- 
sist in constructing the Home avenue railroad, 
and six months after its completion was ap- 
pointed a conductor and then superintendent, 
continuing in this capacity for over seventeen 
years. In 1888 he engaged in the coal trade, 
and in 1890 established his present business, 
which is now quite extensive. 

November 5, 1874, Mr. King was united 
in marriage, at the national military home, 
with Miss Anna J. Miller, daughter of Mrs. E. 
L. Miller, matron of that institution. Mrs. 
Miller was connected with the United States 
sanitary commission during the Civil war and 
has largely devoted her life, throughout that 
struggle and since its close, to the care and 
comfort of the brave men who defended the 
Union. Miss Miller, now Mrs. King, was edu- 
cated in Philadelphia, Pa., Chicago, 111., 
Green Bay, Wis., and Columbus, Ohio. To 
th^ union of Mr. and Mrs. King have been 
born two sons and two daughters, who are, 
Carl Spinning, Lloyd Stanley, Emma Louise 
and Marguerite. Mr. and Mrs. King are mem- 
bers of the Fourth Presbyterian church, and 
have reared their children in the same simple, 
but rigid, religious faith. Mr. King is a dea- 
con and trustee of this congregation and his 
father, William B. King, is an elder in the 



same church. In politics Mr. King is a re- 
publican, but is not aggressive as a party man 
and has never been an office seeker. 

Of the children of Mr. and Mrs. King, the 
eldest, Carl, has until recently been an assist- 
ant to his father in his business. Lloyd, the 
second born, is a pharmaceutist and is em- 
ployed by a drug firm of Dayton; the elder 
daughter is a student in one of the city schools, 
and the younger daughter is now a child of 
four years. The King family have for several 
generations been important factors in the 
development of the material interests and the 
social life of Dayton, and the name is espe- 
cially identified with the growth and improve- 
ment of that section of the city lying west of 
the Miami river. 



EENRY KLEPINGER, proprietor of 
the Dayton Leather & Collar com- 
pany, the business of which is located 
on Second street, resides in Madison 
township on a farm, and is considered one of 
the solid men of Montgomery county. He 
succeeded his son Charles in the enterprise in 
which he is now engaged, and which was es- 
tablished in 1853. It is one of the most pros- 
perous concerns in the city of Dayton, being 
employed in the manufacture of horse collars, 
leather nets and leather specialties of numerous 
kinds, which find a market throughout the 
central and southern states. This business is 
under the management of Charles Klepinger, 
son of Henry Klepinger, who was born on the 
home place in Madison township, December 
16, 1865. He received his preliminary educa- 
tion in the public schools of Dayton, and later 
took a course of study in the Miami Commer- 
cial college, remaining at home until he was 
twenty years of age. Then accepting a po- 
sition as bookkeeper with Claude M. Mitchell, 
he served in that capacity for six years, after 



628 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



which, in company with George K. Hill, he 
succeeded to the business of Mr. Mitchell, then 
on Second street, and which consisted of the 
manufacture of collars. These two gentlemen 
continued as partners until January i, 1895, 
when Charles Klepinger took the entire busi- 
ness, and in August, 1895, it was removed to 
the present location, Charles having then 
been succeeded by his father, Henry Klep- 
inger, as owner of the establishment. 

Charles Klepinger was married October 3, 
1893, to Miss Etta May Anderson, of Dayton, 
and a daughter of J. I. Anderson. They have 
one child, Edith M., and reside at No. 52 
McOwen street, Dayton, Ohio. They are 
members of the United Brethren church, and 
Mr. Klepinger is one of the popular and pro- 
gressive young men of the city of Dayton, and 
the manager of one of its most successful 
commercial industries. 



^^EORGE MONROE LEOPOLD, a 
■ ^\ leading member of the Dayton bar 
^L^J and member of the Ohio legislature, 
representing Montgomery county, was 
born August 22, 1864, at the little town of 
Trotwood, in Montgomery county, Ohio. His 
parents are Charles W. and Lucretia (Lutz) 
Leopold, both natives of the Shenandoah val- 
ley, Virginia. They came to Ohio in 1863, 
locating in Montgomery county, and have since 
resided here. 

The paternal grandfather of Mr. Leopold 
was born either in Virginia or North Carolina, 
his people having been North Carolinians. He 
was educated for the ministry, but, following 
the death of his wife, whom he had married in 
Maryland, he abandoned the ministry and 
went to the gold fields of the west, where he 
resided until his death. The maternal grand- 
father of our subject was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, his family being Pennsylvania Dutch. 



From Pennsylvania he removed into the Old 
Dominion. 

George M. Leopold spent his boyhood days 
in Perry township, Montgomery county, and 
attended the country public schools, being in 
school, generally, only a few months in each 
year until he reached the age of thirteen, when 
he was able to provide himself with books and 
other necessaries, and attended school more 
regularly. He continued in school until he 
reached his seventeenth year, when he secured 
a license and a country school and began 
teaching, which he continued for seven years. 
During that period he attended the normal 
school several summers, and later read law 
with S. H. Carr as his preceptor. In 1891 he 
came to Dayton and began reading law regu- 
larly in the office of Mr. Carr, and in June, 
1892, was admitted to the bar. He at once 
entered the law office of Judge C. W. Dustin 
as an assistant to that gentleman, and so con- 
tinued for nearly two years. He then formed 
a partnership with W. G. Powell, under the 
name of Leopold & Powell. This firm is now 
prominent among the younger members of the 
local bar. 

In the spring of 1895 Mr. Leopold became 
a candidate at the county republican primary 
election for the nomination of representative 
in the Ohio legislature, in which two members 
were seeking renominations, and Mr. Leopold 
was successful. The contest was an earnest 
one and was carried on night and day from the 
beginning until the end, and the fact that Mr. 
Leopold was a new man in the field, and with- 
out experience as a candidate, made his suc- 
cess quite an achievement, and one particularly 
pleasing to himself and his friends. At the 
ensuing election he led the legislative ticket, 
another noteworthy fact, as he was practically 
unknown in the county, save in a few town- 
ships, previous to the primaries. In the legis- 
lature Mr. Leopold was assigned to the fol- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



631 



lowing committees: Railroad and telegraph, 
elections, fish culture and game, and claims. 
During the session of 1896, in the contested 
election case, by which Charles O. Davis, of 
Franklin county, was unseated, Mr. Leopold 
made the principal argument for the committee 
on elections, in an address which gained him 
quite a reputation, and from that time on he 
was prominent throughout the session, taking 
part in most of the debates on the floor. Mr. 
Leopold has taken part in political campaigns 
as a stumper since he was twenty-one years of 
age. During the heated campaign of 1896 he 
made numerous addresses, both in Montgom- 
ery and other counties, his work on the stump 
being very effective, as he made a careful and 
thorough study of both the money and tariff 
questions. As an attorney Mr. Leopold has 
been very successful. For several years he 
has been quite prominent in fraternal circles. 
He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
Knights and Ladies of Honor, the Ancient 
Essenics, Heptasophs, Foresters, Royal Fores- 
ters and Robin Hood. He is deputy supreme 
chief ranger of the Independent Order of For- 
esters and supreme secretary of the Ancient 
Order of Robin Hood. 

On July 12, 1888, Mr. Leopold was mar- 
ried to Hattie, the daughter of Joseph and 
Mary Baker, of Louisburg, Preble county, 
Ohio, and to this union the following children 
have been born: Joseph F., Robert B. and 
Dorothea. 



EENRY KISSINGER, superintendent 
of the Free Public Employment 
bureau of Dayton, is a native of this 
city; within half a block of the pres- 
ent location of his business office is the place 
of his birth, which occurred December 21, 
1844. He is a son of the late Henry and 
Permelia (Slaight) Kissinger, his father having 



been born in Franklin county, Pa., in the year 
1805, and his mother at Trenton, N. J., five 
years later. In the year 1825, the father 
came to this city and established himself in a 
business that was to continue for more than 
fifty years. He was a merchant tailor, and 
had a long and honorable career, both as a 
business man and as a citizen and neighbor. 
The mother came overland to Dayton when a 
child of only two years, and grew to young 
womanhood in this city, where in due time she 
was married. Both father and mother were 
closely identified with all the interests of early 
Dayton, being among its older settlers, and 
they had many an interesting story to tell of 
the trials and difficulties that befell the new 
comers who were laboring to build a great 
city in what was then largely a rugged wilder- 
ness. Their family consisted of five sons and 
two daughters, all but one of whom are now 
living: Charles H., the eldest son, is a resi- 
dent of Dayton. He was a soldier in the 
Union army, enlisting in the First Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, for three months, and afterward 
serving a year in another regiment from this 
state. Samuel died when sixteen years of age, 
in 1855; Lucy A., wife of John Black, has a 
pleasant home in Marshalltown, Iowa; Henry 
was the fourth child in this family, and Thomas 
E., the fifth, is a machinist at Buchanan, 
Mich. ; Permelia, bearing her mother's name, 
is a teacher in the city public schools, while 
Alexander B., the youngest son, is a watch- 
man in the city. The father was called above 
March 31,1 870, his wife surviving him about 
twelve years. 

Mr. Kissinger, the subject of this writing, 
grew to manhood in this city, receiving such 
educational advantages as the city schools af- 
forded, and had begun life for himself as ap- 
prentice at the tinner's trade, when the call of 
his country took him to the battle front, the 
date of his enlistment being August 7, 1862, 



632 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



when he was enrolled as a member of com- 
pany B, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry. 
With this organization he became a part of the 
army of the Cumberland under the command 
of Gen. Rosecrans, and was in the great bat- 
tles of Stone River, Liberty Gap, Chicka- 
mauga, and Missionary Ridge. Here he re- 
ceived a disabling wound, and was under a 
long and painful treatment in the hospital at 
Chattanooga. He returned to the front, but 
was not thought fit for active service, and was 
detailed for light duty, and thus completed his 
term of enlistment, being mustered out at the 
close of the war, July 17, 1865. 

With the dying out of the storm of war, 
Henry returned to his interrupted apprentice- 
ship, and finished up his engagement, thor- 
oughly mastering the tinner's trade; but after 
learning it, did not see fit to follow it. He 
found a desirable opportunity in the stove 
business, which he pursued for a time. Greer 
& King, largely engaged in the stove foundry 
trade, desired his services, and made him such 
offers that he entered their employment and 
remained with them for more than fifteen 
years. He left them to accept the position of 
assistant superintendent of carriers in the 
Dayton post-office. A change of administra- 
tion threw him out of office before he had com- 
pleted quite three years of service, and he en- 
tered the trunk factor}' of E. B. Lyon, re- 
maining there for a period of four years. For 
one year he was guard in the city work house; 
after which he was appointed by Gov. McKin- 
ley to his present position, and was re-appoint- 
ed by Gov. Bushnell, and now has served about 
four years. The office was created for the 
purpose of finding employment for the vast 
number of men who have in recent years been 
thrown out of the ranks of bread-winners, and 
are unable of themselves to find labor, and 
cannot afford the expense attending an ordi- 
nary private bureau, or " intelligence office.'' 



Mr. Kissinger is one of five men holding this 
position in the state of Ohio, the others being 
located at Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland 
and Toledo. Since this office was instituted, 
April 28, 1890, over 25,000 persons have re- 
ceived material aid through it in finding em- 
ployment. 

Mr. Kissinger was married October 30, 
1867, to Miss Elizabeth Waymire, a native of 
Dayton and a daughter of Daniel Waymire, 
long a prominent contractor in this city. She 
was reared and educated in the Gem City, 
and took a prominent part in social and church 
activities, having been especially concerned in 
the temperance reform and in all city charities. 
She was a member of the Third street Presby- 
terian church from her twelfth year, and was 
also a charter member of the Old Guard, W. 
R. O, in which she always took great interest. 
Her husband and children and a wide circle of 
friends mourn her untimely death, which oc- 
curred November 30, 1894. She was the 
mother of four children, of whom the eldest, 
Marianna, is the wife of W. H. Russell, of this 
city; Charles William is engaged in a city car- 
pet store; Walter Conner is also in the city, a 
machinist in the* Cash Register factory; and 
Harry Wood is traveling in the west. 

Mr. Kissinger has been an active and in- 
fluential member of the Grand Army from the 
date of its organization. He has rendered 
active assistance in the establishment of two 
posts, arid holds his membership at present 
with the Old Guard post in Dayton, of which 
he is past post commander. He is a familar 
figure at the national encampments, and on 
several occasions has served on the national 
staff as aid-de-camp. In 1895 he was elected 
senior vice-commander of department of Ohio, 
and, though not a candidate for the office, re- 
ceived a very complimentary vote for depart- 
ment commander in 1896. For the last twelve 
years he has been prominently associated with 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



633 



all department affairs of the Grand Army, and 
is now a member of the council of administra- 
tion. He is a member of the order of Essenic 
Knights, a social organization in Dayton. Po- 
litically he works with the republican party, 
and has always been active and strenuous in 
advocating its principles. The prominent po- 
sitions he has held in the Grand Army organi- 
zation entitle him to bear the honorary title of 
colonel. The serious injuries that he received 
in the war, which are noted above, have put 
him on the pension list, as one deserving well 
of his country. 



<*S~\ OBERT EVERETT KLINE, sur- 
I /^ veyor of Montgomery county, was 
J . P born in Miamisburg, in that county, 
February 17, 1868, and is a son of 
John H. and Mattie (Stanfield) Kline, both of 
whom are still living. The former was born 
in Pennsylvania and the latter in Greene 
count}', Ohio, her family being quite promi- 
nent there. Her uncle, Isaac M. Barret, was 
a state senator for several years. Her brother, 
Samuel Stanfield, is a surveyor, as were also 
his uncle and his grandfather. Four children 
of John H. Kline and wife are living: Charles, 
a student at the Ohio State university; Wal- 
ter, a student at the college of Physicians and 
Surgeons, New York city; Robert Everett and 
Hubert, a student in the Steele high school at 
Dayton. 

Robert Everett Kline passed his boyhood 
and received his early education at Salem, 
Montgomery county. Having passed success- 
fully through a high-school course of study, he 
began teaching school in 1886, and taught one 
year. In 1887 he entered Otterbein univer- 
sity and was graduated from this institution in 
1892, with the degree of bachelor of arts. In 
1893 he entered Harvard college, having been 



granted a scholarship for excellent work pre- 
viously done at Otterbein. After one year's 
study at Harvard he was graduated with hon- 
ors with the degree of bachelor of science, 
civil engineering having been his principal 
study while there. From 1889 down to the 
present time (1897), he has been continuously 
occupied in his profession, that of civil engi- 
neering, showing his proficiency and skill on 
many occasions. One of these was while he 
was yet at Otterbein, when he made a com- 
plete plat of Westerville. By means of work 
done during vacations, young Kline earned suf- 
ficient to pay his expenses in college. 

Immediately upon graduation he was em- 
ployed as special engineer in the construction 
of sewers in Dayton, having charge of the con- 
struction of the sanitary and storm sewer sys- 
tems of the city. Upon the completion of this 
work he was called to Hamilton to take charge 
of the construction of the sewer system of that 
city, and while engaged in Hamilton became 
a candidate for the office of surveyor of Mont- 
gomery county. His canvass for the nomina- 
tion was a remarkable one, he securing the 
nomination over three opponents, and by a 
majority of 250 over all. At the election he 
received a majority of 1,600 and took posses- 
sion of the office in September, 1895, the term 
being for three years. 

Mr. Kline was married June 4, 1895, to 
Agnes L. Lyon, a daughter of Calvin H. Lyon, 
a member of the firm of McHose & Lyon, of 
Dayton. Mr. Kline is a member of the camp 
of Sons of Veterans, of Dayton, his father hav- 
ing served in the army of the Union as a pri- 
vate soldier in company K, Second regiment, 
O. V. I., for three years, and then for a short 
time in company B, One Hundred and Eighty- 
fourth regiment, O. V. I. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Foresters, of the American Me- 
chanics, and of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. 
Kline's career has been, for so young a man, 



634 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



very creditable and somewhat remarkable, and 
bids fair to be in the future one of unusual 
brilliancy and success. 



>t-»OSHUA R. McCALLY, M. D., physi- 
m cian and surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, was 
(% 1 born in Auglaize county, Ohio, August 
15, 1863. He is a son of Albert and 
Sarah (Brackney) McCally, both of whom are 
now deceased. The family is of Irish and 
English descent, and is a numerous one in the 
central states of the Union. Albert McCally, 
the father of Dr. McCally, was a teacher and 
an agriculturist during his lifetime. He was a 
Methodist in religion, and quite active in poli- 
tics as a republican. He served in the army 
of the Union as sergeant for one year, toward 
the close of the war. His educational labors 
were performed principally in graded schools, 
in which he was unusually successful. He 
and his wife reared a family of six children, as 
follows : Lydia, wife of Frank Idle, of Au- 
glaize county, Ohio; Marco, a farmer of Shelby 
county, Ohio; Joshua R. ; Lyman, an insurance 
agent, with residence in Dayton ; Charles, a 
teacher in the schools of Wapakoneta, Ohio, 
and Gilbert, a student at Otterbein university, 
at Westerville, Ohio. The mother of these 
children died, and the father married a second 
time, by his second marriage having three 
children, as follows: Curtis, a telegraph opera- 
tor; Clifford, a student at Ohio Wesleyan uni- 
versity, and Homer, living at home. 

Joshua R. McCally, the subject of this 
sketch, was educated in the public schools, 
and afterward in the normal school of Valpar- 
aiso. Ind., and was in attendance for two terms 
at the Ohio Wesleyan university, at Dela- 
ware. Having secured a good education, he 
taught school for seven years. He began 
reading medicine while in attendance at the 
Delaware university, his preceptor being Dr. 



A. P. Van Trump, of Saint John's, Auglaize 
county, Ohio. Afterward he attended the 
Eclectic Medical institute at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
graduating in the spring of 1890. Immediate- 
ly afterward he located in Uniopolis, Auglaize 
county, Ohio, and remained there for three 
years, after which he removed to Dayton, 
Ohio, in July, 1893. Here he has established 
himself in a lucrative practice, and is one of 
the progressive and rising young physicians of 
the Gem City of Ohio. He is a member in good 
standing of Hamer lodge, No. 167, F. & A. M. 
On September 23, 1886, he was married to 
Miss Nannie Gnagi, a daughter of John and 
Susannah Gnagi, and to this marriage there 
have been born two children, Grace and Ward. 
Dr. and Mrs. McCally are members of the 
United Brethren church, active in religious 
work, and highly esteemed as members of 
society circles in Dayton. 



@EORGE C. LAUTENSCHLAGER, 
member of the Dayton city council 
from the Third ward, and who is one 
of the leading and best known citi- 
zens of North Dayton, was born in Dayton, 
March 17, 1862. His parents were George J. 
and Catherine (Fromm) Lautenschlager, both 
of whom were born in Germany. They emi- 
grated to the United States in 1855 and 1856 
respectively, came direct to Dayton and were 
married in this city, where Mr. Lautenschla- 
ger was engaged in the furniture business for 
about fifteen years. He was a well known 
and respected citizen, and died in April, 1884, 
in his forty-sixth year. His widow survives 
him, and is now living in Dayton. 

George C. Lautenschlager was reared in 
Dayton and was educated in the public schools 
of that city. At the age of sixteen years he 
began his business life as a clerk in a drug 
store. In 1881 he went to Cincinnati and 








£*. Ao> c(/a^^ 



^6£^>y^ 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



637 



took a course in the Pharmaceutical college, 
and returning to Dayton he opened and con- 
ducted a pharmacy on the corner of Brown 
and Oak streets. In 1892 he located in North 
Dayton and opened a drug store and phar- 
macy, and in June, 1S94, he removed to his 
present location, at No. 226 Valley street, his 
being the leading drug store in North Dayton. 
Mr. Lautenschlager was married, Novem- 
ber 14, 1883, to Augusta Roemhildt, who was 
born in Dayton, and is a daughter of Bern- 
hardt Roemhildt, a music dealer of this city. 
To this marriage there have been born three 
children: Harry, Thurman and Bessie. Mr. 
Lautenschlager has always been interested in 
political matters, and has taken an active part 
therein as a democrat for several years. In the 
spring of 1895 he was nominated for the office 
of councilman from the Third ward and was 
elected for a term of two years. Fraternally 
he is a member of the National Union, and also 
of the Jackson club, a political organization 
named in honor of Andrew Jackson. 



m. 



'ILLIAM KUNTZ, engaged in the 
grocery business at No. 1405 East 
Third street, Dayton, was born 
about one-half mile north of the 
city, in Mad River township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, March 28, 1866. 

Joseph Kuntz, father of William, was born 
in Alsace, France, February 17, 1S32,' came 
to the United States before he was twenty 
years of age, and settled in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he had friends, and went to 
work at farming. October 7, 1855, he mar- 
ried Magdalene Wolf, a native of Germany, 
born July 16, 1834, who came to America 
about the same year her husband reached this 
country, and for two years lived in Cincinnati, 
whence she came to Dayton, where the two 

were shortly afterward married, the result 
22 



being the birth of ten children, viz: John, 
Joseph, Maggie, Katie, George, William, Frank, 
Magdalene, Mary and Clara, all living in Mont- 
gomery county, and all married excepting the 
youngest. After marrying, Mr. Kuntz pur- 
chased twenty-seven acres of land and began 
gardening, afterward adding a twelve-acre 
tract, situated on the city corporation line, and 
on which were two dwellings and a store. Mr. 
Kuntz now also owns several houses within the 
city limits, and is a substantial citizen. In 
politics he is a stalwart democrat, and has held 
the office of supervisor of Mad River township. 
In religion, he and his wife are Roman Cath- 
olics, and are members of the Holy Rosary 
congregation. 

William Kuntz was reared on his father's 
homestead and was educated in the parochial 
schools. November 13, 1888, Mr. Kuntz mar- 
ried Miss Annie G. Kinzig, who was born in 
Mad River township in October, 1868, a daugh- 
ter of Valentine Kinzig, a native of Germany, 
now residing in Dayton and in business as a 
butcher. Mr. and Mrs. Kuntz are now the 
parents of two children — Victor, born Decem- 
ber 4, 1889, and Leona, born December 29, 
1893. Upon marrying, Mr. Kuntz settled in 
Dayton and opened a retail grocery store at 
No. 1 42 1 East Third street, remained there 
three years, and then purchased the property 
at the corner of East Third and Beckel streets, 
converted the dwelling thereon into a combined 
dwelling and store, and has been doing a suc- 
cessful business ever since. 

Mr. Kuntz is a member of the Catholic 
Knights of Saint John, commandery No. 104, 
was formerly paymaster of the Seventh battal- 
ion and also filled some minor offices, and since 
January 30, 1896, has been major of the Third 
Ohio regiment of the order, which was organ- 
ized at that date. As an indication of the es- 
teem in which Mr. Kuntz is held, it may be 
related, that, during the national convention 



r,38 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of the Catholic Knights of Saint John, held at 
Dayton, in June, 1896, a Dayton merchant 
offered a handsome gold-mounted sword and 
belt, to be voted to the most popular sir 
knight in Dayton. In this contest, 5,885 bal- 
lots were cast for Mr. Kuntz — the next highest 
vote being 4,464, and Mr. Kuntz carried off 
the prize. Commandery No. 104, the first 
Catholic uniform organization to be founded 
in the United States, celebrated its twenty- 
fifth anniversary April 24, 1896, and of its 
banquet Mr. Kuntz had the sole supervision. 
He has also represented the order as its dele- 
gate to its national conventions at Columbus, 
Ohio; Fort Wayne, Ind. ; Toronto, Can. ; Pitts- 
burg, Pa.; Buffalo, N. Y. ; Evansville, Ind., 
and Dayton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Kuntz are 
members of the Holy Trinity Catholic congre- 
gation, and both are greatly respected within 
and without the pale of their church. 



@EORGE F. KRUG, the well known 
and popular grocer, at Nos. 28 and 
30 South Main street, Dayton, has 
been a resident of the city since 1853, 
having been born in Minster, Ohio, a son of 
George and Barbara (Ruse) Krug, both natives 
of Germany. 

George Krug, the elder, was eighteen years 
of age when he came to America with his par- 
ents and their family, landing at Baltimore, 
Md. , whence he and his brother walked to 
Minster, Ohio, having in their possession a cap- 
ital of $3 at the time of their departure, and at 
the time of their arrival in Minster being still 
the possessors of $2. The remainder of the 
family came by stage and boat as far as Cin- 
cinnati, and thence they walked to Minster, 
where the father secured a small tract of land 
in the woods, on which he erected a small 
dwelling. The elder sons found work upon 
the construction of the Erie canal and the 



Dayton & Springfield pike. George next went 
to Cincinnati, near which city he was em- 
ployed as a gardener for several years, and for a 
few years longer carried on the same business 
on his own account. In 1853 he came to 
Dayton and bought a farm of 120 acres on 
the Wolf creek road, where he engaged in 
farming and gardening until 1870, when he 
purchased property in the city. Here he re- 
sided in retirement until his death, in 1876, at 
the age of sixty years, in the faith of the 
Roman Catholic church. His wife survived 
until 1888, when she died, in the same faith, at 
the age of sixty-three years. To George Krug 
and wife were born eight children, viz: Mary, 
now widow of L. H. Miller, of Indianapolis, 
Ind.; John H., a dairyman, on the old home- 
stead; Carrie, deceased; Frank L. , of Dayton; 
George F., whose name opens this biography; 
Elizabeth; Clara, who died in a convent, and 
Barbara, a nun, at Oldenburg, Franklin 
county, Ind. 

George F. Krug was reared on the nome 
farm and was educated chiefly in the parochial 
schools of his diocese. At the age of twenty 
years he began clerking in a grocery store in 
Dayton, and held his position for eight years, 
when, in 1878, he opened business on his own 
account at his present stand, but at that time 
occupied but a single room. By strict atten- 
tion to the wants of his customers and by an 
intelligent devotion to the details of his busi- 
ness, he was able, in 1883, to purchase the 
adjoining room and to throw the two rooms 
into one. This grocery he has made one of 
the best in Dayton, and carries a full line of 
staple and fancy goods, including baker's stock 
and confectionery, making a success seldom 
achieved in so short a time. 

The marriage of Mr. Krug took place in 
1877, with Miss Tillie Stoffel, daughter of 
George Stoffel, this unoin resulting in the birth 
of three children, of whom George A. and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



639 



Albert L. are still living, and Marie is de- 
ceased. The parents are devout members of 
the Roman Catholic church, and have a de- 
lightful residence at No. 414 South Ludlow 
street. Mr. Krug deservedly stands prominent 
among the successful young men, of whom 
Dayton boasts so many in the avenues of trade. 



jAR. OSMER W. LOUNSBURY, Jr., 
I physician and surgeon, of No. 135 
/^J West Fifth street, Dayton, Ohio, is 
a native of New York city, and was 
born September 1, 1867, a son of Osmer W. 
Lounsbury, Sr. , who is also a physician and is 
now practicing in Wyoming, Ohio. 

Dr. Osmer W. Lounsbury, Sr. , was edu- 
cated to his profession in the Cleveland Homeo- 
pathic college, and also graduated from the 
Pulte Medical college of Cincinnati, in which 
institution he subsequently held the chair of 
materia medica for five years; he practiced for 
two years in Dayton, then moved to Wyoming, 
where he has a large general medical practice, 
his experience extending through a period of 
over twenty-seven years. He is a member of 
the state and local medical societies, and en- 
joys high standing in the fraternity as well as 
with the public. A native of Connecticut, he 
married Miss Lydia E. Hotchkiss, who was 
born in the same state, and to their marriage 
have been born four children. 

Dr. Osmer W. Lounsbury, Jr., the subject 
of this memoir, was educated in childhood in 
the high school of Cincinnati, Ohio; he studied 
medicine with his father and was graduated 
from Pulte Medical college with the class of 
1890, having studied five years in that well- 
known medical institute, and acquiring a thor- 
ough preparatory knowledge of his profession. 
Upon graduating, he first practiced in Dayton 
for about eighteen months, then moved to 
Dublin, Ind., where he passed another year in 



practice, thence moved to Eaton, Ohio, where 
he established a satisfactory practice, and 
where his skill was fully recognized. In No- 
vember, 1895, ne came to Dayton, where he 
has since resided. He is a member of the 
Montgomery county Medical association and 
of the Hahnemann Homeopathic Medical so- 
ciety, of Cincinnati, to both of which he has 
contributed a number of valuable papers on 
medical jurisprudence. 

The doctor's marriage took place in 1889, 
in Dayton, to Miss Sarah B. Lyon, daughter 
of ex-Postmaster E. B. Lyon. He and his 
wife are members of the Baptist church, and 
in politics the doctor is a republican. He was 
selected, while at Eaton, to fill the position of 
physician to the county infirmary, and also to 
the children's home. Dr. Lounsbury is a valu- 
able acquisition to the medical profession of 
Dayton, and has found a firm foothold in his 
practice, as well as in the esteem of the best 
citizens of the Gem City. 



>Y*UDGE JOHN W. KREITZER, ex- 
■ judge of the Montgomery county pro- 
(% J bate court, and a prominent attorney of 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Jackson 
township, this county, on January 17, 1852. 
His early life was spent on the farm in what 
might be well termed a fight for existence, 
as he was very poor. Early education was out 
of the question, and it was not until after he was 
nineteen years of age and had taken upon him- 
self the responsibilities of life by marrying, 
that he began a regular course in the common 
schools. This was at Farmersville, whither 
he removed after his marriage, and it was in 
the public schools of that village that he 
prepared himself for teaching. He taught 
common school for eight years, and later 
studied law in the office of Craighead & Craig- 
head, of Dayton. He was admitted to the bar 



640 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in October, 1888, and at once began active 
practice, meeting with early and continued 
success. Judge Kreitzer is a democrat in poli- 
tics, and has been quite prominent in the coun- 
cils of that party for several years. While 
residing in Jackson township he was elected to 
the office of justice of the peace, an office he 
held for ten years, and was also township 
clerk for seven years and assessor for five years. 
In 1S90 he was the nominee of his party 
for probate judge, and was successful at the 
general election of that year. His service as 
judge of the probate court was marked by 
ability and devotion to duty, giving entire 
satisfaction to the public and to his friends 
and fellow-attorneys. His term expired in 
1895, since when he has given all his time 
and attention to the practice of his profession. 
He was married, in 1871, to Miss Emma Pof- 
fenbarger, and to their union four children 
have been born, as follows: Oscar, Dorsey, 
Herbert and Pearl. Judge Kreitzer is a master 
Mason. 



SICHARD J. McCARTY, the leading 
patent attorney of Dayton, was born 
in Augusta, Ga., January 24, 1852. 
His father, Jeremiah McCarty, was a 
native of Ireland, came to the United States 
about 1 8 12, and served all through the Black 
Hawk and Seminole wars. Subsequently he 
was a soldier in the Mexican war and afterward 
located in Baltimore, Md., and in Washington, 
D. C, holding a position in the ordnance de- 
partment of the government. In 1 848 he was 
sent to Augusta, Ga. , and remained a resident 
of that state up to and during the war of the 
Rebellion, his death occurring during the last 
year of the great conflict. 

Richard J. McCarty was reared in Georgia. 
His education was obtained in the public 
schools of that state. For a number of years 



he was connected with the Augusta Chronicle, 
and in 1874 removed to Washington, D. C, 
and was employed about the capital. During 
the time he was thus engaged he began the 
study of law, the first copy of Blackstone he 
ever read having been presented to him b}' the 
Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, known to his- 
tory as the vice-president of the southern Con- 
federacy. It was, in fact, upon the advice of 
Mr. Stephens that Mr. McCarty determined 
the choice of his profession. Subsequently he 
removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he com- 
pleted his legal studies, graduating from Wash- 
ington university with the degree of LL. B. 
He began the practice of the law in St. Louis, 
remaining there about three years, when he 
removed to Baltimore, Md. In 1883 he took 
up the patent law practice, in Baltimore and 
Washington, and has since then confined him- 
self to this branch of the profession. In 1891 
Mr. McCarty located in Dayton, where he has 
built up a large and successful practice. He 
does all kinds of patent law business and solic- 
iting, and numbers among his clients many of 
the leading manufacturing firms of the city. 

Mr. McCarty is a member of the Knights 
of Pythias and of the Knights of Honor. He 
was married, in 1879, at Washington, D. C, 
to Miss Amy H. Toulmin, of Mobile, Ala., and 
to this marriage there has been born one 
daughter, Belle McCarty. 



^y^VERRY M. KLEPINGER, secretary 
1 m and treasurer of the American Fence 
company, Dayton, was born on a farm 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, Octo- 
ber 13, 1864, a son of William and Elizabeth 
(Bowser) Klepinger. He is by nature adopted 
to mechanical pursuits, although his early man- 
hood was passed on his father's farm. After 
receiving a sound preparatory education in the 
district schools of his native, county he took a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY 



641 



course of lessons in the Mount Morrison nor- 
mal school, which included thorough instruc- 
tion in bookkeeping and commercial practice. 
He also learned telegraphy, and was for two 
winters employed by the Mutual Union tele- 
graph company; he then returned to the home 
farm, and for three years followed the pursuit 
of agriculture, and next came to Dayton, where 
for twelve months he was engaged in contract- 
ing for excavation work. In the spring of 
1895 he disposed of his pending contracts and 
became one of the organizers of the American 
Fence company. This company was incor- 
porated in the year named, with a capital of 
$50,000, and its place of business located at 
Nos. 10 to 18 North Canal street, Dayton, 
where it employed about twenty men in the 
construction of lawn and farm fences and other 
light iron protective work for dwellings in the 
city and for suburban residences, its output 
being sent to all points of the United States. 
On September 9, 1896, this company was sold 
out, being purchased by William Klepinger, 
who has since continued the business. 

April 25, 1889, Mr. Klepinger married Miss 
Susie Lentzy, daughter of Lucas Lentzy, a 
prominent hotel-keeper of Dayton. Of the 
two children born to this union, the elder, 
Ethel May, is deceased; the son, Herschel L., 
still survives. Mr. and Mrs. Klepinger are 
members of the German Baptist church and 
both are active Sunday-school workers. The 
residence of the family is at 223 Fourth avenue. 



>Y* OHN p - LENZ - o{ Dayton, dealer in 
■ stoves and tinware, was born in West 
/• 1 Libert}', Logan county, Ohio, April 22, 
1862, and is a son of Peter Lenz, a na- 
tive of Germany. The Lenz family came to 
Dayton in 1 864, and here Peter Lenz for a 
number of years carried on his trade of tin- 



smith, in which he was succeeded by his son, 
John P., on retiring from business in 1889. 

John P. Lenz attended the public schools 
and also the brothers' school of Dayton, and, 
after securing a very fair education, learned the 
trade of tinner from his father, with whom he 
remained until twenty-four years of age, when 
he went to Cincinnati, and worked as a 
journeyman for two years. On returning to 
Dayton again he worked with his father, as a 
journeyman, until 1889, when he bought the 
business, and has since conducted it at No. 
638 Wayne avenue, with success. 

The marriage of John P. Lenz took place 
April 22, 1886, in Dayton, to Miss Clara 
E. Meyers, daughter of Herman H. Meyers 
(deceased). In his politics Mr. Lenz has been 
a life-long democrat, and has been an active 
worker for his party. In the spring of 1895 he 
accepted the office, through election by the 
city council, of member of the board of health 
for the term of three years. Fraternally, he is 
a member of Humboldt lodge, No. 38, Knights 
of Pythias, the Dayton Turners' society and 
of the Harmonias. 



*y~* ERBERT W. LEWIS, ex-auditor of 
I^\ Montgomery county, Ohio, and a 
F well-known and popular citizen of 
Dayton, was born in Painesville, near 
Cleveland, Ohio, on July 29, 1S52. His par- 
ents, however, removed to Dayton when he 
was but one year old, and as he was reared 
and educated in this city, he is to all intents 
and purposes a Daytonian. He attended the 
public schools, securing a good English educa- 
tion. He early identified himself with the 
democratic party, and in 1889 he was that 
party's candidate for the office of county au- 
ditor, and at the election that year was elected 
for a term of four years. His administration 
was so successful and satisfactory that, in 1892, 



642 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



he was again nominated by his party and re- 
elected. Mr. Lewis stands very high in fra- 
ternal societies, in which he takes a deep in- 
terest. He is a Mason of high degree, and in 
1893 he was elected grand chancellor of the 
Ohio grand lodge, Knights of Pythias, which 
position he held for one year. 




'HEODORE H. LIENESCH, an en- 
terprising manufacturer of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Fayetteville, Saint 
Clair county, Ills., January 7, 1861, 
and is a son of Theodore and Elizabeth (Lin- 
hoff) Lienesch. Theodore, the father, was 
born in Hanover, Germany, and died in Day- 
ton, Ohio, January 18, 1885, an ex-justice of 
the peace; Mrs. Elizabeth Lienesch, a native 
of Prussia, is still living. 

Theodore H. Lienesch attended the public 
and parochial schools of Fayettesville, 111., 
until eleven years of age, when he came to 
Dayton, Ohio, with his parents, October 1, 
1872, and added to his early education by at- 
tendance at the Emanuel parochial school and 
Saint Mary's institute. For several years he 
assisted his father in his shoe shop by working 
on the bench, and his first outside work was 
in the planing-mill and sash factory of John 
Rouzer, where he learned the trade of machine 
hand. At this trade he worked for about seven 
years in the shops of John Rouzer, the Stod- 
dard Manufacturing company, Jacob Clemens 
and Peirce & Coleman. In the latter factory, 
in May, 1884, he met with an accident that 
necessitated a change of occupation, where- 
upon he entered the Miami Commercial col- 
lege and studied bookkeeping. He was then 
employed by Jacob Eckes, and later in the 
Stomps & Burkhardt Company's chair factory 
as shipping clerk; subsequently he entered the 
office of H. Ferneding & Son as bookkeeper, 
and with them he was employed for nearly ten 



years. May 1, 1895, Mr. Lienesch, in part- 
nership with William H. Gondert, purchased 
the Miami Valley Box factory of Adam Zengel, 
and this prosperous concern is now operated 
under the firm name of Gondert & Lienesch. 
Mr. Lienesch is prominent in local politics 
as a democrat, and served a short time on the 
board of education a few years ago, but was 
legislated out of office through the re-arrange- 
ment of the city wards. He has been at the 
head of a number of democratic organizations, 
having been at one time president of the Thur- 
man club. He is also prominent in Catholic 
circles, and has been secretary and treasurer of 
Holy Trinity Catholic church since 1888. He 
has been an active member of the Catholic 
Gesellen Verein since 1878, and in the latter 
has served as secretary, senior treasurer and 
second vice-president. He has been an active 
member of the Knights of Saint John for sev- 
eral years, is now president of commandery 
No. 104 of that order, and is also president of 
the league of commanderies of the same order 
in charge of Lafayette hall. He held the re- 
sponsible position of chairman of the executive 
committee in charge of the arrangements for 
the eighteenth annual convention of the 
Knights of Saint John, held in Dayton, June 
24, 1896, and has represented commandery 
No. 104 at the annual conventions of the 
order for the past six years. Mr. Lienesch is 
also a member of the board of directors of the 
league of German societies of the city. He 
assisted in organizing Dayton colony, No. 4, 
American Sons of Columbus, of which he is 
the treasurer. Mr. Lienesch owes his business 
prosperity to his own unaided efforts, and that 
he is highly esteemed and very popular is evi- 
denced by his selection for many positions of 
trust, both past and present. He is as yet 
unmarried, and makes his home with his wid- 
owed mother, his brother, William, and sis- 
ters, Lizzie and Theresa. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



643 




HEODORE C. LINDSEY, a popular 
general merchant, at No. 18 South 
Main street, Dayton, Ohio, was born 
in Franklin county, November i , 1 844, 
and lived on the home farm until six years of 
age, when his parents removed to Columbus, 
thence to Cambridge, and three years later to 
Cumberland, where they resided until 1855, 
when the family came to Dayton. 

Wilson Lindsey, father of Theodore C, 
was also a native of Franklin county, Ohio, 
born August 26, 181 7, a son of Wilson Lind- 
sey, a native of Pennsylvania, who spent his 
maturer years in Franklin county, Ohio, en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits, but died while 
on a visit to Pennsylvania in 1830, his son, 
Wilson, being with him at the time. It is 
thought that he was of Scotch-Irish extraction 
and descended from ancestors long established 
in America. Wilson, the younger, married Miss 
Rebecca Frances Fulton, a native of Virginia, 
born in 182 1, the ceremony having been sol- 
emnized, near Columbus, in 1S37, by the 
bride's father, Rev. Daniel Fulton, a Presby- 
terian minister. After marriage the young 
couple located on a farm four miles south of 
Columbus, and there were born to their union 
seven children, the eldest of whom died in 
early infancy. The other six were born in 
the following order: Mary, now Mrs. Seafers, 
resides on a farm in Montgomery county; James 
W. , a mechanic in Louisville, Ky. , served 
three years in company H, Fourth Ohio vol- 
unteer cavalry during the late Civil war; Theo- 
dore C. is the subject of this biography; Emma 
is the wife of Moses Waters, a mechanic of 
Dayton; Susan A. A. is married to Sylvester 
B. Curry, a confectioner in Louisville, Ky. ; 
Samuel M., who passed the greater part of his 
life in mercantile pursuits, died in Louisville, 
Ky., January 10, 1889, at the age of thirty- 
two years. Wilson Lindsey, the father of 
this family, was for many years a farmer and 



stock dealer, but since 1855 has been a dealer 
in market products, handling fruits principally, 
and is still engaged in that business in Dayton. 

Theodore C. Lindsey, whose name opens 
this memoir, received a good common-school 
education in Dayton, and at the age of twelve 
years began an apprenticeship at printing in 
the office of the Daily Journal, finishing in a 
job-printing house. September 15, 1861, he 
enlisted in company H, Fourth Ohio volunteer 
cavalry, and served in the army of the Cum- 
berland under Gens. Thomas, Rosecrans and 
others, participating in many skirmishes and 
minor battles, beside the historical engagement 
at Chickamauga, and serving until honorably 
discharged, October 19, 1864 — a period of 
over three years. He then returned to Day- 
ton, and for a time was engaged in the fruit 
business. 

May 30, 1865, Mr. Lindsey was united in 
marriage with Martha Seitters, a native of 
Dayton and a daughter of Frederick and 
Christina Seitters, who were born in Germany, 
but in early life came to America and located 
in Dayton about the year 1840. The mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Lindse)' has been blessed 
with four children, viz: Harry W. , who is 
married, and is employed at his father's store; 
Anna Frances, wife of Harry E. Dill, a clerk 
for his father-in-law, Mr. Lindsey; Theodore 
C. , Jr., a student in the senior class of the 
Steele high school, and Elsie C, also a high- 
school student. 

Mr. Lindsey continued in the fruit business 
until 1 88 1, when he embarked in general mer- 
chandizing at his present location, where he is 
doing a prosperous trade. He is prominently 
identified with several of the social orders, in- 
cluding the Knights of Pythias, the Union Vet- 
eran Legion and the Grand Army of the Re- 
public. In the latter order he is aid-de-camp 
on the staff of National Commander Walker, 
with the rank of colonel. His church rela- 



644 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tions, and those of his children, are with the 
First Reformed church of Dayton, although his 
parents were reared in the Presbyterian church, 
in which faith his mother, who was of Irish an- 
cestry, died in 1859. The present Mrs. Wil- 
son Lindsey bore the maiden name of Sarah 
E. Fox. In politics Theodore C. treads in the 
footsteps of his father, who was one of the 
founders of the republican party, and, although 
he has neither sought nor held public office, he 
has been active in his party's councils and is a 
member of the Garfield club of Dayton. His 
social standing, like that of his children, is be- 
yond question, and his business integrity is 
recognized by the entire community. 



kS^\ EV. EZEKIEL LIGHT, D.D., chap- 

I /<^ lain for the National Home for Dis- 

P abled Volunteer Soldiers, at Dayton, 

Ohio, was born in Lebanon, Pa., 

March 19, 1834. 

Rev. John Light, his father, was born in 
1802, was a minister of the United Brethren 
church, and during his mature years served in 
the itinerancy or as presiding elder, and died 
in 1845. R ev - J onn Light's father, Felix 
Light, was a Mennonite peacher, but without 
any special church connection. He was of 
Swiss descent, but of American nativity, and 
was a son of John Light, who was born in 
Switzerland. 

To John Light and his wife, Nancy Hoffer, 
there were born four children beside Ezekiel, 
viz: Rudolph, a clergyman of Erie, Pa. ; Ste- 
phen, a stove-founder of Lebanon, Pa. ; Job, 
a clergyman for over twenty years, and who 
suddenly died at Reading, Pa., December, 
1888; Louisa, who is married to Levi Light, a 
carriagemaker of Lebanon. 

Ezekiel Light lived in his native city until 
about twenty years of age, and there received 



his early education; he then lived in Dayton, 
Ohio, until the outbreak of the Rebellion, 
when he returned to his native state, entered 
the One Hundred and Seventy-third regiment, 
Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, as chaplain, 
and served nine months in the army of the 
Potomac. After his service in the army he re- 
sumed his ministerial labors in Lebanon, and 
also edited the German literature of his church 
in that city, where he had charge of the United 
Brethren congregation. In 1885 he returned 
to Dayton, where, for some time, he edited 
the German literature for the publishing house 
of his church, and als"b officiated for the Ger- 
man worshipers at the soldiers' home, and in 
May, 1893, was re-elected editor of the Ger- 
man literature of the U. B. publishing house 
of Dayton. In August, 1893, he was appointed 
to his present position as chaplain to the in- 
mates of the home. His duties here include 
the teaching of a Sunday-school, preaching in 
English on Sunday at 10 A. M. , and in German 
at 2 p. M.; a gospel service at 3 p. M., largely 
conducted by the Christian workers of Day- 
ton, and services again by the chaplain at 6:30 
p. m. ; regular prayer meetings, in English, are 
held every Wednesday, and in German every 
Thursday evening, and in the fall and winter 
additional gospel services are held on Tuesdays 
and Thursdays. 

The marriage of Rev. Dr. Light took place 
at Lebanon, Pa., September 24, 1863, with 
Miss Kate A. Bowman, a native of that city, 
and this union has resulted in the birth of eight 
children, viz: John J. B., who is a farmer, 
in Benton county, Ark.; Alvin L. , a medical 
student, living under the home roof; S. Ru- 
dolph, a graduate of the Dayton high school, 
and a student of electrical dentistry; Wilson 
H., now in his third year at the high school; 
Annie F., at home with her father; Jennie L., 
the wife of Rev. Luther O. Burtner, a mission- 
ary, and now with her husband in Africa; 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



647 



Tacie M., an organist of the home church, 
and Matilda M., at home, a literary student. 
In politics Rev. Dr. Light was an ardent 
anti-slavery man, and at one time, while sta- 
tioned at Cleveland, Ohio, he used his church 
as a rendezvous for fugitive slaves escaping 
to Canada. From the organization of the re- 
publican party until recently he was active in 
its ranks, but is now a prohibitionist and a 
zealous laborer in the cause of that organization. 



BEV. MICHAEL LOUCKS, D. D., is 
a native of Fairfield county, Ohio, 
and is a son of Samuel and Christina 
Loucks. He was born near Canal 
Winchester, Ohio, May 28, 1850, and his boy- 
hood days were spent on the farm and about 
the old mill on Walnut creek. His early edu- 
cation was had in the district school. He was 
baptized in his infancy by Rev. I. S. Weisz. 
His father died when he was twelve years of 
age. September 25, 1865, he entered Heidel- 
berg college, at Tiffin, Ohio. He attended 
catechetical instruction under Rev. L. H. Ke- 
fauver, D. D., pastor of the First Reformed 
church of Tiffin, Ohio, 'and was confirmed by 
the same pastor, April 11, 1868. Thus he be- 
came a member of the Reformed church, the 
denomination to which his father and mother 
belonged — which church dates its origin to the 
time of the reformation under the teaching and 
preaching of the great reformer of Switzerland, 
Ulric Zwingli. This church has an honorable 
history of nearly four hundred years. The 
symbol of faith is the Heidelberg catechism, 
issued in 1563. One of the institutions of 
learning of this church is located at Tiffin, 
Ohio, where Mr. Loucks pursued a regular 
classical course, graduating in 1871. 

Two years were spent in the Theological 
seminary under the instruction of Dr. J. H. 
Good and Dr. H. Rust, two eminent professors 



of the school of the Prophets. He was ex- 
amined, licensed and ordained at a meeting of 
the Ohio synod of the Reformed church at 
Shelbyville, 111., May 18, 1873. He received 
and accepted an unanimous call from Grace 
Reformed church at Akron, Ohio, and preached 
his first sermon as pastor at Akron, June 1, 
1873. At that time Grace Reformed church 
was a struggling congregation and passed 
through trying ordeals. Dr. Loucks labored 
here from June 1, 1873, till April 11, 1875, 
when he received and accepted a call from the 
Church of the Cross at Somerset, Ohio, preach- 
ing his first sermon as pastor, July 4, 1875. 
He labored here until December 21, 1879, 
when he closed his labors to accept a call from 
the Valley charge, in the vicinity of Dayton, 
composed of David's and Hawker's churches, 
originally a part of Mount Zion charge, under 
the pastorate of Rev. D. Winters, D. D. He 
preached his introductory sermon in these two 
churches, January 11, 1880. He labored in 
this charge until January 1, 1885, when, owing 
to throat affection, he ceased preaching for 
several years. 

In February, 1882, Dr. Loucks purchased 
the interest belonging to Rev. I. H. Reiter, 
D. D., in the Christian World, a weekly re- 
ligious paper, the organ of the Reformed 
church in the west, which was established in 
1849, and in connection with his pastorial 
work also devoted part of his time to the edi- 
torial work of the paper, in company with 
Rev. E. Herbruck. In the spring of 1882, 
the Reformed Publishing company was organ- 
ized, with Rev. E. Herbruck, Rev. M. Loucks 
and John Blum constituting the members of 
the firm. Under this arrangement the busi- 
ness was successfully carried on until 1894, 
when Rev. Herbruck sold his interest to the 
other members of the firm, and Rev. Loucks 
assumed full editorial management of the 
Christian World, which position he still occu- 



648 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



pies. In the winter of 1882, he issued his 
Church Register, which has had a large sale. 

In 1884 Dr. Loucks, in company with Dr. 
G. W. Williard and his son, Rev. E. R. Will- 
iard, and Rev. E. Herbruck, issued the popu- 
lar book, A Treasury of Family Reading. 

He has been honored by being a member 
of the board of regents, of Heidelberg uni- 
versity, the board of visitors, and also a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees of Heidelberg 
Theological seminary, of which he is the sec- 
retary. Beside these he has held various 
other responsible positions in his church, where 
most of his time is devoted. The honorary 
degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on 
him by his alma mater, June 17, 1891. 

In 1 89 1 Dr. Loucks published a very unique 
chart of the History of Christianity from the 
Apostolic Period to and including the Protest- 
ant Reformation. This chart is in the form 
of a tree, giving a correct and interesting bird's- 
eye view of the growth and development of 
the Christian church through those important 
periods of its formation. For several years 
after the publication of this chart his services 
were called for as a lecturer on church history. 
These lectures were instructive and interesting, 
as he took his audience through the thrilling 
incidents connected with the early history of 
the Christian church. 

The ancestors of Dr. Loucks came to this 
country from Europe in the seventeenth cen- 
tury. His father, Samuel Loucks, was a native 
of York county, Pa., the son of John Loucks, 
who, with his family, settled in Violet township, 
Fairfield county, in the early part of the cen- 
tury. Samuel Loucks died October 18, 1862, 
in his sixty-sixth year. Dr. Loucks' mother, 
Christina Loucks, was the daughter of Mi- 
chael Alspach. She lived to the old age of 
eighty-eight years, the date of her death being 
November 22, 1894. Dr. Loucks was the 
youngest of a family of nine children, most of 



whom died in their infancy, leaving himself 
with his only brother, George Loucks, and his 
only sister, Mrs. Catherine Shade, both of the 
vicinity of Canal Winchester, Ohio. Novem- 
ber 4, 1873, he was united in marriage with 
Miss Katie Stevenson, of Canal Winchester, 
Ohio. This proved a most happy union, as 
Mrs. Loucks possessed unusual talents and 
qualifications as a minister's wife, and it was 
largely through her influence and force of 
Christian character that his work was rendered 
pleasant and profitable. To her he ascribes 
far more than to himself what good may have 
been done by them in their work and service 
in the church. To them were born five chil- 
dren. Nevin Alpheus was born December 23, 
1874, at Akron, Summit county, Ohio; Ed- 
gar Vincent was born September 15, 1877, in 
Somerset, Perry county, Ohio; Ethel Ger- 
trude was born March 29, 1882, in Washington 
township, Montgomery county, near Dayton, 
Ohio; Samuel Bryant was born January 2, 
1884, in Dayton, and Mary Christina was born 
August 29, 1887, in Dayton. Thus a happy 
family surrounded these parents until Decem- 
ber 8, 1896, when the faithful, pious and de- 
voted mother was called away by death, a, 
brief notice of whose active life is here tenderly 
recorded, as written by her pastor: 

IN MEMORIAM. 

Sarah C. , wife of Rev. M. Loucks, was 
born near Canal Winchester, Ohio, October 
24, 1855, and died peacefully December 8, 
1896, aged forty-one years, one month and 
fourteen days. Having Christian parents, she 
was given to the Lord in the sacred covenant 
of baptism before she was five months old, un- 
der the ministry of Rev. Hennavvald. At the 
age of twelve, Rev. James Heffley admit- 
ted her into full membership with the David's 
Reformed church by confirmation. Her active 
Christian life began to develop at once. God 
had endowed her with rare musical gifts, 
which she consecrated to his service early, 
taking an active part in the public worship of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



649 



the sanctuary; and her delight in singing the 
praises of God seemed to increase as the years 
passed. While but a child herself, she began 
work with the children, training them for the 
Master and for usefulness in his church. Al- 
though her talents were varied above most of 
us, in this responsible and difficult work with 
the little ones, she seemed to exercise her best 
gift. Her father was taken away in her in- 
fancy, and her mother two years ago last sum- 
mer. Her five children, over whom she re- 
joiced and for whom she lived as a true Chris- 
tian mother, remain with the husband and 
many other relatives and friends to mourn 
their loss. 

But the church is bereaved also. Mrs. 
Loucks was gifted with the ability to lead, and 
so held executive positions in the woman's 
work of the classes and- synod, and in the gen- 
eral religious work of Dayton. She possessed 
varied talents, and none of them were laid 
away in a napkin. In all the manifold work 
of Trinity Reformed church she had a part. 
At the time of her death she was superintend- 
ent of the primary department in the Bible- 
school, president of the Woman's Missionary 
society, superintendent of the junior endeavor 
work and actively associated with the other 
organizations of the church. The King's 
Daughters always found a valued friend and 
advisor in Mrs. Loucks, and no one in the 
congregation has done more for the young men 
than did she. While her chief energies were 
given the children, there was place in her 
heart for all the work. Beside her duties at 
home and in organized Christian effort, she 
found time to visit and help the needy and un- 
fortunate. Of those who feel the keen loss of 
a true friend, none are to be regarded before 
the poor, who have shared so largely in her 
sympathy and substantial benefactions. In- 
deed, we know of no .good work in which she 
was not deeply interested. Happy is the serv- 
ant of Christ who has such a co-laborer. No 
work of hand or brain or heart was ever a 
hardship for her. She knew no such thing as 
toil — only joyful, happy service. To her duty 
was alway privilege and all work an oppor- 
tunity. Life was an inspiration, because of 
Loving surrender to the 



the good to be done. 



will of the Master and unselfish interest in hu- 
man souls is the secret of it all. 

Mrs. Loucks has built her own monument, 
not in brass or marble, not in the vain pleas- 
ures of the earth, not in the ways of wealth 
and position; but in humble human hearts, 
where she sought to represent and reproduce 
the life of the meek and lowly Nazarene. She 
has gone, but there abides with us a sweet 
memory — a communion and fellowship with 
Christ which cannot be broken. 



£*V*AMUEL MAROW LOGAN, a well- 
*\^KT known citizen of Dayton, Ohio, and 

p^^y now living in retirement at No. 417 
West First street, was born in Wash- 
ington county, Md., March 28, 1828, a son of 
John M. and Mary (Widdis) Logan. The fa- 
ther, also a native of Washington county, Md., 
was born in 1790, of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
and was for many years a school-teacher, but 
retired about fifteen years prior to his death, 
which occurred in Topeka, Kans., in 1864. 
Mrs. Mary (Widdis) Logan was a native of 
Frederick county, Md., born in 1793, was of 
German extraction, and died in her native 
county at the age of forty years. 

Of the family of nine children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. John M. Logan, four only are now 
living, viz: Samuel M., who was the only 
representative of the family in the Union 
army during the Civil war; David, who lives 
in Pittsburg, Pa. ; Jeremiah, who is a resident 
of Arkansas City, Kans. ; and Catherine, wife 
of Edwin Scott, who is a resident of Ithaca, 
N. Y. Of the five deceased, all reached ma- 
ture years and were named, in the order of 
their birth, James, John, Daniel, Thomas, and 
Elizabeth (Mrs. Williams), who died in Ithaca, 
N. Y. James was a successful inventor, and 
died in England, while attending to his inter- 
ests; John, was a farmer in Pennsylvania; Dan- 
iel, was a weaver, and died in Ithaca, N. Y. ; 



650 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and Thomas, an attorney of Kansas, died in 
Saint Louis, Mo., in 1894. 

Samuel Marow Logan was educated in the 
academy of Hagerstown, Md., and was reared 
on a farm in his native state. He learned 
coach painting in Gettysburg, Pa., and in this 
calling traveled extensively through the eastern 
states, and then came west, finally, in 1852, 
settling in Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged in 
carriage manufacturing in 1853, and followed 
this vocation four years. He then sold his 
business and became a pupil of Charles Soule, 
an artist of great merit, for the purpose of 
learning the art of portrait painting. 

In 1862, Mr. Logan enlisted in company I, 
Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and soon 
afterward was promoted orderly sergeant of 
his company. He saw some service in Ken- 
tucky, and took an active part in the battles 
of Antioch Church, Tenn. , and of Murfrees- 
boro, Tenn. In the latter engagement he was 
twice wounded in the right arm, which injuries 
incapacitated him for further service, and he 
was honorably discharged, by reason of disa- 
bility, May 3, 1863. On his return to Dayton 
he engaged with I. M. Cochrane as traveling 
sewing-machine salesman, and was thus em- 
ployed until 1874, when he became manager 
of agencies for the Champion Machine com- 
pany, of Springfield, Ohio, with whom he re- 
mained for sixteen years, traveling through 
the south and west. Since 1890 he has lived 
in retirement, as before stated, enjoying the 
fruits of his early industry. 

The marriage of Mr. Logan took place in 
Dayton, October 3, 1854, to Miss Lovinia 
Bowman, a native of Pennsylvania, and this 
union has been blessed by the birth of three 
daughters, viz: Lillie C, who makes her 
home with her parents; Minnie, now the wife 
of Dr. Driscoll, a practicing physician of Kan- 
sas; Katie E., who is married to Harry S. 
Ohmer, and also lives in Kansas. 



Mr. Logan is a stanch republican in poli- 
tics. In religion he is independent of church 
alliance, being a free thinker, although reared 
in the Lutheran faith. His societary relations 
are confined to his membership with Old 
Guard post, No. 21, Grand Army of the Re- 
public. He has made many warm friends in 
his extensive travels, but he is nowhere more 
highly esteemed than he is by his numerous 
friends in Dayton. 



eB. LYON, of Dayton, Ohio, is a na- 
tive of Chaplin, Windham county, 
Conn.; was born on the 17th of De- 
cember, 1S40, and is a son of John 
W. and Sarah (Hagarj Lyon. When he was 
about ten years of age his parents removed to 
Massachusetts, and in that state he received 
the greater part of his education. 

E. B. Lyon enlisted, October 3, 1861, as a 
member of company K. Twenty- fourth Massa- 
chusetts volunteer infantry, and was in active 
service until October 8, 1864, when he was 
mustered out at Chapin's farm, having par- 
ticipated in twenty-four engagements, aside 
from numerous skirmishes. After the close of 
the war he came to Ohio and located in Day- 
ton, where he has since made his home, and 
where he has secured the esteem and confi- 
dence of the community. Upon his arrival 
here he secured employment in a paper mill, 
where he remained about a year, after which 
he became an attache of the freight depart- 
ment of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 
railroad. In 1868 he engaged in the manu- 
facture of trunk supplies and excelsior, laying 
at that time the foundation for his present 
prosperous enterprise, whose business extends 
into the most diverse sections of the Union, 
and also into foreign countries. The industry 
had a very modest inception, and was the first 
of the sort ever projected in Dayton. But 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



653 



business sagacity, correct methods and per- 
sonal integrity, coupled with unceasing and 
well-directed labor, did not fail of their re- 
ward. The well-equipped plant occupies 
about an acre of ground, while the buildings 
and mechanical accessories are of the most 
available order, so that the work of produc- 
tion is facilitated in every department. The 
principal products of the establishment are 
trunk slats and handles, and the output of the 
manufactory finds a ready demand in the do- 
mestic and foreign markets. Employment is 
given to a body of about thirty-five skilled 
workmen. In 1 891 Mr. Lyon began the manu- 
facture of excelsior, and this branch of the 
business has come into equal favor. 

In politics Mr. Lyon renders an unswerving 
allegiance to the republican party, and has 
served acceptably as a member of the city 
council. On the 12th of March, 1891, he 
was appointed postmaster of the city of Day- 
ton, this office having been tendered him with- 
out solicitation, and in face of the fact that 
there were several avowed candidates in the 
field. Within the time of his incumbency of 
this office he instituted many improvements in 
the service, among which may be noted the 
establishment of the night-collection service 
and the utilization of special mail wagons. 
The annual business of the office was increased 
by some $60,000, and his administration gave 
exceptional satisfaction to the public, gaining 
him endorsement from all classes, irrespective 
of party affiliations. 

In his fraternal associations Mr. Lyon is 
conspicuously identified with the Grand Army 
of the Republic, being a member of Old 
Guard post, No. 23, in which he has passed 
all the chairs, having also served on the staff 
of the commander of both state and national 
departments. He is also a member of the 
Knights of Honor. 

On the 4th of April, 1866, Mr. Lyon was 



united in marriage to Miss Ella M. Broadwell, 
a native of Dayton, but whose death occurred 
in 1 88 1. In 1883 he married Miss Sarah B. 
Broadwell, a sister of his first wife, but death's 
summons called her into eternal rest in 1892. 
On the 24th of May, 1894, Mr. Lyon con- 
summated a third union, being then joined in 
matrimony to Mary A. McQuiston, who is the 
daughter of the Hon. John F. Patton, ex- 
member of the Ohio legislature, and founder 
of the Xenia Gazette. Three daughters were 
born of the first marriage, viz: Ella H., who 
is her father's capable assistant in conducting 
the detail office work of his business; Sarah 
B., wife of Dr. O. W. Lounsbury, and Bessie 
W. , deceased. Mrs. M. A. Lyon, who enjoys 
a wide popularity in the social circles of Day- 
ton, was the department president of the Ohio 
Woman's Relief Corps in 1891-2, and is now 
(1896) assistant national inspector on the staff 
of Mrs. Turner, of Boston, Mass. 

In his long business career in Dayton Mr. 
Lyon has so conducted his affairs and so lived 
as to gain the esteem and respect of the peo- 
ple of the community. He has been enter- 
prising, public-spirited and progressive, and 
his interest in the advancement of the material 
prosperity of the city has been manifested in 
a practical way, as he has been the pioneer in 
building, both for residence and manufacturing 
plants, in the east end. 



aOL WILLIAM McCLELLAN, clerk 
in the commissary department of 
the national military home at Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Germantown, Pa., 
July 13, 1842, and is a son of William and 
Mary (Gillespie) McClellan, both of Scotch- 
Irish extraction. The father died when subject 
was but two years of age, and the mother, who 
never re-marned, survived until 1893, when 
she expired in the Baptist home at Philadel- 



654 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



phia, aged eighty-six years, the mother of two 
sons and two daughters, of which family the 
colonel is the only survivor. Thomas, his 
brother, was killed in the battle of Gettysburg; 
his elder sister, Elizabeth, died at twenty-nine 
years of age, and the younger sister, Anna, 
died when thirty-four years old. Both sisters 
had married, but left no children. 

Col. McClellan was educated at Girard 
college, Philadelphia, and was then appren- 
ticed to a whipmaker in Wellsville, York 
county, Pa., being thus engaged when the 
Civil war opened. On May 8, 1861, he en- 
listed in company H, Seventh Pennsylvania 
infantry, known during the Rebellion as one of 
the regiments of the Pennsylvania reserves. He 
went through the peninsular campaign under 
Gen. George B. McClellan, his brigade at the 
time being in command of Gen. George G. 
Meade. Later, after the promotion of Gen. 
Meade, Gen. McCandless was placed in com- 
mand of the brigade, Gen. Crawford's division 
and Gen. Reynold's corps. Col. McClellan 
fought in all of the battles in which the army 
of the Potomac took part, with two exceptions. 
He was at second Bull Run, Antietam, Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, and 
Petersburg, and also at the surrender of Gen. 
Robert E. Lee, having enlisted a second time, 
in 1863. Of his original company of 101 men, 
chiefly students and professional men, but 
eleven are now living. 

After the war was ended Col. McClellan 
was employed on the Philadelphia & Reading 
railroad for fifteen years, when, on account of 
failing health, he came to the soldiers' home, 
in 1 88 1, and was here employed fourteen 
years as timekeeper, until the spring of 1896, 
when he resigned because of the great respon- 
sibility of the position, and entered the com- 
missary department as clerk. 

Col. McClellan was married in Chester, 



Pa., in 1868, to Miss Emma Morris, the union 
resulting in the birth of five children, of whom 
two are now deceased. The survivors are 
William, Jr., a young man of twenty-six years 
and foreman of the tool-room of the Com- 
puting Scales works, of Dayton; George, eight- 
een years old, who is in the employ of the 
same company; and Mary, aged seven years, 
who is attending school. The two deceased 
were Mamie, who died at nine years, and 
Anna, who died when but three months old. 
On entering the home, the colonel brought 
with him his family, as he was furnished a 
residence by the management on account of 
his official position; but since the past spring 
the family have lived at No. 1637 West Second 
street, in Dayton. Col. McClellan was one of 
the organizers of encampment No. 82, Union 
Veteran Legion, and was honored by being 
elected its colonel for three successive terms. 
He is also a member of Dister post, Grand 
Army of the Republic, and his religious affilia- 
tion is with the First Reformed church of Day- 
ton, of which his sons are also members. In 
politics he is a stanch republican. 



SAMUEL B. McDERMONT, senior 
member of the firm of McDermont & 
Clemens, of Dayton, Ohio, which 
firm does a large business in gas-fit- 
ting, plumbing, etc. , was born in Newark, 
N. J., January 19, 1853. He was educated in 
the public schools of his native city, and there 
also served an apprenticeship at plumbing. 
In the fall of 1875 ne came to Dayton, Ohio, 
and here worked for Gibbons & McCormick 
until 1889, when he united in the business 
with F. J. McCormick. This co-partnership 
lasted until 1894, attaining during its existence 
a large degree of prosperity. In the year last 
mentioned Mr. McCormick withdrew, and 
Frank C. Clemens became the business asso- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



655 



ciate of Mr. McDermont. The firm, as now 
constituted, gives constant employment to 
about thirty men, and carries a full line of 
supplies in all departments, both for their own 
use and for sale to minor firms engaged in the 
same line of trade. 

David McDermont, father of the subject of 
this memoir, was a chair manufacturer of 
Newark, N. J., and for ten years carried on 
business at No. 414 Broad street, and there 
died at the early age of thirty years. David 
McDermont was a son of Peter McDermont, 
whose parents came from the north of Ireland; 
Peter also carried on chairmaking in Newark 
for many years. David McDermont married 
Miss Eliza Hughes, a native of Dingman's 
Ferry, N. Y., and of Welsh ancestry. Mrs. 
McDermont died in 1871, the mother of Sam- 
uel B. and two other children — Sergeant L. , 
who is a well-known optician of Canton, Stark 
county, Ohio, and Frances, who was married 
to John G. Gillespie, in Narrowsburg, N. Y., 
but who died in Equinox, N. Y., while her 
husband died in Middletown, in the same state. 

Samuel B. McDermont was united in mar- 
riage in Troy, Ohio, in 1S81, with Miss Au- 
gusta E. Braunschweiger, a native of Troy 
and of German parentage. One child, only, 
has blessed this union — a daughter named 
Hannah, and now a bright little girl, aged 
seven years. In politics, Mr. McDermont for 
a long time followed the fortunes of the demo- 
cratic party, but at present prefers, in local 
matters, to vote for the honest and capable 
man who will act for the best interests of his 
constituents. He is, therefore, to be ranked 
as independent, as far as politics is concerned. 
He is, however, a member of of the democratic 
organization known as the Jackson club, and 
also occupies his leisure hours as a member of 
a social and literary club. In religion he was 
reared in the faith of the Presbyterian church, 
but his wife still adheres to the faith in which 



she was reared, that of the German Lutheran, 
and is now a member of the Third street 
church, of that denomination, in Dayton. Mr. 
McDermont has always been a man of industry 
and thrift, and through his own exertions has 
raised himself to his present independent po- 
sition in business life. His name stands with- 
out a stain, and he is honored and highly es- 
teemed by all who know him, either in busi- 
ness or social circles. 



QHARLES MacGREGOR, M. D., of 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in the city 
of Baltimore, Md. , on the 22d of No- 
vember, 1868, being the son of Rob- 
ert and Laura (Winters) MacGregor, of Scotch 
and German descent. The father died in the 
prime of his strong and useful manhood, pass- 
ing away in January, 1S77, when our subject 
was a lad of but nine years. Robert and 
Laura MacGregor were the parents of two 
children, Robert W. and Charles. Robert is a 
resident of Dayton, and is recognized as one 
of the progressive and influential business men 
of the city. The mother is still living and 
maintains her home in Dayton, where she is 
the recipient of the utmost filial devotion from 
her sons. The family took up their abode in 
Dayton soon after the death of the father, and 
here Charles continued his studies in the pub- 
lic schools, after which he entered the Michi- 
gan Military academy, at Orchard Lake, Oak- 
land county, where he remained until October, 
1886, when he matriculated in the medical de- 
partment of Michigan's famous university, at 
Ann Arbor. He there prosecuted his technical 
studies with zealous interest, graduating as a 
member of the class of 1889. 

This would have represented a complete 
education to the average young man thus aim- 
ing to enter professional life, but Dr. Mac- 
Gregor's ambition was such that he could con- 



656 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



sent to accept as final nothing less than the 
most complete preparation and reinforcement 
attainable. Accordingly, he went to New 
York city, in 1890, and there entered the col- 
lege of Physicians & Surgeons, a department 
of Columbia university, completing his post- 
graduate course and graduating in the year 
noted. Practical and effective experience was 
his for the ensuing year, during which he 
served as assistant surgeon at the national sol- 
diers' home, in Dayton. In 1892 he returned 
to New York and for several months devoted 
his undivided attention to the study of diseases 
of the eye and ear, prosecuting his work in this 
line in the New York Eye & Ear infirmary. 
In the fall of the same year he was enabled to 
go abroad for the purpose of profiting by study 
of foreign methods and investigations, having 
secured privileges in certain of the most re- 
nowned medical institutions of Europe. Dr. 
MacGregor was in Vienna, Austria, until the 
summer of 1893, when he proceeded to Mu- 
nich, where he studied and carried forward his 
observations in the leading hospitals and col- 
leges during a period of six months. He then 
returned to Vienna and there passed an equal 
length of time, returning to his home in Day- 
ton in the spring of 1894, thoroughly equipped 
for the successful practice of his profession, 
with special reference to diseases of the eye, 
ear, nose and throat, which class of disor- 
ders had been the particular subject of his for- 
eign study. He has built up a very excellent 
practice in his special lines and has established 
a high reputation for professional ability and 
excellence of personal character. It has been 
proved in his case that the old-time hostility 
against the young man in the medical profes- 
sion has grown obsolete, and that honor is 
granted where honor is due — even in face of 
the once humiliating characteristic of youthful- 
ness. Dr. MacGregor's office is located at 29 
South Ludlow street, while he resides at 514 



West Second street. He holds the position 
of oculist and aurist on the medical staff of the 
Deaconess hospital. In his political adher- 
ency he is identified with the republican party, 
while socially he enjoys a merited popularity 
in the city of his home, being genial in dispo- 
sition and endowed with that never-failing 
courtesy so essential to the successful physician. 



m. 



D. McKEMY, a prominent mem- 
ber of the Dayton bar, was born in 
Rockbridge county, Va., February 
14, 1843, and is a son of William 
and Elizabeth (Kirkpatrick) McKemy. Orig- 
inally the family on both sides came from the 
north part of Ireland, the McKemys being 
Irish and the Kirkpatricks, Scotch. John Mc- 
Kemy, the grandfather of W. D. McKemy, 
was the first of his family to come to the 
United States, he coming when a youth and 
settling in Virginia, where he lived the rest of 
his life. By occupation he was a farmer and 
served in the war of 18 12. His son, William, 
was born in Virginia and lived there all his 
life. William's wife was also a native of Vir- 
ginia, in which state she lived and died. She 
and her husband were the parents of eight 
children, but two of whom are still living, a 
daughter in Colorado, and our subject, W. D. 
McKemy. 

Judge McKemy was reared on his father's 
farm in Rockbridge county, Ya. , receiving 
such education as was afforded in that coun- 
try. He remained there until 1866, in the 
meantime serving in the Confederate army 
from August 5, 1861, untiljune 30, 1865, 
as a member of company H, Twenty-fifth 
regiment, Virginia volunteer infantry, which 
formed a part of Stonewall Jackson's bri- 
gade and division, being present when 
that general was killed. In the battle of the 
Wilderness, May 12, 1 S64, young McKemy 




/WmtL^. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



659 



was captured, taken to Point Lookout, Md., 
and later was transferred to Elmira, N. Y., 
where he remained until his final discharge, 
in June, 1865. 

In 1866 he removed from Virginia to Darke 
county, Ohio, and in the spring of 1868 located 
in Dayton. His education wascontinued after 
the war in the common schools at his home in 
Virginia, and after coming to Ohio, he attend- 
ed the high school at Greenville, and grad- 
uated there in 1867, afterward teaching school 
for a year or two. He then took a position as 
deputy clerk to the probate judge of Darke 
county, and, after his removal to Dayton, 
acted in a similar capacity under Judge Dwyer. 
For three years he was deputy recorder under 
Johnson Snyder, and later was deputy sheriff 
and bookkeeper for.two years and a half under 
Sheriff Patton. Next he was deputy under 
H. H. Laubach, county treasurer, for three 
years. While in the treasurer's office, in 1877, 
he was admitted to the bar, and in 1878 was 
a candidate for probate judge, but in the elec- 
tion was defeated by a majority of only a few 
votes. He then began the practice of the law, 
and three years later was again a candidate for 
the same office, was elected and served three 
consecutive terms of three years each. At the 
expiration of his term in 1890 he returned to 
the law and has since been engaged in practice. 

Since retiring from the office of probate 
judge he has served for four years as a mem- 
ber of the county board of elections, and is 
now a member of the city board. Fraternally, 
he is a member of the Odd Fellows, of the 
Chosen Friends, of the Improved Order of 
Red Men, of the Fraternal Censer and of the 
A. O. U. W. , Miami lodge. Since 1894 he 
has been in partnership with J. M. Nutt, in 
the practice of the law. 

Judge McKemy was married in March, 

1873, to R. Florence Haise, of Union City, 

Randolph county, Ind., by whom he is the 
23 



father of three children: Gertrude L. , John 
W., and Harry G. He and his family are 
among the most highly esteemed citizens of 
Dayton, thoroughly loyal to both friends 
and country. 



>*t*OHN W. McKEOWN, one of the 

m prominent young members of the Day- 
(• 1 ton bar, was born in Adams county, 
Ohio, December 28, 1854. Until he 
was six years old his parents lived in Mansfield 
and Crestline, Ohio, after which they removed 
to Adams county, and there he remained until 
attaining his majority. His elementary educa- 
tion was secured by attending district schools 
in the winter months, in his native county. 
He afterward attended the national normal 
university at Lebanon, Ohio, conducted by 
Mr. Holbrook. Beside this he attended a 
number of local normal sessions in his own 
county, and in several of them assisted in 
teaching. 

In 1876 Mr. McKeown began teaching 
school in his native county, first in country 
districts, and then in the public schools of 
West Union and Manchester. All of the 
money needed to pay for his own education he 
earned by teaching school and in working at 
$13 per month, receiving no pecuniary aid 
from any source. During a portion of the 
time covered by the above recital he served as 
school examiner for Adams county, being the 
youngest examiner ever appointed there. In 
1883 he removed to Warren county and there 
taught school in country districts, and was 
afterward superintendent of the Springboro 
public schools, retaining this position for five 
years. Mr. McKeown was next the superin- 
tendent of the Amanda public schools for one 
year, 1889-90, after which he returned to 
Springboro, and remained there as superin- 
tendent of the public schools for three years 



660 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



more. While in the latter place he secured a 
ten years' state certificate as a teacher. 

Mr. McKeown was married, in 1890, to Miss 
Elizabeth Michel, a daughter of Dr. R. B. 
Michel, of Montgomery county, Ohio. They 
have two sons, Stuart E. and Robert Bruce. 
During the last three years of his teaching, 
Mr. McKeown spent his leisure hours in read- 
ing law and entered the Cincinnati Law col- 
lege, from which he graduated in 1894. In 
August, of that year, he located in Dayton 
with the view of practicing law. Opening an 
office he has since continued in active practice, 
with gratifying success for the short time in 
which he has been so engaged. 



^yy»ILLIAM C. MARSHALL, M. D., 
M ■ physician and surgeon of Dayion, 

\JL/I with offio lI thi northeast corner 
of Third and Broadway streets, was 
born in Lexington, McLean county, 111., July 
7, 1859. He is a son of Robert F. and Agnes 
(Elder) Marshall, both now residents of Yellow 
Springs, Ohio. Robert F. Marshall is a re- 
tired farmer and stock-raiser, and the family 
are of much more than ordinary intellectual 
ability and influence. 

William C. Marshall is of German, English 
and Scotch descent. He was educated in the 
public schools of Clarke county, and later at- 
tended Wittenberg college, at Springfield, Ohio, 
and graduated from Antioch college, at Yellow 
Springs, in 1886. His first study of medicine 
was with Dr. J. M. Harris, of Yellow Springs, 
after which he attended the Ohio Medical col- 
lege at Cincinnati, graduating with the class 
of 1890. For a short time he was in practice 
with his preceptor, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, 
and then located at Trotwood, Montgomery 
county, where he remained until January 29, 
1895. He removed to Dayton, where he has 
been engaged in the general practice of 



medicine and surgery. He is a member of the 
Montgomery county Medical society and of 
the Ohio state Medical association. He is a 
member of Yellow Springs lodge, No. 279, 
I. O. O. F., and of the Independent Order of 
Foresters. Dr. Marshall was appointed phy- 
sician to the county infirmary and was re-ap- 
pointed in 1896. Politically he is a republican, 
and in religious belief a Presbyterian. 

In his early life Dr. Marshall engaged in 
school-teaching, for two years after gradua- 
ting, and the money thus earned went to de- 
fray his expenses at college. He is one of the 
rising young members of the medical frater- 
nity, and is meeting with gratifying success. 
He belongs to the Present Day club of Day- 
ton, and also to the Garfield club, standing 
high in all the orders and societies of which he 
is a member. 



^^r 9 IEUT. JOHN MARSHALL, de- 
f ceased, "the hero of Lookout Mount- 

^A ain," was born in Paisley, Scotland, 
June 22, 18 1 5, received a good com- 
mon-school education, and at the age of nine- 
teen years married his first wife. At the same 
age he entered the British army as an artillery- 
man, served nine years, and during this time 
was stationed on many of the islands and in 
several of the provinces subject to the British 
crown, including the dominion of Canada. 

In 1847 Mr. Marshall came to Dayton, 
Ohio, and two years later was called to mourn 
the death of his wife. In 1S50 he wedded 
Miss Emily Thomas, a native of Zanesville, 
Ohio, who came to Dayton with her parents 
when she was but six years of age, and who 
still survives. She is a daughter of Evan 
Owen and Jane (Maze) Thomas, the former a 
native of Wales, born in 1795; at the age of 
twenty years he came to the United States, 
located near Delaware, Ohio, and there mar- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



661 



ried Mrs. Jane (Maze) Hahnaman, a native of 
Zanesville, and in the fall of 1838 came to 
Dayton. To this marriage there were born 
eight children, viz: Mrs. Eliza J. Feicht; 
Emily, now Mrs. Marshall; Mrs. Martha Bar- 
telle (of Browntown, Ohio); Mrs. Laura Baker 
(deceased); William H., who died suddenly of 
heart disease in middle life; Harvey, now de- 
ceased; Evan Owen, present market-master of 
Dayton; and John W. , who had been eighteen 
years a locomotive engineer, and was killed in 
a wreck near Xenia, Ohio. To her first hus- 
band, John Hahnaman, the mother of Mrs. 
Marshall had borne three daughters, who are 
still living, viz: Mrs. Matilda Shamo, of 
Louisville, Ky. ; Mrs. Susan Rodkey, of Wi- 
chita, Kans. , and a twin sister of Susan; Mary, 
who married a cousin, named Maze, and is 
now a widow. To John and Emily (Thomas) 
Marshall were born a son and a daughter, viz: 
John W., who has been in the employ of 
Heathman & Co., cracker bakers, for the past 
twenty-seven years, and Maggie D., who is 
married to Frank E. Rouzer, a traveling sales- 
man for a Columbus wholesale firm, and has 
had four children, all now deceased. The fa- 
ther of Mrs. Marshall was a weaver by trade, 
and came to Dayton as superintendent of a 
carpet factory, and later carried on the same 
business on his own account; both he and his 
wife died in Dayton, the latter at seventy-six 
years of age, and their remains lie interred in 
Woodland cemetery. 

Mrs. Emily (Thomas) Marshall has been a 
member of the First Baptist church of Dayton 
for the past fifty years, being one of the old- 
est, in point of membership, of that congrega- 
tion; she is also chaplain of the Old Guard, G. 
A. R., Woman's Relief corps, of which she was 
a charter member. 

John Marshall, whose name opens this bi- 
ography, at the first call to arms at the opening 
of the great Rebellion, promptly offered his 



services as a Union soldier, and subsequently 
distinguished himself for his patriotism, sol- 
dierly coolness, bravery and ability. He first 
enlisted in company G, Eleventh Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, for three months, and at the 
close of this term re-entered the army as a pri- 
vate in company E, Twenty-fourth Ohio, with 
which he served until the termination of the 
war. Immediately after the battle of Shiloh 
he was commissioned lieutenant for a special 
act of gallantry on that field. Battery M, 
Fifth regiment, United States artillery, being 
in distress, Mr. Marshall volunteered, and was 
permitted by his officers to go to its relief; 
here his past experience as an artillerist came 
into play, and he saved the guns. This act is 
a matter of record in the archives of the war 
department at Washington, D. C. Subse- 
quently, however, Lieut. Marshall achieved 
even greater feats of soldierly bravery. 

In October and November, 1863, Hooker's 
army lay in the valley overlooked by Lookout 
mountain, which, in the latter month, was so 
gallantly stormed. Right on a spur of this 
mountain the rebel signal corps had established 
a flag station. From this point all of Gen. 
Hooker's movements could be seen, and intel- 
ligence immediately telegraphed by means of 
the signal flag to Gen. Bragg. It will be seen 
how important was the station to the enemy 
and how desirable to the Union forces that it 
be destroyed or swept away. Across the Ten- 
nessee river, at Moccasin Point, the sixteen- 
pound Rodman guns of the Eighteenth Ohio 
battery were planted. John Marshall's pro- 
motion had made him a lieutenant of this bat- 
tery. He could see that flaunting flag of the 
rebel signal station as it waved its intelligence 
of the movements of the Union army day by 
day, and it taunted him. He knew that he 
could cut it down with one of the Rodman 
guns, but his captain frowned on his presump- 
tion in pretending to know more than his supe- 



662 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



rior officers. Gen. Branum, chief of artillery 
of the army of the Cumberland, had said that 
it could not be done. The removal of the flag 
was considered an impossibility, though very 
desirable, and so reported after a careful ex- 
amination of the surroundings, by Gens. Hooker 
and Branum, Col. Barnett and Maj. Menden- 
hall. They came to the conclusion that it was 
impossible to train a gun upon it. John Mar- 
shall watched the calculations with interest, 
and when the decision was announced he 
stepped up to Gen. Branum, and, touching his 
cap in salute, said, "General, if you will give 
me permission to try, I think I can shoot that 
flag off there." The general looked at him 
sternly a moment, and then said: "Go to 
your quarters, sir, under arrest." 

But this was not the end. The Eighteenth 
battery was attached to Gen. Whittaker's bri- 
gade, and bluff Gen. Whittaker took more 
stock in Lieut. Marshall than did the austere 
Branum. So certain was Gen. Whittaker 
that Lieut. Marshall knew what he was talk- 
ing abcut, that he went to Chattanooga and 
signed a security bond for $600, the value of 
the cannon, in case it should burst, and, return- 
ing, told Lieut. Marshall of his action. Mar- 
shall went to his quarters that night feeling 
that the hour of his triumph was at hand. 
The next morning he had his throughly-drilled 
gun squad on the ground long before the ar- 
rival of Gen. Whittaker. It was a moment of 
imminent danger, for should the gun burst by 
reason of its great elevation, not a man would 
escape. The first shot Gen. Whittaker re- 
ported to be a hundred yards above the flag. 
"Yes, sir; I know that, and the next will be fifty 
yards above it," said Marshall. The second 
shot proved the truth of his statement. "Now, 
General, this time I'll fetch the flag." The gun 
boomed, and a field glass, in the hands of Gen. 
Whittaker, was passed from one to another of 
the anxious little squad, but no flag could be 



seen. It had been shot from the staff at the 
third discharge, and the army's movements 
would not thereafter be reported to rebel 
headquarters. It is needless to say that 
Lieut. Marshall was the hero of the hour, 
and received the most profuse congratulations, 
even from the chief of artillery whose judg- 
ment he had so successfully overthrown. 
He was recommended for promotion to sun- 
dry high positions, but chose that of second 
lieutenant when he could have been a colonel 
as well. He was a man of modest and unas- 
suming character — loyal to the core, brave to 
a fault — but inclined to belittle his own achieve- 
ments. His education was somewhat limited, 
though possibly superior to that of many who 
held high military positions, yet he declined 
high office, believing that his lack of education 
would be a stumbling block to his success. He 
left a legacy to his children in his honorable 
and distinguished services for his country, 
more valuable than gold, and more lasting 
than title or crown. 

John Marshall, the patriot and soldier — 
the loving father, devoted husband, honored 
friend — departed this life March 2, 1895, and 
awaits the grand reunion in beautiful Wood- 
land. His comrades of Old Guard post, G. 
A. R., conducted the funeral obsequies, the 
funeral discourse being delivered by Rev. Dr. 
Colby of the First Baptist church. His widow 
remains at the lonely home where so many 
years of her wedded life were spent, at No. 
236 South Allen street. 

John W. Marshall, son of Lieut. John and 
Emily (Thomas) Marshall, was born in Day- 
ton, Ohio, May 12, 1851. He is a man of 
fine business attainments and strict integrity, 
as his long continuance with one firm abund- 
antly proves. He is a man of temperate 
habits, and marked devotion to his home and 
family. By industry and economy he has ac- 
cumulated a competence, owns a beautiful 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



663 



home, and is well and favorably known by the 
besl people in the city of his birth. He is 
prominently connected with the Knights of 
Pythias, the Garfield club, the Bakers' Benevo- 
lent association, and is a member of the A. O. 
E. K. On June 17, 1879, Mr. Marshall mar- 
ried Miss Alice E. Russell, of Zanesville, Ohio. 
In 1895, Mr. Marshall, in company with 
his wife, mother, Mr. and Mrs. E. O. Thomas, 
and Mrs. Col. Byron, visited Lookout mount- 
ain, Missionary ridge, Nashville, Louisville, 
and many other places and scenes of Lieut. 
John Marshall's military career, not mentioned 
in the sketch of that brave soldier's life. 



aLYSSES S. MARTIN, one of the 
young members of the Dayton bar, 
was born in Randolph township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, March 4, 1866. 
He is a son of Christian Martin, who was born 
at Lewisburg, Preble county, Ohio, in 1830, 
and who removed to Montgomery county about 
1856. By occupation he was a farmer; polit- 
ically he was a republican, took an active in- 
terest in public affairs, and such was his popu- 
larity that he served for three terms as trustee 
of Randolph township, although the township 
was normally democratic. The people then, 
as now, believed that in local affairs fitness for 
the position was a better qualification, in an 
official, than mere party affiliation. Mr. Mar- 
tin died in 1892, honored by all who knew him. 
His wife was Maria Frantz, born about ten 
miles northwest of Trotwood, Montgomery 
county, and is still living. 

Ulysses S. Martin was reared on the farm 
until he was eighteen years of age. He re- 
ceived his education in the public schools of 
his native county until he was sixteen years of 
age, and then for some two years he attended 
the high school of Randolph township, at Har- 
risburg. At this time he began teaching 



school in the winter time and attending the 
Western normal university at Ada, Ohio, in 
the summer season. This course he pursued 
for three years, and then began a course of 
study at Otterbein university, graduating from 
this institution as a bachelor of arts, in June, 
1892. He taught school for another year, and 
then began reading law, in the spring of 1893, 
in the office of Carr, Allaman & Kennedy, of 
Dayton. As he had already begun to read 
law while engaged in teaching school, having 
had that profession in view, it was not neces- 
sary for him to spend as much time in prepara- 
tion for practice as would otherwise have been 
the case, and he was admitted to the bar in 
June, 1894. In July following, he opened an 
office in the Callahan Bank building, where he 
is now engaged in the active practice of his 
profession. 

Mr. Martin is a member of the order of 
Odd Fellows, of the Knights of Pythias, and 
of the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order. 
He was married November 27, 1894, to Laura 
G. Denlinger, of Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Martin 
is a thoroughly educated man, well equipped 
for the successful prosecution of his profession, 
and, though but recently established, there is 
every reason to expect him to take a creditable 
place in the ranks of the leading members of 
the Montgomery county bar. 



^V^V AVID M. MARTIN, superintendent 
I and secretary of the Dayton work- 
/^^_J house, was born in Clarke county, 
Ohio, September 20, 1848. He is a 
son of Henry Martin, who when a boy removed 
from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and lived in Clarke 
county until 1880, when he removed to Day- 
ton, where he is now living. Henry Martin 
was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, 
being a member of the One Hundred and 
Fifty-third regiment O. V. I., and in the same 



664 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



company there were also one of his brothers 
and three brothers-in-law. 

David M. Martin was reared in Clarke 
county, six miles west of Springfield, receiv- 
ing his elementary education in the common 
schools, and completing his education in the 
Miami Commercial college at Dayton. When 
he was eighteen years of age the family re- 
moved to Osborn, Greene county, Ohio, and 
there he clerked for some time in a general 
store. In 1873 he removed to Dayton, where, 
after attending commercial college, he filled a 
position as bookkeeper for fifteen years. In 
1888 he was elected to the city council, and 
in 1889 he was elected to his present position, 
to which he has been annually re-appointed 
ever since. 

Mr. Martin is a member of the order of 
Knights of Pythias, lodge No. 83, American 
Legion of Honor, and a director of the Garfield 
club, a republican organization. He was mar- 
ried February 20, 1873, to Miss Lucy J. Jud- 
son, of Osborn, Ohio, by whom he has two 
sons and one daughter. The eldest son, 
George M. , is at the present time physical di- 
rector of the Young Men's Christian associa- 
tion, of Youngstown, Ohio, and the other son, 
Harry J., is a law student in this city. Mr. 
Martin is one of the highly esteemed citi- 
zens of Dayton, and is deservedly popular 
with all classes of people. 



>-j'OHN MATHIAS, manager of the Ma- 
m thias Planing Mill company, of Day- 
f» 1 ton, Ohio, is a native of Germantown ) 
Montgomery county, and was born 
October 5, 1 861, of sterling German parentage. 
His father, John Frederick Mathias, was born 
in Breslau, Prussia, in 18 10, and his mother, 
Rosanna (Volz) Mathias, is a native of Hessen 
Darmstadt, born in 18 18. They were mar- 
ried in Germantown, Ohio, where the father 



passed the greater part of his life as a farmer 
and butcher, and died April 29, 1890; the 
mother is still living and is passing her declin- 
ing years with her children in Dayton. John 
Frederick and Rosanna were parents of two 
children only — Jacob C and John. 

John Mathias, when about five years of 
age, was taken toSunbury, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, by his parents, where for a number 
of years they made their home. There he re- 
ceived his early education, and later became a 
student in architecture in his native town, and 
there engaged in business; later, he came to 
Dayton and for several years worked as a con- 
tractor and builder. He then returned to 
Germantown, but finally, in 1890, permanently 
settled in Dayton, established the Globe Paper 
Mill & Lumber company and operated it until 
September 15, 1892. At that date the Mathias 
Planing Mill company was organized and in- 
corporated, with an authorized capital of 
$75,000, the incorporators being N. T. Bish, 

D. W. Allaman, Elmer E. Ganster, Benjamin 

E. Hocker, W. S. Zehring and Mr. Mathias. 
For the first year and a half after incorporation 
Mr. Mathias served as president of the com- 
pany, after which S. W. Hoover was elected 
and served until his death in 1895, although 
Mr. Mathias was always the efficient mana- 
ger of the concern. January 27, 1897, Mr. 
Mathias retired from the company, though 
still holding his interest in the same, and or- 
ganized a new company, which assumed the 
same name — i. e. : The Mathias Planing Mill 
company. The company does a general con- 
tracting business, furnishing lumber and mill 
work, and for the past three years the average 
output has been at the rate of $145,000 per 
annum. 

January 29, 1888, Mr. Mathias married 
Miss Sarah Main, a native of Liberty, Mont- 
gomery county, but of Maryland parentage. 
Four children have blessed this union and were 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



665 



born in the following order: Joseph G., Flor- 
ence I., Edgar H., and Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. 
Mathias are consistent members of the United 
Brethren church, and in politics Mr. Mathias 
is an active republican. He is a thorough 
master of his business, attentive and obliging 
to his patrons, and has won the respect of a 
large circle of acquaintances throughout Mont- 
gomery county. 



SI 



•ARREN G. MATTHEWS, proprie- 
tor of the Dayton Floral company, 
was born in Chicago, 111., January 
14, 1861, and is a son of Aaron 
G. and Nancy A. (Youngblood) Matthews. 

Aaron G. Matthews was born near Boone- 
ville, Warrick county, Ind., was a farmer by 
calling, and died in 1863; Mrs. Nancy A. Mat- 
thews is now a resident of Dayton, Ohio. 
There were but two children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Matthews, viz: Warren G., and Eva, wife 
of John G. Weaton, of Chicago. Warren G. 
Matthews was educated in the public schools 
of his native city, and at the age of ten years 
began working in a floral establishment, com- 
pleting a thorough course of training in both 
the retail and wholesale departments of the 
mercantile branch of floriculture, and also 
learned landscape gardening, having ample 
practice in this branch through working in 
Lincoln park for a number of years. In 1883 
he came to Dayton, and was employed by 
George R. Mumma for one year, but while so 
employed opened a store on Fifth street for 
the sale of cut flowers, and since his first year 
here has devoted his entire attention to this 
particular line of business. In 1887 he opened 
his present establishment, which is inclosed 
with 15,000 square feet of glass, and here he 
propagates an immense assortment of exotic 
and domestic plants of the choicest varieties, 
selling cut flowers for decorating purposes, and 



also dealing largely, both at retail and whole- 
sale, in bedding plants. His establishment is 
admirably constructed for the purpose to which 
it is devoted, being supplied with all the ap- 
paratus necessary for the successful culture of 
plants. Mr. Matthews has made a marked 
success of this industry, and this has been 
brought about through his own skill and prac- 
tical knowledge of the science of floriculture. 
Mr. Matthews is not a politician, but is a 
strong and active republican. He is a mem- 
ber of Iola lodge, No. 83, Knights of Pythias, 
and of Iola division, No. 26, uniform rank of 
the same order; is a member of the Ancient 
Order of American Knights, of the Patriotic 
Sons of America, and of the dramatic order of 
Knights of Khorassan. He was married, Oc- 
tober 1, 1884, to Miss Flora B., daughter of 
George R. Mumma, but has had the misfortune 
,to lose his wife, who died March 21, 1893, 
the mother of three children, Walter G., Ruth 
M. and Florence M. Mr. Matthews is a mem- 
ber of the Second Evangelical Lutheran church, 
and enjoys the attachment of many warm 
friends and acquaintances. 



HLVIN LAWRENCE MENDEN- 
HALL, member of the Dayton bar, 
was born at Woodington, Darke 
county, Ohio, August 21, 1866. He 
is a son of Samuel T. and Catherine (Teeter) 
Mendenhall, the former of whom was born in 
Preble county, Ohio, and the latter in Bed- 
ford county, Pa. Early in life Samuel T. 
Mendenhall removed from Pennsylvania to 
Darke county, Ohio, and was there engaged 
in merchandizing for many years. He was a 
justice of the peace for fifteen or twenty years 
and died in 1875, a man of influence and 
standing in the community. His widow died 
in 1882. 

Alvin Lawrence Mendenhall lived at home 



666 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until the death of his mother, he being at that 
time a little more than fifteen years of age. 
From that time until 1895 he lived in Preble 
county. At the age of nineteen years he be- 
gan teaching school and followed that profes- 
sion for nine years in Preble county. In 1892 
he began reading law and in 1894 was in at- 
tendance at the Cincinnati Law school, being 
graduated there in May of that year. In July, 
1895, he located in Dayton and engaged in the 
practice of law, which profession he has fol- 
lowed here since that time. 

Mr. Mendenhall was married March 16, 
1887, to Miss Anna C. Foos, of West Man- 
chester, Preble county, Ohio, and to this mar- 
riage there has been born one child, Irene, 
aged four years. 



BREDERICK C. MERKLE, president 
of the Staniland, Merkle & Staniland 
company of Dayton, was born in 
Wapakoneta, Auglaize county, Ohio, 
April 24, 1 85 1, a son of Charles and Anna 
Eve (Kitzenberger) Merkle, the former of 
whom is deceased and the latter a resident of 
Findlay, Ohio. Both parents were born in 
Germany, the mother in Bayern, whence she 
was brought to America when but two years of 
age. The father, who was born in Witten- 
berg, was twenty-two years old when he came 
to the United States. For some years he fol- 
lowed his trade of wagonmaking, but for the 
twenty years immediately preceding his death 
was the proprietor of the Union house in Wa- 
pakoneta. Their children were eight in num- 
ber, as follows: William, now deceased; Jolm, 
a police officer of Dayton; Frederick O; 
Charles, a contractor of Dayton ; Mary, de- 
ceased; Joseph C, chief engineer of water 
works at Dayton; Rosa and Adam, deceased. 
Frederick C. Merkle attended the public 
schools of Wapakoneta until sixteen years of 



age, and then entered the employ of J. H. 
Weller, assistant superintendent of the Day- 
ton & Michigan railroad, with whom he re- 
mained three years, taking in the meantime a 
course of study in the Wilts Commercial col- 
lege. He then began railroad work proper, 
commencing as brakeman on a freight train 
and reaching the position of freight conductor, 
remaining on the road for four years. In 1873 
he went to Tippecanoe, Ohio, and opened a 
harness store, which he conducted for four 
years, and while in that city he married, March 
24, 1874, Miss Elizabeth Pohlkotte. In 1880 
Mr. Merkle came to Dayton and engaged as 
traveling salesman for the marble firm, which, 
through his indefatigable devotion to his duties, 
has reached its present large proportions. 
The plant was established in 1863 and is the 
oldest of its kind in Ohio, and when Mr. 
Merkle became connected with it occupied a 
small lot, 40 x 200 feet. In 1890 he became 
a member of the firm, which then assumed the 
style of Staniland, Merkle & Staniland, and in 
1892 the concern was incorporated, when he 
became its secretary and treasurer. It manu- 
factures granite and marble monuments, mau- 
soleums, etc., and all kinds of marble furniture 
and plumbers' accessories. The plant is on 
Washington street near the railroad, covers 
two acres of land, and employs from thirty to 
seventy-five men. It is the best equipped 
plant in the west, being fitted with complete 
steam apparatus, traveling derricks and cranes, 
and all other modern improvements. The 
output of the company is disposed of through- 
out Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and parts of 
Illinois and Pennsylvania, and nine salesmen 
are kept constantly on the road. The capital 
stock of the company is $35,000, and its 
present officers are Frederick C. Merkle, pres- 
ident; C. A. Bonner, vice-president; J. Henry 
Merkle, secretary and treasurer. 

To Mr. Merkle too much praise cannot be 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



669 



given for the skill and energy with which he 
has managed the affairs of his present firm, 
and indeed, for the successful manner in which 
he has conducted all his undertakings. He 
was but sixteen years of age when he started 
at the bottom of the ladder, and he now stands 
among the solid business men of Dayton. In 
politics he is a republican. Fraternally, he is 
a member of Tippecanoe lodge, No. 257, F. & 
A. M.; Buckeye lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F., 
and he is also a Royal Arch Mason. Mr. and 
Mrs. Merkle have had four children, viz: J. 
Henry, who is secretary and treasurer of the 
Staniland, Merkle & Staniland company; 
George R., deceased; Anna and Edith. The 
family have their pleasant home at No. 26 
High street, and are consistent members of 
the German Lutheran church. 



< y J OUIS MEHLBERTH, the efficient 
r and popular deputy sheriff of Mont- 
_^^ gomery county, Ohio, traces his line- 
age through a long line of German 
ancestors. His father, Bernard Mehlberth, 
was born in Germany and emigrated to Amer- 
ica in 1848, landing at Baltimore, Md., and 
proceeding thence to Pittsburg, Pa., where he 
remained but a short time, and then made his 
way to Cincinnati, Ohio, from which city he 
came to Dayton. Here he established himself 
in business, becoming one of the prominent 
and honored citizens and business men of the 
city, and here remained until his death, which 
occurred April 30, 1894, at the age of seventy- 
five years. He was successfully engaged in 
the manufacture of brushes for many years, 
and was well known and highly esteemed in 
the community. In his religious affiliations he 
was a prominent member of the German Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Pauline Fraas, was born in 
Germany, whence she came to America about 



the year 1855, her marriage to Mr. Mehlberth 
being solemnized in Dayton. She is still liv- 
ing, at the age of sixty-four years. The chil- 
dren of this union were five in number: Em- 
ma is the wife of Charles Schlemmer, of Day- 
ton; Edward is also a resident of this city; Louis 
is the immediate subject of this review; Ma- 
tilda is the wife of William H. Smith, of Day- 
ton; and Minnie is the wife of E. R. Lines, also 
of this city. 

Louis Mehlberth received his educational 
training in the public schools of Dayton, com- 
pleting the intermediate school course and 
graduating as a member of the class of 1880. 
He then entered the office of the Dayton 
Journal and served an apprenticeship of three 
years at the printer's trade. For a short time 
only he devoted his attention to work at the 
trade, and in 1883 he engaged in the grocery 
business in Dayton, continuing for a period of 
nine years, being associated with his brother 
on East Fifth street. He then disposed of his 
interest in this business, and entered Wilt's 
Commercial college, where he completed a 
course of study, after which he became a 
member of the firm of Wells & Mehlberth, 
dealers in hats and caps. He withdrew from 
this enterprise at the end of two years, and on 
the 7th of January, 1895, was appointed office 
deputy by Sheriff Anderton, and has since 
rendered most effective service to the county 
in this capacity. In his political adherency 
Mr. Mehlberth renders allegiance to the repub- 
lican party, and his personal popularity was 
such as to secure his election as a member of 
the board of education, in which he represent- 
ed a democratic ward from 1892 to 1894. He 
has always taken a particular interest in edu- 
cational matters, and his services on the board 
were of much value, while he has been pro- 
gressive and public-spirited in all matters bear- 
ing upon the welfare and prosperity of the city 
of his birth. In his fraternal relations Mr. 



670 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mehlberth is identified with Gem City lodge, 
No. 795, I. O. O. F. ; Linden lodge, No. 412, 
Knights of Pythias; and Gem City council, No. 
1, Fraternal Censer, while he is also a mem- 
ber of the well-known Garfield club, a repub- 
lican organization. 

On the 8th of November, 1886, Mr. Mehl- 
berth married Miss Clara B. Vintree, daughter 
of Benjamin F. Vintree, of Dayton. They 
enjoy a pleasant popularity in the social cir- 
cles of the city, and their home is the center 
of a large circle of friends. 



>t-*OSEPH C. MERKLE, chief engineer 
m of the Dayton water works, was born 
(% 1 in Wapakoneta, Auglaize county, Ohio, 
February 8, 1858, and is a son of 
Charles Merkle, one of the oldest settlers of 
Auglaize county. In 1867 Mr. Merkle removed 
his family to Dayton, Ohio, and there Joseph 
C. attended the public schools until he was 
fifteen years of age. He began the practical 
work of life by learning the trade of a machin- 
ist, continuing at work in various establish- 
ments until 1 88 1, when he became foreman of 
the Stilwell & Bierce Manufacturing company, 
which manufactures heaters, roller mills, and 
turbine water wheels. This position he held 
for six years, and in the spring of 1887 he be- 
came assistant engineer of the Dayton city 
water works. This position Mr. Merkle held 
until 1894, when he was promoted to the po- 
sition of engineer in chief, upon the death of 
M. L. Weaver, who had been engineer in 
chief from 1873 to 1882, and again from 1887 
until 1894, the year of his death. Mr. Merkle 
has two assistant engineers and four other 
employees under him. The water works have 
a capacity of 29,000,000 gallons per day, and 
it is probable that no city in the United States 
has a more constant or a purer supply of water 
than has the city of Dayton. The plant runs 



continually twenty-four hours per day the year 
round, and the position of chief engineer is 
one of trust and responsibility. Since holding 
his present position, Mr. Merkle has made 
many improvements, and reconstructed the 
plant materially. He has made connection 
with the whole system of wells, by which he 
can pump by direct suction in case of necessity. 
Mr. Merkle was married November 27, 
1879, to Miss Mary C. Weglage, of Dayton, 
a daughter of Henry Weglage, deceased. To 
this marriage there have been born four sons 
and one daughter, as follows: William H., 
Charles E., Walter E. , Blanche M. and Fred- 
erick C. Mr. Merkle is a member of Dayton 
lodge, No. 273, I. O. O. F.; Riverdale lodge, 
K. of P. ; Dayton court of Foresters, and of 
the Jackson democratic club. He is a man of 
great force of character and of sterling integ- 
rity, enjoying the esteem and confidence of all 
who know him. 



^V^VETER MEYER, funeral director and 
I M undertaker, No. 716 South Wayne 
street, Dayton, is a native of Ger- 
many, born on the 8th day of Sep- 
tember, 1850, in the kingdom of Prussia. His 
parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Meyer, were na- 
tives of the same country, and their bodies lie 
side by side in the old cemetery, where mingle 
the ashes of many generations of their ances- 
tors. Of a family of four children born to 
Jacob and Elizabeth Meyer, but two survive — 
Jacob, a resident of Dayton, and Peter. John, ' 
the eldest brother, died in 1871, and the only 
sister, Mrs. Katie Breit, died and was laid to 
rest in the fatherland. 

Peter Meyer was educated in the schools of 
his native country, and there served an appren- 
ticeship at the trade of blacksmithing, at which 
he worked four years in Prussia. Thinking to 
better his condition in a country which afforded 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



671 



better inducements and larger opportunities, 
Mr. Meyer, when nineteen years of age, bade 
farewell to the land of his birth and came to 
the United States, locating in Dayton city, 
Ohio, where for a period of six years he 
worked at his trade with much success. Dur- 
ing the last three years of that time he oper- 
ated a shop upon his own responsibility, and 
then engaged in the livery business, which he 
carried on until 1885, when he added under- 
taking as a branch of the enterprise. In the 
spring of 1 89 15 Mr. Meyer disposed of the liv- 
ery business, and since that time has devoted 
his entire attention to undertaking, which, con- 
ducted with a wisely-directed energy, has 
borne results of a most satisfactory character. 

Mr. Meyer is a typical German-American, 
a man of the highest business and social stand- 
ing, and his reputation has been gained by a 
long course of honest and straightforward con- 
duct. He is a democrat in politics, and in re- 
ligion is a Roman Catholic, belonging with his 
family to Saint Mary's church of Dayton. He 
is charitably inclined, having always been 
noted for his liberality in behalf of the needy. 

In November, 1873, Mr. Meyer and Miss 
Rosa Steffen, of Dayton, daughter of Martin 
and Mary Steffen, natives of Germany, were 
united in the bonds of wedlock, a union 
blessed with the birth of three children — 
Charlie, Katie and Marie — all residing at this 
time under the parental roof. 



EENRY W. MEYER, foreman of the 
works of S. N. Brown & Co. , manu- 
facturers of wheels and carriage ma- 
terials, was born in the kingdom of 
Hanover, February 12, 1837. His parents, 
Henry W. and Elizabeth fOsterhaus) Meyer, 
were natives of Germany, and were the par- 
ents of four children, three sons and a daugh- 
ter. Three of these are still living, as follows: 



Henry W. ; John, of Dayton; and August, of 
Springfield. There were two children born to 
the senior Meyer by a former marriage, only 
one of whom is now living, viz: James R. , 
now engineer for O. L. Bouck, of Dayton. 
Henry W. Meyer, the father of our subject, 
came to the United States in 1837, located in 
Dayton, and there lived all his life, dying in 
1880 at the age of eighty-one. From 1846 to 
1854 he was sexton of the cemetery in Day- 
ton. He assisted to build the old Sears street 
Lutheran church and was a member of the 
church and one of its deacons for many years. 
His wife was also a member of this church, 
and died in 1846, when forty-six years of age. 

The paternal grandfather of the present 
Henry W. Meyer died in Germany, when his 
son Henry W. was fifteen years of age. The 
maternal grandfather, Henry Harmon Oster- 
haus, came to the United States, lived in Day- 
ton, and died in this city at an advanced age. 

Henry W. Meyer, whose name opens this 
sketch, was reared in Dayton, and was educa- 
ted in the public schools of that city. He 
began learning the trade of wood-turning at 
the age of fifteen, and entered the service of 
the firm for which he is still working, in June, 
1852, so that he has been in the constant em- 
ployment of this one firm for forty-five years, 
and has been foreman of the works for thirty 
years. Mr. Meyer was married October 28, 
1858, to Miss Elizabeth Kuhlman, daughter 
of Herman B. and Margaret E. Kuhlman. 
By this marriage he has had six children, four 
of whom are now living, as follows: William, 
Charles H., Mary and Emma. William H. 
married Miss Tillie Timmer, and has six chil- 
dren. Mary, who married G. A. Lange, prin- 
cipal of the Fourth district school, has two 
children, Florence and Herbert. Charles H. 
is secretary of the Germania Building associa- 
tion; and Emma is a successful teacher of in- 
strumental music. 



672 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mr. and Mrs. Meyer and all of their family 
are members of the Wayne street Lutheran 
church. Politically, he is an independent 
democrat, and as such served as a member of 
the city council for several years, representing 
the Fifth and Sixth wards. He lives in a 
comfortable home on the corner of Chestnut 
and Brown streets, among the highly esteemed 
and well-known citizens of Dayton. 



<^"\ AVID W. MILLER, superintendent 
I of construction at the national mili- 
/^^J tary home, at Dayton, is a native of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, born Au- 
gust 25, 1 84 1 , a son of Jacob and Susannah 
(Stoner) Miller, and was reared to manhood 
and learned the carpenter's trade in his native 
county. 

Jacob Miller, his father, was born in 
Dauphin county, Pa., February 13, 1809, and 
descended from a German family, who spelled 
the name Mueller, and who settled in Penn- 
sylvania prior to the war of the Revolution. 
Jacob Miller was a carpenter by trade, and in 
his early manhood came to Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, and here married, in 1835, Miss 
Susannah Stoner, a native of Maryland, born 
in 1817. To this marriage were born six sons 
and six daughters, of whom four died in in- 
fancy; William died at the age of fourteen 
years, and Jacob when eighteen years old. Of 
the five living, beside David W., Elizabeth is 
the wife of Noah Kinsey, a farmer residing 
seven miles north of Dayton; Michael B., a 
carpenter and contractor, lives in Riverdale, 
Dayton; Mary Ann is married to Adam Greene- 
wait, of Mansfield, 111.; Susannah is the wife 
of George Leattor, of Elgin, 111., and Henrietta 
Williamson lives near Dayton, Ohio. The 
mother of these children died on the Mont- 
gomery county farm, in 1S61, and the father 
took for his second wife Miss Hannah Stoner, 



a sister of his first wife, with whom he lived 
until his death in Montgomery county, in 1875; 
his widow now makes her home with her 
daughter, Mrs. Williamson. 

David W. Miller enlisted, February 7, 
1864, in company K, Sixty-third Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, and served until the close of the 
Civil war — his brother, Michael B., being a 
member of the same company. The scope of 
this memoir cannot be expanded sufficiently to 
permit mention of the numerous battles in 
which Mr. Miller took part; suffice it to say that 
he served in the army of the Tennessee, and 
participated in all the marches, skirmishes, 
and battles in which his regiment was engaged, 
including the march of Sherman to the sea 
and through the Carolinas to Washington, 
where he participated in the grand review in 
May, 1865, and received an honorable dis- 
charge in Louisville, Ky., in July of the same 
year, when he returned to his native county 
and resumed active work at his trade. 

January 10, 1867, David W. Miller was 
united in marriage with Miss Sarah Ann Lan- 
dis, a native of Montgomery county, and a 
daughter of David and Rachel (Welbaum) Lan- 
dis. David Landis was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., in 18 16; his wife is a native of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, born in (821, and 
both are now living in Salem, in the latter 
county. They have had born to them a family 
of ten children, viz: John W., Jacob H., Jo- 
siah, Rachel, William W., Lucinda, Mary 
Catherine, Harvey, Dora Ellen and Theodore. 
Of these, John W. lives on the old homestead, 
near Salem; Jacob H. is a bookkeeper in a 
law office in Dayton; Josiah was a soldier in 
the Civil war, was married, and died in 1869, 
leaving one child; William W. , ateacher, died 
in 1868, in his twenty-first year; Lucinda died 
in young womanhood, and Mary Catherine is 
also deceased; Dora Ellen is the wife of H. C. 
Boyer, a farmer near West Milton, Ohio. 






CCA 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



675 



To the marriage of David W. Miller and 
wife, seven children have been born, in the 
following order: Carrie May, who is the wife 
of H. H. Prugh, an attorney of Dayton; Lillie 
Ada, married to Rev. Freeley Rohrer, a Pres- 
byterian minister, of Paulding, Ohio; Wilbert 
Alfred, a notary public, bookkeeper and sten- 
ographer, and in the insurance business in Day- 
ton; Chester Earl, employed in Dayton; Daisy 
Ann, who died at the age of three years and 
six months; Mabel Maud, and Charles Howard; 
the youngest four living of these are still under 
the parental roof. 

Mr. Miller followed his vocation of carpen- 
ter and contractor, and that of superintending 
the business of Beaver & Butt, contractors, 
until 1888, when he was appointed to his pres- 
ent responsible position as superintendent of 
construction at the national military home. 
He has charge of twenty-six regular carpenters, 
beside a force of forty auxiliaries, and also of 
all the material used in the various depart- 
ments of construction and repair. 

Fraternally, he is a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of the 
Old Guard post, Grand Army of the Republic. 
Mrs. Miller is a member of the Ladies of the 
G. A. R. , and also of the Woman's Christian 
Temperance union, and, with her husband, of 
Raper Methodist Episcopal church, being very 
active in both church and Sunday-school work. 
Socially, the family stands very high, and no 
one enjoys a fuller measure of esteem in the 
community than David W. Miller. 



V7*AMES R. MEYERS, engineer for O. L. 
m Bouck's planing mill, of Dayton, Ohio, 
A 1 was born in the kingdom of Hanover, 
Germany, December 22, 1825. He is 
a son of Henry W. and Eliza (Dorman) Mey- 
ers, who were natives of Germany. Henry 
W. and Eliza Meyers had two children, James 



R. and Christian R. , the latter of whom died 
May 27, 185 1. James R. Meyers is a half- 
brother of Henry W. Meyers, whose biograph- 
ical sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. 

James R. Meyers was eleven years of age 
when his parents came to Montgomery county 
and located in Dayton, in August, 1837. 
Reared in Dayton, he was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of that city. When he was in his 
fifteenth year he began working for the state of 
Ohio, on the repairs of the canal between Day- 
ton and Troy, and continued thus to work until 
he was married, which event occurred August 
21, 1 85 1 . The maiden name of his wife was 
Martha Ann Baman, a daughter of Charles 
and Martha (Hill) Baman, who came from 
Virginia to Dayton in 181 1. 

To the marriage of James R. and Martha 
Ann Meyers there were born nine children, as 
follows: William, Henry, Albert, Frank, El- 
len, Miranda, Annie, Callie and Lillie. Will- 
iam married Minnie Staffin, and by her has 
two children, Clara and Louisa. William Mey- 
ers is a blacksmith by trade and occupation. 
Henry married Rose Miles. He is at the pres- 
ent time foreman of the O. L. Bouck planing 
mill. Albert married Ida Taylor. Frank mar- 
ried Clara Stowe. Ellen married O. L. Bouck, 
and has two children, Clifford and Margaret. 
Miranda married Frank Judson, who has been 
a clerk in the post-office at Dayton for more 
than twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Judson 
have two sons, Arthur and Walter. Annie 
married Charles P. Foulkuth, and has onechild. 
Ivy Callie died at the age of twenty-four, and 
Lillie is keeping house for her father, her 
mother having died December 2, 1880, at the 
age of forty-nine. Mrs. Meyers was one of the 
good christian women of Dayton, a member of 
the First United Brethren church of Dayton, 
to which Mr. Meyers himself belongs. Polit- 
ically' Mr. Meyers is a republican, but has 
never sought official position. He has been en- 



.;:.; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



gineer for the O. L. Bouck planing mill ever 
since it was established, a period of twelve 
years, and has earned a reputation for faithful 
and excellent performance of his responsible 
duties. For the past sixty years he has been 
a resident of Dayton, and has been an eye-wit- 
ness of this city's great and rapid growth and 
development as a manufacturing center. 



a APT. HERMAN C. MEYER, a resi- 
dent of the Dayton National Military 
Home for Disabled VolunteerSoldiers, 
holds the responsible position of cap- 
tain of company Eight. He is a native of Ger- 
many, having been born in Osnabruck, Han- 
over, September 17, 1840, and there he re- 
mained until he had reached the age of seven- 
teen, when he joined the great throng of the 
hardy and adventurous that were coming to 
America for those larger opportunities of living 
that the old world did not afford. He was 
educated with German thoroughness at the 
gymnasium in Osnabruck, and at the univer- 
sity at Gottingen, Hanover. On reaching this 
country he made his way to Allentown, Pa. , 
where he secured a good position in a rolling 
mill, through the influence of Senator S. S. 
Cox, whose acquaintance he had made while 
on the ocean. His stay in the rolling mill was 
measured by half a year, when he left it to go 
into the office of the Ohio & Northwestern 
Lumber company as bookkeeper and clerk. He 
was still in the employ of this firm when the 
fall of Fort Sumter startled the north. The 
rapidity with which the people rallied to the 
support of the government is evident from the 
fact, that though Mr. Meyer's enlistment came 
as early as May 17, 1861, he was enrolled in 
company A, Twenty-eighth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry. He was mustered into the service at 
Cincinnati, and was at once attached to the 
arm}' of West Virginia, under command of 



Gen. Rosecrans. In a skirmish at Princeton, 
in that state, he received a disabling wound, 
being shot through both arms. He was in the 
hospital for long and dreary weeks, and when 
he left it was pronounced unfit for active serv- 
ice. But he was determined to be still at the 
front, and at his own request was transferred 
to the United States signal corps, and served 
with that organization until the close of the 
war. He joined Sherman's army at Rocky 
Face ridge, and went with it to Atlanta, Sa- 
vannah, and "the sea." He was with it on 
the memorable march through the Carolinas 
and to Washington, participating in the grand 
review of the victorious armies. From Wash- 
ington he was sent to Louisville, and from 
there to Brownsville, Tex., remaining in the 
service until August 6, 1866. 

Mr. Meyer immediately sought his old posi- 
tion with the Ohio & Northwestern Lumber 
company at Columbus, upon his retirement 
from the signal service, and with that firm he 
continued until failing health compelled him to 
cease active labor April 4, 18S5, and to seek 
medical relief. He was in the hospital at 
Buffalo under treatment for several months, 
and finding himself permanently unfit for active 
employment, he came to the Dayton home 
November 13, 1886. He was at once put in 
command of company Twenty-seven, and ad- 
ministered the duties of that position for nine 
years. But his health became so much im- 
paired that he could no longer act in that 
capacity. Accordingly he resigned in Febru- 
ary, 1896, and took a prolonged trip through 
northern Michigan. This so improved his 
health, that, on his return, he was appointed 
to the command of company Eight. 

Capt. Meyer is a member of Mystic lodge, 
F. & A. M., of the Germania society of Phil- 
adelphia, and of the Signal Corps organization 
at Detroit, of which there are known to be but 
fifty-seven members living. He is a Protestant, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



07^ 



confirmed in the German Reformed church 
while still a youth. He is a strong republican, 
and a man of intelligence and broad culture. 
He has had many thrilling experiences, and 
the story of his life would read like a romance, 
.with the added charm of being true. He 
comes of a family of soldiers well known in his 
native country. His father, H. V. Meyer, 
was colonel of the Second dragoons of Han- 
over, Germany, and spent his entire life in the 
army, dying of a wound received in the 
Schleswig-Holstein war of 1866. His mother, 
whose maiden name was May Viola Von Hess, 
was the daughter of Gen. Von Hess, well 
known in the military history of Austria, and 
is also deceased. She and her husband were 
the parents of nine children, five sons and 
four daughters, and of these but four are now 
living, Capt. Meyer being the youngest. His 
eldest brother, Laurens V. Meyer, resides near 
Berlin, Germany, and is on the retired list of 
the imperial army. He was in active service 
as brigadier-general of the First German cav- 
alry corps. The two sisters also married 
soldiers, and are widows residing in their 
native country. 



f\ EORGE W. MILLER, M. D., a suc- 
■ ^\ cessful physician and surgeon of Day- 
\i^J ton, Ohio, was born in Cincinnati, 
. March 18, 1866. He is a son of 
Charles H. and Hannah C. (Combs) Miller, 
both of Cincinnati, of which city the family 
have been residents for many years. 

George C. Miller, the grandfather of Dr. 
Miller, was one of the early settlers of Cincin- 
nati, when it was but a small place, contain- 
ing then only about 3,000 inhabitants. He 
came from New Jersey, was of Revolutionary 
stock, and started the first carriage factory on 
this side of the Alleghany mountains. He 
turned out the first iron-tired buggy ever made 



in the west, forging the tires by hand from 
scraps of iron. He retired from business at 
an advanced age and was succeeded by his 
two sons. He was one of the founders of 
the Commercial bank of Cincinnati, and was 
also one of the founders of the Seventh Pres- 
byterian church of that city. He lived to a 
green old age, and died leaving a family of six 
children. Charles H. Miller, the father of the 
doctor, was for some time engaged in the 
manufacture of plows and carriages. 

George W. Miller is one of a family of five 
children. He was educated in the high school 
of Cincinnati, and afterward took a commer- 
cial course, in 1887 entering Pulte Medical 
college, from which he graduated in 1890. 
After practicing in Cincinnati for one year he 
was called to the chair of anatomy in Pulte 
Medical college, which chair he filled for two 
years. In 1893 he removed to Dayton and 
formed a partnership with Dr. Joseph E. 
Lowes, with whom he has since been associ- 
ated. Dr. Miller is a thorough physician and 
is rapidly advancing in the ranks of the pro- 
fession. He is a member of the Montgomery 
county Homeopathic Medical society, and of 
the state Homeopathic Medical association, 
of the Knights of Pythias, and of the B. P. O. 
E. ; is physician of the Dayton work house, 
and is medical examiner for the Knights of 
Pythias. He is a member of the Reformed 
Presbyterian church, is devoted to church 
work, and is in every way a worthy, public- 
spirited citizen. 



WOHN CHARLES MILLER, the well 
& known and popular pharmacist at No. 
/• I 504 East Xenia street, Dayton, Ohio, 
is a native of Clay county, Ind., was 
born October 3, 1869, and is a son of Rev. 
Jacob and Huldah (Pickhart) Miller, both na- 
tives of Germany. 



678 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Rev. Jacob Miller was born in Martsheim, 
Germany, February I, 1833, and his wife, 
Huldah Pickhart, is a native of Hueckswagen, 
Germany, born November 29, 1834. They 
were married in Cannelton, Ind., August 12, 
1854, the mother having come to America in 
1848, and of their family of five sons and five 
daughters, two of each are still living. The 
father died October 9, 1891, at No. ngBoltin 
street, Dayton, where his widow still resides. 
Rev. Jacob Miller received his education in 
his native land, and there also learned the 
coopering trade. He embarked for America 
January 31, 1853, landed at New Orleans, 
came up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and 
reached Evansville, Ind., April 5 of the same 
year. There he established a cooper shop and 
followed his trade until 1866, when he aban- 
doned it to enter the ministry of the Evangel- 
ical church. Though his services in this work 
were but poorly recompensed in that then 
frontier country, his heart was in the cause of 
the Master, and he continued to labor in his 
vineyard, in various sections of the country, 
until within three years of his death, when ill 
health compelled him to retire. 

John C. Miller, his son, was educated in 
the common schools and within the family 
circle, in the latter receiving a thorough train- 
ing in the German language, which has been 
of great value to him from a business point of 
view. July 5, 1S86, he became a clerk in a 
drug store in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he re- 
mained two years, and then entered the Illi- 
nois college of Pharmacy at Chicago, passed 
through a one-year course of lectures, and 
then, for about two years, clerked in a drug 
store in that city. In 1890 he came to Day- 
ton, and here, for a short time, was employed 
by a leading drug firm. From January, 1891, 
until January, 1892, he resided in Cincinnati, 
and while there passed an examination before 
the Ohio board of pharmacy, receiving his 



license as a pharmacist in the last named year 
— this license being reissued in 1895. Sep- 
tember 5, 1892, he opened business on his 
own account at his present location in Dayton, 
and now carries a well selected stock of drugs, 
patent medicines, toilet articles, etc. He 
compounds some of the standard proprietary 
remedies, and bears an excellant reputation, 
personally and as a careful, painstaking pre- 
scription druggist. He is doing an altogether 
prosperous trade, and well deserves the success 
attending him. 

May 11, 1892, Mr. Miller was united in 
marriage with Miss Catherine Kuebler, daugh- 
ter of Frederick and Elizabeth Kuebler, old 
settlers of Dayton. To this union have been 
born two children — Frederick John, who died 
when seven weeks old, and one that died in 
early infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are strict 
members of the Evangelical church, and Mr. 
Miller is a Forester. In politics he is inde- 
pendent, but is possessed of strong silver- 
republican proclivities. In social life, he and 
wife hold a high position and are greatly re- 
spected by all who know them. 



*y ■ * ARRY F. NOLAN, one of the best 

|f\ known of the younger members of the 

r Dayton bar, was born in this city on 

June 22, 1864, and is the son of the 

late Col. Michael P. and Anna Schenck (Clark) 

Nolan. 

Col. M. P. Nolan was born in Dublin, Ire- 
land, on June 28, 1823, and in the following 
year his parents emigrated to the United 
States, settling in Lancaster county, Pa., and 
in 1837 removed to Dayton. He was given 
but a limited education during his youth. He 
learned carriagemaking, at which trade he 
worked for some time, during which he did all 
in his power to educate himself. He entered 
a debating society, where he found a good li- 





&t^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



681 



brary, the books of which he read at every op- 
portunity. When a young man he com- 
manded a canal boat for a time. On Decem- 
ber 30, 1847, he married Anna Schenck Clark, 



of Miamisburg. 



He continued working at his 



trade, and at night read law from borrowed 
books, as he had made up his mind to become 
a lawyer. In 1 8 5 1 he was admitted to the bar. 

In April, 1861, at the breaking out of the 
late war, he raised company G, of the Elev- 
enth regiment of Ohio volunteer infantry. He 
became lieutenant-colonel of the Fiftieth regi- 
ment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and subsequently 
colonel of the One Hundred and Ninth regi- 
ment, Ohio infantry. During the war Col. Nolan 
was an active member of the Union League, 
and was president of that body for the Third 
congressional district of Ohio, and delegate 
from that district to the national convention at 
Baltimore that nominated Mr. Lincoln for 
president in 1864. During the summer of 
1863 he assisted in organizing the " war de- 
mocracy" in Ohio, and took the stump for 
Gov. Brough. After the war he served for 
several years as United States commissioner at 
Dayton. In 1878 he was the congressional 
candidate of the greenback-labor party, which 
nomination he accepted with the full knowl- 
edge that he was to lead a forlorn hope. 
His death occurred in Dayton on Monday, No- 
vember 30, 1 89 1, of heart failure. 

December 1, 1891, the day following the 
death of Col. Nolan, the sad event was 
announced in court, and, on motion, Judge 
Dwyer ordered a recess to be taken and a 
bar meeting was at once convened. At this 
meeting a committee of six was appointed to 
draft resolutions, and the bar then adjourned 
until the next day, when, on re-assembling, 
resolutions of condolence and respect were 
adopted, and several speeches were made by 
the more prominent members of the bar, eulo- 
gizing the many noble qualities of the deceased. 

24 



Later, December 12 and 31, similar resolu- 
tions were passed by Dister post, G. A. R. , 
and by the members of the Hibernian Rifles. 
The press throughout the state was profuse in 
its commendation of the merits and the active 
life of the departed soldier and lawyer, several 
journals giving a more or less extended record 
of his virtues and work. 

Col. Nolan was a man of superior intel- 
lect, was kind, courteous and obliging, and 
extremely affectionate in his domestic relations. 
He was indeed a man of strong likes and dis- 
likes, a sterling friend who never forgot a 
favor, and seldom, if ever, forgot an injury. 
In point of wit, humor or sarcasm he was: 
without a peer at the bar or in society. His 
industry was unceasing, his discrimination 
quick and his judgment sound. His oratory 
was brilliant and his logic convincing. His 
reading had been deep and exhaustive, not- 
withstanding his lack of opportunity for an ed- 
ucation in his early days, and the words of 
Shakespeare, his favorite author, were ever at 
his command. As a lawyer, his counsel was 
safe; he was strong as an advocate before a 
jury, in which body he had great faith, and 
could hardly realize that a judge had any right 
to set aside a verdict that had once been ren- 
dered in his favor. He was a born soldier, 
and as far back as 1850 organized a company 
of state militia, and at one time was a captain 
of the old Montgomery guards. His Civil war 
record is given in a previous paragraph. In 
politics he was at first a democrat, as he fol- 
lowed the footsteps of his father in this partic- 
ular; but he had an inborn dislike of slavery, 
and, when old enough to think for himself, 
modified his views, and in 1848 voted for 
Martin Van Buren as the free soil candidate 
for the presidency, at a time when it required 
a great deal of moral courage to take such a 
step in Miami township, of which he was then 
a resident. Fraternally, he was a member of 



682 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the G. A. R., and was also a Free Mason. 
He left behind him, to deplore his loss, his 
widow and five of his ten children, viz: Mary 
E., Sallie E. (wife of Samuel M. Kehoe), Dr. 
Charles N., of Greenville, Ohio; Louise B. 
and Harry F. Col. Nolan was strictly a tem- 
perance man, and in 1877 was elected presi- 
dent of the first Murphy organization in Dayton. 

Harry F. Nolan was educated in the Day- 
ton public schools, leaving the high school in 
1879 to begin an apprenticeship at the trade of 
bookbinding at the United Brethren Publish- 
ing house. On January 12, 1882, he entered 
his father's office and began reading law. He 
was admitted to the bar May 6, 1886, when 
twenty-one years of age, and on January 1, 
1887, a co-partnership was formed between 
his father and himself under the firm name of 
Nolan & Nolan. On April 8, 1890, Mr. Nolan 
was elected city attorney of Dayton, serving in 
that capacity for over two years, when he re- 
turned to his practice. After his father's death 
he succeeded to the law business of the firm 
and has since continued in practice. 

Mr. Nolan is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, having received the Knights Templar 
degree, and is a member of the Elks. 



eROF. SAMUEL ARNOLD MIN- 
NICH, principal of the Fifth district 
public schools of Dayton, is a native 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
was born near Brookville, September 7, 1847, 
and in this county he has passed his entire life, 
with the exception of about seven years, when 
teaching school — six years in Darke and one 
year in Preble counties. 

John and Barbara (Arnoldj Minnich, his 
parents, were born respectively in Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, and in the latter state the father, 
who was an agriculturist, died in Montgomery 
county, at the age of fifty-six years, while the 



mother, who is still a widow, now makes her 
home in Darke county, near Arcanum. The 
Minnich family traces its descent to Bavaria, 
the name being derived from that of the city 
of Munich, the capital of the kingdom; and 
the first of the family to come to America was 
Prof. Minnich's great-grandfather, who settled 
in Lancaster county, Pa. Prof. Samuel A. 
Minnich was the seventh in order of birth in a 
family of fourteen children, and grew to man- 
hood on his father's farm. His choice of a 
life-work was largely directed by an accident 
which occurred when he was twenty-one years 
of age, through which his left hand was severe- 
ly and permanently maimed, while he was feed- 
ing a circular saw in the preparation of fuel 
for the use of the family. He had intended to 
become a mechanic and had a strong predilec- 
tion for carpentry, but of course his desire in 
this respect was by this mishap defeated. He 
had recieved a most excellent education in the 
district schools and had begun teaching 
while still living on the home farm, al- 
though his teaching alternated with at- 
tendance at private schools. He final- 
ly entered the normal school at Medina, 
Ohio, from which he graduated in 1876. Fol- 
lowing this event, he resumed teaching, but 
later took a course of lectures on materia med- 
ica and graduated from the Long Island College 
hospital in 1882. For two and a half years he 
practiced medicine; but the profession proving 
to be distasteful to him, he again resumed that 
of school-teaching, and has ever since, with 
the exception of the period above alluded to, 
followed this vocation in Montgomery county 
with marked success, and in 1892 was elected 
to his present position of principal of the Fifth 
district public school of Dayton. 

The marriage of Prof. Minnich took place 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1885, to Miss 
Ida M. Mundhenk, a native of the county and 
of German extraction. Her father, John 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



683 



Mundhenk, is now deceased, and her mother 
is a resident of Dayton. Mrs. Minnich was 
educated in the Pyrmont public schools and in 
the Lebanon normal school, became a teacher 
and was an assistant to Prof. Minnich at the 
time of her marriage. Prof, and Mrs. Minnich 
are consistent members of the United Brethren 
church of Dayton, and the professor, while 
not controlled by party lines, manifests a strong 
inclination toward republicanism. Fraternally, 
he is a Knight of Pythias, and socially he and 
his wife occupy a very prominent position 
among the citizens of Dayton. 



<*S~*\ EV. D. R. MILLER, D. D., general 

I /<^ manager of the Union Biblical semi- 
_W nary, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Fairfield county, Ohio, on June 13, 
1835. In the same year his parents moved 
from Fairfield county to what is now Auglaize 
county, Ohio, where he was reared on a farm 
and secured a portion of his education in the 
district school. When quite young, however, 
he became identified with manufacturing in- 
dustries and mercantile interests, which ex- 
perience greatly aided in the development of 
his business qualities. While thus engaged he 
obtained further education through attending 
select and special schools, until he was fully 
equipped and obtained a certificate for teach- 
ing, which he followed for a time. 

Dr. Miller joined the United Brethren j 
church in 1848, and entered the ministry of 
that church in i860. For over thirty years 
he has been an active member in the Sandusky 
conference of this church, which conference 
embraces the larger portion of northwestern 
Ohio. With this conference he still sustains 
active relations, and has represented it in all 
of the general conferences since and including 
that of the year 1873. He was a member of 
the board of trustees of the Union Biblical 



seminary from 1873 to the time of his election 
as general manager in 1885. As manager of 
the seminary he has greatly improved the sur- 
roundings, and by personal solicitations and 
attention has secured to the assets and for 
current expenses of the institution, consider- 
ably over $200,000. He has been officially 
connected with Otterbein university as agent 
or trustee since 1863, and is president of the 
board of trustees at this time. He was a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees of the United 
Brethren Publishing house, at Dayton, for 
four years, and served eight years on the Sun- 
day-school board of the United Brethren 
church. 

The public career of Dr. Miller has been 
prominent. He served a term as chaplain of 
the Ohio penitentiary, and was also superin- 
tendent of the Girls' Industrial home, of 
Ohio, for several years. He likewise served 
for four years as a republican member of the 
Dayton city council, representing the Fourth 
ward, his term in that body expiring in 1894. 
While a member of the council his services 
were of great benefit to the city. For two 
years he was chairman of the committee on 
law, and he prepared or revised most of the 
ordinances pertaining to street railroad fran- 
chises, and was the principal author of the 
measure providing for the transfer system now 
in force governing street railways in the city 
of Dayton. He was one of the special com- 
mittee of the city council, instrumental in 
securing concessions from the Natural Gas 
company, which provided for an independent 
line for Dayton, a pumping plant, and a fixed 
pressure of two and a half ounces to be main- 
tained throughout the city and determined by 
recording gauges, or in default thereof, a pro- 
portionate rebate to customers. The price of 
the gas under this compromise was to be 
twenty cents per thousand feet. This adjust- 
ment was considered as the most favorable in 



684 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



its terms of any contract ever obtained for the 
city of Dayton. But because of the peculiar 
excitement at the time, this compromise was 
defeated in the council. 

Dr. Miller was also one of the special com- 
mittee appointed by the council to determine 
the propriety of preserving the old log cabin 
and to superintend its removal from its former 
to its present location; and to this he gave 
special attention, in connection with other rep- 
resentative citizens, until the cabin was per- 
manently established on its new foundation. 
He was also appointed by the mayor as a mem- 
ber of the committee on ship canal, and gave 
much time to the investigation of that subject. 
For several years he has been greatly interested 
in the development and improvement of that 
part of the city known as the West side, and 
has been continuously the president of the 
West Side Improvement association. He has 
twice been a member of the republican exec- 
utive committee of Dayton, and was chairman 
of the same during one year. 



^ yy -W 1 ILLIAM HARRISON MILLER, one 

a a of the well-known young members 

\_\^yl Dayl i bar, was born in the 

northern part of Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, November 15, 1862. His parents 
are Benjamin and Mary A. (Zeigler) Miller, 
both natives of Montgomery county. Benja- 
min Miller has followed farming to some ex- 
tent, and was one of the pioneer threshers of 
this section, he having operated a horse-power 
threshing-machine between Dayton and Green- 
ville for many years. He was also in the nur- 
sery business for a short time; and is at pres- 
ent engaged in mercantile business at Brook- 
ville, this county. To his marriage nine chil- 
dren have been born, eight sons and one 
daughter, one of the sons being now deceased. 
William H. Miller was educated in the 



common schools, Randolph township high 
school, Antioch college, Ohio Wesleyan uni- 
versity, and the Ohio normal university. He 
also took a law course at the last named insti- 
tution, graduating there in 1892, with the de- 
gree of LL. B. He taught school at different 
times for a period of about nine years, and 
during two summers taught the normal school 
at Greenville, Ohio. He began reading law 
with Julian Irwin, of Greenville, was admitted 
to the bar in Indiana in 1893, and in Ohio in 
October, 1894. He began the practice at 
Marion, Ind., came to Dayton in 1894 and 
opened an office, and has since continued in 
general practice. Mr. Miller was married June 
7, 1893, to Esther C. Trump, of Castine, 
Darke county, Ohio, daughter of William K. 
Trump. 

Mr. Miller is a member of the Independent 
Order of Foresters, in which order he is the 
high counselor of Ohio. He is also a member 
of the Modern Knights' Fidelity league. 

All of the children of Benjamin Miller and 
wife who have attained their majority are fol- 
lowing professions: V. L. Miller, M. D., is a 
practitioner of Brookville, Ohio; H. W. and 
C. B. are druggists. 



>-j* M. MORGAN, M. D., physician and 
A surgeon, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Al Atlanta, Ga. , June 15, 1858. His 
father, H. M. Morgan, was a merchant 
of Atlanta, dealing largely in cotton and be- 
coming one of the largest cotton merchants of 
the south. He removed to the north in 1864, 
and is now living in Dayton, retired from busi- 
ness. The mother of Dr. Morgan was born 
in South Carolina, in 1825, bore the maiden 
name of Catherine Manguna, and is still living. 
Dr. J. M. Morgan received his literary edn- 
cation at Urbana, and at Springfield, Ohio. 
At the age of twenty-one he went to Cincinnati, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



685 



to pursue the study of medicine, and in the 
last named city married Miss Alfarata M. 
Smith, daughter of C. W. Smith, M. D., at 
that time holding the chair of medical juris- 
prudence in the Physio-Medical college of Cin- 
cinnati. 

Dr. Morgrn graduated at Chicago in the 
spring of 1887; removed to Saint Louis, Mo. , in 
1892, where he was appointed to the chair of 
orificial surgery, in the American Medical col- 
lege, and in the same year he removed to Day- 
ton, where he still resides. His office is 
located at No. 309 West Third street. 



(D 



ICHAEL MORAN, liveryman, No. 
527 East Fifth street, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born seven miles from this city, 
on Hole's creek, June 6, 1857. He 
is a son of Michael and Johanna (Maher) 
Moran, both of whom were natives of Tipper- 
ary, Ireland. They came to the United States 
some time in the 'thirties, and lived a few 
years in New York state, but in 1842 removed 
to Cincinnati, lived there a few years, and then 
removed to the farm upon which their son 
Michael was born. Upon this farm the family 
lived for seven years, and then removed to the 
old Lovvery farm, four miles north of Dayton, 
where they lived until the death of Mr. Moran, 
which occurred in 1878, at the age of fifty- 
seven years. His wife still survives. They 
were the parents of seven children, three of 
whom are still living, viz: Michael, Margaret 
and Catherine. Both Mr. and Mrs. Moran 
were reared in the faith of the Catholic church, 
of which Mrs. Moran is still a devoted member. 
The paternal grandfather of Michael lived in 
Ireland all his life, and had but one child. 
By occupation he was a farmer. The mater- 
nal grandfather was Lawrence Maher. He 
also was a farmer, reared a family of nine 
children, and died in Ireland at an advanced age. 



Michael Moran, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared on the farm and received his edu- 
cation in the district schools. Remaining at 
home until he had attained his majority, he 
rented lands and carried on farming on his own 
account. He then removed to Dayton and 
engaged in trading. He was married Novem- 
ber 24, 1886, to Miss Mary Cahill, daughterof 
James and Catherine (O'Rourke) Cahill. Mrs. 
Moran died February 11, 1890, a member of 
the Catholic church. Mr. Moran is a member 
of that church, and is also a member of the 
Ancient Order of Hibernians and of the Knights 
of Saint John. As a democrat he served two 
years as supervisor of Butler township, not- 
withstanding that township was usually re- 
publican. 

After his marriage he returned to the farm, 
but upon the death of his wife he again came 
to Dayton, in 1890, and for two years was en- 
gaged in teaming. In 1892, Mr. Moran en- 
tered upon the livery business, being at first 
located at No. 2013 Fifth street, but in Octo- 
ber, 1893, removed to his present location. 
Having lived in Montgomery county for thirty- 
nine years, he is well and widely known 
throughout the county. 



>--r'OHN MULL, one of the representative 

m business men of Dayton, was born in 

/» 1 Warren county, Ohio, July 4, 1844, 

and is a son of Reuben and Catherine 

(Spindler) Mull, both of German extraction. 

Reuben Mull was born in Lancaster county, 
Pa., October 7, 1808, and in the same place 
Catherine Spindler was born October 3, 1809'. 
Reuben was a wagonmaker and farmer, and 
in May, 1835, came with wagons to Ohio, locat- 
ing near Lebanon, Warren county, where he 
followed his trade until 1851. He then rented 
a farm and followed agriculture until his death, 
June 24, 1873, his widow surviving until Sep- 



r„s<; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tember 7, 1892. The family comprised nine 
children, all of whom are still living, and are 
named Elizabeth, Isaac, Henry, Joseph, Ben- 
jamin, Mary, John, Charles and George. 

John Mull grew to manhood on his father's 
farm in Warren county, and was educated in 
the public schools. March 26, 1864, he en- 
listed in company A, Seventy-ninth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, and served in the Twentieth 
army corps, under Gen. Hooker. His first 
battle was at Resaca, Ga., May 15, 1864, 
where his regiment charged a rebel battery and 
captured four pieces of artillery; his next en- 
gagement was at Burnt Hickory, or Dallas, 
May 25, 1864; then New Hope church, June 

15, where the regiment suffered severely; June 
23 there was another engagement, and follow- 
ing this he was in the battle of Kenesaw 
Mountain, June 27, and at the severe engage- 
ment at Peach Tree Creek, July 20. The 
battle of Atlanta followed, hut in this Mr. 
Mull was not generally engaged; he took part, 
however, in the siege of that city, which ended 
in its subjection, September 2, and followed 
Sherman on to the Atlantic coast, starting 
from Atlanta November 15, 1864, and taking 
part in many skirmishes and battles, including 
Savanna, Ga., and Averysboro, N. O, March 

16, 1865. This was the last battle in which 
Mr. Mull took an active part. Passing through 
Goldsboro and Raleigh, N. C, and Richmond, 
Va., the regiment reached Washington, D. C, 
encamped near the Long bridge, and took part 
in the grand review, May 24, 1865. Mr. Mull 
was transferred to the Seventy-third Ohio in- 
fantry as a member of company D, was pro- 
moted corporal, and was honorably discharged 
at Louisville, Ky. , July 26, 1865, never hav- 
ing lost a day off duty during his very active, 
but comparatively brief term of service. 

On his return home he attended the Na- 
tional normal school nearly two years, and in 
August, 1868, was employed as clerk and book- 



keeper in a retail grocery in Lebanon. Twenty- 
three months later he bought out his employer, 
and for over a year conducted the business on 
his own account, closing out in August, 1871. 
On the 30th of September following he came 
to Dayton and opened a grocery at the north- 
west corner of Fifth street and Wayne avenue, 
but sold out in May, 1875, and went to Cin- 
cinnati, where he was employed as a traveling 
salesman, four years being passed in this ca- 
pacity, during which time he visited nearly 
every state in the south. In August, 1879, 
Mr. Mull returned to Dayton and formed a 
partnership with Charles E. Underwood in the 
wholesale and retail confectionery trade — the 
firm now doing an extensive wholesale busi- 
ness throughout Ohio. 

Mr. Mull was happily wedded, January 3, 
1883, to Miss Katie E. Traebing, a native 
of Troy, Miami county, Ohio, and daughter of 
William L. and Katherine (Kline) Traebing, 
natives of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, but 
married in Troy, Ohio, in 1856, the maternal 
grandmother being of French origin. The 
Traebing children were three in number, Mrs. 
Mull being the eldest; Alice C. is unmarried, 
has been a teacher for about twenty-four years, 
and resides with her parents in Dayton; and 
Charles Henry is a confectioner by trade, with 
his residence in Columbus. Mrs. Mull gradu- 
ated from the Dayton high school and from 
the normal school of Dayton, and prior to 
marriage was one of the most successful pri- 
mary teachers in Dayton, holding one school 
for eleven years. The marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Mull has been blessed with two interest- 
ing little daughters — Ruth Alice, born July 4, 
1889, and Lillian B., born April 22, 1891. 

Mrs. Mull is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and is secretary of the Grace 
church Pastor's Aid society; she is also presi- 
dent of the society known as the King's Daugh- 
ters, and past president of the Old Guard 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



687 



Woman's Relief corps, G. A. R. , No. 121. 
Mr. Mull is a member of Old Guard post, G. 
A. R., and has served as quartermaster. He 
became an Odd Fellow in 1875, and .at pres- 
ent is a member of Dayton lodge, No. 273, 
and Gem City encampment. He is a repub- 
lican of the best type. 

Mr. Mull has achieved business prosperity 
through his own energy and industry, having 
begun without financial aid. The monetary 
collapse of 1873 left him worse off than noth- 
ing; but, with true American grit, he started 
again and made a success, of which one of the 
tangible evidences is his present handsome 
residence, which was constructed in 1885, 
under his own supervision. He is a progressive, 
wideawake citizen, of generous impulses and 
liberal propensities, as well as refined tastes, 
being passionately fond of flowers and taking 
great interest in horticulture. 



BRANK W. MURPHY, M. D., of Day- 
ton, Ohio, and one of the successful 
young physicians of the city, was 
born near Dayton in 1870, of Scotch 
and Irish lineage, and is one of the four chil- 
dren born to Edmund and Mary Murphy. Un- 
til the age of fifteen years he passed his life on 
his father's farm, and was then permitted to 
enter Dennison university, where he expected 
to take an elective course and to prepare him- 
self for teaching. Having here finished his lit- 
erary studies, he entered mercantile life as 
clerk in a grocery, with the view of earning the 
money with which to defray his expenses as a 
student of medicine. He thus secured means 
sufficient to pay his way through the Pulte 
Medical college of Cincinnati, from which he 
graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1894, 
and has since been engaged in the active prac- 
tice of his profession in Dayton, meeting with 
most gratifying success. 



Dr. Murphy is a member of the Homeo- 
pathic Medical society of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and of the Southern Iowa Medical soci- 
ety of Des Moines, Iowa. He is a frequent 
contributor to the New York Medical Journal 
and to the North American Journal of Home- 
opathy, and many of his articles have met with 
the emphatic approbation of the readers of 
these publications. The doctor is a Knight of 
Pythias and a member of the K. A. E. O. 

Dr. Murphy was married, June 30, 1896, 
to Miss Rhoda G. Brown, of Atlantic, Cass 
county, Iowa. He has both perseverance and 
energy, keeping abreast of the advances made 
in the healing art and the science of medicine, 
and the success which has already attended his 
growing practice gives promise of a prosperous 
professional career. 



@ 



EORGE NEDER (deceased) was 
born June 15, 1828, in a small ham- 
let in the kingdom of Bavaria, Ger- 
many. His education, received at 
several of the renowned colleges of Europe, 
was a most complete one, thoroughly qualify- 
ing him for the journalistic career which he 
afterward adopted. His first venture in this 
field was the founding and editing of the 
Wurzburger Journal, in 1854, which paper 
still exists. 

Earl}' in the 'sixties Mr. Neder came to this 
country, being first located at Buffalo, N. Y. , 
where he became the editor of the leading 
German papers. He came to Dayton in 1866, 
and immediately founded the Daytoner Volks- 
Zeitung, of which he remained the owner and 
chief editor up to his death. This paper was 
first issued as a weekly, then as a tri-weekly, 
and since 1876 it has been issued daily. 

Mr. Neder's career in the Miami valley was 
a most honorable one, and while he never be- 
came conspicuous in public life, his counsel 



688 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



was ever sought and recognized. He served 
as a member of the 'board of education for 
two terms, and was for several years a mem- 
ber of the library board. His popularity and 
influence with the German population, through 
his paper, were, very great, and his journalistic 
services in their behalf were thoroughly appre- 
ciated. His support of any worthy cause was 
always the result of a sincere conviction, and 
earned for him the high esteem in which he 
was held. 

Mr. Neder was married, in 1849, to Miss 
Marianna Eckert, which union was blessed 
with eight children, four of whom survive and 
are residing in Dayton. His death occurred 
July 19, 1895, and his remains now lie in Cal- 
vary cemetery, beside those of his wife, who 
passed away in 1893. 



ar 



TLLIAM T. MOONEY, superintend- 
ent of the John Rouzer company, 
contractors and builders, of Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Jackson town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, June 23, 
1848. He is a son of Wesley and Martha 
(Clemmer) Mooney, the former a native of Vir- 
ginia and the latter of Pennsylvania. They 
were the parents of seven children, two sons 
and five daughters, four of the seven children 
still surviving, as follows: Mrs. Minerva 
Grove, Mrs. Fannie Shank, William T. Mooney, 
and Mrs. Flora Alberts. Wesley Mooney was 
a farmer, came to Ohio at an early day and 
settled in Montgomery county, and carried on 
farming in Jackson township until his death, 
which occurred in 1856, when he was forty- 
eight years of age. His wife was a member 
of the Mount Carmel Reformed church. 

The father of Wesley Mooney was born in 
Virginia and was an officer in the war of 1812. 
He was one of the earliest pioneers of Ohio, 
and died in Miami county at the age of ninety- 



four. By trade he was a shoemaker, and fol- 
lowed this calling until the later years of his 
life. He had but one son, Wesley, the father 
of William T. He possessed many fine traits 
of character, and was highly honored by the 
community in which he lived so many years. 
Martha (Clemmer) Mooney's father, David 
Clemmer, was a native of Pennsylvania, of 
German descent and a farmer by occupation. 

William T. Mooney was reared on the farm 
in Montgomery county until he was fifteen 
years of age, and received his early education 
in the district schools. Afterward he came to 
Dayton and learned the trade of carpenter and 
builder, which he followed as a journeyman 
for some years. Then, buying an interest in 
the Rouzer planing mill, he was for eighteen 
years a member of the company owning and 
operating it. Selling his share in this business, 
he was actively engaged for five years in con- 
tracting, at the end of which time he again 
purchased an interest in the mill, accepting 
the superintendency of the establishment, 
which position he still retains. This mill fur- 
nishes employment for from seventy-five to 
100 men and is one of the most successful 
and prosperous enterprises in the city of 
Dayton. 

On February 1, 1871, Mr. Mooney was 
married to Miss Martha J. Oldfather, daughter 
of Frederick and Elizabeth (Pence) Oldfather, 
the former of whom was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania and the latter of Virginia. To the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Mooney there have been 
born four children: Iva M., Ernest V., Mary 
F. , and Arthur F. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mooney 
belong to the Fourth Reformed church and 
Mr. Mooney is a thirty-second degree Mason 
and belongs to Reed commandery of Knights 
Templar. He is also a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. 

When Mr. Mooney first arrived in Dayton he 
had practically no means whatever, while now 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



691 



he is in comfortable circumstances and is one 
of the substantial business men of Dayton. 
His establishment has done some very import- 
ant work, including the erection of the court 
houses at Columbus, Springfield, Tiffin, and 
Sidney, Ohio, the opera house at Bellefon- 
taine, and the residences in Dayton of Mr. 
Joseph Clegg, Col. Piatt, R. N. King, H. C. 
Graves, Frederic P. Beaver, beside many 
other private houses and business buildings in 
this city. All of these are excellently built 
and are a credit to the capacity and skill of 
the company with which Mr. Mooney has his 
business connection. 



@AMALIEL C. MYERS, M. D., a well 
known physician and surgeon of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Sharonville, 
Hamilton county, Ohio, September 
23, 1848. His parents were Andrew S. and Jane 
(Crosson) Myers, natives of Pennsylvania and 
Ohio, respectively. The grandparents of Dr. 
Myers on both sides came from Belfast, Ire- 
land. The father came to Ohio with his par- 
ents when a small boy, the family locating in 
Hamilton county. The father has followed 
farming all his life, and is now in his ninetieth 
year. The mother died in 1868, at the age of 
fifty-four years. 

Dr. Myers was reared in Sharonville and 
attended the public schools of that place until 
he reached his fourteenth year. In May, 
1S62, before reaching his fourteenth birthday 
he entered company I, One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, as a 
corporal, and was mustered out at Camp Den- 
nison, Ohio, in September, 1865. After the 
close of the war he attended the Lebanon 
(Ohio) normal school and graduated in 1873, 
after a four years' course. He then taught 
school and at the same time studied medicine 
with Dr. Creager, of Lebanon, as his pre- 



ceptor. He graduated from the Cincinnati 
college of Medicine & Surgery in 1880, came 
to Dayton in the following year and began 
the practice of his profession, which he has 
since continuously followed. 

Dr. Myers has served two terms as a mem- 
ber of the city board of health, and one term 
as county coroner. He has been a member of 
the medical staff of the Deaconess hospital 
since the organization of that institution, and 
is a member of the Ohio state Medical society 
and of the Montgomery county Medical so- 
ciety, having served as president and secretary 
of the latter. Fraternally, he is a member of 
the F. & A. M., I. O. O. F. and of the K. of 
P. ; also of the G. A. R. and Ex-Prisoners of 
War societies, having been for eleven months 
a prisoner of war at Libby prison, Anderson- 
ville and Belle Island. 

Dr. Myers was married, in 1880, to Miss 
Delia Killoren, a native of Sligo, Ireland. To 
their happy union one daughter has been born 
— Genevieve. 



tV^"\ ORMAN S. NIER, carpenter and 
M builder of No. 104 North Broadway, 
r Dayton, Ohio, was born in LeRoy, 
Genesee county, N. Y. , February 1 1, 
1833. His paternal grandfather was a native 
of Wurtemberg, Germany, was the founder of 
the family in America, and died when the fa- 
ther of Norman S. was seven years of age. 

Henry G. and Catherine (Shook) Nier, 
parents of Norman S., were schoolmates in 
Dutchess county, N. Y., and were reared and 
married in the same neighborhood. The fa- 
ther was a farmer, and to him and his wife 
ware born two sons and two daughters, viz: 
Catherine, wife of James Cashan, now resid- 
ing in Monroe county, N. Y. ; Sylvester, of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., died in August, 1896; 
Norman S. , the subject of this memoir, and 



692 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mary A., widow of John Van Valkenburg and 
now residing at Orchard Lake, Mich. 

Norman S. Nier was reared to manhood in 
his native county, received his education in its 
public schools and at the Lima, Livingston 
county, N. Y. , seminary, and in his young 
manhood learned the carpenter's trade, and 
also served an apprenticeship at the jeweler's 
business. August 5, 1862, he enlisted in com- 
pany I, Eighth New York heavy artillery, as 
the regiment was called at the time of his en- 
listment, being afterward known as the One 
Hundred and Twenty-ninth New York infan- 
try. This regiment was first assigned to gar- 
rison duty at Fort McHenry, Federal Hill, 
Baltimore, Md., and also to Forts Carroll 
and Marshall, until May, 1864, when it was 
ordered to join the Second army corps at 
Spottsylvania, Va. At this place Mr. Nier re- 
ceived a wound which confined him in hospital 
until the December following, but rejoined his 
regiment before Petersburg and remained at 
the front until the close of the war. He was 
honorably discharged at Bailey's Cross Roads 
June 5, 1865. 

The first marriage of Mr. Nier took place 
November 25, 1856, to Miss Catherine Shook, 
of Mount Clemens, Mich. She was born No- 
vember 25, 1835, and for several years before 
marriage was a school-teacher. She bore her 
husband three children, viz: Mary, married 
to Henry Bartlett and residing in Rochester, 
N. Y. ; Caroline, the wife of Joshua Webster, 
farmer and machinist, living in Monroe county, 
X V., and Edgar, who died in infancy. Im- 
mediately after his discharge from the army, 
Mr. Nier joined his wife and two children, 
then living in Genesee county, N. Y. , where 
he remained an invalid for three years. He 
then moved to Rochester, Monroe county, in 
the same state, where his wife died April 19, 
1880. His second wife, whom he married No- 
vember 30, 1882, was a Mrs. Almeda Morden, 



and a native of Canada, where she married her 
first husband, who died in Elmira, N. Y. 
Leaving Rochester in 1892, Mr. Nier became 
an inmate of the national military home at 
Hampton, Va., but nine months later was 
transferred to the Central branch of Dayton, 
Ohio, and partially regained his health in this 
more congenial clime. He died December 25, 
1896. As he was unable to engage in any se- 
vere physical labor, he was employed on the 
home force of carpenters, he being an adept 
in that trade; but his pleasant residence was 
with his devoted wife, at No. 104 North Broad- 
way. He was a member of the Grand Army 
of the Republic and of the Union Veteran Le- 
gion, politically a republican and in religion 
adhered to the Methodist Episcopal faith, be- 
ing a constant attendant of that church. 



Kf) EV. JACOB G. NEIFFER, pastor 
I z 1 ^ of Saint John's Evangelical English 
V Lutheran church, of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Montgomery county, Pa., 
and is a son of Christian and Kathrina (Von 
Grabenstein) Neiffer, natives of Wurtemberg, 
Germany, of whom further mention will here- 
after be made. 

Rev. J. G. Neiffer received his preliminary 
education in the public schools of Philadel- 
phia; he acquired his literary education at the 
Pennsylvania college of Gettysburg, Pa., be- 
tween the years 1861 and 1863, and in the 
last-named year entered Franklin & Marshall 
college, Lancaster, Pa., from which institution 
he graduated in the classical department in 
1865. He then entered the Evangelical The- 
ological (Lutheran) college at Philadelphia, 
pursued his studies there for three years, and 
June 10, 1868, was ordained to the ministry 
of the Evangelical Lutheran church. His first 
call was to Saint Mark's church, at Rich- 
mond, Va., where he officiated two years, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



693 



then accepted a call to Saint John's church, at 
Salisbury, N. O, where he remained five 
years; he then came to Ohio, and for ten years 
had charge of Saint Paul's church in Lima. 
In May, 1885, he was called to his present 
work in Dayton. Here the labors of Mr. 
Neiffer have been of the most satisfactory 
character. When he assumed the onerous 
duties pertaining to Saint John's congregation, 
in 1885, now eleven years ago, the member- 
ship numbered about sixty, the congregation 
was about $3,000 in debt, and its most san- 
guine members were in a state of great dis- 
couragement. Since the advent of Mr. Neif- 
fer, however, this indebtedness has been can- 
celled, the membership has been increased 
from sixty to 500, and a new church edifice, 
to be one of the handsomest in the city, is in 
contemplation, and it is hoped that it will be 
completed within the present year, with a seat- 
ing capacity of about 700 persons. In 1894 
Mr. Neiffer organized Saint Luke's English 
Evangelical Lutheran mission on Broadway 
and Germantown streets, West side, Dayton, 
and for this mission he preached during the 
first year of its existence; it now has a chapel 
of its own, and Rev. John Webber, of Lon- 
don, Ohio, was elected pastor and assumed 
charge January 1, 1897. It will thus be 
seen that Mr. Neiffer has not been idle since 
he has been a resident of Dayton, and that his 
labors in the Master's vineyard have not only 
been very great, but have been most happy in 
their results. 

Rev. Mr. Neiffer, also, had attained con- 
siderable eminence as a classical tutor prior to 
his entrance upon his ministerial duties, as from 
1865 until 1868, while at the theological sem- 
inary in Philadelphia, he taught Latin and 
Greek in preparing students for the state uni- 
versity, and from 1880 until 1885 was profes- 
sor of the German language in the high school 
at Lima, Ohio, combining that work with his 



church labors. Neither has he been remiss in 
patriotic duty, for in the fall of 1862, during 
the invasion of his native state by Gen. Lee's 
army, he volunteered as a militiaman and 
served most faithfully until the Confederates 
were driven from Pennsylvania soil, when he 
resumed his collegiate studies. 

Christian Neiffer, father of Rev. J. G. 
Neiffer, married Miss Von Grabenstein in Wur- 
temberg, Germany. He was a soldier in the 
Napoleonic war, and came to America in 18 14, 
having left his native land on account of the 
political restrictions placed upon its subjects. 
He was a gentleman of high literary culture, 
and on reaching Pennsylvania established his 
home in the eastern part of the state, and en- 
gaged largely in the manufacture of pottery 
and also quite extensively in farming. There 
he died at the age of eighty years, and his 
widow at the age of eighty-five years. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Christian 
Neiffer numbered seven sons and five daugh- 
ters, of which family Rev. Jacob G. was the 
eleventh in order of birth. Of the sons, two 
served in the late Civil war, one being killed 
in the Wilderness campaign, and two others 
supplied substitutes. Four sons and fourdaugh- 
ters of the family are still living in the vicinity 
of Philadelphia, the sons being either physi- 
cians or lawyers, and the family is one of the 
most prominent and well known in eastern 
Pennsylvania. Rev. Jacob G. Neiffer has never 
married. 



HBRAM H. NIXON, manufacturer of 
spraying apparatus, was born within 
seven miles of Cincinnati, Ohio, De- 
cember 3, 1 81 3. He is a son of John 
Nixon, who was born in New Jersey, from 
which state he emigrated to Fayette county, 
Pa., where he was married and whence a few 
years later he removed to Ohio, coming down 



694 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the Ohio river on a flatboat, and settling at 
the place where Abrarn was afterward born. 
Coming to Ohio at that time, John Nixon was 
one of the earliest pioneers of the state, which 
was then only ten years old. Some years 
later he moved about fifteen miles north of his 
first location, into Butler county. Here Abram 
was reared on a farm, his education being re- 
ceived in the district schools, which were then 
of a very inferior kind, as much inferior to 
those of the present day as were the log cabin 
school-houses, with their puncheon floors and 
greased-paper widows, to the finely adapted 
modern school structures. 

When nineteen years of age he went to 
Franklin, Ohio, and established himself in 
business, in the manufacture of cooper ware. 
Remaining in Franklin for two years, he then 
removed to Centerville, Montgomery county, 
where he carried on the same business for three 
years. At that time there was more pork 
packed in Centerville than in Dayton. In the 
spring of 1838, Mr. Nixon removed to Carroll- 
ton, Montgomery county, where he continued 
his business on a larger scale than ever before, 
using machinery in the manufacture of his 
wares, and being the first to introduce it for 
that purpose into the county. At that time 
it was the custom to go to the woods, cut 
the timber and haul it to the cooper shops in 
wagons; but Mr. Nixon soon found that to be 
too tedious and laborious a method, and con- 
ceived the idea of going into the forest, there 
cutting the trees up into staves, and hauling 
them to the cooper shop in canal boats. He 
was, in fact, the first to bring a canal boat 
load of cooper stuff to Carrollton. 

Mr. Nixon was married in Carrollton to 
Miss Mary Ann Cotterill. who was born in 
Brown county, Ohio. He continued to reside 
in Carrollton for nineteen years, and in 1857 
removed to Dayton, where he has resided ever 
since. In 1852 he disposed of his cooper busi- 



ness and engaged in buying and selling leaf 
tobacco, which was then just beginning to be 
raised in Ohio. After locating in Dayton he 
continued in the tobacco business and has re- 
tired from active business only within the last 
three years. Mr. Nixon shipped the first car 
load of tobacco out of Dayton, over the Day- 
ton & Sandusky railroad. This was in 1853, 
when that was the only railroad in the city. 
Mr. Nixon, becoming interested in the manu- 
facture of spraying apparatus, was the first in 
the United States to make a specialty thereof. 
In i860 A. C. Nixon became engaged in 
the tobacco business with his father, since 
whose retirement from active business he has 
carried it on alone. Abram H. Nixon is the 
oldest dealer in cigar leaf tobacco west of the 
Allegheny mountains and is well known^ all 
over the country, as a man of probity and in- 
tegrity. A long career of honorable business 
activity has rendered Mr. Nixon's life a worthy 
example for the emulation of the young men 
of the present day. 



t/^ ARRY S. MURPHY, junior member 
1/"^ of the law firm of Patterson & Mur- 
JK^9 phy, was born on a farm three miles 
east of Dayton, Ohio, August 26, 
1863, and is a son of Dennis and Catherine 
Murphy, now residing in Dayton. For seven 
years he attended Saint Mary's institute, a 
Catholic school which was established in 1849, 
for the purpose of giving employment to three 
teachers then unemployed, and also to estab- 
lish a better school than any then in existence 
in Dayton. After the expiration of these seven 
years he entered the Dayton high school and 
was graduated there in 1882. After leaving 
school he accepted a position as reporter on 
the Dayton Daily Journal, at the same time 
attending commercial college in order to ac- 
quire a more thorough knowledge of business. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



697 



After completing his commercial course he 
taught school for some time and then entered 
the office of Iddings & Iddings. Here he 
studied law for three years and was admitted 
to the bar in 1888. In 1889 the partnership 
now existing between himself and J. C. Pat- 
terson was formed under the name of Patter- 
son & Murphy, and their practice has been a 
prosperous and growing one. 

Mr. Murphy is a member of the society of 
Elks, of the Foresters, of the American Sons 
of Columbus, and of the Ancient Order of 
Hibernians. For two years he was attorney 
for the board of education, and in all legal 
connections and business he has proved him- 
self a conscientious and safe counselor. 



>^OHN M. NUTT, one of the well-known 
m attorneys at law of Dayton, was born 
A 1 in Sidney, "Shelby county, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 28, 1852, and is a son of Irwin 
and Barbara (Persinger) Nutt. Irwin and Bar- 
bara Nutt were old settlers of Montgomery 
county, removing thence to Shelby county 
about 1834. There Mr. Nutt died in 1880, a 
highly esteemed citizen; Mrs. Nutt still resides 
on the old farm in Shelby county, venerated 
and respected for her many amiable qualities 
by all who know her. 

John M. Nutt grew up on his father's farm, 
and secured his education in the common 
schools, and at Delaware, Ohio, where he at- 
tended college. For more than twenty years 
he was engaged in the grain business in Sid- 
ney, Ohio, Indianapolis, Ind., Quincy, Ohio, 
and other places, meeting with unusual success. 
Mr. Nutt was about this time injured by an 
accidental fall from a building, which incapa- 
citated him for further active employment, and 
he therefore selected a profession for his life- 
work. After reading law for two years he was 
admitted to the bar in 1888, removed to Day- 



ton, and there opened an office for the practice 
of his profession. He practiced alone nearly 
seven years, and in May, 1894, was appointed 
United States commissioner. He then formed 
a partnership with Judge McKemy, under the 
firm name of McKemy & Nutt, which con- 
tinues to the present time, and now stands 
among the prominent legal firms of Dayton. 

Mr. Nutt was married in 1875 to Miss Ella 
M. Smith, of Logan county, Ohio, and to this 
marriage there have been born four sons, as 
follows: Frank, now eighteen years of age; 
Irwin, aged fifteen; Cris, twelve years old, and 
Edmund B. , nine years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Nutt are consistent members 
of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church, 
and, fraternally, Mr. Nuttis a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, and also an active member of the 
Knight Templar commandery at Dayton. In 
politics, he is a stanch republican, but, while 
active and ardent in the support of his party 
and principles, has never sought public office. 



HLFRED K. OATES, a guide at the 
national military home, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Manchester, England, 
February 19, 1836, and when a child 
of nine years of age was brought to America 
by his parents, who settled in Allegheny City, 
Pa., where the father died at the age of eighty 
years, and the mother, some years later, at the 
age of eighty-three. The father had been a 
soldier in the British army, as had also been 
an uncle. Alfred K. was the youngest of a fam- 
ily of fourteen children, and of these he and a 
sister, Mrs. Eleanor Moseley, of Cumberland, 
Md., are the sole survivors. 

Alfred K. Oates learned the blacksmith's 
trade in his youth, and this vocation he fol- 
lowed until his enlistment, in New York city, 
April 22, 1861, under somewhat unusual cir- 
cumstances. Several companies had been 



WIS 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



formed in Pennsylvania and had offered their 
services to the governor; but he, believing that 
the war would soon be brought to a termina- 
tion, declined to accept additional troops; in 
consequence of this decision, two of these or- 
ganized companies paid their own fare to New 
York, where their services were accepted, and 
they were accredited to the New York quota, 
and assigned to company A, Fifth Excel- 
sior, or Seventy-fourth New York volunteer 
infantry, the regiment being placed in the com- 
mand of Gen. Heintzelman. It took part in 
the siege of Yorktown, Va., and in the entire 
peninsula campaign; was at second Bull Run, 
but missed the battle of Antietam, yet partici- 
pated in all the other battles of the army of 
the Potomac up to June 22, 1864, when it was 
honorably discharged. At Gettysburg, Mr. 
Oates sustained a wound in the head, and as a 
slight compensation for this injury was award- 
ed a pension. 

After being mustered out of the service Mr. 
Oates returned to Pittsburg, Pa., and resumed 
his trade, working for the Carnegie company 
eighteen years. In 1865, he married Miss 
Sarah Whittaker, a native of England, but 
reared from childhood in Mexico. She died in 
1882, a true wife and the exemplary mother of 
two sons and two daughters. Of these chil- 
dren, George is a master painter for the Pitts- 
burg, Virginia & Charleston railroad company, 
and resides in Monongahela City, Pa. ; Mary is 
the wife of Miles Hollinger and lives in Pitts- 
burg, Pa. ; Elizabeth, twin of Mary, is now 
Mrs. Hawkes, of Irwin Station, Westmoreland 
county, Pa., and William, unmarried, is an 
employee of the Pittsburg, Virginia & Charles- 
ton railroad, with his home in Pittsburg. 

Mr. Oates entered the Central branch of 
the national military home, Dayion, Ohio, in 
September, 1892, for a short time was em- 
ployed in light labor, and three years ago was 
appointed to his present position, in which he 



has proven himself to be courteous and oblig- 
ing, giving perfect satisfaction to all concerned. 
He is a member of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, of the Union Veteran Legion, and 
of the Knights of Maccabees. In politics he 
is a republican. 



lS^\ OBERT O'DONOGHUE is a member 
I /"^ of Hose company, No. 7, located on 
M . r Xenia avenue, Dayton, and is a na- 
tive of Ireland, having been born in 
county Cork, in the city of that name, March 
2 7< Ii ^39- He continued on Irish soil until 
the year 1852, when he came to this country, 
and made his home in this city. He was 
brought over by a party of relatives, his par- 
ents having died when he was a child. He 
found his way to the home of an uncle, who 
lived in Greene county, six miles from this 
city, in the village of Kinsley, and was an in- 
mate of his family until the breaking out of the 
war. Then the Irish lad, now a sturdy young 
man of twenty-one, was among the first to 
offer his services for the protection of his 
adopted country. He enlisted among the 
1 oo-day men, but was not called into active 
service. August 20, 1 86 1 , he enlisted in 
this city for three years, and was assigned to 
company F, First Ohio volunteer infantry, 
and with his regiment became a part of the 
army of the Cumberland, being under the com- 
mand of such distinguished officers as Buell, 
Rosecrans, Grant, Thomas and Sherman. 
Private O'Donoghue participated in every bat- 
tle and skirmish in which his regiment was en- 
gaged, never missed a roll call, and was never 
absent from his place of duty. After the bat- 
tle of Stone River he was promoted to be a ser- 
geant, and finally to the responsible position of 
first sergeant, which he held at the time the 
regiment was mustered out of service. At 
Chickamauga he was slightly wounded, but 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



699 



did not leave the field. When its term of en- 
listment expired the regiment offered its serv- 
ices as veterans, but the close proximity of the 
rebel general, Longstreet, with a large force 
at the front in east Tennessee, kept them con- 
stantly busy, and the time for re-enlistment 
passed. The regiment was finally mustered out 
of the service at Chattanooga, Tenn., August 
17, 1864. Mr. O'Donoghue spent the follow- 
ing winter at his home in this city, but early in 
the following spring enlisted for one year in 
the United States service, and was enrolled as 
a member of company D, One Hundred and 
Ninety-eighth Ohio. He served for a short 
time at Columbus, but was not called from the 
state, Lee's surrender having virtually termi- 
nated the war. Upon his final retirement he 
once more came to Dayton, and here he has 
made his home to the present day. 

Mr. O'Donoghue was employed for several 
years in a paper mill, and afterward in the dis- 
tilleries, this latter business having been mas- 
tered by him before the war. In 1876 he be- 
gan his service as a member of the city fire 
department, and his connection with it in vari- 
ous capacities has been continuous. He mar- 
ried Miss Ellen Gallagher, a native of Canada, 
in 1877. There have been born to them six 
children, all but one of whom are now living. 
Benjamin Franklin, the eldest, is an appren- 
tice to the plumbing business; Mary is in the 
second year in the Dayton high school; Hen- 
rietta and Nellie are in the city schools; Bes- 
sie died November 7, 1887, and Robert, Jr., is 
a young child at home. Mr. O'Donoghue is a 
member of Wayne lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F. , 
the Old Guard post, G. A. R., and of en- 
campment, No. 145, Union Veterans Legion. 
He is associated with the Episcopal church, 
and adheres politically to the republican party, 
having always voted that ticket, except on the 
occasion of his first vote, which was cast for 
Stephen A. Douglas. 



>y*AMES P. O'NEILL, correspondent at 
J the soldiers' home, near Dayton, Ohio, 
A ■ for the Commercial-Tribune and the 
Post, of Cincinnati, was born in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., February 22, 1844, and in 1846 
was taken by his parents to Pittsburg, where 
he was educated, primarily, in the parochial 
school of Saint Paul's cathedral, and at the 
age of thirteen years was sent to Saint Michael's 
seminary to be educated for the priesthood. 
While there engaged in study, Bishop Henry- 
Elder, of Natchez, Miss. — now archbishop of 
Cincinnati — visited the seminary, in i860, and 
requested that three students be selected, to be 
sent to Rome and educated in the American 
college in that city, and young O'Neill was 
selected as one — the time set for their de- 
parture being 1861. The Civil war being then 
imminent, the project was frustrated, and 
James continued his studies in the seminary 
until August 22, 1862, when he enlisted in 
company E, One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 
Pennsylvania volunteer infantry. 

The first battle in which he took part was 
at Fredericksburg, Va. , December 13, 1862, 
and the next at Chancellorsville; he was in the 
battle of Gettysburg, and next went on the 
Mine Run expedition. The winter of 1863-4 
was passed in guarding the Orange & Alexan- 
dria railroad, between Centerville and Fal- 
mouth, Va. With the opening of hostilities 
in the spring of 1864, and after the three days' 
fighting in the Wilderness, he was disabled by 
a wound in the right groin, in the battle of 
Laurel Hill. He was in consequence trans- 
ferred as an invalid to the veteran reserve 
corps, as a member of company D, Ninth regi- 
ment, and stationed at Washington, D. C, but 
was soon afterward detailed as clerk in the office 
of Gen. H. H. Wells, then provost-marshal- 
general of the defenses south of the Potomac, 
and afterward military governor of Virginia, 
under the reconstruction act. Mr. O'Neill's 



700 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



duty was principally the keeping of records of 
deserters apprehended for bounty-jumping, 
etc., a very pleasant position, as he had all the 
privileges of the life of a civilian. June 29, 
1865, he received his final discharge from the 
service, and returned to the parental home in 
Pittsburg. 

In September, 1865, Mr. O'Neill entered 
the Cathedral high school as teacher, remain- 
ing one year, and the following year he was 
employed as brakeman on the Pennsylvania 
railroad. In September, 1868, he was ap- 
pointed telegraph editor and proof-reader on 
the Pittsburg Post, and was connected with 
that journal for about six years, the last two 
years as city editor. Following this, he worked 
as a reporter for almost every newspaper in 
Pittsburg, continuing in journalistic work until 
1892. During this period he was also associ- 
ate editor of the Catholic Journal, with a 
corps of nine clergymen as editors, contribu- 
tors, etc. , and for several months was proof- 
reader for Rand, McNally & Co., of Chicago. 

August 19, 1892, Mr. O'Neill was admit- 
ted to the national military home at Dayton, 
where for the first six months he was engaged 
as clerk in the hospital, and then, for four or 
five months, as clerk in the Central depot. 
During the past three years he has employed 
his time principally as correspondent for the 
Cincinnati Commercial-Tribune and the Post. 
As a writer he has both wit and brevity, with 
the faculty for condensation which is so nec- 
essary to success in the reporter's work. 

Mr. O'Neill was married, in Pittsburg, 
August 24. 1870, to Miss Caroline A. Schell, 
a lady of German extraction, with whom he 
lived most happily until 1876, when Mrs. 
O'Neill became demented, and the succeeding 
seventeen years of her life were passed in an 
asylum in Pittsburg, where the end came in 
March, 1893. Of the three children born to 
this marriage, the youngest died in infancy and 



the two surviving were reared to manhood by 
their paternal grandmother. James J., the 
elder of the two, now twenty-five years of age, 
is a salesman and window-trimmer in a dry- 
goods house in Carnegie, Pa., and Charles J., 
aged twenty-three, is employed in the Home- 
stead steel works.' Fraternally Mr. O'Neill is 
a member of the Grand Army of the Republic 
and of the Union Veteran Legion, having joined 
encampment No. 1, of the latter order, in 
Pittsburg, on its organization, and having 
transferred its membership to encampment 
No. 83, at the soldiers' home, being the pres- 
ent adjutant of this camp. In 1868 he be- 
came a member of the Second brigade band, 
and served as its president and leader for five 
years. In his politics he was a democrat in 
his earlier years, and voted with that party 
until the defeat of Gen. W. S. Hancock for 
the presidency of the United States, since 
which time he had affiliated with the repub- 
lican organization. 



@EORGE W. OZIAS, attorney at law 
of Dayton, Ohio, was born January 
28, 1863, at Farmersville, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, and is a son of 
David Ozias, a native of Lewisburg, Preble 
county, Ohio. When George W. was a child 
his parents removed to Kenton, Ohio, and 
there he was reared and educated, graduating 
from the Kenton high school when he was six- 
teen years of age. David Ozias remained in 
Kenton with his family until 1887, when he 
removed to Dayton. George W., almost im- 
mediately after graduating at Kenton, as above 
mentioned, entered the freshman class of the 
Ohio Wesleyan university, at Delaware, re- 
maining there throughout the regular four 
years' course, and graduating when he was 
twenty years of age. He then went to Cin- 
cinnati, and in the fall of 1883 entered the 





jUy 



>r_ 




/C 



~^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



703 



Cincinnati Law school, taking a thorough course 
in law, and graduating from that institution in 
1886. His expenses, while at Delaware, he 
paid by teaching school in vacations, and those 
incident to his attendance at the law school by 
working for Bradstreet's Commercial agency. 
Immediately upon completing his course in 
Cincinnati, Mr. Ozias located in Dayton, and 
there became the manager of Bradstreet's 
Commercial agency for the district whose head- 
quarters were in that city, and this position he 
held for five years. Severing his connection 
with this agency, on November 1, 1 891, he 
opened an office and began the active practice 
of the law on his own account. Later he 
formed a partnership with Benjamin F. Her- 
shey, which continued from January 1, 1893, 
to about January 1, 1895. This connection 
was then dissolved, and Mr. Ozias remained 
alone until March 1, 1896, when he formed a 
partnership with Judge Calvin D. Wright, 
formerly of Troy, Ohio, Wright & Ozias hav- 
ing since been engaged in general practice. 

January 4, 1894, Mr. Ozias was united in 
marriage with Miss Blanche B. Whealen, who 
was born in Dayton, March 2, 1873, a daugh- 
ter of Charles and Elizabeth (Corson) Wheal- 
en, natives of Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Mr. Whealen is district manager of the Amer- 
ican Strawboard company, and a well known 
citizen and business man, of whom mention is 
made on another page. 

Mr. Ozias is a republican in politics and a 
member of the Masonic fraternity. He is an 
able and ambitious young man, and has made 
a creditable record in his profession. 



®L 



TLLIAM S. O'NEILL, wholesale 
dealer in and packer of leaf tobacco, 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Franklin 
county, Pa., October 17, 1838. He 
is a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Sherman) 

25 



O'Neill, the former a native of county Antrim, 
Ireland, and the latter a native of Pennsyl- 
vania. To this marriage there were born 
seven children, three sons and four daughters, 
five of whom are still living, as follows: Mary, 
widow of Jacob Yost; Ann Elizabeth, wife of 
John Albright, of Kokomo, Ind. ; Dr. Salisbury 
Eugene, of Ottumwa, Iowa; William S., and 
Jennie, wife of Dr. Souders, of Beavertown. 
The two deceased children were John, who, 
during the Irish famine, went to Edinburgh, 
Scotland, as a representative of and reporter 
for the Philadelphia Ledger, and died there, 
and Marcellus, who died in infancy. 

Charles O'Neill was by occupation a con- 
tractor, and came to the United States in the 
interest of an English syndicate to superintend 
the construction of the Cumberland Valley 
railroad. Locating six miles east of Cham- 
bersburg, Pa., he lived there and in that vicin- 
ity until his death, which occurred about 1848, 
being induced by an injury which caused a 
hemorrhage. His wife survived him many 
years, and died at the home of her son, Will- 
iam S., in Van Buren township, Montgomery, 
county, when she was upward of sixty years 
of age. Mr. O'Neill was in politics a demo- 
crat, but never held or sought public office, 
though he was very fond of the study and dis- 
cussion of public questions. He superintended 
the construction of the old Tappewann rail- 
road from Gettysburg to the Caledonia Iron 
works, and was then in the employ of Thad- 
deus Stevens. Mr. O'Neill was a man of va- 
ried experience and learning. In his youth he 
was educated for the Catholic priesthood, but 
refused to act in that capacity. Arthur O'Neill, 
his brother, was educated to be a Catholic 
priest and served as such during his lifetime. 
The wife of Charles O'Neill was in her earlier 
life a Lutheran, but later became a Catholic. 
The paternal grandfather of William O'Neill 
was a native of Ireland, and lived and died in 



704 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his native land. The maternal grandfather, 
Salisbury Sherman, was a native of New Bed- 
ford, Mass. , where he was bound as an ap- 
prentice to a blacksmith. Afterward he learned 
the trade of cutler, and was foreman of a 
factory in Chambersburg for a number of 
years. Then uniting with a company at 
Gettysburg, he aided in establishing a factory 
there. At Gettysburg he was married to Cath- 
erine Whealen. After his marriage he removed 
to Franklin county, near Chambersburg, lived 
there sixty-five years, and at the time of his 
death was ninety-eight years of age. 

William S. O'Neill was reared a farmer's 
boy, and received a good education in the com- 
mon schools of Pennsylvania. For some time 
he worked for twelve and a half cents per day. 
In 1858, coming to Dayton, he went thence to 
Van Buren township, and hired out as a farm 
laborer on one of the farms which he now 
owns. Two years were spent in this way, the 
second year in raising tobacco, and in the win- 
ter following he chopped cord wood and split 
rails. In 1864 he purchased ten acres of land 
in Miami township, having, however, previously 
purchased property in Carrollton. The ten 
acres he soon sold and bought forty acres in 
Van Buren township. Afterward he purchased 
160 acres in Mercer county, and still later 148 
acres in Van Buren township, Montgomery 
county, upon which he had worked when he 
first came to the state. This he still owns, to- 
gether with thirty-one acres of the above-men- 
tioned forty, having sold nine acres thereof. 
For two years he carried on farming in Miami 
township, but otherwise has been engaged in 
farming in Van Buren township, with the ex- 
ception of the past five years, during which 
time he has lived in Dayton, his residence be- 
ing at No. 228 Warren street. Beside the 
land named above as owned by Mr. O'Neill, 
he owns 100 acres in Washington township. 
Mr. O'Neill was married, in March, 1863, 



to Miss Elizabeth Shroyer, daughter of Jacob 
and Mary (Himes) Shroyer. To this marriage 
there have been born five children, as follows: 
Carrie May, Amanda Ellen, Charles Shroyer, 
Harry Sherman, and Lizzie. Charles Shroyer 
died at the age of twenty. Carrie May at nine- 
teen and Amanda Ellen at twenty-one. Mr. 
and Mrs. O'Neill and their children are mem- 
bers of the Reform church in Van Buren town- 
ship, of which he has been a trustee for twenty 
years. Politically he is a democrat, but has 
never sought office or any kind of political pre- 
ferment. He has been a resident of Mont- 
gomery county since March, 1857, a period of 
forty years, and the history of his life is one in 
which may be found the success and prosperity 
that attend upon industry, thrift and strict 
integrity of character. 



^y^V AVID A. ONKST, one of the leading 
I contractors and builders of Dayton, 
S^^J Ohio, was born near Bull's Gap, 
Greene county, Tenn., April 7, 1859, 
He is a son of William and Louisa (Thomp- 
son) Onkst, the former a native of Tennessee, 
and the latter of West Virginia. They were 
the parents of eight children, four sons and 
four daughters, six of whom are now living: 
Sarah Ann, wife of Jacob B. Martin; James 
T. ; Emiline, wife of Nathan Martin; David A., 
William P., and Charles H. Margaret was 
the name of one that died, and another died 
in infancy. 

William Onkst was a carpenter by trade. 
He removed in 1872 from Tennessee to Little 
York, Ohio, where he followed farming for 
one year. From that time on until he retired 
from active life he pursued his trade, and is 
now living at Greenville. His wife died in 
1873, at the age of fifty-one, a member of the 
Dunkard church, and a most exemplary wo- 
man in every respect. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



705 



The paternal grandfather, David Onkst, 
was a native of Germany, and coming to the 
United States, settled in Tennessee many 
years ago, dying in that state when upward of 
eighty years of age. The number of his chil- 
dren is not now definitely remembered, but it 
is known that there were at least six. The 
maternal grandfather, Archibald Thompson, 
was a native of Virginia, and, like the paternal 
grandfather, settled in Greene county, Tenn., 
many years ago, and there died at about eighty 
years of age. He was a minister in the German 
Baptist or Dunkard church. 

David A. Onkst, the subject of this sketch, 
was but thirteen years of age when brought to 
Montgomery county by his parents. His early 
education was received in Tennessee. Arriv- 
ing in Ohio, he worked on the farm, remain- 
ing at home until 1874, when he began life on 
his own account. For two years he worked 
for his brother-in-law, for his board and 
clothes, and afterward worked on a farm as a 
hired man for four years. On the 24th day of 
February, 1881, he married Miss Viola Den- 
linger, daughter of Israel and Mary Ann (Gar- 
ver) Denlinger. To this marriage there have 
been born two children, viz: Virgin L. and 
Ellis R. 

Israel and Mary Ann Denlinger are both 
natives of Montgomery county. The paternal 
grandfather was Abraham Denlinger, who was 
a native of Pennsylvania and was one of the 
first settlers of Montgomery county, Ohio. 
He made the first hay rake owned in this 
county. His wife was a Miller, also a native 
of Pennsylvania. Three sons and one daugh- 
ter were reared by the old people. 

Mr. and Mrs. Onkst are members of the 
German Baptist or Dunkard church, in which 
they are active and useful members. In poli- 
tics Mr. Onkst is a republican, and as such 
served one term as school director in Ran- 
dolph township. In the spring of 1889 he 



moved to Dayton, and for the past five years 
has been living at No. 31 East Hershey street. 
Ever since coming to Dayton he has followed 
street contract work, consisting of grading, 
graveling, guttering and making cement side- 
walks. He also has the present contract with 
the city for sweeping the paved streets. Mr. 
Onkst is one of those citizens who have done 
and are doing their full share to make the com- 
munity prosperous, and is highly esteemed and 
popular in both city and county. 



WOHN F. OEHLSCHLAGER, member 
J of the Dayton city council from the 
(% J Eighth ward, and proprietor of the Gem 
City Ale house, was born in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, November 30, 1856. His parents, Fred- 
erick and Mary (Kriege) Oehlschlager, were 
natives of Germany, but came to this country 
while yet unmarried. They were married in 
Cincinnati, and in 1859 removed to Dayton, 
where the former died about 1871, and where 
the mother is still living. 

John F. Oehlschlager was reared in Day- 
ton, and received a common-school education. 
In 1 87 1, on account of the death of his father, 
he went to work on a farm in order to aid his 
mother in the care of the family. He was 
thus engaged for three years, when he returned 
to Dayton and went to work for his step-father 
in the draying business, at which he continued 
for three or four years. Subsequently he en- 
tered the employ of Greer & King, stove found- 
ers, as solicitor, and afterward the service of 
J. V. Nauerth & Son, wholesale grocers, as 
shipping clerk and solicitor. Afterward he be- 
came city solicitor for A. Tegeler, proprietor 
of the Eagle mills, and remained in this posi- 
tion for about a year. Mr. Oehlschlager then 
engaged in business for himself at Trebein's 
Station, Greene county, Ohio, where he re- 
mained for about six months, when he sold 



706 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his business and purchased a general store at 
Alpha, in the same county, at which point he 
was agent for the express company, ticket 
agent for the Pennsylvania lines, and post- 
master After being thus engaged at Alpha 
for five years he sold out, returned to Dayton, 
and purchased a half interest in the Dayton 
Ale brewery, on Brown street. Two years 
later he sold this interest and purchased prop- 
erty on the corner of Wayne and Oak streets, 
establishing himself in his present business. 
He is now wholesale agent and bottler for the 
Morrow Brewing company's ales, for the Xenia 
ales, and for the Schwind. company's beers. 

Mr. Oehlschlager was married, March 16, 
1882, to Elizabeth B. Tegeler, of Dayton. 
To this union there have been born two chil- 
dren — William T., now twelve years of age, 
and Edna, nine years of age. 

In April, 1891, Mr. Oehlschlager was elect- 
ed to represent the Twelfth ward in the city 
council for a term of two years. In Decem- 
ber, 1894, he was elected to fill out the unex- 
pired term of Mr. Houser, for the Seventh 
ward, and in 1895 was elected from the Eighth 
ward for two years, his term expiring in 1897. 
Mr. Oehlschlager is a member of Humboldt 
lodge, No. 58, Knights of Pythias, of the Im- 
proved Order of Red Men, and also of the 
Saint Paul's German Evangelical church. He 
is one of the substantial and respected business 
men of the city. 



BRANK J. OTTER, well known as an 
architect and superintendent of con- 
struction, oof Dayton, Ohio, is a na- 
tive ofu London, England, born Octo- 
ber 19, 1862, and is a son of Joseph and Ann 
(Dixon) Otter. 

Joseph lOtter was born in February, 1830, 
learned his trade of carpenter in his native 
land, and in 1870 crossed the ocean to Canada, 



where he remained until 1889, when he fol- 
lowed his son, Frank J., to Dayton, where the 
family now reside. The children of Joseph 
and Ann Otter originally numbered eleven, of 
whom one died in infancy. 

Frank J. Otter was trained for his profes- 
sion in Canada under several of the most noted 
architects of that country, among whom may 
be mentioned Hancock & Townsend, of To- 
ronto; W. G. Storm, the designer of the uni- 
versity buildings of the same city, and James 
Connelly, the Roman Catholic church archi- 
tect. While in Toronto, Mr. Otter was for 
three years chief of the office of Mr. Storm — 
a position of great responsibility, and one in- 
dicative in itself of the advanced architectural 
knowledge possessed by him. 

On reaching Dayton, in 1887, Mr. Otter 
found a field open for the exercise of his archi- 
tectural skill and mechanical genius, and he at 
once formed a partnership with Charles I. 
Williams, and during the six years of its exist- 
ence this firm designed and superintended the 
erection of some of the finest buildings in Day- 
ton and other cities, among which may be 
enumerated the public library and the Meth- 
odist church structures in Indianapolis, Ind., 
the Callahan Bank building — the first business 
block of any architectural pretentions in Day- 
ton — the Sacred Heart Catholic church and the 
Trinity Reformed church edifices, and numer- 
ous fine private residences throughout the city. 

In 1893 the partnership between Mr. Otter 
and Mr. Williams was dissolved, and since then 
Mr. Otter, by employing a number of able as- 
sistants, has fully maintained the deserved rep- 
utation of the old firm, and has done an ever- 
increasing business, with his well-equipped 
offices located in the Firemen's Insurance 
building. Among the more recent plans for 
fine residences designed by Mr. Otter are those 
for James C. Reber, cashier of Winter's Na- 
tional bank; Edward Hochwalt, Gustave 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



707 



Stomps, Daniel W. Allaman, Rolla Heikes, 
Gottlieb Kellner, Charles Moore and other 
prominent citizens of Dayton. At Miamis- 
burg he furnished the design for the residence 
of William Gamble, the banker, and for a busi- 
ness building for Aull Brothers, and at Dayton, 
later, the plans for the Hayner Distilling com- 
pany plant. 

The marriage of Mr. Otter took place in 
Toronto, Canada, to Miss Ethel Mounstephen, 
a native of England, but who was taken to 
Canada, when a child, by her parents. Three 
children have blessed this union, and are 
named Genevieve Ethel, Frank Mounstephen 
and Blanche Florence. The church relations 
of Mr. and Mrs. Otter are with the Congrega- 
tionalists. Fraternally, Mr. Otter is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. ; he is a past regent 
of the Royal Arcanum, and is also president of 
the National Union. 



aLIFTON LEANDER PATTERSON, 
M. D. , physician and surgeon of Day- 
ton, with office and residence at No. 
219 West Third street, was born near 
Dayton, in Montgomery county, Ohio, Octo- 
ber 19, 1866. He is a son of William J. and 
Anna (Ford) Patterson, both natives of Lon- 
donderry, Ireland, a city beautifully situated 
on the left bank of the Foyle river, the siege 
of which is one of the most celebrated events 
in modern Irish history. Both remained in 
their native land until they had reached mature 
years, and then came to the United States, 
the former coming in 1850 and locating in 
Carrollton, where he met his future wife. In 
the common schools he obtained a thorough 
education, completing it, however, after com- 
ing to this country. About the time of his 
marriage he began teaching school, and at the 
same time engaged in farming on a small scale. 
This course of life he continued until he re- 



moved to Dayton, to take a position as princi- 
pal of the Thirteenth district school of the 
city, which he held for some time, and is now 
principal of the Seventh district school. 

Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are the parents of 
the following children : Joseph E. , a farmer 
of Montgomery county; Emma, the wife of 
Frank Wogaman; William F. , with the Ameri- 
can Express company; Marcie, wife of W. P. 
Rice; John C, attorney-at-law, all of Dayton; 
Rev. James A., of the First Presbyterian church 
of Fostoria, Ohio; Clifton L. ; Elizabeth, wife 
of Arthur Johnson, of Dayton, and Robert C, 
a law student. Mr. and Mrs. Patterson are 
members of the German Reformed church of 
Dayton. 

Clifton L. Patterson received his education 
in the common schools and at Heidelberg uni- 
versity. He then taught school for two years, 
after which he entered the office of Dr. George 
Goodhue, of Dayton, and after remaining there 
as a student until thoroughly prepared, he en- 
tered Starling Medical college of Columbus, 
Ohio, and graduated as a member of the class 
of 1893. He then located in the city of Day- 
ton, where he has since given special attention 
to diseases of the throat and ear, but also car- 
ries on a general practice. Dr. Patterson is a 
member of Miami lodge. Knights of Pythias, 
No. 32, and of court Cooper, No. 1,567, In- 
dependent Order of Foresters. He is also a 
member of Gem City council, No. 1, Fra- 
ternal Censer. For the last two orders he is 
examining physician. 

Dr. Patterson was married December 29, 
1892, to Miss Carrie D. Jackson, a daughter 
of Benjamin and Mary Jackson, of Arcanum, 
Darke county. Two children, a daughter and 
a son, born to them, are now deceased. Dr. 
and Mrs. Patterson are esteemed members 
of the First German Reformed church, and of 
excellent standing in society. Politically Dr. 
Patterson is a democrat, but, like most physi- 



708 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



cians, takes little active interest in political 
affairs. He is assistant surgeon of the Cincin- 
nati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad company, 
and is one of the promising physicians and 
surgeons of the city of Dayton. 



*y ■ * AMER W. PARROTT, secretary and 
1^™^ treasurer of the Parrott Manufactur- 
P ing company, on Crane street, Day- 
ton, Ohio, is a native of this city, 
and was born April 30, 1853. 

William Parrott, Sr. , his father, was born 
in Talbot county, Md., January 7, 1799, came 
to Dayton, Ohio, in 1830, and in 183 1 mar- 
ried Margaret Ann Willis, also a native of Tal- 
bot county, Md. Soon after reaching Dayton 
Mr. Parrott engaged extensively in mercantile 
pursuits, and was widely known as a man of 
excellent business capabilities and of unflinch- 
ing integrity. The old Commercial corner, at 
the head of the basin, was at that time a noted 
place, and in that building William and 
Thomas Parrott commenced the sale of dry 
goods, when there were but seven stores of 
that character in the city, all in the same 
vicinity, away up-town. For several years 
just prior to his death, William Parrott was a 
director in the Dayton branch of the State 
bank of Ohio, and this position he filled with 
credit to himself and with profit to the insti- 
tution. After being successfully engaged in 
business for twenty years, Mr. Parrott retired, 
in 185 1, to enjoy in quiet the competence 
which was the reward of his earlier labors. 
After about seven years thus spent, his death 
took place January 7, 1858, and the loss of no 
business man in Dayton, up to that date, had 
been more keenly felt than his. 

To the marriage of William Parrott there 
was born a family of seven sons and four 
daughters, viz: George, who was a minister 
of the Methodist Episcopal church for some 



years, but who, on account of a throat trouble, 
was compelled to relinquish the pulpit and 
turn his attention to business, and was for fif- 
teen years associated with the Parrott Manu- 
facturing company, and who died in 1892; 
Charles, who is an attorney and was also in the 
transportation business in Dayton, being a 
lessee of the canal from the state until 1874, 
when he went to Columbus, where he is still in 
active business; William, who was formerly 
engaged in the milling industry in Dayton, but 
who died in 1864 from disease contracted in 
the army; John, who was secretary of the 
board of public works for several years, with 
his residence at Columbus, and who also died 
of disease contracted in the army; Virginia, 
the wife of J. B. Smith, of Dayton; Henry R. , 
who was the principal proprietor of the Day- 
ton Furniture company, and died May 11, 
1896; Maggie and Emily, of Dayton; Louisa, 
who died in 1886; Thomas, who was asso- 
ciated with the Parrott Manufacturing com- 
pany and died in 1883, and Hamer W., whose 
name opens this biography. 

Hamer W. Parrott received an excellent 
common-school education, and at the age of 
seventeen years entered the employ of the 
Aughe & Parrott Plow Manufacturing company 
and learned the business thoroughly, passing 
the forenoons in the shops and the afternoons 
in the office. In 1872 he took entire charge 
of the office work and filled the position until 
1878, when he went to California, where he 
passed one year and then returned to Ohio, 
going to the Hocking valley, where he became 
secretary of the Union furnace, pig iron pro- 
ducers. Here he remained until 1882, when 
he went to Columbus, where, for three years, 
he was associated with the Ohio Pipe company 
and then disposed of his interest in that con- 
cern and returned to Dayton in 1885; for the 
three following years he was secretary of the 
Dayton Coal Dealers' association, and from 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



709 



1 888 until December, 1892, was general man- 
ager for Crane & Co. , agents for the National 
Cash Register company. Mr. Parrott then 
again associated himself with the Parrott Man- 
ufacturing company, in which he is a stock- 
holder. Of this company, Charles Parrott is 
the president; Hamer W. Parrott, the secretary 
and treasurer, and Fred W. Nolt superintend- 
ent. The company manufactures all kinds of 
steel plows, but its special production is the 
Aughe plow. The concern also manufactures 
step-ladders and chairs, this feature having 
been added in the winter of 1893-94. It em- 
ploys a force of fifteen men, and its plows are 
in constant demand throughout the states of 
Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. 

Mr. Parrott was married, September 22, 
1885, to Miss Lizzie Fowler, daughter of Henry 
Fowler, an old resident of Dayton, and this 
union has been blessed with two children — Fow- 
ler Stoddard and Charles Willis. In politics 
Mr. Parrott is a republican, and as a business 
man, as well as socially, occupies a prominent 
place in the community. 



«V^VERRY R. PEASE, member of the 

1 a city council of Dayton, Ohio, from 

the Fifth ward, and also a deputy in 

the office of the county auditor of 

Montgomery county, was born in West Car- 

rollton, Montgomery county, August 2 1, 1855, 

a son of Joseph and Sarah (Cotterill) Pease, 

natives of the same county. 

Perry Pease, the paternal grandfather of 
Perry R., was a native of Suffield, Conn., and 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, somewhere 
about the year 1820, locating at West Car- 
rollton, where he leased the water-power of 
the canal, then in course of construction or 
just finished, and engaged in the milling and 
distilling business for many years. Joseph 
Cotterill, the maternal grandfather of Perry 



R. Pease, was also an early settler of Mont- 
gomery county, and for many years kept the 
hotel at Carrollton. Joseph Pease, father of 
Perry R., was engaged in business with his 
father until his death in 1861, at the early age 
of twenty-eight years, leaving his widow, now 
in her sixty-first year and a resident of Day- 
ton, and three children — Perry R., Harry (de- 
ceased), and Carrie, the wife of N. H. Rice, 
of Dayton. 

Perry R. Pease was reared in West Car- 
rollton until fifteen years of age, in the mean- 
time attending the public schools; he then en- 
tered the Miami Valley institute, a Quaker 
college nearSpringboro, Warren county, Ohio, 
where he was a student for three years, and 
then returned to West Carrollton and entered 
the general store of his step-father, being now 
fully qualified for the requirements of business. 
In this store he was soon admitted as a part- 
ner, and so continued for the period of twelve 
years, and then engaged in the cigar trade, in 
the same town, for two years. In April, 1882, 
he came to Dayton for the purpose of becom- 
ing a traveling salesman for a wholesale gro- 
cery, but this house having met with financial 
difficulties, Mr. Pease engaged with an uncle, 
William F. Fackler, in the painting and paper- 
hanging business, which proved so satisfactory 
that he continued to devote his attention to it, 
and for the past eight years has been a con- 
tractor in this particular industry. 

February 12, 1878, Mr. Pease was united 
in marriage with Louella Pease, born in West 
Carrollton, November 14, 1857, and a daugh- 
ter of Perry J. and Lucy (Renley) Pease. 
Perry J. Pease was born in Virginia and came 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, when a boy, 
with his father, Edward Pease, and is now a 
well-known auctioneer of Dayton. Lucy (Ren- 
ley) Peace was born in Dayton and is a daugh- 
ter of John Renley. To the happy union of 
Perry R. Pease and wife have been born three 



710 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



children: Wilbur, born June 18, 1879; Fred- 
erick, December 29, 1888, and Ruth, Septem- 
ber 21, 1892. 

In politics Mr. Pease has always been a re- 
publican, and has ever been a popular man 
with his party, for which he has been an act- 
ive worker. In April, 1896, he was elected 
a member of the Dayton city council from the 
Fifth ward, and October 19, 1896, was ap- 
pointed a deputy in the office of the county 
auditor, and has faithfully performed his du- 
ties in both capacities. Fraternally Mr. Pease 
is a Knight of Pythias, and socially enjoys the 
esteem of a large circle of friends. 



eNOS PHILLIP ROBINSON, lecturer, 
and exhibitor of the cyclorama, Bat- 
tle of Gettysburg, at the .national mili- 
tary home, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
West Fallowfield, Chester county, Pa., No- 
vember 27, 1847, and is a son of William and 
Margaret (Harris) Robinson. The father was 
also a native of Pennsylvania, and was the 
son of an English soldier who bore arms in 
the British army in the days of the American 
Revolution. 

William was a farmer in his native state, 
which vocation he followed until his death, 
which occurred at the age of seventy-five 
years; his wife was of Scotch parentage and 
died when seventy-two years old. Of the 
family of eleven children born to this couple, 
Enos Phillip is the ninth in order of birth and 
is one of the three still surviving, the other 
two being Mrs. Sallie McNeil, of Oxford, Pa., 
and Mrs. Serenah Keitel, of Kansas. 

Of the many young soldiers in the Union 
army during the late Civil war, not one has a 
more interesting history than has Enos P. 
Robinson. His enlistment took place August 
7, 1862, in company H, One Hundred and 
Twenty-second volunteer infantry. He was 



then but fourteen years of age, and was proba- 
bly the youngest lad that ever entered the 
Union ranks for the purpose of bearing a 
musket. Others, equally young, may have been 
enlisted as musicians, etc., but it may be as- 
serted that not another as young as he enlisted 
to bear arms in defense of his country's flag. 

The first service to which Mr. Robinson 
was assigned, as a soldier, was with the army 
of the Potomac, under Gen. Phil. Kearney. 
He took part in the battles of second Bull 
Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
lorsville, and in the last-named battle lost his 
left leg, and for eight days lay on the battle- 
field unnoticed and without attention. At last, 
he was discovered by the Confederates and 
taken prisoner, and his leg was amputated by 
Confedrate surgeons on the field. He was 
exchanged and sent to the Union army at 
Aquia Creek, Va., whence he was sent to 
hospital at Alexandria, Va. When he was 
able to be removed, he was conveyed by car- 
riage from Alexandria to Washington, whence 
he was sent to Philadelphia. But, by reason 
the neglect of his wound at the time it was 
received, and for eight days afterward, gan- 
grene set in and two subsequent amputations 
became necessary, and these were performed 
in Philadelphia. After his recovery, the 
soldier boy was employed for a time in the 
clothing deparment of the United States ar- 
senal in the Quaker City. 

The records of the war department at 
Washington, D. C, showed that he was killed 
at the battle of Chancellorsville; but, twenty- 
five years later, while in Lancaster, Pa., he 
met Col. E. E. Franklin, who had commanded 
his regiment in the battle named. Having 
been personally acquainted with the colonel 
before enlistment, the families being intimate, 
the colonel had mourned the soldier boy as 
dead, and great was his astonishment when 
confronted by the living witness of his error. 




&C£ 



#££ 




4&yz^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



713 



Upon leaving Philadelphia, Mr. Robinson 
attended school at Augusta, Me., for a year 
and a half, he being then an inmate of the 
soldiers' home at that point. The home being 
destroyed by fire, Mr. Robinson was detailed 
to escort fifty of the inmates to the Central 
branch home at Dayton, Ohio, where he re- 
mained two years, being first employed as ser- 
geant of a company, then as a member of the 
band, and then in the telegraph department. 
In 1870, a colony of seven soldiers, including 
himself, went to Kansas and located home- 
steads in Dickinson county, where for two 
summers Mr. Robinson was employed in herd- 
ing cattle and driving them through from 
Texas. 

Returning to Dayton, Ohio, he married, in 
December, 1871, Miss Hattie A. Snyder, a na- 
tive of the city, and a daughter of Joseph H. 
and Rebecca Snyder — the former a native of 
New York and the latter of Vermont. They 
were married in Dayton, Ohio, and had a fam- 
ily of seven children, two only of whom are 
living: Joseph H., a mechanic of Dayton, and 
Mrs. Robinson. After his marriage, Mr. Rob- 
inson was employed by the Third street rail- 
road company for eleven years, and next, for 
five years, by the Home avenue railroad com- 
pany. In 1886, the Dayton & Soldiers' Home 
Panorama company organized and opened the 
cycloratna of the battle of Gettysburg, and Mr. 
Robinson was placed in charge. His lecture 
evinces careful study of all the details of that 
turning point of the late Civil war, and is en- 
tertaining and instructive. Mr. Robinson also 
owns a photograph gallery at the corner of 
Fifth street and Wayne avenue, Mrs. Robin- 
son having the management of the same. 

Mr. Robinson has been very prominent as 
a secret society member. He organized the 
Hiram Strong post, No. 79, G. A. R. , and is 
its past commander; he is a member of and 
past grand in the Independent Order of Odd 



Fellows, a member of Hope lodge. No. 277, 
Knights of Pythias, and of division No. 32, 
uniform rank, of the same order; is ex counsel- 
or of Putnam council, Order of United Ameri- 
can Mechanics, and is also chairman of the 
Dayton Soldiers' Relief commission. In his pol- 
itics he has always been a republican, and was 
once elected justice of the peace of Harrison 
township at a time when that township usually 
gave about 200 democratic majority, and he 
has several times served as delegate to con- 
ventions of his party. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson 
have been members of the First Reform church 
since 1875, an ^ no couple stand higher in the 
esteem of the community than the " boy sol- 
dier" and his amiable wife. 



HBRAHAM M. OSNESS, M. D., of 
Dayton, Ohio, although a compara- 
tively young man, is a physician and 
surgeon of ability aud skill. He was 
born in Berdichen, Russia, May 19, 1864, a 
son of Moses and Anna Osness, the former of 
whom passed all his days in Russia, and the 
latter, after the decease o'f her husband, com- 
ing to America to join her son, the doctor, and 
being now a resident of Dayton. 

Dr. Abraham M. Osness was reared in his 
native land until the age of seventeen, receiv- 
ing his education in the public schools of the 
city of Berdichen. At the age mentioned he 
went to Austria, where he passed one year, and 
in 1882 came to America and at once located 
in Dayton, where he learned the trade of ci- 
gar-making, at which he was constantly em- 
ployed until 1888. During these six years he 
was an earnest student, attended high-school 
and studied at home, and later attended a com- 
mercial college. He was a constant visitor at 
the public library, where he was able to add 
considerably to his stock of knowledge. In 
1889 he was placed in charge of a fruit house 



714 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in Greenville, Ohio, as manager, bookkeeper, 
etc., and in 1890 went to Chicago, 111., to pre- 
pare himself for the practice of medicine, hav- 
iag already devoted twelve months or more to 
the study of that science. At Chicago he en- 
tered the office of Dr. Meyerowich, under 
whose preceptorship he pursued his studies, 
and also entered the college of Physicians & 
Surgeons, from which he was graduated in 
April, 1894. Immediately after receiving his 
degree of M. D., he returned to Dayton and 
established himself in his chosen profession. 
He is recognized as a young physician of ex- 
cellent parts, has already secured a remuner- 
ative practice, and has been appointed exam- 
ining surgeon for the K. of H., M. W. of A., 
the S. of B., and the Germania Life Insurance 
company. 



a APT. THOMAS N. PATTERSON is 
a native of the state of New York, 
born on the 24th day of February, 
1835, in the city of Rochester. His 
father, Thomas Patterson, also a native of 
New York, was bona in 1804, of Irish parent- 
age, the ancestors of the family immigrating 
to the United States about the year 1791. The 
mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth 
Jenkins, was born in the Empire state in 1808. 
These parents died in the years 1864 and 
1843 respectively, after rearing two children, 
Thomas N. and a daughter, Hester, whose 
death occurred at the age of fourteen. 

When a small boy, Capt. Patterson was 
taken by his parents to Detroit, Mich., in the 
schools of which city he received his educa- 
tion. After serving an apprenticeship at the 
carpenter's trade and working at the same for 
some years in Detroit, he went south and 
spent the four years immediately preceding the 
war of the Rebellion in the states of Texas 
and Louisiana. This, as all know, was a very 



critical period, and on account of his loyal 
sentiments, which he took no pains to conceal, 
Mr. Patterson received many broad hints to 
the effect that his society was no longer agree- 
able to certain southern gentry, and accord- 
ingly, in March, 1S61, he took counsel of his 
better judgment and returned north. On April 
19 of the same year he enlisted in company G, 
Tenth Ohio infantry, in which he served as 
private for a period of four months. On the 
1 ith of September following, he was promoted 
first sergeant of his company, became second 
lieutenant January 12, 1862, and on the 1 8th 
of the ensuing October was commissioned first 
lieutenant. Ten days prior to the latter pro- 
motion, Capt. Patterson lost his right arm in 
the battle of Perryville, Ky., and on returning 
from the hospital, he was made adjutant of 
the regiment, serving as such until the expira- 
tion of his period of enlistment. The cap- 
tain's army experience embraces some of the 
most noted campaigns of the war and he took 
part in quite a number of pitched battles, be- 
side numerous irregular engagements and 
skirmishes with guerillas. September 10, 
1861, he participated in the battle of Carnifax 
Ferry, Va., and, during the greater part of the 
same year, his command was engaged in guer- 
rilla warfare in West Virginia, beside doing 
some fighting in old Virginia. The next bat- 
tle was that of Stone River or Murfreesboro, 
where his regiment suffered a loss of thirty- 
three men, though serving as rear guards at the 
time of the engagement; Chickamauga fol- 
lowed, where forty brave men bit the dust be- 
fore the aim of the enemy, and in the bloody 
battle of Perryvile, Ky., fully one half of the 
right wing, of which the captain's command 
formed a part, were killed or wounded. Capt. 
Patterson accompanied Gen. Sherman's army 
in the celebrated march to the sea as far as 
Kingston, Ga., where he was mustered out at 
the expiration of his term of service on the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



715 



17th day of June, 1864. On the 8th day of 
the following August, he re-entered the army 
as first lieutenant of company G, Ninth regi- 
ment, veteran reserve corps, and served as 
such at Washington city, where the regiment 
was stationed for guard duty until the latter 
part of the ensuing year. For seventeen 
months Capt. Patterson had command of the 
military patrols at the national capital and 
afterward commanded the force that had 
charge of the aqueduct bridge leading from 
Washington to Arlington Heights; he com- 
manded the patrols in Washington on the 
night of President Lincoln's assassination and 
had a guard at Ford's theatre when the fatal 
shot, which deprived the nation of its beloved 
ruler, was fired. From Washington he was 
sent to Cincinnati in December, 1865, and 
there remained until honorably discharged on 
the first day of July, 1866. 

For some time after severing his connec- 
tion with the army, Capt. Patterson was em- 
ployed in the United States revenue service, 
and for two years was inspector of distilleries. 
Later he accepted a position in the sheriff's 
office of Hamilton county, and was thus em- 
ployed until 1876, at which time he became an 
inmate of the Central branch, National Home 
for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, where, with 
the exception of about two years, he has since 
remained. For a period of twelve years 
Capt. Patterson was commissary sergeant and 
assistant steward at the home, and in 1888 
was the republican candidate for sheriff of 
Montgomery county, having taken his dis- 
charge from the home on receiving the nomi- 
nation. Owing to the overwhelming majority 
of the opposition the captain was unsuccessful, 
and shortly after the election he went to Ten- 
nessee, where he made his home for about 
eighteen months. In May, 1891, he returned 
to the home, where he has since remained in 
an official capacity, his first command being 



company Twenty-nine, from which he was 
afterward transferred to company Sixteen. 
He continued in charge of the latter for four 
years, and on the first day of January, 1896, 
was placed in command of company Thirty, 
the largest in the home, a position he still fills 
most creditably. 

Capt. Patterson was married, October 20, 
1866, at Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss Frances 
Shield, a union blessed with the birth of eight 
children, namely: Frederick N., an employee 
of the home; Thomas Francis, an electrician 
at the home; Harry S., clerk in Hotel Atlas, 
Dayton; William C, tobacconist of Dayton; 
Blanch J., student in the Dayton high school, 
and Grace, Ruth and Madge, all attending city 
schools. The captain was reared in the Epis- 
copal faith, but of late years has been identi- 
fied with the U. B. church. He enjoys the 
distinction of being one of a very few men who 
served in the field after losing an arm, and his 
record as a brave defender of the old flag is 
without a blemish; he is a capable and pains- 
taking official, a worthy citizen, and all with 
whom he comes in contact, in any capacity, 
unite in pronouncing him a most courteous 
gentleman of the old school. 



aHARLES PHILIPPS, proprietor of 
the Riverdale bath and boat house, 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Alsace, 
France, February 22, 1832, and is a 
son of John and Anna Marie (Fischer) Philipps. 
These parents were married in Alsace; of their 
family of two sons and one daughter, Charles 
is the only survivor. The daughter, named 
Mary, died in infancy, and Ferdinand, the 
other son, died near Buffalo, N. Y., at the age 
of sixty- five years. 

Charles Philipps was but five years of age 
when the family came to America and settled 
on a farm near Buffalo, N. Y., and here the 



716 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



parents passed the remainder of their days, 
their remains being interred near the {arm. 
Ferdinand succeeded to this property, to which 
he added other lands, and passed his life on 
the farm, where, beside following agriculture, 
he was engaged to some extent in mechanical 
pursuits until his death. At the age of thirteen 
years Charles was apprenticed to shoemaking, 
and, having thoroughly learned the trade, was 
employed for some thirty years at fine work, 
and during this period visited many of the 
larger American cities. But the encroach- 
ments of improved machinery proved to be 
seriously detrimental to hand production of 
shoes and he relinquished his journeyings. He 
then purchased a place near Buffalo, where he 
carried on his trade in a small way for a num- 
ber of years, and afterward became a member 
of the Buffalo fire department; but by reason 
of one hand having been crippled by disease, 
he was at last compelled to abandon both his 
trade and his position. He then opened a sa- 
loon on the Terrace in Buffalo, and this he 
conducted for about seven years. He then 
built a floating bath house, which proved a 
source of profit for about ten years, when the 
structure was destroyed by a violent storm, en- 
tailing upon him a heavy loss. In 1888 he 
came with an excursion party to Ohio, and de- 
siring to adopt a new iocation for business, he 
came to Dayton and established his present 
bath and boat house. Here, during the season, 
hundreds of citizens of Dayton, of all ages, 
come to enjoy the boating and bathing, while 
every precaution is taken for their safety; it 
sometimes happens that bathers become over- 
bold, and Mr. Philipps has, since in business 
here, saved no less than eighteen persons from 
drowning. For these brave and valuable serv- 
ices he has received appreciative mention in 
the local press, and very often more tangible 
evidence of the gratitude of the rescued. 

Mr. Philipps was married, in Buffalo, to 



Miss Bertha Webber, who was born in Baden, 
Germany, in 1841, and this marriage has been 
blessed by the birth of four sons and three 
daughters. Of these William C. is a harness- 
maker and dealer in Dayton and is married; 
Rose is a dressmaker, and resides with her 
parents; Albert conducts a boating house at 
Dayton View; Ida is the wife of Aloysius W. 
Kling, foreman of Walker's lithographic estab- 
lishment in Dayton; Edward G. is an assistant 
to his father; Clara and Frankie are attending 
school. In their religious faith, the family are 
true Catholics. Mr. Philipps is a modest, un- 
assuming gentleman, courteous and attentive 
to his many patrons. He well deserves the 
success which now attends him, and is equally 
deserving of the high esteem in which he is 
held by the citizens of Dayton, with many of 
whom his occupation necessarily brings him 
into association. 



HNDREW PLOCHER, proprietor of 
the City Forge & Iron works, at 25 
South Wyandot street, is a native of 
the kingdom of Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, was born on the 19th of June, 1850, 
and is a son of John and Anna M. (Zeller) 
Plocher. The father passed his entire life in 
the fatherland, while the mother subsequently 
came to America and passed her declining 
years with her children, her death having oc- 
curred in Dayton, in the year 1882. John and 
Anna Plocher were the parents of six children, 
viz: John, a resident of Miamisburg, Ohio, 
where he is engaged in contracting and build- 
ing; Andrew, the immediate subject of this re- 
view; Christian W., who is engaged in the bot- 
tling business at Elyria, this state; Caroline, 
the widow of John Bitzer, of Crestline, Ohio; 
Lena, the wife of Jacob Holker, of the same 
place; and Jacob, whose present residence is 
not known to the other members of the family. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



717 



The father, who was prominently engaged in 
business as a grain dealer in his native land, 
died at the age of forty-nine years. He was a 
zealous and consistent member of the Lu- 
theran church, and was honored for his ability 
and sterling worth of character. 

Andrew Plocher passed the first seventeen 
years of his life in the land of his nativity, re- 
ceiving his educational training in the excellent 
schools of Germany, and familiarizing himself 
with practical business affairs as an assistant 
of his father. At the age of seventeen years 
he emigrated to America, and soon after his 
arrival here made his way to Dayton, which 
has ever since been his home. For about 
eighteen months he found employment on a 
farm, after which he learned the blacksmith's 
trade, with which line of work, or that of a 
like nature, he has ever since been identified. 
In 1895 he established his present enterprise. 
The products of the establishment include 
varied kinds of light and heavy forgings, and 
in the well equipped works are also manufac- 
tured wrought-iron fence, railings, etc., of the 
most artistic design and superior construction, 
the output finding sale throughout a wide ter- 
ritory contiguous to Dayton. The mechanical 
equipment is of the most modern and approved 
sort, so that the work of manufacture is facili- 
tated in every possible way. The superior 
workmanship and thorough reliability of prod- 
ucts have given the business a marked im- 
petus from its inception. Mr. Plocher is him- 
self an expert mechanic, and he maintains a 
personal direction and supervision of all de- 
tails of the business. His character is one 
which commands the respect and esteem of all 
with whom he has dealings, and he is known 
as one of the alert and progressive business 
men of the city, and as one whose success is 
the just reward of well-directed efforts and un- 
flagging perseverance. Aside from the City 
Forge & Iron works Mr. Plocher has other 



considerable financial interests. He is the 
owner of much valuable realty in Dayton, and 
has erected two excellent dwelling houses be- 
side his shops. 

Mr. Plocher is a member of the democratic 
party, while his fraternal relations are with 
Humboldt lodge. No. 58, Knights of Pythias, 
and with the Deutschen Ordens der Harugari, 
in which latter order he was one of the organ- 
izers of the local body, Victoria lodge, No 67. 

In the year 1874 Mr. Plocher married Miss 
Eva Barnhardt, who was born in Wurtemberg, 
on the 6th of June, 1852, the daughter of John 
and Lenah Barnhardt. They have three chil- 
dren — John and Carroll, both of whom are 
employed in their father's establishment, and 
Flora, who is still at home. The family at- 
tend the Lutheran church, and their home is 
located at No. 1806 East Fifth street. 



(D 



AJ. ALPHONSO PETTIT, com- 
mander of company Twenty-nine, 
National Home, D. V. S., was born 
in the city of Belfast, county An- 
trim, Ireland, April 13, 1838, and is a son 
of Henry J. and Cornelia (Parsell) Pettit, 
both natives of the Emerald Isle. The family 
came to the United States in 1841, and lo- 
cated near Dayton, Ohio, thence moved to 
Troy, in which city the elder Pettit became a 
prominent political factor, having been hon- 
ored at various times with important official 
positions. By occupation he was a merchant 
tailor, and his death occurred in Troy in the 
year 1867. Mrs. Pettit died in 1844. Maj. 
Pettit and one sister are the only living mem- 
bers of a family of three sons and five daugh- 
ters; the sister is Mrs. Christian N. Copper, 
who resides at Urbana, Ohio. The others 
Zachary T., John E., Mary F., Anna M., Cor- 
nelia E., and Jane died in youth. 

The early life of Alphonso Pettit was spent 



718 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



as a student and mercantile clerk, and he also 
worked for some years as a carpenter and 
joiner, which trade he learned while living in 
the city of Troy. On the 19th of April, 1861, 
he entered the three months' service in com- 
pany K, Eleventh Ohio infantry, and on the 
28th day of August following, before the ex- 
piration of his term, he re-enlisted in the For- 
ty-fourth Ohio, which formed a part of the 
army of Gen. Rosecrans in the department of 
West Virginia. During his first service, the 
major participated in the battles of Red House 
and Pocotaligo in the Kanawha valley, and 
shortly after re-enlisting he accompanied his 
command to central Kentucky, and in 1863 
joined Burnside's forces at Knoxville, Tenn. 
He took part in the battle fought at the last 
named place, assisted in the capture of Cum- 
berland Gap, and, in recognition of meritorious 
conduct, was promoted, March, 1862, second 
lieutenant of his company. In April, 1864, 
the regiment having veteranized, the Forty- 
fourth was re-organized and mustered into 
service as the Eighth Ohio cavalry, Lieut. 
Pettit being promoted first lieutenant of his 
company and adjutant of the regiment. He 
discharged his two-fold duties most acceptably 
until May, 1864, at which time he was pro- 
moted captain and. assigned to the command 
of company L, Eighth Ohio cavalry. The 
regiment was assigned that year to Gen. Aver- 
ill's division and joined Gen. Hunter in the 
Lynchburg movements, participating in the 
battles at Piedmont and Liberty, together with 
the several skirmishes on the advance and re- 
retreat from Lynchburg to White Sulphur 
Springs. After this, Maj. Pettit was given 
command of 500 dismounted men and ordered 
to report to Gen. Averill at Martinsburg, W. 
Va., and during the summer of 1864 he 
participated in all the fighting in the Shenan- 
doah valley, being on the extreme right of Gen. 
Sheridan's army in that memorable campaign. 



He was assistant adjutant of the First brigade, 
Second division, of Sheridan's cavalry corps 
and remained with the division, as aid, until 
after the surrender of Gen. Lee's forces at Ap- 
pomattox. He was mustered out of the service 
as captain of cavalry and brevet major, Sep- 
tember 28, 1865, having passed through nearly 
four and a half years of active service without 
receiving any disabling wounds or being absent 
from his command for any considerable length 
of time on account of sickness. 

Returning to Troy, Ohio, at the close of 
the war, the major engaged in the nursery 
business near that city, and continued the same 
with fair success until, in the year 1884, he be- 
came an inmate of the national home, at Day- 
ton. Since that date he has served four years 
as superintendent of national cemeteries at 
Chattanooga, Tenn., Beverly, N. J., and Fay- 
etteville, Ark., and, beside filling various offi- 
cial stations at the home, has been for some 
time commander of company Twenty-nine. 
During his connection with the home Maj. 
Pettit has won the confidence of all classes, 
and the good will entertained for him by the 
executive head of the institution is a compli- 
ment to a most deserving and capable official. 

Mr. Pettit and Miss Sarah M. Baker were 
united in marriage in 1874, a union cruelly 
severed by the death of the wife one year later; 
she left a daughter, Judith, now the wife of 
William McLean, of Galena, Ohio. The 
major is a member of the I. O. O. F., Knights 
of the Golden Eagle, I. O. R. M., and G. A. 
R. ; politically he is a stanch supporter of the 
democratic party. 



V^VROF. WILLIAM J. PATTERSON, 

1 M late principal of the Seventh district 
public school of Dayton, Ohio, is a 
native of Ireland, of Scotch-Irish par- 
entage, and was born February 15, 1833. He 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



719 



received his elementary education at Coleraine, 
Londonderry, and in 1 851 came to America, 
following a brother, Joseph, who had preceded 
him by two years. In 1854 he was followed 
by his parents, Joseph and Elizabeth (McVicker) 
Patterson, who first located in Dayton, but 
later removed to Oxford, where both parents 
passed the remainder of their days. The fam- 
ily comprised seven children, viz: Joseph, 
now the owner of a 600-acre farm in Coffee 
county, Tenn. ; William J.; Martha, wife of 
Henry Halteman, a farmer of Preble county, 
Ohio; Eliza, widow of John Dugan, and now 
a resident of Rockwood, Tenn., her husband 
having been killed in a railroad accident ; Annie, 
wife of Isaiah Douglass, a farmer of Oxford, 
Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Lindsay, of Nebraska; and 
Margaret, wife of Edward Weingardner, of 
First street, Dayton. 

Prof. Patterson has been a resident of Day- 
ton since 1 85 1 , when the city contained a popu- 
lation of but 16,000, with no buildings of any 
pretentions to architectural beauty or con- 
struction, or of any considerable monetary 
value; in fact, the majority of them were either 
log or frame, with an occasional brick struct- 
ure at the more populous or business points of 
the town. The most speedy means of com- 
munication and travel between Dayton and 
Cincinnati was by canal packet in his early 
residence here, and he was a witness to the 
laying of the first railway track to enter the 
city, that of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Day- 
ton road. As to the other great changes which 
have taken place during the interval of forty- 
five years, only those who survive from that 
early day can fully realize their magnitude. 

On first locating in Dayton, Prof. Patter- 
son attended school in Carrollton for two years 
and then began teaching. The first teachers' 
examination was held in the old academy 
which stood on the site of the present Central 
school building of Dayton, and which was the 



old Central high school site; the examiners 
were James Campbell and John Hall, both for 
many years afterward employed as teachers in 
the same high school. Prof. Patterson began 
his work as a tutor in a typical log school-house 
on the farm of Rev. Mr. Heineker, near 
Miamisburg, and has the unusual record of hav- 
ing been a school-teacher in the district and vil- 
lage schools of Montgomery county for over 
forty years. In 1890 he was elected principal 
of the Thirteenth public school district of Day- 
ton, in which he served most effectively for two 
years and a half, and was then appointed to a 
similar position in the Seventh district, which 
he has since filled with ability. 

The marriage of Prof. Patterson took place 
March 18, 1855, to Miss Anna Ford, who was 
born in Castlebar, Ireland, in 1833, and came 
to America an orphan child. This marriage 
has resulted in the birth of nine children, of 
whom Joseph Edward is a prosperous farmer, 
living near Dayton; Emma is the wife of 
Frank Wogaman and resides in the city; Will- 
iam F. is in the employ of the American Ex- 
press company; John Charles is an attorney at 
law and a prominent member of the Dayton 
bar; Rev. James Albert is a talented minister 
of the Presbyterian church at Fostoria, Ohio; 
Martha is married to William Rice, general 
agent at Dayton for the Jackson Coal com- 
pany; Dr. Clifton L. is a successful member of 
the medical fraternity; Mrs. Lizzie Johnson, 
whose husband is bookkeeper for the Buckeye 
Iron & Brass works, and Robert C. , a student 
in the Cincinnati Law school. The family 
are all members of the First Reformed church 
of Dayton, having been reared in the Scotch 
Presbyterian faith. 

Prof. Patterson has been always active in 
church and Sunday-school work; in politics he 
has invariably sided with the democratic 
party, although he has never been a partisan 
for personal ends. As an office-holder, he has 



720 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



been content to serve seven years as a member 
of the board of county examiners of teachers 
— an office for which he is peculiarly well quali- 
fied — and as a patriot, he served ioo days in 
the One Hundred and Thirty-second Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry during the late Rebellion. 



Wl 



'ILLIAM G. POWELL, one of the 
younger members of the Dayton 
bar, was born in Wayne township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 29, 1867. His parents are John and 
Esther (Wells) Powell, the former of whom 
was born in Gloucestershire, England, and 
the latter at Culpeper Court House, Va. They 
were married in Tippecanoe, Ohio, and moved 
to Montgomery county, where Mr. Powell 
engaged in farming about six miles north of 
Dayton, in Wayne township. There he is 
still residing and has served three terms as jus- 
tice of the peace of that township. He is a 
substantial farmer and a useful citizen, held in 
high estimation in that community. 

William G. Powell was reared on his fa- 
ther's farm and attended the neighboring dis- 
trict schools until he reached his fifteenth year. 
In 1883 he entered Otterbein university, and 
was there in attendance three years. For 
three years afterward he taught school in the 
country and in 1891 came to Dayton and en- 
tered the office of S. H. Carr, where he read 
law for one year. He was admitted to the 
bar in 1892, his short course of preparation 
for admission being accounted for by his hav- 
ing read law extensively while engaged in 
teaching, as he had the profession of the law 
in mind even at that early day. 

On August 8, 1892, he entered upon the 
practice of his profession, being alone until 
February, 1894, when he formed a partnership 
with George M. Leopold, the firm name being 
Leopold & Powell, which partnership still 



continues. In the fall of 1891 he was elected 
clerk of the county board of elections, serving 
one year. In 1893 he was elected to the office 
of deputy to the state supervisor of elections, 
and was re-elected in 1894, 1895 and 1896, 
holding the office at the present time. He is 
a member of the order of Knights of Pythias 
and also of the Garfield club, from which his 
political affiliations may readily be inferred. 
Mr. Powell is devoted to his profession, in 
which there is every promise of his achieve- 
ment of a gratifying success. 



aOL. HARLEY H. SAGE, of tb,e na- 
tional military home, near Dayton, is 
a native of Pickaway county, Ohio, 
was born February 23, 1835, ar, d pa- 
ternally is of Welsh descent. Two of his 
great-grandfathers were patriots in the war of 
the Revolution, and his father and father's fa- 
ther were soldiers in the war of 1812. Henry 
Sage, the father of the colonel, was an early 
settler of Pickaway county, was prominent as 
a Freemason and as a citizen, and died in 
April, 1865, at the age of seventy-one years; 
the colonel's mother, who bore the maiden 
name of Amanda Hayden, was a native of New 
York, and died in 1878, when eighty-four 
years old. 

Harley H. Sage grew to manhood in his in 
his native county, received a good academical 
education, attended Kenyon college one year, 
and read law in Circleville until fire was opened 
on Fort Sumter, when he enlisted in com- 
pany B, Thirteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, in 
April, 1 86 1, at the time the regiment was 
being re-organized for the three years' service, 
and was elected second lieutenant of his com- 
pany. About six months later he resigned his 
commission and assisted in recruiting the 
Forty-third Ohio infantry, serving as private 
from October 8 until December 29, when he 





J 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



723 



was commissioned captain by Gov. Tod, and 
placed in command of company E, of the 
Forty-third, in which capacity he served until 
after the battle of Corinth, when, October 8, 
1862, he was made major of his regiment. He 
resigned this commission in 1863, at Bolivar, 
Tenn., returned home, was actively employed 
in the recruiting service, and was elected 
colonel of the Ninety-second Ohio national 
guard; upon the re-organization of the camp 
of instruction, he was appointed commander 
and instructor at Athens and Portsmouth, Ohio, 
and filled this position until the call for 100- 
day men was made, when he reported at Camp 
Dennison. Here his recruits were consolidated 
with the Mahoning county battalion, and mus- 
tered in as the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, of which regiment he 
was appointed colonel, and with this rank 
served until the close of the war. To recapit- 
ulate: In the Thirteenth, Col. Sage served in 
Virginia and took part in the battle of Carni- 
fax Ferry. With the Forty-third, he fought 
at New Madrid, Island No. 10, and Tipton- 
ville, was with Pope in his attempted capture 
of Memphis, and in the siege of Corinth. With 
the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth, he served in 
West Virginia, also in front of Richmond and 
Petersburg, Va. , and through the campaign of 
the peninsula; was with Butler at Bermuda 
Hundred and then had command of the en- 
trenched camp at Norfolk; he next took his 
regiment on a raid to Elizabeth City, N. C, 
marched down the bank of the Dismal Swamp 
canal, also having command of the artillery 
on this expedition. He then returned to Nor- 
folk, whence he was sent to Camp Dennison, 
Ohio, where he was mustered out August 27, 
1864. He was next ordered by Gov. Tod to 
organize the One Hundred and Seventy-eighth 
Ohio infantry, but his services were more in 
demand at the front, and he was given com- 
mand of the One Hundred and Seventy-ninth 

26 



Ohio, then already organized, took part in the 
siege of Nashville, Tenn., where he had com- 
mand of a brigade during the two days' battle 
under Maj.-Gen. Thomas, after which he re- 
turned to Columbus, Ohio, and was finally 
mustered out June 18, 1865. The only brother 
of the colonel, Henry Tecumseh, served in the 
Mexican war, but died of yellow fever in New 
Orleans before the outbreak of the Civil war. 

Soon after his return from the war, Col. 
Sage was admitted to practice in the supreme 
court of Ohio, and opened a law office in 
Circleville; was city solicitor for that corpora- 
tion until 1878, when he came to Dayton as 
supervisor of the southern Ohio lunatic asylum, 
which position he held for two years; he was 
then appointed deputy clerk in the probate 
court, but resigned two years later and was 
elected justice of the peace in Dayton. During 
his incumbency of this office for six years, he 
never had a decision reversed on appeal, 
although he had transacted the major part of 
the justice's court business of the city during 
that period. He then resumed his law prac- 
tice, which he continued until failing health 
warned him that it was necessary to relinquish 
active labor. September 29, 1894, the colonel 
became an inmate of the soldiers' home, and 
by the 1st of November following had suffici- 
ently recuperated to assume his present posi- 
tion as captain of company Twenty-two. 

Col. Sage was first married, in Circleville, 
Ohio, to Miss Miss Nannie E. Campbell, who 
bore him seven children, four of whom died 
while he was in the army. His wife died about 
fifteen years after marriage, and for his second 
wife he chose Mary McLean, also of Circle- 
ville, who became the mother of two children, 
now deceased, and who herself was soon called 
away. In 1881, the colonel married Mrs. 
Anna Thompson, and they have their residence 
adjoining the soldiers' home. The colonel's 
only living children are J. Kirby Sage and Mrs. 



724 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Mary E. Snyder — the son and son-in-law, 
both mechanics, being associated in business. 
Col. and Mrs. Sage have also an adopted 
daughter, Lulu, a young lady who still has her 
home in the colonel's family. 

In politics the colonel has always been an 
active member of the democratic party, and 
has been its nominee for the state legislature 
and for probate judge of Montgomery county. 
Fraternally he is a royal arch Mason, was a 
Son of Malta before that unique order became 
defunct, is a member of the Improved Order 
of Red Men, of the Union Veteran Union, and 
of the Grand Army of the Republic. In the 
last named orders he has been especially prom- 
inent and active, as post commander of Dister 
post, G. A. R., and as an officer on the staff 
of the department commander, and in the 
U. V. U. as colonel of John A. Logan en- 
campment. The colonel is held in high re- 
spect by the officers and inmates in general of 
the soldiers' home, and also enjoys the warm 
friendship of a large circle of acquaintance, in 
Circleville, in Dayton, and all throughout the 
county of Montgomery. 



@IDEON F. POND, one of the repre- 
sentative ex-soldiers and mechanics in 
the National Home for Disabled Vol- 
unteer Soldiers, at Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Holden, Me., January 20, 1848, and 
is a son of Philander L. and Emily W. (Billing- 
ton) Pond, natives of the same state, where 
they still reside. The children born to these 
parents were six in number, of whom Albert 
A. died in Bangor, Me., in February, 1896; 
Henry L. resides in Mount Chestnut, Butler 
county, Pa.; the third, Gideon F., is the sub- 
ject of this biographical notice; Marcia J. is 
unmarried; Myra A. is now Mrs. Rand, and 
Sarah E. is as yet unmarried. 

Gideon F. Pond was educated in his na- 



tive city and in Bangor, Penobscot county, 
Me., and was early apprenticed to learn the 
trade of carpenter and millwright. When in 
his seventeenth year he enlisted in company 
F, Twelfth Maine volunteer infantry, and was 
probably the youngest patriot soldier of the 
state. He served at camp Bevoy, Me., and 
at Galloup island, Boston harbor, Mass., chief- 
ly in guarding transports conveying troops, for 
about seven months, when he was discharged 
by reason of the close of the war. During this 
comparatively short term of service, however, 
he was taken ill from exposure and incurred 
a disability from which he has never fully re- 
covered. On returning to Maine he remained 
there, an invalid, for nearly three years, and 
then, in 1870, believing that a change of cli- 
mate would be beneficial, went to California, 
where for thirteen years he was employed as 
clerk, as letter-carrier in the San Francisco 
post-office, and at such other light work as he 
was able to perform. He then served five 
years in the United States marine corps, from 
1878 to 1883, when he returned home on a 
visit, and in the following year came to Ohio. 
Here he worked at millwrighting and carpen- 
tering until December, 1891, when he relin- 
quished the futile effort at self-support under 
the very discouraging conditions then existing, 
and became an inmate of the Central branch of 
the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Sol- 
diers. Since then Mr. Pond has been chiefly 
employed in light work, and of late has had 
charge of the lumber in the carpenter shops of 
the home. In this position he receives and 
distributes the material necessary for the re- 
pair of the home buildings, which is continu- 
ously going on, and thus his active mind finds 
occupation and is relieved of the monotony of 
camp life. 

Mr. Pond united with the Grand Army of 
the Republic in 1887, and is at present a mem- 
ber of Mart Armstrong post, No. 202, of Lima, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



725 



Ohio. In politics he has been a life-long re- 
publican. In religion he was reared in the 
faith of the Congregational church. Of the 
three sons and one daughter born to his de- 
ceased brother, Albert A., the elder son, Bert 
C. , is secretary of the Christian Endeavor so- 
ciety in Philadelphia, and the younger, Fred- 
die, is secretary of the same association at 
Bangor, Me. 

Asa A. Billington, maternal grandfather of 
Mr. Pond, was a soldier in the war of 1812, 
and Mr. Pond still treasures as an heirloom 
the musket his grandfather carried through the 
war in defense of American liberty. The Pond 
family is of Plymouth Rock descent, and was 
well represented in the war of the Revolution. 
It will thus be seen that patriotism is an inher- 
ent quality in the present generation. 



HLFRED B. POWERS, of the National 
Park restaurant, Dayton, Ohio, a na- 
tive of Paducah, Ky., was born Sep- 
tember 7, 1839, a son of John and 
Naomi (Norris) Powers, both of whom were 
born in Indian Hill, a village near Cincinnati. 
After marriage they went to Paducah, Ky. , 
but when Alfred was a child of some four or 
five years of age they returned to Indian Hill, 
where John Powers was engaged in business 
for two or three years, and then located on a 
farm in that vicinity, where he and his wife 
passed the remainder of their days. They 
were of Pennsylvania descent, and had a fam- 
ily of nine children, who are now scattered 
throughout the country, although three or four 
of them still reside in the neighborhood of the 
old homestead at Indian Hill. 

The earlier manhood of Alfred B. Powers 
was spent in farming on the old homestead and 
in its vicinity. In 1883 he came to Dayton, 
and for the past four or five years has been 
engaged in the confectionery business, as well 



as restaurant keeping. At present he operates 
two stands, at the Third street and Fifth street 
entrances to the national military home, in 
which he caters to the wants of the hungry 
and thirsty visitors to that great institution. 

Mr. Powers was united in marriage, in 
1S60, in Sharonville, Ohio, to Miss Melissa 
Price, a native of the place, and this union 
has been blessed by the birth of two daughters 
and one son, viz: Mollie, who is married to 
John Brannin, a clerk in the court house; Mag- 
gie, the wife of George Smith, who is engaged 
in the grocery business, and Edgar M., who 
married Miss Carrie Smith, and is now assist- 
ing his father in the restaurant and confection- 
ery business, and through these marriages Mr. 
Powers and his wife have been given eight 
grandchildren. In religion, Mr. and Mrs. 
Powers are of the United Brethren faith, and 
in politics Mr. Powers is a republican. 

When Mr. Powers started in his present 
business he was almost entirely without means, 
and for the first two years he and his wife 
lived in a tent, in which they also transacted 
their limited business; to-day, as has been 
stated, he has two establishments, giving con- 
stant employment to four assistants, beside 
keeping himself, wife and son occupied. 



>^T*ACOB A. PRITZ, proprietor of the 
J Acme Star laundry, Dayton, Ohio, is 
A j a native of Hanover, Pa. ; was born 
October 24, 1840, and is a son of Adam 
and Mary Pritz, natives, respectively, of Penn- 
sylvania and Maryland. They were married 
in Pennsylvania, and in 1840 came to Ohio, 
Jacob A. being then a babe and the third born 
in a family of eight children, of whom but five 
are now living. The father was a well-known 
manufacturer in Dayton, and here died in 
1895, at the age of eighty-six years. The 
mother still survives and lives in this citv. Of 



726 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the living children, beside the subject of this 
biographical notice, J. W., the eldest born, 
resides on a stock farm in Montgomery county; 
William H. served during the Civil war in the 
Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and is 
now a resident of Dayton; Mrs. Scott lives in 
Newark, Ohio, and Mrs. Hildt makes her home 
with her mother. 

Jacob A. Pritz received a good common- 
school education, learned the machinist's trade 
before the outbreak of the Rebellion, and was 
thus employed when he responded to Presi- 
dent Lincoln's first call for volunteers, when 
he enlisted in company A, Eleventh Ohio in- 
fantry, for three months. At the expiration 
of his term he at once re-enlisted, August 20, 
1 861 , but this time in the Thirteenth Missouri 
volunteer infantry, of the exploits of which 
regiment an account will be found in the biog- 
raphy of Capt. John Birch, elsewhere in this 
volume. On being mustered out at the close 
of the war Mr. Pritz engaged in the manu- 
facture of harvesting machinery, in partner- 
ship with his father and two brothers, in Day- 
ton, and continued in this line until about 
1880, when he sold his interest in the plant, 
and for eighteen months was in the milling 
business in Cincinnati. He then became gen- 
eral agent for the state of Ohio of the Saint 
Paul Harvester company, but three years later 
this company made an assignment, and Mr. 
Pritz secured a similar position with C. Ault- 
man & Co., of Canton, Ohio, with whom he 
remained for three years. His next engage- 
ment was with J. R. Brownell & Co., manu- 
facturers of boilers and engines in Dayton, with 
whom he remained six or seven years, or until 
February, 1896, when he purchased his pres- 
ent establishment, where he is doing a lucra- 
tive trade and employs fourteen persons. 

Mr. Pritz was joined in wedlock in 1865, 
at Dayton, with Miss Helen Field, of Provi- 
dence, R. I., by whom he had one child only, 



named Earle, who died at the age of six years. 
Mrs. Pritz is a devout member of the Baptist 
church. Mr. Pritz is a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and of the 
Union Veteran Legion. Politically, he is an 
ardent republican. Few men are better known 
throughout the state than Mr. Pritz, who en- 
joys, both at home and wherever he has trav- 
eled, the warm esteem of a large circle of 
admiring friends. 



>^r*OHN W. PRUGH, of the firm of 
a Prugh & John, funeral directors at No. 
A 1 410 South Wayne street, was born May 
8, 1851, in Miami county, Ohio, son of 
John and Mary Jane (Davner) Prugh. The 
Prugh family is of German extraction, and 
came originally from the kingdom of Prussia. 
For many generations the Prughs were tillers 
of the soil, and quite a number of them were 
noted for longevity, Abner Prugh, the grand- 
father of John W., dying at the remarkable 
age of 100 years, one month and twelve days. 
The maternal branch is also German, and, like 
the Prughs, has generally been a very rugged 
and long-lived race. John Prugh was born in 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1827, was 
married in March, 1850, and died in Novem- 
ber of that year, a short time before the birth 
of his son. Subsequently, about i860, Mrs. 
Prugh became the wife of John John, a most 
estimable gentleman of Montgomery eounty, 
who has taken the place of a father to young 
Prugh in every possible way. To this second 
marriage have been born three children: Mad- 
ison, who died at the age of three years; Elmer 
E., farmer and stock-raiser, and Wilford John, 
who is the junior member of the firm of Prugh 
& John. The mother of these children died 
July 7, 1894, at the age of sixty-seven years. 
John W. Prugh attended the common 
schools in his youth, and later obtained a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



727 



knowledge of the higher branches in Hol- 
brook's Normal school, Lebanon, Ohio. He 
began life for himself as a farmer, following 
this useful calling until 1885, in September of 
which year he came to Dayton and accepted a 
position in the Barney & Smith Car shops, 
taking charge of the stock department and 
books relating thereto. Continuing with this 
concern until October, 1887, Mr. Prugh re- 
signed his position and went to Florida, where, 
for a limited period, he was in the employ of 
the Clifford Orange company. Returning to 
Dayton for a short time, he again went to 
Florida and resumed work with the Clifford 
company, spending nine months in charge of 
the packing and shipping department. For 
some months after quitting work in the south, 
Mr. Prugh was not actively employed, but 
later accepted the position of foreman of the 
yard department at the Farmer's Friend Agri- 
cultural works, Dayton, in which capacity he 
served most acceptably for over two years, the 
last year and a half as assistant on inside work. 
His next venture was in the mercantile line, 
handling groceries, and also giving considera- 
ble attention to dealing in bicycles, in both of 
which branches of trade he was successful. In 
company with his half-brother, Wilford M. 
John, Mr. Prugh engaged in the undertaking 
business on South Wayne street, in 1894, un- 
der the firm name of Prugh & John, a part- 
nership which still continues. Messrs. Prugh 
& John have a fully-equipped establishment, 
and have enjoyed a steady increase in patron- 
age from the beginning. They are also the 
proprietors of a large and well-stocked livery 
stand at Nos. 233 and 235 South Jefferson 
Stre3t, Dayton. 

On the 5th day of December, 1878, Mr. 
Prugh and Miss Nannie J. Barney, of Beaver 
Creek township, Greene county, Ohio, were 
married. Mrs. Prugh is the daughter of Rev. 
B. H. Barney, a well-known Baptist minister, 



and spent the greater part of her life in Greene 
county, Ohio. Politically, Mr. Prugh is a 
stanch member of the republican party, and in 
religion is a member of the United Brethren 
church, while Mrs. Prugh belongs to the Linden 
avenue Baptist church ot Dayton. 



e OSCAR PRYOR, a member of the 
firm of A. H. Grim & Co., Dayton, 
Ohio, is recognized as one of the most 
progressive, enterprising and energetic 
business men of the Gem City. He was born 
February 6, i860, in Pleasant Ridge, Hamilton 
county, Ohio, a son of Edward F. and Sarah 
Pryor. In November of the same year his 
parents established their residence in Dayton, 
and his father became one of the leading citi- 
zens, being closely identified with the hotel 
business and the growing industries of this city. 
E. Oscar Pryor was reared in Dayton, re- 
ceived his primary education in the public 
schools and graduated in the high school. His 
business training was completed in A. D. Wilt's 
Commercial college. At the age of nineteen 
he accepted the position of cashier in the 
freight depot and ticket office at the Third 
street crossing, maintained by the Dayton & 
Southeastern railroad, and this place he held 
from 1879 to 1880, when he resigned and as- 
sociated himself with his brother-in-law A. B. 
Ridgway as clerk and bookkeeper and later as 
steward in the Phillips House, in which ca- 
pacity he served for twelve years at different 
times. In 1886 Mr. Pryor was appointed to a 
clerkship in the post-office under the Cleveland 
administration, where he served with ability 
during three years, when his successor was ap- 
pointed. He then returned to the Phillips 
House as steward, continuing until 1891, when 
he formed a partnership with James A. Kirk and 
opened up the Lakeside Park at the soldier's 
home. Three years later he sold out his in- 



728 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



terest in this enterprise and returned to the 
hotel business as manager of the Phillips House. 
He conducted this hostelry in an excellent 
manner until March, 1895, when he accepted 
a position as steward of the Hotel Atlas. One 
year later (March 6, 1896) he became a mem- 
ber of the firm of A. H. Grim & Co. He has 
made a decided success of every business en- 
terprise undertaken in his active career, and 
the present admirable system in our hotels is 
largely due to his intelligence and business 
qualities, inherited from his father, who was 
also prominent in hotel management. 

E. Oscar Pryor has always been an out- 
spoken democrat in politics. In lodge and 
society circles he is as well and favorably 
known as in the business world and stands in 
the front rank. He is a member of St. John's 
lodge, No.i3,F. & A. M. ; Unity chapter, No. 16, 
R. A. M. ; Reed commandery, No. 6, K. T. ; 
Ohio consistory, Cincinnati, Ohio, thirty-second 
degree. In 1 881 he entered the order and took 
the Scottish-rite degree November 12, 1883. 

In 1885 Mr. Pryor married Miss Helena 
Schaeffer, who died in 1891, leaving one child, 
Sarah. Two years later, in September, 1893, 
' he was again married, his second wife being Miss 
Ella Fisher. This marriage was blessed with 
one child, named E. Oscar. Mr. and Mrs. 
Pryor are affiliated with the Lutheran church. 



a APT. MARTIN E. QUINN, com- 
mander of company Twenty-six, Na- 
tional Home Disabled Volunteer Sol- 
diers, is a native of Virginia, born at 
Culpeper Court House, December 25, 1846. 
His parents, John F. and Amelia (Reagan) 
Quinn, were born in Ireland, in which country 
they married and reared a part of their family, 
immigrating to the United States several years 
prior to the birth of their son Martin, and set- 
tling in Virginia. The family of John and 



Amelia Quinn consisted of eight children, four 
of whom were born in the United States; the 
parents both died in Virginia, but their bodies 
were returned to their native country for bur- 
ial and now lie side by side. 

After the death of the parents the children 
went to Chicago, taking considerable means 
with them from Virginia, and purchased prop- 
erty which served as a home for the family as 
long as the several members remained together. 

Martain E. obtained such education as the 
common schools impart, and in 1859 entered 
upon an apprenticeship to learn the printer's 
trade, with the Chicago Tribune; he soon be- 
came an expert typographer, but laid aside the 
"stick" at the breaking out of the late Civil 
war, and proffered his services to his country, 
enlisting in the Twenty-third Illinois, with 
which he served with Mulligan's brigade until 
captured at Lexington, Mo. He was soon 
paroled and discharged from the service, again 
entered the army, as sergeant of company A, 
Fifth Middle Tennessee cavalry, from which 
he was subsequently discharged in order to re- 
ceive promotion as first lieutenant in the Fourth 
Tennessee mounted infantry. One month 
after his promotion he was made captain of 
company D, same regiment, and as such served 
with distinction in the army of the Cumber- 
land under Gen. Thomas, and later did staff 
duty during Gen. Sherman's famous march to 
the sea. He was a participant in the exciting 
scenes of that celebrated military movement, 
took part in all the battles in which the cav- 
alry was engaged, and accompanied his com- 
mand from the sea through the Carolinas and 
on to Washington at the close of the war. 

Capt. Quinn was entrusted with many del- 
icate and trying duties and his adventures and 
escapes were both narrow and thrilling. He 
was instrumental in capturing the notorious 
guerilla, " Champ " Ferguson, whose name be- 
came a terror wherever heard, and who was 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



729 



afterward hanged by the Federal authorities 
at Nashville, Tenn. Mr. Quinn was mustered 
out in November, 1865, with the rank of cap- 
tain, and immediately thereafter returned to 
Chicago, thence a little later went to Elkader, 
Iowa, where, for a period of four years, he 
was engaged in the mercantile business in part- 
nership with his brother, Michael Quinn. Un- 
fortunately this venture did not prove success- 
ful, in consequence of which the captain was 
compelled to dispose of his stock and turn his 
attention to another calling. 

During the years from 1873 to 1876, inclu- 
sive, Capt. Quinn was engaged in journalism 
at Friar's Point, Miss., publishing one of the 
two republican papers at that time in the state. 
The feeling against him, intense from the be- 
ginning, culminated in an incendiary fire in 
1876, in which his office and fixtures were en- 
tirely destroyed, entailing a total loss of all 
property at the time in his possession. For 
nearly four years thereafter he was on the road 
as a commercial traveler, representing a New 
York clothing house, which business he 
abandoned in 1880 to accept a position in the 
office of the Chicago Tribune. Subsequently 
he went to Washington, D. C. , with S. P. 
Rounds, who was appointed public printer, and 
remained with him during the four years of his 
administration of the office; from the national 
capital, he went to Pittsburg, Pa., in which 
city he worked on the Dispatch until August, 
1895, when he became an inmate of the na- 
tional soldiers' home, Dayton, Ohio, where he 
has since continued in an official capacity. 
The captain has never hesitated in giving ex- 
pression to his honest convictions upon all 
questions of a public nature when occasion 
for such expression presented itself. Politi- 
cally he is, and always has been, unseverving 
in his allgiance to the republican party, not- 
withstanding he numbers among his warmest 
friends many democrats. He is a member of 



the G. A. R., belonging to post No. 3, of Pitts- 
burg, Pa. 

Capt. Quinn was married in Pittsburg to 
Miss Maggie Savage, a native of Prince Will- 
iam county, Va., where her father was killed 
by rebel bushwackers during the war; the fruit 
of this union was one child, a daughter, Sadie, 
at this time a student in a Chicago convent; 
Mrs. Quinn died in Pittsburg in October, 1894. 



a APT. JAMES RATCLIFFE, a dis- 
tinguished ex-soldier and trusted offi- 
cial of the national soldier's home, 
was born at the town of Little Falls, 
N. J., March 12, 1838, the son of John and 
Margaret (Aldride) Ratcliffe, both natives of 
England. These parents were married in the 
old country, where the father learned the 
trade of carpet-weaving, and, after coming to 
the United States, located at Paterson, N. J., 
and later moved to Pittsburg, Pa. Subsequently 
the family located in Allegheny City, and when 
James was a mere lad moved west to Indiana, 
where both parents died. To John and Mar- 
garet Ratcliffe were born seven children; of 
these Mary, the eldest, was born in England, 
is married and resides in Topeka, Kans. ; Alice, 
widow of Edward Harrison, lives in the city 
of Washington, D. C. ; James is the subject of 
this sketch; John W. is a farmer living in the 
vicinity of Markle, Ind. ; Mrs. Elizabeth Man- 
ning is a widow, whose home is in Kansas, 
and Thomas is a farmer of Arkansas; one 
member of the family, Ellen, is deceased. 

Capt. James Ratcliffe enjoyed but limited 
educational advantages, and at the early age 
of nine years was put to work in the factories 
at Paterson, N. J. Later he turned his at- 
tention to other pursuits and for a number of 
years was variously employed, his principal 
occupation being farming and contracting. 
He assisted in clearing over 300 acres of forest 



730 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



land in Indiana, and in making several farms, 
beside building wagon-roads and railroads, and 
general contracting in different lines. He was 
thus employed until 1862, in August of which 
year he enlisted at Markle, Ind., in company 
K, Seventy-fifth Indiana infantry, his first 
military experience being in Kentucky, in the 
pursuit of the noted guerrilla, John Morgan. 
From that state his regiment went to Tennes- 
see, thence to Alabama, and during this period 
of three years' service, Mr. Ratcliffe served in 
the commands of Gens. Rosecrans, Thomas, 
Grant and Sherman, taking part under the 
last named in the celebrated march to the sea. 
The battles in which he bore an active part 
included many of the bloodiest engagements 
of the war, besides numerous skirmishes and 
raids, a complete enumeration of which will 
not be attempted here. At the close of the 
war he took part in the grand review at the 
national capital. 

After his return from the army the captain 
and his wife, whose maiden name was Mary 
E. Manning, and whom he married in 1862, 
immediately after his enlistment, began house- 
keeping on a farm in Indiana. For sometime 
he gave his attention almost exclusively and 
very successfully to contracting, and was thus 
engaged until the panic of 1873, when he lost 
the greater part of his possessions and was 
obliged to turn his attention to other business. 
He then began dealing in lime, in Huntington 
county., Ind., and while engaged in this trade 
he met with a painful accident, which rendered 
him a cripple for life, his left arm becoming 
disabled. By reason of this disability, the 
captain, in 1888, removed his family to Day- 
ton, Ohio, and became an inmate of the Na- 
tional Military Home, D. V. S., where he has 
since remained, the greater part of the time in 
an official capacity. In March, 1892, he was 
promoted captain and placed in command of 
company Six, which at this time has a com- 



plement of 108 men. The captain has dis- 
charged his official functions in a most credita- 
ble manner, and has proved himself faithful to 
every trust reposed in him. Of his family of 
nine children seven are still living, viz: Nellie, 
wife of Joseph Overmeyer, a business man of 
Huntington, Ind. ; Cora, who married George 
Drafenstatt, also a resident of Huntington; 
Guy, a druggist of Dayton, Ohio; Millie and 
Ray B., who are engaged in the confectionery 
business in Dayton; Lettie, who resides in the 
state of Washington, and Sherman, the young- 
est, who is a student in the schools of Dayton. 
Politically Capt. Ratcliffe is a member of the 
republican party, and the Baptist church rep- 
resents his religious creed. Mrs. Ratcliffe's 
father, Rev. William C. Manning, now a resi- 
dent of Kansas, has spent a long life in the 
ministry. He began preaching at the age of 
twenty, is now eighty-five years old and still 
actively engaged in his saqred calling. 



>Y*ACOB WILLIAM SORTMAN, con- 
m tractor and brickmaker of Dayton, was 
A 1 born in Union county, Pa., May 20, 
1842. He is a son of George and 
Maria C. (Bossier) Sortman, natives of Penn- 
sylvania and of German parentage. George 
Sortman, who was by trade a manufacturer of 
chairs, located in Dayton, Ohio, in 1853, and 
lived in this city to the close of his life, dying 
in 1 88 1, at sixty-nine years of age. His wife 
had died in 1875. Both were good people, 
religiously inclined, members of the German 
Reformed church, and highly respected by all 
who knew them. 

Jacob \V. Sortman, the subject of this 
sketch, was eleven years old when his parents 
brought him to Dayton. For several years 
thereafter he worked in the summer time and 
attended school in the winter season, thus re- 
ceiving a good education and becoming a prac- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



733 



tical young man at the same time. When 
eighteen years of age he began learning the 
trade of brickmason, at which he worked until 
the war broke out. At Dayton, Ohio, Octo- 
ber 14, 1 861, Mr. Sortman enlisted in com- 
pany F, Birge's sharpshooters, which company 
was changed to company H, and to company 
G, western sharpshooters, April 20, 1862. His 
regiment was changed to the Fourteenth Mis- 
souri volunteer infantry, and changed from the 
Fourteenth Missouri, to the Sixty-sixth Illinois 
volunteer infantry, western sharpshooters, No- 
vember 26, 1862, by order of secretary of 
war, E. M. Stanton. Jacob W. Sortman 
was a good and faithful soldier, always at his 
post of duty in camp, on the march, on picket, 
and was in the battles of Mount Zion, Mo., 
December 28, 1861; Fort Donelson, Tenn., 
February 13, 14 and 15, 1862; Shiloh, April 
6 and 7, 1862; Phillips' Creek, Miss., May 21, 
1862; siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29 to May 
30, 1862; Iuka, Miss., September 19 and 20, 
1862; Corinth, Miss., October 3 and 4, 1862; 
the Hatchies, December 29, 1862; Whiteside's 
Farm, Miss., September 9, 1863; in the raid 
through north Alabama, November 2 to 12, 
1863; Snake Creek Gap, Ga. , May 9, 1864; Su- 
gar Valley, Ga., May 11 and 12, i864;Resaca, 
Ga. , May 13 and 14, 1864; Lay's Ferry, Ga. , 
May 14 and 15, 1864; Rome Cross Roads, Ga. , 
May 16, 1864; Andersonville, Ga., May 17, 
1864; Dallas, Ga. , May 25 to June 1, 1864; 
Lone Mountain, Ga., June 1, 1864; New Hope 
Church, Ga., June 2 and 3, 1864; Big Shanty 
Station, Ga., June 11, 1864; Brushy Mount- 
ain, Ga. , June 14, 1864; general assaults on 
Kenesaw Mountain, June 27, 1864; Marietta, 
Ga., July 3, 1864; Rupp's Mills, or Nickajack 
Creek, Ga., July 4, 1864; Howe's Ferry, Ga., 
July 7 and 8, 1864; Chattahoochie river, Ga., 
July 9, 1864; Decatur, Ga., July 19 and 20, 
1864; Howard House, Bald Hill and Atlanta, 
Ga. , July 22, 1864; Ezra Church, Ga. , July 



28, 1864; siege of Atlanta, Ga., July 26 to 
August 26, 1864; and Proctor's Creek, Ga. , 
August 4, 9 and 1 1, 1864. He was sent to the 
rear, Angust 26, 1864, his term of service 
having expired, and was mustered out at Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn., September 2, 1864, and dis- 
charged at Louisville, Ky., Septembers, 1864. 

After his return from the war, Mr. Sortman 
completed the learning of his trade, and was 
a journeyman until 1872, since which time he 
has been in business for himself. He erected 
the Pruden block, the Stoffel & Abbey building 
at the corner of Market and Main streets, the 
two Reibold buildings, Barney's five-story 
building on Fifth street, the Christian church 
building, and several public school-buildings 
in the city, among them the Steele High-school 
building. He also built many private houses, 
among them the beautiful residence of Col. 
J. D. Piatt. While foreman for Marcus Boss- 
ier, Mr. Sortman had charge of the erection 
of the new Montgomery county jail; and also, 
while acting in that capacity, erected twenty- 
seven buildings at the Soldiers & Sailors 
Orphans' home at Xenia, Ohio, and also a 
number of the finest residences in the city of 
Dayton. 

Mr. Sortman was married December 20, 
1866, to Miss Adelia R. Gilbert, daughter of 
George and Elizabeth (Lehman) Gilbert. 
To this marriage there have been born six chil- 
dren, three sons and three daughters. Of 
these the following are living: Katie B., 
Bessie, Oliver P., and Oscar B., the two last 
named being twins. Katie B. married Clif- 
ford Turner, a bookkeeper for Wolf Bros. 
They have two children, a son and a daughter, 
Katherine and Robert. Mr. Sortman is a 
member of the German Reformed church and 
his wife is a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. He is also a member of the Old 
Guard post, No. 23, G. A. R. ; of the Ancient 
Order of Druids; of Wayne lodge, No. 10, 



734 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



I. O. O. F., and he is a thirty-second degree 
Mason. Politically he is a republican, and 
served four years in the city council from the 
Fourteenth and Eighth wards. He now lives 
in a handsome home at No. 59 Green street, 
the architecture being of a most pleasing style. 
Mr. Sortman is a man of resources, and has 
been most successful in business. His career 
has been one which, when contemplated by 
the young, can only inspire them to its imita- 
tion and can only lead them, when rightly fol- 
lowed, to a similar success. 



eDWARD D. REGAN, undertaker, 
whose business house is located at 
No. 829 East Fifth street, was born 
in Middleton, Ohio, November 18, 
1862, son of Timothy and Mary Regan, both 
parents being natives of Ireland. Timothy 
Regan was born in county Cork, November 19, 
1830, and his wife, whose maiden name was 
Mary Smith, was born May 14, 1863, in county 
Cavan. Both spent their youthful years in 
their native land, and in 1852, Timothy Regan, 
thinking to better his condition in a country 
where larger opportunities were offered, sailed 
for America, the land of promise, and settled 
in Dayton, Ohio, where he was subsequently 
married, his wife having come to the United 
States in 1856, in company with her brother, 
Rev. Father Joseph Smith, a priest of the 
Roman Catholic church. 

Shortly after his marriage, Timothy Regan 
moved from Dayton to Middletown, where he 
resided for several years, afterward returning 
to the former city, where he still lives. Mr. 
Regan served with distinction in the late war, 
entering the army as first lieutenant of com- 
pany I, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, 
and subsequently, for gallant and meritorious 
conduct, was promoted captain of the com- 
pany. He shared the fortunes of war for 



three and one-half years, during which period 
he participated in a number of campaigns and 
battles, in one of which, Chickamauga, he re- 
ceived a severe wound which necessitated his 
lying in the hospital for several months. In 
the winter of 1866 he was appointed to a po- 
sition in the United States mail service, which 
he still holds, enjoying at this time the distinc- 
tion of being the oldest railway postal clerk in 
the United States. Timothy and Mary Regan 
reared a family of six sons and three daugh- 
ters, Edward D. being the fourth in the order 
of birth. 

Edward D. Regan received his education in 
the public schools of Middletown and began 
life for himself as a clerk in the employ of the 
Atlantic & Great Western railroad, with which 
he remained for a period of nine years. 
Severing his connection with railroad work, 
Mr. Regan entered the employ of P. J- Sorg, 
the well known manufacturer of tobacco, and 
for three years represented that house as 
traveling salesman in Ohio and other states, 
making for himself a fine reputation as a busi- 
ness man. 

Not fully satisfied with the vocation of 
salesman and desiring to engage in business 
upon his own responsibility, Mr. Regan aban- 
doned the road and embarked in undertaking 
in Dayton, and has conducted that enterprise 
most successfully during the last three and 
one-half years. His establishment is fully 
equipped with all the appliances essential to 
the successful prosecution of the undertaking 
business, his stock is full and complete and his 
equipment is among the finest in the city. 
Mr. Regan manages his establishment upon 
strictly business principles and his prosperity 
is amply deserved. 

Mr. Regan was united in marriage Septem- 
ber 19, 1887, with Miss Frances H. Hartnett, 
of Dayton, the accomplished daughter of James 
and Mary Hartnett. Four children have been 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



735 



born of this union, namely, Robert, Arthur, 
E. J. and Mary. Mr. Regan and family are 
members of the Saint Joseph Roman Catholic 
church of Dayton. He belongs to the Saint 
George A. O. H., Catholic Benevolent Legion 
and Catholic Knights of Ohio. In national 
affairs Mr. Regan is a republican and in local 
politics independent. 



\S~\ EV. GODFRED I. REICHE, hos- 
I z 1 ^ pital steward at the national military 
P home, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Cincinnati February 5, 1848. His 
parents, Gottlieb and'Augusta (Stibler) Reiche, 
were born in Saxony and Prussia, Germany, 
respectively, came to America in 1838, and 
settled among the Indians in Texas. ' But the 
savages were so hostile, and their depredations 
so frequent, that Mr. Reiche preferred to sac- 
rifice his 360 acres of land rather than risk the 
lives of his family by remaining. As he had 
been a Prussian soldier, he had assisted in drill- 
ing the Texan troops for the war with Mexico, 
and availed himself of government wagons re- 
turning from that war to bring his family to 
Cincinnati, Ohio. He died at the home of his 
son, Godfred, then in Rising Sun, Ind., in 
1876, at the age of seventy years; the mother 
still survives, and lives with her son at his home 
in Dayton. Of their six children, Augusta 
was buried at sea, and her sister, Otilis, died 
of fright at the Indians, and was buried on the 
trip to Cincinnati. Of the sons, Theophilus is 
foreman of a brewery in Knoxville, Tenn. ; 
Joseph is a teacher of music in Sheboygan, 
Wis. ; of one no record is preserved, and of 
Godfred I, the following biography is given. 

Godfred I. Reiche received his elementary 
education in the public schools of Cincinnati, 
and when in his fifteenth year enlisted, in July, 
1862, in company H, One Hundred and Eighth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, and served until the 



close of the war. He was attached to the 
Fourteenth army corps, and participated in all 
engagements from Chickamauga to the At- 
lantic ocean, and in those in the Carolinas, 
and also bore a part in the grand review at 
Washington, D. C. He never missed a day 
from duty while in the service, and was pro- 
moted when but fifteen and one-half years old. 
He was discharged at Louisville, Ky., in July, 
1S65, when he returned to his former home 
in Cincinnati. 

Mr. Reiche now resumed his studies and 
entered Marietta college, passing to the third 
or junior year, and completed his education at 
the Mission House seminary, in Wisconsin, 
where he was prepared for the ministry of the 
German Reformed church. He was ordained 
in 1873 and placed in charge of the congrega- 
tion at Rising Sun, Ind., where he remained 
nine years, built three churches and organized 
one congregation. The church edifices spoken 
of were erected at Rising Sun, Aurora and 
Florence, Ind. Mr. Reiche next had charge 
of the congregation at Louisville, Ky., for 
eight years, this being one of the most promi- 
nent congregations in the conference. For 
two years he had a charge in Cincinnati, and 
was the trusted agent of the city for the distri- 
bution of funds for the relief of sufferers from 
the Ohio valley flood. In this capacity he dis- 
posed of over $100,000 to the worthy and 
needy, and holds a letter of commendation 
from prominent gentlemen of Cincinnati for 
his faithfulness in this matter. 

Mr. Reiche was also strongly recommended 
for the chaplaincy of the Ohio penitentiary, 
and could easily have secured the position, but 
was deterred from entering upon its duties 
through failing health. For this reason, also, 
he was compelled to retire from the active 
work of the ministry in 1894, after a continu- 
ous service of over twenty years. Leaving his 
mother in Louisville, Ky. , he came to the sol- 



736 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



diers' home at Dayton to die. But through 
good care and rest, he so far recuperated as 
to become able to perform his present light 
duties. October I, 1896, Rev. Mr. Reiche 
was united in marriage with Miss Alvira Estray, 
of Van Wert, Ohio. Mrs. Reiche is a Meth- 
odist in her religious belief. 

Mr. Reiche is a member of encampment 
No. 82, Union Veteran League. In politics 
he has been a life-long republican. In 1894 
he brought his venerable mother from Louis- 
ville, Ky. , to Dayton, Ohio, and the family 
have their happy and comfortable home near 
the soldiers' home grounds. 



c/^V ANIEL GEORGE REILLY, M. D., 

I practicing physician and surgeon of 
f^^J Dayton, Ohio, was born in the vil- 
lage of Thorndike, town of Palmer, 
Hampden county, Mass., August 29, 1863. 
He is a son of Patrick Reilly and Johanna 
(Wren) Reilly, both of whom were natives of 
county Kerry, Ireland, and came to the United 
States, the mother when she was two years of 
age, the father when he was eighteen. They 
met and married in Ware, Hampshire county, 
Mass., and are now living in the village of 
Thorndike, where their son, Daniel George, 
was born. The father was a cotton manufac- 
turer, but is now living retired from business. 
He and his wife were the parents of ten chil- 
dren, nine of whom are still living. 

Daniel G. Reilly was a child of seven years 
when he became an employee of a cotton fac- 
tory in Thorndike, owned by the Bliss-Fabian 
company, with whom he remained until eighteen 
years of age, in the meantime having filled all 
positions, from the lowest to the highest. Up 
to the time of leaving the factory he had had 
no educational advantages whatever, and he 
then began in the elementary branches in the 
district school in his native village, and, after 



remaining in the district schools four terms, 
entered Monson academy, from which institu- 
tion he graduated in 1887. Then entering 
Middlebury college, at Middlebury, Vt., a Con- 
gregational institution established in 1800, he 
there graduated in 1891, with the degree of 
bachelor of arts. Entering the medical de- 
partment of the university of Vermont, a Con- 
gregational institution established in 1 791, he 
graduated fram that school as valedictorian in 
the class of 1894. The expenses of these sev- 
eral courses • of study, in all of the above- 
named schools, he met through his own un- 
aided efforts. 

Dr. Reilly came to Dayton, Ohio, in August, 
1894, an entire stranger to the people of the 
place. As in his pursuit of knowledge, so in 
his practice, he has been deservedly success- 
ful, and is one of the rising young physicians 
of the city. He is a general practitioner, and 
is county and examining physician for the In- 
dependent Order of Foresters of Dayton, of 
which he is a member. He is examing physi- 
cian for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance 
company, of Philadelphia, for the Mutual Bene- 
fit Insurance, of Hartford, Conn., the Ancient 
Order of Hibernians, the C. K. of O., the C. K. 
of A. and the Fraternal Censer. During 1895 
Dr. Reilly was on the lecture staff of the Dea- 
coness hospital of Dayton. He is a member 
of the Catholic church. Too much cannot be 
said in commendation of the energy and per- 
severance manifested by Dr. Reilly in his efforts 
to advance himself, not only jn scholarship, 
but also in the acquisition of knowledge per- 
taining to his profession. 



E 



the 



ARRY E. RANDALL, one of the 
well-known young business men of 
Dayton, Ohio, and proprietor of one 
of the leading livery establishments of 
city, was born in Montgomery county, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



737 



Ohio, May 21, 1868. He is a son of Will- 
iam C. and Catherine (Warner) Randall, both 
of whom were born in Pennsylvania. The 
parents came to Montgomery county in their 
childhood, were married in this county, and 
have ever since resided here. The father has 
followed farming all his life, and now resides 
on his farm in Butler township. Both parents 
are members of the Lutheran church at Van- 
dalia, Montgomery county. 

Harry E. Randall was reared on the farm, 
and received his education in the public schools 
in Vandalia. In 1889 he went to Lexington, 
Ky. , and engaged in the hotel business, re- 
maining there for two years, when he came to 
Dayton and engaged in the livery' business at 
No. 27 North Jefferson street, where he has 
since continued with much success. Mr. Ran- 
dall is a member of the I. O. O. F., the For- 
esters, and the A. E. O. fraternities, and 
stands equally well in the social and business 
circles of Dayton. 



c/^V P. RAMSEY, one of the well-known 
M citizens of Dayton, Ohio, and secre- 
_P tary of the S. R. K. T. and M. M. 
association, was born in Pittsburg, 
Pa., on May 30, 1848, and is the son of Joseph 
and Mary (Patterson) Ramsey, both natives of 
Pennsylvania. The Ramsey family came orig- 
inally from Scotland and were of Scotch-Irish 
extraction. They settled in Pennsylvania at 
an early day, and married and intermarried 
among the Quakers. The Pattersons were 
also of Scotch-Irish descent, and went to 
Pennsylvania from Harrodsburg, Ky. Joseph 
Ramsey and wife resided in Pennsylvania until 
during the 'eighties, when they came to Ohio 
and located at Wyoming, in Hamilton county, 
where Mr. Ramsey died. His widow survives 
and resides in Saint Louis. Of the children 
born to them the following are still living: 



Joseph Ramsey, of Saint Louis, who is vice- 
president and general manager of the Wa- 
bash railway company; John P. Ramsey gen- 
eral manager of the Sierra Madre Construc- 
tion company of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Rev. 
Alfred Ramsey, pastor of the Lutheran church 
of Minneapolis; Mrs. W. D. Holliday, wife of 
the assistant general freight agent of the C. , 
C. , C. & St. L. railway company, of Saint 
Louis, and N. P., our subject. Two sons and 
one daughter are deceased. 

N. P. Ramsey was reared in Pittsburg, and 
was educated in the public schools of that city. 
When a lad of fifteen years he left school and 
went to work in aglass-house, and later clerked 
in a grocery store for a time, during which 
period be attended night school and learned 
bookkeeping. He next took a position as 
bookkeeper for a wholesale grocery house in 
Pittsburg, in which he was employed until 
1872. In that year he entered the railroad 
service, in which he continued until 1892, first 
as clerk, then as agent and assistant superin- 
tendent of Bell's Gap railroad, Pennsylvania, 
then as chief clerk of the B. & O. accounting 
department, then as general freight and pas- 
senger agent of the P., C. & Y. and P., N. Y. 
and L. E. railways, then as general manager 
of the C. & W. M. railway, and later as gen- 
eral agent of the Big Four railway. From 
1885 to 1891 Mr. Ramsey had his headquarters 
in Dayton, when auditor of the D., F. W. and 
C. railway. In 1892 he accepted the secre- 
taryship of the Scottish Rite Knights Templar 
& Master Masons' Aid association, his pres- 
ent position. Mr. Ramsey is a member of 
Milnor lodge, A. Y. M., No. 287, of Pittsburg; 
of Mountain chapter, 187, of Pennsylvania; a 
charter member and P. C. of Ascalon com- 
mandery, No. 59, K. T., of Pittsburg; is a 
member of Reese commandery, No. 9, of Day- 
ton; Gabriel grand lodge of perfection; is G. 
H. P. of Miami grand council; of Dayton grand 



738 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



chapter of the valley of Dayton, of Dayton; of 
Ohio grand consistory S. P. R. S., of Cincin- 
nati. He is also representative of the grand 
commandery, K. T. , of Ohio, to the grand 
commandery, K. T., of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Ramsey was married early in life, and is the 
father of seven daughters, one of whom is 
happily married. 



*w * ENRY WILLIAM REQUARTH, su- 
|f\ perintendent of the F. A. Requarth 
^ P company, at the corner of Sears street 
and Monument avenue, Dayton, Ohio, 
is a native of this city, was born December 12, 
1864, and this has been his life-long home. 
His father, F. August Requarth, is a native of 
Germany, from which country he came directly 
to Dayton in 1847, here learned his trade of 
woodworker, and from i860 until 1886 carried 
on a turning shop. His son, Henry W., our 
subject, being then about twenty-two years of 
age, the two formed a partnership in the plan- 
ing-mill business — the nucleus of the present 
magnificent plant. Four years later the F. A. 
Requarth company was incorporated and its 
mills constructed, and unvarying success has 
attended it until the present hour. The com- 
pany does a general contracting and building 
business, but makes a specialty of stair build- 
ing, and its product is known and used in nearly 
all the states of the Union. The force em- 
ployed numbers about 125 men, the machinery 
is unsurpassed for the designed purposes, and 
the work turned out is first-class in every par- 
ticular. The ground and buildings belonging 
to the Requarth company cost not less than 
$40,000, the machinery and stock are valued 
at an equal amount, and the value of the out- 
put reaches at least $125,000 per annum. 
The present quarters have been occupied by 
the company since 1894, ar >d its office appoint- 
ments are everything that can be desired in 



the way of conveniences, embellishment and 
furnishings, which present a fair sample of the 
excellence of the company's handicraft. F. 
August Requarth, the founder of the company, 
is still active as president of the corporation 
and a member of the board of directors. 

F. August Requarth was united in marriage 
with Miss Regina Hueffelman, a native of Ger- 
many, who died in Dayton in 1870, the moth- 
er of eight children, viz: Anna, Amelia, Mary, 
Henry W. , Emma and Lewis, who are still 
living, and Herman and August, who died in 
childhood. Of the survivors, Mary is the wife 
of Charles Brumm, a carpenter, and Lewis is 
working as a wood turner in the Requarth 
shops. Henry W. Requarth was married, in 
1890, to Miss Clara S. Feldman, a native of 
Columbus, Ohio, and this union has been 
blessed with three children: Harvey August, 
Florence Ella and Earl Lewis. 

In his politics Henry W. Requarth is a 
democrat, but he is not a partisan and prefers 
to devote his business faculties to the promo- 
tion of the interests of the extensive establish- 
ment of which he is the superintendent. His 
church affiliations are with the Saint Paul's 
Evangelical Lutheran congregation, of which 
his wife is also a member, and in the faith of 
which he is training his children. As a master 
of his business he is an excellent manager; as 
a Christian, his life has been upright and con- 
sistent, and as a citizen he has been useful in 
every department of civil life, and has thus 
won the approbation of the solid men of 
Dayton city and its environs. 



>^*ACOB RENNER, of Dayton, Ohio, is 
■ one of those German-Americans whose 
/• 1 residence here has brought thrift and 
prosperity, loyalty and good citizen- 
ship. He was born on the Rhine, in the king- 
dom of Bavaria, February 20, 1836. His mi- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



739 



nority was spent in his native country, where 
he enjoyed excellent educational advantages, 
first in the public schools, but principally as a 
student soldier in the army of Germany. At 
thirteen he became an apprentice to the bar- 
ber's trade, continuing that business until fif- 
teen, when he joined the army as a musician. 
The succeeding six years he spent in the serv- 
ice of his country, devoting much of his time to 
the study required by the governmental author- 
ities. In 1857 he emigrated to America — his 
two brothers having preceded him. His fa- 
ther, Carl Theodore Renner, was a mechanic, 
and died when Jacob was a child. The mother 
remained in her native country, where she died 
at a ripe old age. The family consisted of 
three sons, of whom John Adam was the eld- 
est. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1881. 
Frederick, the youngest of the sons, is engaged 
in the wholesale paint business in Cincinnati. 
On coming to America Jacob resumed his 
trade as a barber, and spent two years as such 
on a passenger steamer on the lower Missis- 
sippi. At the outbreak of the great Civil war, 
he was among the first to offer his services to 
his adopted country, and was regularly en- 
listed within five days after Fort Sumter was 
fired upon. He became a member of company 
B, First Ohio volunteer infantry, and partici- 
pated in all of the important maneuvers of the 
army of the Potomac, including the first battle 
of Bull Run. His previous military training 
stood him in good part, and he was soon made 
a non-commissioned officer of his company. 
His term of enlistment expired on the heels of 
the national defeat at Bull Run. Returning 
to Dayton, where he had located in 1859, he 
soon after re-enlisted for the three years' serv- 
ice, in his old military organization, which had 
been maintained. Three years were spent in 
the service, following the varying fortunes of 
the Union cause, in company B, First Ohio 
volunteer infantry. During this period he was 



with the army of the Cumberland, under com- 
mand, successively, of Gens. Buell, Rosecrans 
and Grant. 

The principal battles in which Mr. Renner 
participated were Shiloh, Corinth, Murfeesboro 
or Stone River, and Perryville. It must not 
be forgotten, however, that the skirmishes and 
preliminary engagements leading up to these 
were one unceasing series of battles, often 
fought with great losses. At Murfreesboro he 
received a severe wound in the hand, and 
while en route to the field hospital for treat- 
ment was captured by the enemy. Presuming 
that their German-Yankee prisoner was disa- 
bled, they were somewhat lax in their duties 
as captors, and consequently he made his es- 
cape. His term of service expired in Septem- 
ber, 1864, and he did not again enter the 
army. Mr. Renner was married in Dayton, 
in 1 86 1, just prior to the war, to Miss Rachel 
Louise Hoerz, a native of Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, who came to America in young woman- 
hood. To this union six children have been 
born, the eldest of whom, Emma, died in in- 
fancy. The eldest living is Jacob Frederick, 
who is now engaged in the real-estate business 
at Spokane, Wash. He was deputy sheriff of 
his county until recently, serving several years 
in that capacity. Frederick served five years 
in the regular army, being a musician in the 
First United States cavalry; his service was 
entirely on the Pacific coast; he was married 
by the post chaplain, and following his dis- 
charge located in Washington. Oscar L. is 
the assistant in his father's business; Eleanora 
Louise and Amelia Lillian are still under the 
parental roof, the latter holding a position as 
stenographer and typewriter in an extensive 
manufacturing concern in Dayton. 

Mr. Renner is a past commander of Dis- 
ter post, G. A. R., but now a member of Old 
Guard post, No. 23. He holds membership 
in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 



740 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Independent Order of Red Men, being past- 
sachem in the latter; is also a member of the 
Ancient Order of Druids, and past noble arch 
of the same. He is a prominent member of 
the Harugari society and of the German Pio- 
neer society. The latter is largely social. 
Membership in it requires continuous residence 
in Dayton of not less than twenty years, and 
no person will be admitted to membership who 
is not more than forty years old and able to 
pass a critical examination touching his char- 
acter and standing in the community. 

Mr. Renner is independent both in politics 
and religion. His motto is to deal justly by 
all men; to "visit the sick, relieve the dis- 
tressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan " 
are among the duties imposed by his ritual. 
He believes in voting for the men and meas- 
ures whose success would bring the greatest 
good to the greatest number. He has been 
fairly successful in business, owning a com- 
fortable home and business house at No. 246 
Wayne avenue. Renner hall is a part of this 
property, where various lodges and societies 
hold regular meetings. 




IHOMAS A. SELZ, president and man- 
ager of the Pearl Laundry company, 
and one of the well known young busi- 
men of Dayton, was born at Camp 
Thomas, Franklin county, Ohio (now a part 
of the capital of the state), November 3, 1863. 
He is a son of Charles Selz, who is a native of 
Germany, and who came to the United States 
about 1850, landing at New York and going 
direct to Bucyrus, Ohio. Enlisting in the 
Fifty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, he served 
during the war as band sergeant. Mr. Selz 
was a bugler in Col. Joseph Dister's command, 
and when the order was issued disbanding the 
bands of the volunteer regiments, he joined 
the regular army, and became a member of 



the Eighteenth regiment's band. His service 
was in the west for three years, at Fort Lara- 
mie and other frontier posts. At the close of 
the war he returned to Ohio, locating at San- 
dusky, and was there for some time engaged in 
the manufacture of carriages. In 1876 he re- 
moved to Dayton, Ohio, and has ever since 
been a resident of this city. At present Mr. 
Selz is a member of the Third regiment band. 
The education Thomas A. Selz received 
was that furnished by the public shools, but 
leaving school when thirteen years of age he 
became a cash boy in a store in Dayton. Af- 
terward he was engaged for nearly three years 
in a photograph gallery, and at the end of this 
time he went to work in a laundry, in which 
he was an employee for nearly three years. In 
1 88 1 he engaged in the laundry business for 
himself, beginning on a very small scale with 
a hand laundry, his plant consisting of one 
wash tub^nd a second hand cook stove. His 
partner in this enterprise was Charles A. Koch. 
Their business gradually increased in propor- 
tion from year to year until 1887, when they 
established a steam laundry, fitting up their 
plant af No. 1 1 1 East Second street. They 
continued to increase their capacity until 1893, 
when they organized a stock company with a 
capital of $25,000, with Mr. Selz as president 
and manager, and Mr. Koch as vice-president 
and assistant manager. In June, 1895, their 
present handsome building was completed at 
Nos. 106, 108 and 110 East Second street, it 
being erected especially for their laundry busi- 
ness. It is four stories in height, 60x60 feet 
in size, and is fitted up with the latest and 
most improved machinery for doing a general 
and special laundry business. To give some 
idea of the capacity of this establishment and 
of the amount of work done, it may be stated 
that the Pearl laundry uses 25,000 gallons of 
water daily, which is pumped from the com- 
pany's own wells. Their steam mangle, which 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



743 



is one of the largest in the world, has a daily 
capacity of 32,000 pieces, and this company 
has the exclusive right to operate it in Dayton. 
Since 1886 Mr. Selz has been a member of the 
National Laundry association, and is 1895, at 
the convention held at Atlanta, Ga., he was 
elected president of the association, which 
position he still holds. 

Politically Mr. Selz is and always has been 
a democrat, and at the present time is treas- 
urer of the democratic city committee. He is 
a member of the B. P. O. E., of the Independ- 
ent Order of Foresters, of the Sons of Vet- 
erans, of the Dayton Bicycle club and has been 
treasurer of the Dayton Gymnastic club for 
years. Mr. Selz was married, in 1 891, to Miss 
Clara L. Clemens, daughter of Jacob Clemens, 
a retired contractor and builder of Dayton. 
He is a man of excellent business capacity, and 
through his own unaided efforts and careful 
management has built up a fine business, and 
ranks as one of the able and useful young busi- 
ness men of the city. 



^y^V EWTON H. RICE, manager and 
M bookkeeper for W. S. Hawthorn, coal 
r and wood dealer, of Dayton, was 
born in Van Buren township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, May 6, 1857, and is a 
son of James A. and Hannah (Opdyke) Rice. 
James A. Rice, a native of Frederick coun- 
ty, Md. , was born May 24, 1824, and is now 
residing on a farm in Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, where the parental home 
has been since 1861; Mrs. Hannah (Opdyke) 
Rice was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
August 18, 1826. To their marriage have been 
born eleven children, nine of whom are still 
living. Ten names of the eleven, in order of 
birth, are as follows: James Milton, who died 
at the age of two years; Charles W. , who is a 
farmer in Miami county, Ohio; Albert O, who 

27 



is a bookkeeper in Dayton; Oliver H., an en- 
gineer, went west in 1876, and has not returned; 
Newton H. is the subject of this memoir; a 
daughter died in infancy, unnamed; Wilson, 
who was a school-teacher, is now engaged in 
the coal business in Germantown, Ohio; Willie 
P. is a traveling salesman for the Wellston & 
Jackson Fuel company, of Jackson, Ohio; Ed- 
gar E. is a bookkeeper for a coal company at 
Glenroy, Ohio; Emma M. and Lillie O. are 
unmarried and at home with their parents. 

Newton H. Rice was educated primarily in 
the public schools, and this education was sup- 
plemented by courses in the Euphemia normal 
school and the normal school at Valparaiso, 
Ind. He was prepared for teaching, and fol- 
lowed this as a profession, from the age of 
twenty-one years, for eight years, in Preble 
and Montgomery counties. He was then as- 
sessor of Miami township, in the latter county, 
for two years, and in 1889 entered upon his 
vocation as bookkeeper, for the first four years 
with Mr. McClure, and since that time with 
Mr. Hawthorn. He is possessed of fine busi- 
ness abilities, is especially expert as an ac- 
countant, and is faithful and painstaking in the 
discharge of every detail of his duty. 

Mr. Rice was united in marriage in West 
Carrollton, Ohio, in 1883, with Miss Carrie 
M. Pease, a native of that place — her parents 
having been among the early settlers. She re- 
ceived an excellent education in the public 
schools of Carrollton and Miamisburg, and to 
her marriage with Mr. Rice there has been 
born one daughter — Lulu Ethel — now eleven 
years of age. Mrs. Rice is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church and Mr. Rice is a 
free contributor to all religious and charitable 
institutions. In politics Mr. Rice, like his 
father, is a democrat and is very popular with 
his party and with the public in general, hav- 
ing been elected assessor of Miami township by 
the almost unanimous vote of all parties. 



744 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Fraternally Mr. Rice is prominent in vari- 
ous societies, being a member of Miamisburg 
lodge, No. 44, Knights of Pythias, and a char- 
ter member of uniform rank, Hope division, 
No. 32; a past grand of Wayne lodge, No. 10, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and mem- 
ber of Dayton encampment, No. 2, of which 
he is past chief patriarch; also a member of 
canton Earl, No. 16, patriarchs militant, and 
of court Cooper, No. 1567, Independent Or- 
der of Foresters, of which he has served as 
treasurer. He was also a charter member of 
the Fraternal Censers, Gem City council, No. 
1, and is likewise a charter member of camp 
No. 3526, Master Workmen of America. 



WOHN B. RITCHIE, the popular plumb- 
M er and dealer in plumbers' supplies at 
A 1 No. 535 East Fifth street, Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Beaver county, Pa., 
June 28, i860, and is a son of Alexander T. 
and Hannah C. (Brown) Ritchie, both natives 
of the Keystone state. 

Alexander T. Ritchie was born August 10, 
1818, was a cooper by trade in his earl}' man- 
hood, but spent the latter years of his life in 
the butchering business, and died in Beaver 
county, Pa., September 19, 1886; his widow, 
who was born in 1824, survived until October 
14, 1888, when she died in Venango county. 
The children born to these parents were seven 
in number, of whom John B. is the only sur- 
viving son; of the other six, Kelso died at the 
age of seven months; Perry Amasa was drowned 
May 16, 1886, when twenty-one years old; 
E.llen Elizabeth is married to Hugh M. Adams, 
a farmer of Venango county, Pa. ; Clementine 
C. is the wife of David B. Nelson, a farmer of 
the same county; Mary J., married to James 
VanCamp, a cooper, lives in Crawford county, 
Pa., and Parthenia is the wife of Homer Car- 
penter, of Venango county, in the same state. 



John B. Ritchie, in his youthful years, re- 
ceived a very good public-school education in 
his native county, and his early manhood was 
devoted to aiding his father on the home farm. 
After leaving the parental roof he went to 
Pittsburg, Pa., where he apprenticed himself 
to a plumber, and, after having thoroughly 
learned the trade, he worked for some years in 
that city as a journeyman. He first started 
for himself in business in Piqua, Ohio, but 
after one year's experience in that city, moved 
his implements, wares and fixtures to Dayton, 
and on December 21, 1888, located at his 
present place of business. Here he has pros- 
pered, being thoroughly skilled in plumbing, 
gas-fitting, steam-fitting and kindred work. 

The marriage of Mr. Ritchie occurred in 
Dayton July 21, 1889, the bride being Miss 
Ida E. Hall, a native of Ohio. To this union 
have been born three children — Perry L., 
Blanche Marie and Irene Hall. In his frater- 
nal relations Mr. Ritchie is an Odd Fellow, 
also a member of the uniform rank, Knights 
of Pythias. In religion, although reared in 
the United Presbyterian faith, he is not a mem- 
ber of any organization. In politics he is, as 
in religion, quite independent, his proclivities, 
however, tending toward republicanism. Mr. 
Ritchie is of Scottish origin, his paternal grand- 
father, Robert Ritchie, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, having been of Scotch-Irish parentage, 
his remote ancestors, like hundreds of other 
Scots, having migrated from their native coun- 
try to the north of Ireland on account of re- 
ligious persecution. 



a APT. HENRY RILEY, an official of 
the national soldiers' home, near Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Mattituck, 
Suffolk county, N. Y. , March 23, 
1844, and is a son of Philip and Mary (Mc- 
Donald) Riley, both of county Cavin, Ireland. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



745 



The parents came to the United States in 
1 83 1, settling on Long Island, N. Y. , where 
the mother died a number of years later. 
Philip Riley was by occupation a manufacturer 
of boots and shoes; after a long residence in 
the United States he returned to his native 
country, where he died. Philip and Mary 
Riley reared a family of three children, the 
eldest of whom was Thomas, a soldier in the 
British army, who fell in the Crimean war; 
Mary married a Mr. Dillon, of New York, and 
is now a widow living in Ireland, and the third 
child, Henry, is the subject of this sketch. 

Capt. Henry Riley passed his youthful 
years in his native town until 1857, at which 
time his parents removed to New York city, 
where he completed his educational training, 
attending the schools of that city for about two 
years only. In 1859 he entered upon an ap- 
prenticeship to learn the tailor's trade with an 
uncle, at Lafayette, Ind, and was thus em- 
ployed until 1 86 1, in September of which year 
he enlisted in company C, Fortieth Indiana in- 
fantry, which formed a part of the army of 
the Ohio, commanded by Gen. D. C. Buell. 
Later Capt. Riley's regiment was transferred 
to Gen. Wood's division, army of the Cumber- 
land, under Gen. Rosecrans, and during the 
year that followed its record is replete with 
laurels gallantly won on many of the bloodiest 
battle fields of the south. Capt. Riley shared 
with his comrades these honors, taking part in 
numerous hotly contested battles and minor 
engagements, among the most noted of which 
were Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River 
or Murfreesboro, in the last of which he received 
a severe wound by the explosion of a shell, which 
cost him his right hand. This wound necessi- 
tated the captain's retirement from active serv- 
ice for some time, but after his recovery, he 
was transferred to the Ninety-fourth company, 
Second battalion, Veteran reserve corps, and 
did duty at the provost marshal's office, Terre 



Haute, Ind., until his final discharge, in De- 
cember, 1864. 

After retiring from the army, Capt. Riley 
engaged in the sewing-machine business at La- 
fayette, Ind., where he met with reasonably 
fair success, but removed two years later to 
New York city, at which place he was identi- 
fied with the mercantile trade until 1872, when 
failing health compelled him to retire, tem- 
porarily, from active life. In the year last 
named the captain became an inmate of the 
national soldier's home, Dayton, Ohio, where 
he remained for a short time, returning to New 
York and accepting the position of orderly in 
the Charity hospital, the duties of which he 
discharged in a highly creditable manner for 
about two years. Severing his connection 
with the above institution, the captain became 
an inmate of the home at Tagus, Me, where 
he continued until 1879, conducting in the 
meantime a co-operative store for the Patrons 
of Husbandry, which business was carried on 
in the immediate vicinity of the home. In 
1879 he was transferred to the national home 
at Hampton, Va., thence, in 1881, to the 
Northwestern home, Milwaukee, Wis., where 
he remained until transferred, in 1882, to the 
Central branch, Dayton, Ohio, from which he 
took his discharge in September, 1886. In 
April, 1888, he returned to the home, where 
he has since remained. For six years and 
three months he served as chief clerk and com- 
missary sergeant, and on the 24th day of 
April, 1895, was appointed to his present po- 
sition — that of captain of company Sixteen, 
although he has, at different times since his 
connection with the institution, commanded 
eight companies. 

Company Sixteen is composed of 240 men, 
present and absent, from which the engineers 
of the home are selected. Capt. Riley pos- 
sesses fine military talent and executive ability 
of a high order, and his official functions have 



746 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



been discharged in a manner creditable to 
himself and satisfactory to the management of 
the home. He is every inch a soldier, strict 
in discipline, active in behalf of the interests of 
the noble institution with which he has been so 
long identified, and is, withal, a most intelli- 
gent gentleman, popular with all with whom 
he comes in contact in official or social rela- 
tions. The captain was married December 
ii, 1886, to Miss Louisa Kimmerle, of Day- 
ton, a union blessed with the birth of one child, 
Henry J., who was born in the year 1890. 
The captain is a member of the Union Veteran 
Legion, and of the G. A. R., being past junior 
vice-commander of the latter, and he holds 
the position of quartermaster of encampment 
82, U. V. L. He cast his first presidential 
vote, in 1864, for Abraham Lincoln, and has 
been a faithful and uncompromising adherent 
of the republican party ever since. 



^yy»ILLIAM SCHULTZ ROCK, of the 
mm firm of Rock Bros., sign-writers, 39 

WjL^J South [efferson street, Dayton, was 
born in Zanesville, Ohio, November 
22, 1861, and is a son of John and Kate 
(Farrell) Rock. John Rock was born in Al- 
sace, Germany, came to the United States at 
the age of sixteen, locating in Zanesville, where 
he was a wholesale butcher and stock dealer 
until his death in 1866. Mrs. Catherine 
Rock subsequently married D. D. Vande- 
grift and is still living. Of the immediate fam- 
ily of John and Kate Rock there were six chil- 
dren, whose names are as follows: Mary, wife 
of J. C. Harris, of Zanesville, Ohio; John, a 
business man of Dayton; Thomas L. , the busi- 
ness associate of William S.; Flora E., wife of 
Walter J. Manley; William S. and Harry J., 
the latter a member of the firm of Bates & 
Rock, dry-goods dealers, of Dayton. 

The early years of William S. Rock were 



passed in his native city of Zanesville, where 
he attended the public schools, and when quite 
young manifested a decided taste for painting 
and decorating. He yielded to the desire to 
become a painter, and worked at the trade for 
some time in Zanesville. He later came to 
Dayton, and entered the employ of the Barney 
& Smith car works, where he remained for 
eight years. During this time he became pro- 
ficient in painting and finishing, but after leav- 
ing the shop discontinued his trade for a time 
and worked with his brother John, in the 
grocery business, for about two years. He 
then abandoned merchandizing, and in Janu- 
ary, 1893, in partnership with his brother, 
Thomas L. Rock, again engaged in painting, 
the firm giving its entire attention to sign work 
in all its branches. Rock Bros, do all kinds 
of work in this line, making wire, wood or can- 
vas signs, and being recognized as the leading 
sign manufacturers of the city. Their trade is 
very lucrative and the name of the firm is a 
guarantee for honest and artistic work. Will- 
iam S. Rock was married December 26, 1882, 
to Miss Carrie Hicks, of Springfield, Ohio, 
who died June 6th, 1886, leaving one child, 
Violet. November 20, 1888, Mr. Rock mar- 
ried his present wife, Katie Peters, of Dayton, 
Ohio, daughter of William Peters, a repre- 
sentative of one of the oldest and best known 
families of the city. Politically Mr. Rock is a 
democrat and in religion is liberal, not being 
bound by any church or creed. 



>Y*OHN ROCK, a member of the Dayton 
M city council, and one of the well known 
m J and highly respected business men of 
the city, was born in Muskingum coun- 
ty, Ohio, January 28, 1857. He is now a 
member of the firm of Herbig & Rock, manu- 
facturers of harness and dealers in carriages, 
wagons and bicycles, with their place of busi- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



747 



ness at No. 31 East Fourth street. He was 
reared in Muskingum county and there received 
the elementary education usually supplied by 
the public schools. He early assumed the re- 
sponsibility of caring for himself, beginning 
when fifteen years of age to learn telegraphy, 
and being thus engaged for three or four years. 
In 1878 he came to Dayton and engaged in 
the grocery business on East Fifth street, con- 
tinuing in this occupation until 1891. In this 
year he engaged in his present line of business 
in partnership with George Herbig, under the 
firm name of Herbig & Rock. 

In 1889 Mr. Rock was first elected to the 
Dayton city council from the Fifth ward, as a 
democrat. Serving one term, he retired from 
that body in 1891. In the spring of 1895 he 
was again elected, this time from the First 
ward, and his term will expire in 1897. Mr. 
Rock is a member of Iola lodge, No. 83, 
Knights of Pythias, and of Iola division uni- 
form rank, Knights of Pythias. 

In November, 1885, he was married to Miss 
Jeanette Robinson, of Elmwood Place, Ham- 
ilton county, Ohio. The parents of Mr. Rock 
were John and Catherine (Farrell) Rock, the 
former born in Germany and the latter in 
Johnstown, Pa. The father died in Muskingum 
county in 1868, his widow still surviving and 
living in Dayton. 

John Rock, the subject of this sketch, is 
one of the substantial and influential citizens 
of Dayton, is vice-president of the city council, 
and is highly regarded for uprightness and in- 
tegrity of character wherever known. 



^V'AINT MARY'S INSTITUTE, of Day- 
*^^KT ton, Ohio, was founded by Rev. 

K^ J Father Leo Meyer, of Alsace, France, 

who landed at New York city July 4, 

1850, and thence went to Cincinnati on the 



16th of the same month, where he joined four 
distinguished and reverend brothers, named 
J. B. Sitzi, M. Zehler, A. Edel, and D. Litz, 
who had reached the last named place in De- 
cember, 1849, and had taken charge of Trinity 
school. In January, 1851, Father Meyer was 
called to Dayton to aid Brothers Zehler and 
Edel in the care of unfortunates who were 
stricken with cholera, and while engaged in 
the performance of this charitable and self- 
sacrificing duty conceived the idea of estab- 
lishing Saint Mary's Institute. Father Meyer 
secured the land upon which formerly stood 
the old Stuart mansion, and here was estab- 
lished the nucleus of what is now the prosper- 
ous institution of education under considera- 
tion. These five enterprising brothers lived 
to see their efforts crowned with success, three 
however being now deceased, Brother Edel 
dying in July, 1891; Brother Zehler on March 
24, 1893, both passing away in Dayton, and 
Brother Meyer dying in Europe at a date not 
accessible. 

From these feeble beginnings in 1850 has 
sprung the now prosperous and vigorous sodal- 
ity or order known as the Brothers of Mary, 
which is represented in nine or ten states of 
the Union, in Winnipeg and in the Sandwich 
islands, the efforts of the members being de- 
voted to the education of young men exclu- 
sively. In 1895 tne local institute of Dayton 
had under instruction 26$ students, an increase 
of treble its enrollment when the institute was 
regularly incorporated in 1878, and at least 
double that when it was authorized by the 
state legislature, in 1882, to confer upon its 
graduates the usual collegiate degrees. The 
curriculum is very comprehensive, as it begins, 
when necessary, at the foundation of primary 
instructions and carries the pupil to the culmi- 
nating point of "commencement day, "when 
he receives the diploma which authorizes him 
to adopt that one of the learned professions 



748 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



which he may select as best suited to his 
abilities. 

The higher department of this most excel- 
lent institute is divided into three sections, 
designed to meet the demands of those students 
who desire advancement in literature, science 
or commercial training, and each section is 
most excellently well officered. Proficiency 
on the part of the students is recognized by a 
system of rewards given at competitive exam- 
inations, and a full record is kept of the stand- 
ing of each competitor, a copy of which is sent 
monthly to his parents or guardians. He has, 
also, free access to a chemical laboratory, to 
physical apparatus and to a cabinet of natural 
history, as well as to libraries for reference 
and libraries for circulation. Vacation is had 
only at the Christmas holidays. The discipline 
of the institute is vigorous but is based chiefly 
on moral suasion, and is calculated to train 
the students to habits of self-control and gen- 
tlemanly behavior, based on true Christian 
principles. The full-course students, as a rule, 
remain under the roof of the institute until 
graduated, forming one happy family and en- 
joying all the comforts and conveniences of 
their respective homes, while of course there 
are some few day-scholars who enjoy all the 
advantages, in an educational sense, of the 
permanent attendants. Music and elocution 
are not neglected, and as to the former the 
student may make choice between vocal and 
instrumental, or, indeed, avail himself of the 
benefits of both. He may, if he prefer instru- 
mental tuition, also select the instrument to 
which his taste may most incline him. In 
this connection it may here be mentioned that 
the institute choir now comprises seventy-five 
voices, and, under the direction of its pro- 
ficient instructors, " discourses most excellent 
music." Many hundreds of young men have 
gone forth from Saint Mary's, are now orna- 
ments to society and successful business men 



or eminent in the various learned professions. 
But it is meet that some mention be made of 
the grounds and buildings occupied by this in- 
stitution. The main college building is a large 
four-story brick structure and the chapel is a 
beautiful modern edifice, occupying a position 
midway between the principal and the second- 
ary college buildings. The grounds are remote 
from all contaminating influences, yet of easy 
access by street-car lines, and are located on 
an eminence overlooking the city and the sur- 
rounding country; they are handsomely laid 
out in drives and walks, ornamented with trees 
and shrubbery, and constitute a most homelike 
and inviting retreat. 



</^ RUNO RITTY, general contractor 
1^*^ and builder, and bridge builder, of 
J^^9 Dayton, Ohio, was born near Belfort, 
France, formerly a city in the depart- 
ment of the Upper Rhine, which was first reg- 
ularly fortified in 1668 by Vauban. The date 
of his birth was October 6, 1849. He is a son 
of Joseph and Theresa (Casper) Ritty, both of 
whom were natives of France. To them there 
were born four sons, three of whom are still 
living, as follows: Bruno, Louis and Henry. 
The fourth son, who died in Louisville, Ky. , 
was Francis Joseph. 

Joseph Ritty is still living in France. He 
is a stonecutter and mason by trade, and is, as 
was his wife, who died in 1888, at about sixty- 
two years of age, a member of the Catholic 
church. The paternal grandfather of Bruno, 
Frank Ritty, was also a native of France, was 
a farmer by occupation, and served his coun- 
try as a soldier in the war with Russia. He 
married twice, reared a large family, of whom 
Joseph, a son of his first wife, is the only sur- 
vivor, and died at an advanced age. The ma- 
ternal grandfather died in France before Bruno 
was born. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



749 



Bruno Ritty was reared in France, and 
there in part learned his trade and married. 
However, previous to his marriage, he went to 
Switzerland, and in Basel, the second largest 
city in that country, finished learning his trade. 
At the age of sixteen he went to Africa, re- 
mained there four years, and then returned to 
France, having served in the army during his 
sojourn in Africa. 

The marriage of Bruno Ritty and Miss 
Rosalie Shapperly, daughter of Doris and Anna 
(Brobst) Shapperly, took place in the month 
of January, 1871. To this marriage there 
have been born five children, three sons and 
two daughters, as follows: Mary Rosalie, 
Charles O, Leo, Theresa, who died in infancy, 
and Edward. In 1872, after the birth of the 
first child, Mary Rosalie, Mr. Ritty and family 
emigrated to the United States, coming direct 
to Ohio and settling in Dayton. For the first 
year and a half after arriving in Dayton he 
worked by the day, then began taking con- 
tracts, and since then has erected many of the 
large business blocks and residences in the city. 
During his twenty-five years' residence in the 
city of Dayton, Mr. Ritty has materially aided 
in its growth and improvement. Through his 
industry and sound judgment he has been un- 
usually prosperous in his business affairs, and 
is as highly respected as successful. Since he 
was twelve years of age he has seen his father's 
home but twice. Politically, he is independ- 
ent, and in religion both he and his wife are 
members of the Catholic church. Both are 
excellent people, and have a wide circle of true 
and trusted friends. 



V/^~J EV - WILLIAM A. ROBINSON, 
1/^ D. D., pastor of Grace Methodist 
.P Episcopal church of Dayton, is a na- 
tive of the Buckeye state and was 
born in Warren county, January 9, 1843. 



His parents, James A. and Lucinda (Guthrie) 
Robinson, also natives of Warren county, 
were respectively born in August, 1817, and 
August, 18 1 5. The father was a tanner by vo- 
cation, but is now retired and resides with Dr: 
Robinson, whose mother died in Warren 
county in 1880. The grandfather of James 
A. Robinson was a Kentuckian and traced his 
genealogy to John Robinson, an Englishman, 
who came to America in the Mayflower. This 
grandfather was a Baptist minister, an early 
settler in Clarke county, Ohio, and ended his 
days on his farm near New Carlisle. Dr. Rob- 
inson's paternal grandmother was of Irish de- 
scent, while his maternal grandfather and 
grandmother were respectively of Welsh and 
English extraction. 

The children that were born to James A. 
and Lucinda Robinson were six in number, 
viz: Mrs. Mary E. Gibson, now of Columbus, 
Ohio; Rev. William A.; Rothwell P., who 
died in Kokomo, Ind., in childhood; Loretta 
A., whose home is with her brother, Edgar 
B., at Higginsport, Ohio; Wellington Porter, 
a teacher, who died in 1875, at twenty-one 
years of age, and Edgar Bunyan, who married 
a daughter of Capt. Kauts, brother of Gen. 
Kauts, and lives on his farm at Higginsport, 
Brown county. 

Dr. William A. Robinson received his ele- 
mentary education in Defiance and Rochester, 
Ohio, and in 1862, while taking an academic 
course at Martinsville, enlisted in the Fifth 
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, for three 
months, but filled out a term of four months; 
returning to Ohio, he entered school at Troy, 
but shortly afterward engaged in teaching in 
Miami and Clinton counties; he then took an 
additional academic course at Mount Washing- 
ton, and in the fall of 1864 entered the Ohio 
Wesleyan university at Delaware, from the 
classical department of which he graduated in 
1868. When a lad of but ten years of age he 



750 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



had united with the Methodist Episcopal church 
at Defiance under the ministry of Rev. Thomas 
Parker, and he preached his first sermon at the 
age of nineteen years, when a student, and also 
preached while teaching a three-months' term 
in Miami county. The year following his 
graduation from the Wesleyan university he 
was appointed by the presiding elder assistant 
preacher on the Mainville (Warren county) 
circuit, and in the fall of 1868 was ordained by 
Bishop Kingsley, at London, Ohio; in 1872 he 
was made an elder in the church at Eaton, 
Ohio, by Bishop Scott, and in the fall of 1879 
entered the Cincinnati conference at Hillsboro, 
Bishop E. R. Ames presiding. His first ap- 
pointment in this conference was to the Venice 
circuit, which consisted of eight charges with 
two preachers, Mr. Robinson being in charge. 
Two years later he was appointed to Christie 
chapel, Cincinnati, where he remained for 
three years, and from 1874 to 1877 officiated 
at Raper church in Dayton; from 1877 to 
1880 his charge was the Central church of 
Springfield, when he was transferred to the 
north Ohio conference and stationed at the 
Franklin avenue church in Cleveland from 
1880 to 1883. At the close of this pastorate 
he was transferred to the Pittsburg conference 
and assigned to the North avenue church, Alle- 
gheny City, from 1883 to 1886, during the last 
year of which incumbency he visited England, 
Ireland, Scotland, France and other European 
countries. In 1886 he was invited to return 
to the Franklin avenue church of Cleveland, 
where he again passed three years, and was 
then invited to the pastorate of the Union 
church in Covington, Ky. , where he remained 
four years, having been transferred to the Ken- 
tucky conference. In 1893 he was invited to 
the charge of Grace church, Dayton, Ohio, 
returning to the Cincinnati conference after a 
a separation of eleven years. During a part 
of the winter of 1895 and of the following 



spring Mr. Robinson again passed three months 
abroad, going up the Mediterranean sea and 
visiting Palestine and other points of interest 
in the old world. He is now serving the 
fourth year of his present pastorate, and it 
may be here mentioned that during his twenty- 
eight years in the ministry he has had pastoral 
charge of over 6,500 persons, and has received 
into his various congregations 1,300 converts. 
Rev. Dr. Robinson was united in marriage 
in Delaware, Ohio, in 1869, with Miss Eliza- 
beth J. Page, daughter of W. H. B. and Mary 
Page. She is highly accomplished and well- 
educated, having graduated from the Ohio 
Wesleyan Female college in 1868. Six chil- 
dren have been born of this union, viz: Har- 
rison Page, who was born in Venice, Ohio, in 
1870, and is connected with the wholesale 
glassware house of Barge & Gross at Cleve- 
land; James Francis C, who graduated from 
the university of Cincinnati in 1892, and is 
now a teacher of English literature and his- 
tory in the Dayton high school; Grace Hardin, 
who is a graduate of Woodward high school of 
Cincinnati, was also an attendant at Barthol- 
omew's school and the university of Cincinnati, 
and is now at home with her parents; Daisy, 
who died in Dayton at the age of three years, 
at the time her father was pastor of Raper 
church; Blossom, who is taking a graduate 
course in the Dayton high school; and Helen 
Hunt, who is now in the sixth grade of the 
public schools. Dr. Robinson is a republican 
in his political affiliations, and fraternally is a 
member of the Greek Letter fraternity of his 
alma mater, and of the G. A. R. 



a APT. PAUL SANDRIDGE, com- 
manding company Ten, of the na- 
tional military home, near Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in slavery, near 
Lynchburg, Va., February 1, 1841, and was 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



751 



the property of Eaton Carpenter, as were also 
his parents. Mr. Carpenter, by his will, liber- 
ated his human chattels in 1853, and some- 
what later the parents of Paul Sandridge came 
to Ohio and located near Portsmouth, where 
both died. 

Paul Sandridge received a fair education, 
on reaching the free soil of Scioto county, Ohio, 
where he worked at farming, near Portsmouth, 
until his enlistment, being one of the first of 
his race to offer his services for the liberation 
of his people. But his company, which was a 
"colored" company, after being thoroughly 
drilled, was rejected by the governor of Ohio, 
who, at that time, thought he had no author- 
ity to accept colored troops. After president 
Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, how- 
ever, Mr. Sandridge found his opportunity to 
show his devotion to his race and the cause of 
freedom, and enlisted, January 1, 1864, in 
company C, Twenty-seventh regiment, United 
States colored troops, and was mustered in as 
first sergeant of that company. This regiment, 
under Gen. Burnside, served at Petersburg, 
Va. , after the famous mine explosion. The 
commissioned officers of the regiment, how- 
ever, were white men, while the subordinate 
offices were held by colored men. At the South 
Side fight Mr. Sandridge was so seriously 
wounded that he was disabled for further duty 
and was sent to the hospital at Alexandria, Va., 
where he was honorably discharged July 27, 
1865, having been mustered out as orderly- 
sergeant of company C. Returning to Ports- 
mouth, he made an attempt at farming for a 
living, but soon found that he was unable to 
follow the plow successfully, and therefore 
went to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he learned 
the shoemaker's trade. This business he fol- 
lowed until October, 1869, when he came to 
Dayton and entered the military home for the 
purpose of continuing his education in its 
school, at which he was a constant attendant 



for at least three years, when he withdrew and 
for five years was a tutor at South Charleston, 
Ohio, in a free school for colored children. 
He spent a year thereafter in Portsmouth and 
then re-entered the soldiers' home at Dayton, 
where he has since been employed the greater 
portion of his time, being early placed in com- 
mand of his present company. 

Capt. Sandridge has command of the only 
barracks of colored men in the military home, 
and has accommodations for about 119 men. 
Not less than seventy per cent of these men 
were born in slavery, about seventy per cent 
can read, and about fifty per cent can read 
and write. In politics the captain is a repub- 
lican, and is the recipient of a pension, granted 
for wounds received while in the service. One 
noticeable feature of company Ten is that 
everything is scrupulously clean. The floors 
of the barracks are as white as careful scrub- 
bing can make them; the beds are clean and 
handsomely made up; no boistrous talk is ever 
indulged in, and all is order and system. An- 
other fact worthy of mention is this: A red 
"pass" is a badge of good conduct. Every 
soldier who passes the gates on a " red pass " 
is considered perfect in behavior, as the badge 
of honor is not given to any who violate the 
well-established rules of the institution. Nearly 
every colored man who passes the gates proudly 
shows the guards a red card, and returns in as 
good order as he retires. The colored sol- 
diers are not particularly religious, only about 
twenty-five per cent being members of some 
church, but they are prompt and regular in 
attendance upon religious services in the home. 
Concerning the early lives of these liberated 
slaves and the universal ignorance prevailing 
among them prior to the Civil war, the ad- 
vancement made in their education in every- 
thing pertaining to good citizenship is worthy 
of all praise. It not only evinces a desire upon 
their part to make the best of their opportuni- 



752 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ties, but also reflects great credit upon those 
having in charge the civilizing and disciplinary 
features of their education. As a factor in the 
development of their latent powers, no white 
man has accomplished more than the intelli- 
gent colored man who has so long had charge 
of the colored company. 

The marriage of Capt. Sandridge took 
place in South Charleston, Ohio, in April, 1 874, 
to Miss Anna Morgan, a native of that town, 
the result of the union being a daughter, who 
is deceased; William, who is employed in the 
hotel of the soldiers' home, at Dayton; Clif- 
ford, who, at the age of nineteen years, is the 
manager of his father's farm, and Paul, aged 
eight years, who is attending school. 

Capt. Sandridge is a member of the colored 
branch of the Masonic order, is also a member 
of the I. O. O. F., and has been a member of 
the Baptist church since 1865. He has always 
made the best of his opportunities, and is 
to-day an intelligent and useful citizen. 



aHARLES WILLIAM SALISBURY, 
M. D.,' one of Dayton's successful 
physicians and surgeons, has been a 
resident of this city since 1891. He 
was born in Russellville, Ohio, in May, 1854, 
and is a son of Dr. J. N. and Maria (Payne) 
Salisbury, who are now living in Russellville, 
the former a retired physician, after an active 
practice of some forty years. J. N. Salisbury 
received his literary education at Marietta col- 
lege, Marietta, Ohio, after graduating from 
which institution he attended the Ohio Medi- 
cal college, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was there- 
after engaged in the general practice of his 
profession, to which he was strongly devoted. 
He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, 
and a man of great sympathy for human suf- 
fering. He reared a family of six children, 
viz: Emma, wife of Dr. A. M. Williamson, 



of Dayton, Ohio; Charles W., the subject of 
this sketch; Thomas N., a farmer of Brown 
county, Ohio, near Russellville; Ella, wife of 
Prof. L. O. Thoroman who is now the head 
of a normal school at Salina, Kans. ; James 
A., physician of Dayton, and Lucy B., wife of 
Dr. C. W. Evans, of Russellville, Ohio. 

Charles W. Salisbury was reared in his na- 
tive place and was educated in the public 
schools, and later at the National normal uni- 
versity at Lebanon, Ohio. He first read med- 
icine with his father, and then attended the 
Ohio Medical college, at Cincinnati, Ohio, but 
graduated from the Starling Medical college, 
at Columbus, Ohio, in the class of 18S2. After 
graduating he located in Winchester, Ohio, 
where he was engaged, until 1891, in general 
practice, when, as before stated, he removed 
to Dayton, where he has ever since been en- 
gaged in the active exercise of his professional 
duties. He is a member of the Adams and 
Brown county medical societies, and fraternal- 
ly is a Knight of Pythias. 

Dr. Salisbury was married, in 1S82, to 
Miss Estella McCoy, of Ripley, Ohio, by 
whom he has had two children — Rena and 
Ralph. He and his wife are members of the 
Wayne avenue Presbyterian church, he hold- 
ing the office of elder, and both taking great 
interest in the work of their church. 

J. A. Salisbury, M. D., physician and sur- 
geon, of Dayton, Ohio, has been a resident of 
that city since 1893. He was born in Brown 
county, in December, 1865, and is a son of 
Dr. J. N. and Maria (Payne) Salisbury, men- 
tioned above in the sketch of Dr. Charles W. 
Salisbury. The Salisbury family is one of the 
oldest of New England, and its members have 
for the most part turned their attention to 
medicine. J. A. Salisbury read medicine with 
his father, and secured his medical education, 
first, in the Starling Medical college at Colum- 
bus, Ohio, and second, in the Ohio Medical 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



153 



college at Cincinnati, from which he graduated 
in the class of 1890. He located in his old 
home, and there practiced his profession until 
1 89 1, when he removed to Winchester, Adams 
county, where he remained until he came to 
Dayton, in 1893. He has always been en- 
gaged in general practice, and has met with 
much success. He is a member of Russellville 
lodge, No. 166, F. & A. M., of Riverdale lodge, 
Knights of Pythias, of the Junior Order of 
American Mechanics and of the K. A. E. O. 
Dr. Salisbury was married at Winchester, 
Ohio, in 1893, to Miss Lola Noble, a daughter 
of Dr. Arthur and Lee Noble. Both he and 
his wife are members of the Riverdale Presby- 
terian church, in which he is one of the elders. 
He is one of the most successful of the recent 
additions to the medical fraternity of the city, 
and has won for himself a secure place in the 
esteem of the community. 



a APT. FREDERICK SCHAEFER, of 
No. 1 160 West Germantown street, 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Alpins- 
bach, Wurtemberg, Germany, Sep- 
tember 30, 1837. He received a good educa- 
tion in the schools of his native country, study- 
ing French, German, botany, natural history, 
geometry, etc., and at the age of sixteen years 
came alone to America, landing in New York 
October 20, 1853. He soon afterward went to 
Philadelphia, and worked in that city and sur- 
rounding country at the copper and tinsmith 
trade until i860. He then worked as bar- 
tender in Philadelphia until April, 1861, when 
he enlisted in company B, Twenty-first Penn- 
sylvania three-month volunteers, served in the 
battle of Falling Waters and in two or three 
skirmishes, and was mustered out in August, 
having promised to re-enlist. 

The second enlistment of Mr. Schaefer was 
in company I, Seventy-third Pennsylvania vol- 



unteer infantry, for three years. Assigned to 
the army of Virginia, he took part in the bat- 
tle of Cross Keys, June 8, 1862, and was pro- 
moted second lieutenant of his company; he 
was at Slaughter Mountain, Bull Run, and in 
the skirmishes around Culpeper, etc., and Jan- 
uary 1, 1863, was promoted first lieutenant of 
company C, for gallant conduct at Bull Run. 
He was next engaged in the skirmishes which 
preceded the battle of Chancellorsville, and 
was in that disastrous battle, under Gen. 
Hooker. Many years later Capt. Schaefer re- 
ceived a letter from a prominent comrade in 
Philadelphia, in which it is stated that Lieut. 
Schaefer's company, as he led it into battle at 
the old log hut in Chancellorsville, appeared 
as if on "dress parade." Lieut. Schaefer 
next participated in the campaign in Maryland 
and Pennsylvania, which culminated in the 
great battle of Gettysburg, in which he com- 
manded his company on Cemetery Hill and in 
the city. Under his leadership his company 
made a charge on a house filled with rebel sol- 
diers, and drove them out at the point of the 
bayonet, holding the place during the next 
twenty-four hours, when he was relieved by 
Ohio troops. 

Following Lee's army back into Virginia, 
Capt. Schaefer, with his regiment, was trans- 
ferred in the following September to Bridge- 
port, Ala., arriving October 2, 1863, and be- 
came part of the Twentieth army corps. He 
here served principally under Gen. Adolph von 
Steinwehr, who became greatly attached to 
Capt. Schaefer, asserting that he was an officer 
upon whom he could always depend. At a 
skirmish in Lookout valley, company A was 
on the right wing, deployed as skirmishers, 
and company I was called upon to relieve them. 
Capt. Schaefer took the lead and was the first 
to leap over an obstruction that impeded the 
way, followed by his men with a cheer. He 
had but sixty-three in his command, and sud- 



754 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



denly he came upon the rebels on an elevation 
of land in his front; his own little force, how- 
ever, was sheltered by heavy timber. Gen. 
Von Steinwehr now sent an aid to inquire what 
reinforcements Capt. Schaefer needed; there- 
ply was "Send me three more buglers. " The 
aid thought the captain crazy, but the general 
assured him the captain knew exactly what he 
was doing, and the buglers were accordingly 
sent. Capt. Schaefer stationed them as he 
desired, and ordered them to sound the 
"charge." This was done, and the little force 
of sixty-three men made its charge, outflanked 
the superior force of rebels, drove them from 
the field, captured fourteen prisoners, and had 
but four of their own men wounded. Capt. 
Schaefer held his ground from two o'clock until 
five, with a reinforcement of seven men only. 

Soon after these events, which occurred at 
the foot of Lookout mountain, Capt. Schaefer 
reported to Gen. Howard, through Gen. Von 
Steinwehr, that the enemy would cross Look- 
out creek that night, if it were not heavily 
guarded. This timely warning proved of great 
value, for the same night Hood did cross the 
stream, as predicted by Capt. Schaefer, -and 
an all-night battle was the result. 

On two occasions Capt. Schaefer was sent 
to make sketches of the enemy's works on 
Lookout mountain, and in each case reported 
valuable facts to Gen. Von. Steinwehr, for 
which service he was promised the majorship 
of his regiment, and in this capacity he served 
at the battle of Missionary Ridge, while his 
regiment was attached to the extreme left of 
the Union lines, under Gen. Sherman. No- 
vember 25, 1863, in the afternoon of the third 
day of the battle, while leading his men, Capt. 
Schaefer received a wound which cost him the 
loss of his left leg. Being now unfitted for 
field duty, he tendered his resignation, July 5, 
1864, and was finally discharged from the 
service. He was strongly recommended for a 



position as captain in the invalid corps, but 
declined, and from the time of his discharge 
until June, 1865, was employed in the United 
States sanitary commission at Philadelphia. 

In June, 1865, Capt. Schaefer made a trip 
to Europe to visit his friends and to recuperate 
his health, having been a constant sufferer 
from rheumatism since 1862. In July, 1865, 
he was given a reception by the king of Wur- 
temberg, but, having failed to withdraw his 
allegiance when he first left Germany, he found 
that he was still liable to military duty in that 
country. His father "drew" for him, and his 
name was placed upon the military roll, and, 
owing to his failure to report for duty, his father 
was forced to pay 600 florins for his exemp- 
tion. This sum, however, was returned to the 
captain by the king's order, on occount of the 
injuries he had sustained in America, and the 
king also complimented him for the prominence 
he had attained in the volunteer service of the 
United States. Capt. Schaefer returned to 
Philadelphia, January 4, 1866, and in 1867 
he started on a westward tour and visited Chi- 
cago, Saint Louis, Omaha, Quincy, 111., Mil- 
waukee and other places of interest. On the 
recommendation of Gen. Von Steinwehr he was 
sent to the soldiers' home, Dayton, the gen- 
eral being temporarily in Saint Louis at the 
time. The captain entered the home July 27, 
1874, and remained until November 1, 1878, 
being employed at various kinds of light work, 
latterly as sergeant of barrack No. 9. He re- 
ceives a liberal pension from the government 
on account of his injury. 

The marriage of Capt. Schaefer took place 
June 7, 1878, to Miss Marianna Fix, a native 
of Baden, Germany. Of the four children 
born to this union, one only is now living — 
Maria Louisa, a young lady, at home; the 
other three — Annie, Charlie and Joseph, died 
in childhood. Capt. and Mrs. Schaefer have 
an adopted son, however, Frederick R. , who 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



755 



is also at home. After his marriage the cap- 
tain located in Dayton, and for the past eight 
years has been engaged as pension agent or 
attorney, and has rendered very efficient aid 
to many deserving comrades in preparing and 
formulating claims against the government. 
The captain is a member of the Grand Army 
of the Republic and of the Union Veteran 
Union, served as colonel of the latter organiza- 
tion one term, and was once elected commander 
of the Grand Army post — an honor which, on 
account of feeble health, he was compelled to 
decline. Capt. Schaefer was the founder of 
the Swabian Benevolent society, which was 
organized in October, 1879, and served as its 
president for seven successive years, when he 
declined to serve further. 



eDMUND J. SCHWIND, vice-presi- 
dent of the Schwind Brewing Co., 
was born July 31, 1859, He is a son 
of Celestine Schwind, formerly pro- 
prietor of the Schwind brewery, which has ac- 
quired among industries of this nature such an 
enviable reputation for the excellence of its 
products. It was founded many years ago, 
and by careful management was built up from 
small proportions to be one of the largest es- 
tablishments of its kind in the city of Dayton, 
which is noted for its many successful manu- 
facturing enterprises. 

The proprietor of this establishment is justly 
proud of the reputation of Schwind beer, and 
in order to sustain that reputation will not al- 
low a gallon to pass into the hands of the tap- 
ster that is not fully up to the standard. One 
of the rules of the brewery is: "A place for 
everything and everything in its place. " Clean- 
liness prevails throughout. Material is first 
cleaned and purified, and a year's supply of 
everything needful kept constantly on hand. 



In 1880-81, 10,000 barrels of beer were made, 
and in 1882 this was increased to 15,000 bar- 
rels. At this time Edmund >J. Schwind was 
foreman and Louis Schwind manager. The 
plant was enlarged to its present size and the 
business increased to its present volume, in 
1883. This plant, as it stands to-day, covers a 
frontage of 275 feet, and the buildings extend 
back to the river from the street, a distance of 
about 230 feet. The main building is really 
four stories high. The ice machine has a 
capacity of fifty tons per day. The plant 
has the latest improved machinery, and taken 
all in all it is one of the model breweries of 
the country. The capacity is 60,000 barrels 
per year, and all the actual output is consumed 
in the city of Dayton, this firm manufacturing 
as much as any other concern in the city. In 
1895 the output reached 25,000 barrels. 

In 1893 the company became an incorpor- 
ated one, with C. Schwind, president; Ed- 
mund J. Schwind, vice-president and general 
manager; Edward Hochwalt, secretary and 
treasurer. When Celestine Schwind died his 
wife succeeded to the presidenc)' of the com- 
pany. Having now outlined the business with 
some particularity it is proper to turn our at- 
tention for a short time to the individuals who 
have built it up from small beginnings. 

Celestine Schwind, deceased, was born in 
Stadtfrazelten, Bavaria, Germany, May 19, 
1825, and was a son of Ignatz and Elizabeth 
Schwind. He came to the United States in 
1850, and settled in Dayton, Ohio, where in 
1854 he started a brewery on Logan street, 
which he conducted for fourteen years. In 
1865 he founded the plant that has been de- 
scribed and which is to-day one of the most con- 
spicuous landmarks and one of the greatest in- 
dustries of Dayton. It is located in Dayton 
View, on the banks of the Miami river. When 
Mr. Schwind came to Dayton he was a poor 
man, but by dint of hard labor and strict econ- 



(56 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



omy he succeeded in building up an immense 
business and became a wealthy man. 

Mr. Schwind was married in Dayton, Au- 
gust 28, 1856, to Miss Christine Latin, also a 
native of Germany, and who survives her hus- 
band. To them there were born eleven chil- 
dren. Mr. Schwind was a member of the Or- 
der of Odd Fellows and also of the Society of 
Druids. He attended strictly to business all 
through his life, with the exception of the last 
few years, which he spent in travel and enjoy- 
ment. His death occurred April 24, 1893. 
He left a widow and nine children, as follows; 
Edmund J., vice-president of the Schwind 
Brewing company; Emma T. , wife of Edward 
Hochwalt, of Dayton; Edith, wife of Frank 
Cable, of Sandusky, Ohio, a shoe dealer; Ma- 
tilda, living at home; Mary, wife of William 
Makley, of Dayton; Josephine, living at home; 
Michael J., bookkeeper and director in the 
Schwind Brewing company; Clara, at home, 
and Anna L , also at home. Two sons are 
deceased. 

Edmund J. Schwind, vice-president of the 
Schwind Brewing company, was educated in 
the public schools, after which he spent some 
three years in traveling for the brewery. In 
1882 he entered the employ of his father, as 
foreman, which position he occupied until 1893, 
when he was made vice-president of the com- 
pany. He has proven himself an efficient 
manager and under his direction the business 
has grown and prospered exceedingly. He 
has excellent business capacity and is now well 
known as one of the progressive and successful 
men of Dayton. 



V^^EORGE E. SHEPHERD, treasurer 
■ ^\ of the National Cash Register com- 
^^W pany, one of the extensive and rep- 
resentative manufacturing concerns 
of Dayton, is a native of Alexandersville, 



Montgomery county, Ohio, and was born Oc- 
tober 22, 1 85 1, a son of George and Sarah 
(Elliott) Shepherd, natives, respectively, of 
Indiana and Maryland. 

George Shepherd, the father, came to Ohio 
in early manhood, and located in Butler coun- 
ty, in which county he married Miss Sarah 
Elliott, and for many years kept hotel. In his 
later years he removed from Butler county to 
Alexandersville, Montgomery county, where he 
spent the remainder of his days, and died, not 
yet an aged man, in 1852, his widow sur- 
viving until 1 89 1. 

George E. Shepherd spent all his boyhood 
days in his native town, receiving his early 
education in the district school. He afterward 
attended the Lebanon normal school, and was 
there prepared for the active duties of busi- 
ness life. In 1870 he entered upon his career 
as bookkeeper for Mead & Nixon, paper man- 
ufacturers of Dayton, and that he had been 
well qualified for this, his first ve'nture, is 
proved be the fact that he held his position 
for the period of twenty-two years. January 
1, 1892, he entered upon the duties of his 
present position, that of treasurer of the Na- 
tional Cash Register company, and this he has 
most satisfactorily filled, responsible as it is, 
and requiring a wise exercise of judgment in 
all the details of a complex financial system. 
In poliltics, Mr. Shepherd is a republican, 
and in religion a Lutheran. Fraternally, he is 
a member of the Royal Arcanum. 

Mr. Shepherd was first married, in 1874, 
to Miss Eva Harvey, daughter of Jackson Har- 
vey, of Dayton, to which union were born two 
sons and two daughters, viz: George H., 
who is now an able assistant to his father in 
the office of the National Cash Register com- 
pany, and Harry, Daisy, and Susie, the last of 
whom died in infancy. Mrs. Eva Shepherd 
was called from life February 28, 1895, and in 
August, 1896, Mr. Shepherd married Miss 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



757 



Mary E. Spindler, daughter of Jacob Spind- 
ler, also of Dayton. 

Mr. Shepherd is quiet and domestic in his 
habits, but energetic in his business, and stands 
among the foremost of the accountants of 
Dayton, while in the community he is held in 
the highest esteem by all who know him, 
either in business or social circles. 



@EORGE W. SHROYER, of the firm 
of G. W. Shroyer & Co., of Dayton, 
was born in Montgomery county, 
Ohio, September 26, 1865, a son of 
Andrew J. and Mary Ann (Oakes) Shroyer, the 
former of whom was a son of an original pio- 
neer of the county. 

John Shroyer, grandfather of George W., 
was the first of the family to come from Mary- 
land to this county when Dayton was but a 
mere village, the wants of the inhabitants being 
fully supplied by two small stores. Later, 
other members of the family also found a 
home in Montgomery county. John owned a 
large farm, two miles from Dayton, and here 
his son, Andrew J., was born December 29, 
1 830, and grew to manhood. He was married, 
in 1852, to Miss Mary Ann Oakes, and this 
union resulted in the birth of five sons, viz: 
Edwin, who died in childhood; Oliver H. P. ; 
Clarke M., who died at the age of twenty years; 
George W., and Charles O., the latter now a 
resident of Texas. In politics Andrew J. 
Shroyer is a democrat and held the office of 
township treasurer and other local officers in 
Harrison township, where he continued farm- 
ing until 1882, when he removed to Dayton, 
having lost his wife in 1880. For the past five 
years he has been engaged in the manufacture 
and sale of certain medical remedies. He is a 
member of the First Reformed church, in 
which he has been an elder for many years. 
Oliver H. P. Shroyer was born on the 



homestead in Harrison township, Montgomery 
county, September 10, 1857, was educated in 
the district school, and at the age of twenty- 
two years came to Dayton, where he engaged 
in carpentering and house building for four 
years and then entered the employ of Barney 
& Smith, went to Buffalo, N. Y., under T. A. 
Bissell, and passed seven years in the finishing 
department of the Wagner Palace Car works. 
He is a very ingenious mechanic and has pat- 
ented several valuable inventions. This fac- 
ulty being well known to the Queen City Cycle 
company of Buffalo, he was employed, in 1891, 
by that company to go on the road and study 
the wheel, and he has done much toward im- 
proving and perfecting it. He is now asso- 
ciated with his brother, George W. , in the bi- 
cycle business in Dayton. November 5, 1879, 
Mr. Shroyer was united in marriage with Miss 
Margaret M. Bartholomew, and to them have 
been born nine children, viz: Bessie (deceased), 
Ellen, Ollie (deceased), Clarke, Robert, Grace, 
an infant son deceased, Margueritte and an in- 
fant daughter. The parents are members of 
the Reformed church and reside at No. 944 
Steele avenue. 

George W. Shroyer, whose name opens 
this sketch, received a good common-school 
education in his native township, and at the 
age of fifteen years came to Dayton to assist 
his father in the agricultural implement busi- 
ness; when seventeen years old he took the 
road for the Minneapolis self-binders and har- 
vesters, his territory covering Missouri, Kansas 
and Texas, and for about five years did a very 
successful business; he then took the road for 
Joyce, Cridland & Co. , with whom he remained 
six years, traveling over the United States and 
Canada, selling railroad supplies. In Novem- 
ber, 1894, he opened up his present bicycle 
exchange at No. 23 West Fifth street, Dayton, 
under the firm name of G. W. Shroyer & Co. 
This firm handles the Gendron, Cleveland, 



758 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Victor and Winton wheels, and also carries 
an assorted stock of attachments, supplies and 
repairs, and in the winter season canvasses 
the states of Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, 
making a specialty of pushing the sale of 
Gendron wheels. Mr. Shroyer has made a 
success of his venture and is recognized as one 
of the foremost of the young and progressive 
business men of the city. Fraternally he is a 
member of Iola lodge, No. 83, uniform rank 
of the Knights of Pythias. His marriage took 
place, in 1887, with Miss Fannie R. Joyce, 
and this union has been blessed with two chil- 
dren — Hazel and Clifford. The parents are 
members of the Reformed church and reside 
No. 6 Quitman street. 



@USTAVE STOMPS, deceased.— Of 
those worthy of prominent mention 
in any biographical work on Dayton, 
both for their successful business ca- 
reers and for their sterling worth as men and 
citizens, was the late Gustave Stomps, presi- 
dent of the Stomps-Burkhardt company. Mr. 
Stomps was a native of Bocholt, Westphalia, 
Prussia, and was born on the 29th day of Sep- 
tember, 1827. His parents were also natives 
of that province, where for years his father 
was civil engineer and land appraiser for Prince 
Salm, the then reigning ruler of that principal- 
ity. After receiving the customary education 
in the excellent schools of his native land, Mr. 
Stomps learned the trade of leather tanning, 
and in 1848, during the political disturbances 
then agitating his country, and having lost his 
father by death, he came to the United States, 
landing in New York city in the spring of that 
year. Upon the day he landed he searched 
out some friends whose addresses he had, and 
the following day found him in quest of em- 
ployment. Not being able to find work at the 
tanning trade he took the next best thing he 



could get, and went to work crimping boots. 
He spent about six months in New York city, 
and then came west to Cincinnati, where his 
eldest brother, Joseph, who had preceded him 
to America, was living. There he found em- 
ployment in McCabe's tannery, in which es- 
tablishment he subsequently became a foreman, 
and so continued until he was taken ill with 
smallpox. During this time Mr. Stomps made 
his home with his brother, who had married 
some time before. After recovering from his 
illness, which occurred during the year 1850, 
Mr. Stomps gave up the tanning trade, and 
began to learn that of chairmaking, and in the 
latter part of 1851 he and his brother Joseph 
engaged in the manufacture of chairs at Law- 
renceburg, Ind., but the high water of the Ohio 
river in the following year drowned out almost 
the entire town, and the brothers, becoming 
discouraged, sold out their factory and came 
to Dayton. 

Mr. Stomps worked at the chairmaking 
trade for different employers in Dayton until 
1859, in which year he became one of seven 
chairmakers who organized the Chairmakers' 
Union for the manufacture of chairs. In i860, 
however, Mr. Stomps disposed of his interest 
in the union, and established the firm of G. 
Stomps Bro. & Company, the other members 
of the firm being Joseph Stomps and Martin 
Brabec. Their chair factory stood on the site 
of what is now the west factory of the Stomps- 
Burkhardt Co.'s plant, and was the building 
formerly occupied by the firm of Estabrook & 
Phelps, Dayton's old-time wholesale grocers. 
On November 2, 1869 R. P. Burkhardt 
purchased Mr. Brabec's interest in the com- 
pany, and on December 2, of the same year 
Mr. Stomps bought out his brother Joseph's in- 
terest, and the firm became that of G. Stomps 
& Co. Then, for the first time, the firm put 
in a plant of machinery and power and began 
the manufacture of chairs by machinery in- 





/S^; 



>^^/^/ 




j£ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



761 



stead of by hand. In 1890 the Stomps-Burk- 
hardt company was formed with Mr. Stomps 
as president and R. P. Burkhardt, Sr. , as vice- 
president and general manager, J. M. Kramer, 
secretary, Gustave Stomps, Jr., treasurer, and 
Charles Vogel, superintendent. Mr. Stomps 
continued president of this company until his 
death. 

In 1852 Mr. Stomps was married in Cin- 
cinnati to Miss Catherine Mahrt. Mrs. Stomps 
was born in Wetter, near Marburg, Hessia, 
Germany, on April 7, 1828. She came to the 
United States in 1850 in the company of 
friends, with whom she remained in Philadel- 
phia for some time. Her sister had preceded 
her to this country and had become the wife of 
Joseph Stomps. It being the desire of the 
sisters to be together, Mr. Stomps was dele- 
gated to go to Philadelphia and escort the 
newly arrived sister to Cincinnati. Thus they 
met for the first time, and their marriage soon 
followed. To Mr. and Mrs. Stomps the fol- 
lowing children were born: Mary Adelaide, 
born in Dayton, on August 27, 1853, who be- 
came the wife of R. P. Burkhardt, Sr. , and 
died on May 12, 1893; Catherine, who became 
the wife of Charles Vogel; Elizabeth, who be- 
came the wife of John Stengel; Theresa, who 
became the wife of John M. Kramer; Anna, 
who became the wife of H. C. Mahrt; Francis, 
Gustave and Rose. 

The death of Mr. Stomps occurred on the 
26th day of June, 1890, away from home, 
and under unusually distressing circumstances, 
rendering, doubly sad the bereavement of his 
family and friends. His youngest daughter, a 
student at the Immaculate Conception, Olden- 
burg, Ind., was to graduate with first honors 
as valedictorian of her class, and it was to 
witness the exercises at the convent that Mr. 
Stomps, accompanied by his wife and Mrs. 
Burkhardt, left home never to return. The 
weather was extremely warm and Mr. Stomps 

28 



was overcome with the heat and died at Bates- 
ville, Ind., before reaching his destination, and 
without seeing his daughter. 

Mr. Stomps was in every sense of the word 
a self-made man. When he landed in New 
York city it was a but a few cents in his pock- 
ets. But his training had been of the right 
sort, to which was added a naturally industri- 
ous and frugal disposition. His was a life of 
unceasing application to business affairs, and 
so uniformly successful were his efforts that at 
his death he left a fortune. Mr. Stomps was 
of a quiei, calm, even temperament, not easily 
excited or confused, and he always kept his 
head under the most trying circumstances. He 
was a man of strong dislikes, warm hearted 
and genial, and when he won friends he kept 
them ever afterward. He possessed fine busi- 
ness talents, and was careful, painstaking and 
conservative in his methods. He was un- 
swerving in his honesty and integrity, just to 
friend and foe alike, and during all his life 
enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his busi- 
ness associates, and of all who knew him. 
He was a Roman Catholic in religion and for 
years was an influential member of Emanuel 
Catholic church of this city. 



HLFRED H. SHRY, a member of the 
engineer department, of the national 
military home near Dayton, was born 
in McArthur, Vinton county, Ohio, 
February 9, 1847, and was reared to manhood 
in his native town. 

Amos Shryand his wife, Mary (Bobo) Shry, 
of German descent, were natives of Virginia 
and were born, respectively, in 1808 and 18 10, 
were married in that state, and shortly after- 
ward removed to Ohio and settled in or near 
McArthur. To their marriage were born four 
sons and five daughters, and of this family of 
children five are still living, viz: William, who 



762 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



follows the calling of his deceased father — that 
of farming — at McArthur; Catherine, Mar- 
garet, Harriet and Alfred H. The eldest born 
of this family of nine was Jonathan, who died 
at the age of eight years; Jacob, the third in 
order of birth, served in company D, second 
West Virginia cavalry, and died after the close 
of the Civil war; Mary the fourth in order of 
birth, died when sixteen years old. 

Alfred H. Shry was educated in the public 
schools of McArthur, but quit his school to 
become a soldier and he enjoys the distinction 
of having been one of the youngest soldiers 
who carried a musket in defense of his native 
land in the late Civil war. His enlistment 
took place April 25, 1862, at the early age, it 
will be perceived, of fifteen years, in company 
C, Eighty-eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, for 
three months, but served one month longer, 
when he was honorably discharged. His next 
enlistment took place June 15, 1863, in com- 
pany H, First Ohio volunteer heavy artillery, 
in which he served until the Rebellion was 
quelled. He served under Burnside in Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee and under Gen. George 
H. Thomas in the army of the Cumberland. 
A great part of the time during his second en- 
listment was spent in garrison duty in North 
Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alabama, 
and he was finally mustered out at Greenville, 
Tenn., August 4, 1865. He then returned to 
the place of his birth, and was engaged in mer- 
chandizing for about fifteen years. 

In 1872 Mr. Shry married Miss Lydia A. 
Eakin, of Vinton county, Ohio — a union that 
has been blessed by the birth of four children, 
viz: Joseph A., who died at the age of eight- 
een months; Lottie M., Archie L. and Lucy 
F, — the latter three living in McArthur with 
their mother. By reason of failing health, 
Mr. Shry was compelled, November 26, 1886, 
to seek at the military home that rest and 
treatment which he had well earned bv his 



service in the army, and here he has ever since 
been employed in some light but lucrative em- 
ployment, although he has been permitted to 
enjoy a great deal of his time with his family. 
Mr. Shry in his political proclivities is a demo- 
crat. In religion he does not confine himself 
to the doctrines of any church, neither does he 
affiliate with any secret brotherhood, except 
the Union Veteran Legion. 



(D 



AJ. WILLIAM W. SHOEMAKER, 
ex-soldier, and court bailiff of the 
police court, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Berks county, Pa., January 
31, 1839, an d is descended, on both sides, 
from ante-Revolutionary stock. He accom- 
panied his parents to Dayton at the age of 
thirteen years, and has lived in the same house, 
No. 141 South Williams street, for over forty- 
two years. His parents were Isaac and Han- 
nah (Maxton) Shoemaker, the former of whom 
was born in Berks county, Pa., in 18 10, where 
his parents, who came from Canada, had set- 
tled prior to the war of the Revolution. Isaac 
Shoemaker died in Dayton, Ohio, at the age 
of seventy-two years. The Maxton family 
was of Scotch ancestry, was also established 
in Pennsylvania previous to the Revolutionary 
war, and the maternal grandmother of the 
major had several times seen both Washington 
and Cornwallis. remembered many of the stir- 
ring events of their time, and died in Dayton 
at the age of ninety years. Mrs. Hannah 
(Maxton) Shoemaker, mother of the major, 
was born in Chester county, Pa., in 181 7, and 
died in Dayton, at the age of seventy-two, 
the mother of eight children, of whom two 
died in infancy; those who have lived to ma- 
turity are named Jacob, who was the first born 
of the family, is a printer by trade, served in 
the One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, and now resides in Dayton; 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



763 



William W. , was the second born; Sarah is 
the wife of William Miller, and resides on a 
stock farm near Bardstown, Ky. ; Isaac K. 
was a soldier for three years in company K, 
Ninety-third Ohio infantry, was wounded at 
Chickamauga, and died in Dayton in 1893; 
Emma is the widow of George Martin, and 
has her home in the Gem City; Charles D., is 
a native of this -city and is a merchant. 

William W. Shoemaker was early taught 
the carpenter's trade and was engaged in this 
calling at the outbreak of the Civil war. He 
had joined the Dayton Zouaves in i860, and 
was thoroughly drilled when enlistment in the 
volunteer service became the order of the day, 
when he left the zouaves and on April 15, 
1 86 1, joined the Dayton Light Guards (of 
whom further mention may be found in the 
sketch of Capt. Winder), and was thus one of 
the first to respond to the call for 75,000 three- 
months men. The guards were mustered in 
as company C, First Ohio volunteer infantry, 
went on to Washington, took part in the some- 
what extended skirmish at Vienna, Va. , and 
then in the great opening battle of the war at 
Bull Run, on the 21st of July. The term of 
enlistment had expired July 16, and the boys 
were invited to join in the fray, and it was al- 
most unanimously voted to do so. 

August 5, iS6i, Mr. Shoemaker re-enlisted, 
was elected second lieutenant -of company H, 
Fourth Ohio cavaly, and on the 1 5th was hon- 
orably discharged from his old company, and 
with his new company took part in its first 
battle, at Bowling Green, Ky. , under Gen. 
Mitchell; then went to Nashville, Tenn. ; and 
thence, with Mitchell's division, to Huntsville, 
Ala., where the regiment captured seven loco- 
motives, a large amount of stores, and prison- 
ers from the recent battle field of Corinth. 
They then crossed the Tennessee river on a 
burning bridge at Decatur, Ala. ; went as far 
as Stevenson, and then returned to Hunts- 



ville and joined Gen. Buell on his retreat into 
Kentucky; took part in the fight at Perryville, 
Ky. ; went to Lexington, near which point, on 
the previous day, at Clay's farm, the greater 
portion of the Ohio cavalry had been captured 
by the raider, John Morgan. Lieut. Shoe- 
maker was provost guard at Lexington, in 
command of 128 men, whom he had quartered 
in the courthouse. When called upon to sur- 
sender, he flatly refused, unless convinced that 
all the other cavalry had been captured. 
"What evidence do you require?" was asked. 
"Bring the colonels of the regiments you say 
you have captured," was the answer. On this 
request being complied with, Lieut. Shoe- 
maker surrendered his men. This action had 
been strongly urged by the mayor of Lexing- 
ton, who wished to save the city from being 
shelled and probably burned. An incident of 
this surrender, tending to show Lieut. Shoe- 
maker's tenacity, may here be related. He 
had been presented with a very handsome 
sword-belt, with which he refused to part, 
though threatened with death if he refused; 
while the controversy was going on, Gen. 
Breckinridge, the Confederate, rode up to as- 
certain the cause of the trouble, and, on learn- 
ing the circumstances, ordered the hot-headed 
Texan captor to restore the belt. The lieuten- 
ant was paroled on the spot and returned to 
Frankfort, and thence to Indianapolis. 

Having been exchanged, Lieut. Shoemaker 
returned to the front in time to take part in the 
battle of Stone River (December 31, 1862, and 
January 1 and 2, 1863). Later, while on 
staff duty under Gen. Turchin, and while on 
the Tullahoma campaign, in searching for a 
ford across Stone river, the lieutenant was 
shot through the shoulder, the ball coming out 
near the elbow; but he remaiued on Gen. 
Crook's staff until after the Chickamauga 
campaign; then returned to Tullahoma and 
thence went to Murfreesboro; at the battle of 



764 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Farmington, while making a saber charge, 
he was shot through the right lung, the ball 
being removed from under the shoulder blade. 
He was conveyed to a private dwelling to- 
gether with seven wounded men, who where left 
there to die, and the next morning five of the 
seven were actually dead. He had but little 
hope of recovery, under the indifferent treat- 
ment of his rebel host; at the end of thirty 
days, however, he secured a horse and was 
able to ride to Wartrace station, on the Nash- 
ville & Chattanooga railroad, and take a train 
for Deckard, where he found the Federal 
cavalry headquarters, to learn that he had 
been reported as dead, and to encounter much 
difficult}- in convincing his fellow-officers that 
he, the dirty, emaciated soldier, was the 
former robust officer they had mourned as lost. 
He here received a furlough for thirty days, 
which was extended to sixty, but the wound 
was not entirely healed until two years later. 
Reporting to Gen. Crook at Pulaski, Tenn., 
Lieut. Shoemaker was appointed recruiting 
officer of the Second cavalry division and lo- 
cated at Nashville. This duty ended, he was 
mustered in as captain of company F, Fourth 
Ohio cavalry, and went home on a thirty-day 
veteran furlough, at the expiration of which 
he rejoined the army at Nashville, and the 
main army at Rome, Ga. , to enter upon the 
Atlanta campaign. At Decatur, Ala., he had 
a fight with the rebel, Roddy, and captured 
some prisoners; was detailed as assistant in- 
spector on the staff of Gen. Girard, at Decatur, 
and went on the Atlanta campaign; was on 
the Jonesboro raid, and with Kilpatrick in the 
rear of Atlanta. After the fall of that city, 
the cavalry division was placed under the 
corhmand of Gen. Thomas, at Nashville; 
Lieut. Shoemaker served on staff duty until 
Gen. Girard was relieved; returned to his regi- 
ment and remained with it until after the fight 
at Nashville: went to Eastport, Tenn., under 



Gen. Wilson; was detailed as aid-de-camp to 
Gen. Long, and remained with him until the 
battle of Selma, where Long was wounded; 
then returned to his regiment and took com- 
mand, he being the ranking officer; crossed the 
Alabama river at Selma, captured i, 800 prison- 
ers, and then moved on to Montgomery; 
thence went to Columbus, Ga. , and after a 
hard struggle captured that city; thence he 
went to Macon, where he captured Gen. 
Howell Cobb and his army. The Fourth Ohio 
cavalry was then constituted provost guard of 
Macon, and was upon this duty when the Con- 
federacy collapsed. Maj. Shoemaker then 
took part in the pursuit of Jefferson Davis, and 
was near at hand when he was captured by 
the Fourth Michigan cavalry. Maj. Shoe- 
maker then marched from Macon to Atlanta, 
visiting all battle fields en route, and at the 
latter city met Col. Thompson, who had been 
released from a rebel prison and who now took 
command of the regiment. Maj. Shoemaker 
was mustered out of the service at Nashville, 
Tenn., July 15, 1865, as captain, butwas sub- 
sequently enrolled by the war department at 
Washington as major of his regiment. 

Returning to Dayton, Ohio, Maj. Shoe- 
maker was married, August 10, 1865, to Miss 
Vesta J. Congdon, a native of Grafton, Mass., 
where she was reared and educated. This 
marriage has been blessed with two children, 
viz: William H., who is chief deputy of the 
common pleas court, and Edwin Stanton, 
who is a plumber, is married, and is the fa- 
ther of two children. In 1867, Maj. Shoe- 
maker was appointed to the police force of 
Dayton, on which he has since filled every po- 
sition, but for several years has been on light 
duty. When he was first appointed, there 
were but twenty-one men on this force; there 
are now over eighty. In politics, the major 
was formerly a whig, but has been a member 
of the republican party ever since its organi- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



765 



zation; he has never been a seeker after office, 
however, nor ever held official positions, ex- 
cept as stated above. He is a member of Old 
Guard post, G. A. R., and also a Knight of 
Pythias, and he and his family are all mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



K^\ ERT D. SHROYER, loan agent of 
|(^^ No. 120 East Fifth street, Dayton, 
J^9 Ohio, was born in Mad River town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 6, 1873. His parents, Ephraim and 
Mary Jane (Cotterill) Shroyer, were natives of 
Montgomery county. They were the parents 
of nine children, eight sons and one daughter, 
as follows: William Albert, Perry H., Rolla 
L. , Charles E., Anna May, Ellsworth B. and 
Elmer E., twins, Bert D. and Frank. 

Ephraim Shroyer was reared in Montgom- 
ery county, and for nine years was a member 
of the Dayton city fire department. He and 
his wife are still living in Dayton. Mr. 
Shroyer served his country as a soldier in the 
late Civil war, as a member of the Ninety- 
third Ohio volunteer infantry, and was for 
some months confined in Libby and Belle Isle 
prisons. Mrs. Shroyer is a member of Christ 
church, the oldest Protestant Episcopal church 
in the city. 

William Shroyer, the father of Ephraim 
Shroyer, was a native of Frederick county, 
Md. , by trade a blacksmith, and was a soldier 
in the war of 181 2. He came to Ohio soon 
after the close of the war, located in Mad 
River township, and served there for many 
years as a justice of the peace, dying in 1846. 
The maternal grandfather, Lorenzo Dow Cot- 
terill, was also a native of Maryland. He was 
among the first settlers in Dayton, and died 
about 1874, in his seventieth year. 

Bert D. Shroyer grew to manhood in Day- 
ton and in the vicinity. His education was 



received in the city schools, and he made the 
most of the excellent opportunities they af- 
forded him. He was married on January 13, 
1893, to Miss Nora Loy, daughter of Jacob 
and Louise (Campbell) Loy, and to this mar- 
riage has been born one child, Earl McKinley, 
September 19, 1896. Politically, Mr. Shroyer 
is a republican. He is a descendant and a 
worthy representative of two of the oldest and 
best known families of the county. 

Of the brothers of Bert D. Shroyer, Al- 
bert married Miss Jennie Hemler, and has 
three children living, viz: William Albert, 
John and Victor. Rolla L. married Jane Butt, 
and has one child, Clyde. Charles E. mar- 
ried Martha Kendig, and has three children, 
Ralph, Frank and Anna. Ellsworth married 
Emma Traud, and has one child, Leona, and 
Perry Harrison married Miss Ann May Terry, 
and has two children, Perry and Charles. 



WOHN A. SMITH, house mover and 
M raiser, Dayton, Ohio, was born in Lan- 
A 1 caster, Pa., August 22, 1828. He is a 
son of Richard and Catherine (Allbright) 
Smith, the former of whom was a native of 
London, England, coming to the United States 
when he was seven years old, and the latter 
was a native of Pennsylvania. They were the 
parents of six children, four sons and two 
daughters, four of the six still surviving, as 
follows: John A., Isaac M., Jacob A., and 
David. Richard Smith was a teamster by oc- 
cupation, driving a six-horse team between 
Philadelphia and Pittsburg before there was 
any railroad in that part of the country. His 
death occurred in Lancaster when he was 
thirty-eight years of age. His wife survived 
him until 1880, and died at eighty-one years 
of age. Both were members of the Dunkard 
church, and both were people of excellent 
character and disposition. Richard Smith's 



766 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



father lived to a good old age, dying in Eng- 
land. Richard was his only son. 

The maternal grandfather of John A. Smith 
was named Jacob Allbright. He was a native 
of Pennsylvania and married Miss Rebecca 
Moon. Both died near Efferty, Lancaster 
county, Pa. He was a brushmaker by trade 
and died when about eighty-seven, she dying 
when about sixty. 

John A. Smith was reared on a farm in 
Lancaster county, Pa., and when seven years 
of age his parents hired him to a Mr. Jacob 
Bolinger, a Dunkard preacher, for seventy-five 
cents per month. He remained with Mr. Bo- 
linger for seven years, in the meantime attend- 
ing school to some extent. When he was 
fourteen years of age he removed to northern 
Ohio, and went to work for an uncle in Seneca 
county, remaining with him for about five 
years. At the end of this period he entered 
the employment of Mr. Wallace, superintend- 
ent of the Mad River railroad, the first road 
built from Sandusky to Springfield, Ohio, his 
work being to measure the wood and timber 
for the road. He then served a three years' 
apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, after 
which he dealt for some time in horses. In 
185 1 he went to Marshall, 111., and assisted in 
building there the Presbyterian college, and 
while thus engaged was married, June 27, 
1852, to Miss Amelia C. Boyer, daughter of 
Rev. Joshua and Susannah Boyer of that place. 
To this marriage there have been born five 
children, as follows: Frances Loretta, Amanda 
Alfaretta, Dora Ellen, Dayton Wilbert and 
Hattie May. Frances Loretta married Jacob 
Haynes and with her husband lives in Dayton. 
Amanda Alfaretta died at the age of thirteen 
years. Dora Ellen married Martin Messier, 
and they have five children, viz: Grace, Ed- 
ward, Harry, Martha and John. Dayton Wil- 
bert married Miss Emma Bartel; they live in 
Dayton, and have four children, as follows: 



Mabel, Harry, Richard and Bessie. Hattie 
May married Otto Jones. They had two chil- 
dren. Mrs. Jones was killed by the cars in 
1894 while driving across the railroad. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the 
United Brethren church, he being a trustee 
and treasurer of the congregation. He was a 
member of the Sixty-third Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, company F, and served in the late Civil 
war for over three years. At the battle of Vicks- 
burg he was wounded in the left arm. He was 
also in the battles of Nashville, Corinth and 
Parker's Cross Roads. Having acquired some 
knowledge of medicine, he was engaged in the 
dispensary at Nashville twenty-one months, 
and it was while in that city that he received 
his discharge. 

The war having come to an end, Mr. Smith 
returned to Dayton and began building houses, 
continuing thus engaged for a few years, but 
for the last twenty years he has given his at- 
tention exclusively to moving and raising 
houses, having filled contracts on a large scale 
in various cities — in Cincinnati, Springfield, 
Troy, Piqua, Hamilton, and elsewhere, as well 
as in Dayton. 

After his marriage Mr. Smith in 1S52 came 
to Dayton and has lived in this city ever since 
— thirty-five years in his present home. Po- 
litically he is a republican, but is in no sense a 
politician or office seeker. 



<V^V ANIEL L. SMITH is one of the long 
I established carpenters and builders 
S^^J of Dayton. He was born in the Mid- 
dletown valley, Frederick county, 
Md., April 20, 1 83 1, and there he lived until 
the spring of 185 1, when he came to Day- 
ton, which has ever since been his home. 
His parents were Joseph and Esther (Sheffer) 
Smith. They were natives of the same county 
in which their son was born, the husband and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



767 



father having been born in 1787, and the 
mother in 1801. Joseph Smith was a farmer, 
and, though living in a slave state, was opposed 
to slavery from profound conviction, and none 
of the family ever owned a slave. Both par- 
ents were descended from German stock. 
They left nine children, all but one of whom 
are now living. There were five sons and four 
daughters, and the eldest daughter was also 
the first child of the family, and the only one 
as yet deceased. This daughter, Mary, mar- 
ried Philip Baker, of Middletown, Md., and 
died in Springfield, Ohio; Joshua is a resi- 
dent of Springfield, and has retired from active 
business; Martin is a farmer in Miami county, 
and Jonas is a photographer at Springfield; in 
that city Susan, who is unmarried, has her 
home; Sarah is the wife of Thomas Elliott, 
and resides at Wapakoneta; Hamilton is at 
Richmond, Ind., where he has a responsible 
situation as superintendent of the Louck Sash 
& Door company; Elizabeth married Edward 
Young, and resides in Springfield. 

Daniel L. Smith received a common-school 
education in the typical log school-house of 
the pioneer days. He has vivid remembrance 
of the puncheon floors, the greased paper win- 
dows, the wide fire-places, the big back-logs, 
and the extreme readiness of the teacher to 
wield the birch for the most trivial offense. 
Mr. Smith was the first of the children to leave 
the parental roof; but soon after the death of 
their father the family began to scatter, most 
of them coming to Springfield, Ohio. He 
learned the carpenter's trade in his native 
state, serving three years as apprentice, and 
receiving the modest compensation of $25 a 
year. In those early days every process in 
the art of building was accomplished by hand. 
The almost entire absence of machinery made 
the skilled carpenter of great importance in 
every new community. When Mr. Smith 
reached Dayton, he found his labor in great 



demand, and though it had not been his inten- 
tion to remain here, he soon decided that this 
prosperous town was a good place in which to 
cast his lot. After seven years of industry, 
with a corresponding measure of success, Mr. 
Smith was enabled to marry. On May 6, 
1858, he wedded Miss Sarah Bollinger, a na- 
tive of New Carlisle, in this state, where she 
was born January 8, 183S. They have reared 
a family of three children. William, the eld- 
est, a resident of Dayton View, is foreman pat- 
tern-maker in the Computing Scale works in 
this city, and is a finished worker in wood. 
He married Miss Isadora Gunckle, of this city, 
and is regarded as a rising young man. Annie 
is the wife of Eugene Carter, superintendent 
of the paint department of the National Cash 
Register Co. They have a young daughter, 
named Elsie. Claude Rutherford, who is un- 
married, is a capable mechanical draughtsman, 
and is now an engineer in the United States 
service, located at Fort Wingate, N. Mex. 

Mr. Smith has been prominently identified 
with the building interests of Dayton for more 
than forty-five years. He has erected many 
handsome buildings, and finished many others. 
The finishing of the Beckel House is a good 
sample of his interior work. One of the most 
responsible and important duties ever entrusted 
to Mr. Smith, was the reconstruction of the 
old Newcom tavern, which figured so promi- 
nently in Dayton's centennial celebration of 
April, 1896. This was a labor requiring vast 
patience as well as great skill, the object being 
to reproduce the old log building as perfectly 
as possible. Parts of the building had to be 
replaced, the steps being hewn from solid logs. 
The work was a great success, and much praise 
was given Mr. Smith for so perfectly accom- 
plishing such a bold scheme of reconstruction. 

His family have been identified with the 
republican party from the beginning, having 
been whigs in the last generation. He has 



768 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



been a member of the order of Odd Fellows 
for thirty-five years, and has filled all the offi- 
cial stations in his home lodge, and also has 
served for a number of years as trustee of the 
Odd Fellows temple. All the family are lib- 
eral in their religious views, and have never 
been identified with any church. Mr. Smith's 
youngest brother, Hamilton, served over three 
years as a soldier in a Maryland regiment, and 
was severely wounded in the battle of the 
Wilderness. 



aHARLES A. STARR, of Dayton, 
Ohio, is a native of Thompsonville, 
N. Y. , and was born on the 17th of 
March, 1834, being the son of George 
B. and Rebecca P. (Schriver) Starr. In the 
paternal line his ancestry is of English origin, 
the first American representative having been 
one Dr. Starr, who emigrated from Great 
Britain to the American colonies early in the 
seventeenth century. The family contributed 
its quota of loyal defenders in both the war of 
the Revolution and that of the late Rebellion. 
The religious faith to which adherence has 
been very largely given is that of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, while politically the 
support of the Starrs has been given in turn to 
the whig party and its natural successor, the 
republican. 

George B. Starr, father of Charles A., left 
his eastern home in 1836 and came to Ohio. 
He settled at Middletown, Butler county, 
where he opened a tannery and gave his at- 
tention to its operation for some little time, 
later transferring his business to a point near 
Greenville, Darke county, where he continued 
tanning until another field of activity opened 
to him as a contractor for the building of gravel 
or turnpike roads. In this work he was en- 
gaged until 1846, when he came to Dayton, 
where he resumed tanning. Subsequently he 



became identified with the coal industry, and 
it is certain that he shipped the first carload of 
coal that was brought into Dayton. He con- 
tinued in business in Dayton until failing health 
rendered imperative his retirement from active 
pursuits, whereupon he placed his interests in 
the hands of his son Charles. 

George B. Starr was a man of quiet and 
unassuming character, but of unimpeachable 
integrity and honor. He was a zealous mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
took a lively interest in Sunday-school and 
mission work. His death occurred December 
26, 1869, while his wife passed away in June, 
1890. They became the parents of seven 
children, of whom Catherine S. is the widow 
of D. W. Schaeffer, of Dayton; Mary A. be- 
came the wife of Joseph Hammond, and was 
one of the leading members of the W. C. T. U. 
of this section of the state, but is now de- 
ceased; Charles A. is the subject of this review; 
Rev. David J. is a clergyman of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and has a pastoral charge at 
Cincinnati; Cordelia R. is the wife of B. B. 
Christie, of Dayton; George R. is a prominent 
commission merchant of San Francisco, Cal., 
and Hattie E. is the wife of D. M. Stewart, of 
Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Charles A. Starr received very limited edu- 
cational advantages in his youth, but he has 
profited by privileges granted him in later years 
and stands to-day a well informed and intelli- 
gent man. He was not far advanced in years 
when he assumed the practical duties of life by 
entering the employ of his father, purchased 
his coal and wood business very soon after at- 
taining his majority, and carried the same suc- 
cessfully forward. In the year 1864 he went 
to the defense of the Union, enlisting as a 
member of company B, One Hundred and 
Thirty-first Ohio national guard, and serving 
for three months in the command of Col. Lowe. 
Upon his return home he again turned his at- 




fajL-^b? , c2, $6&^. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



771 



tention to the handling of coal, wood and 
building material. He is a carpenter by trade 
and is thoroughly familiar with all details per- 
taining to the allied departments of his busi- 
ness. The office headquarters of this enter- 
prise are located at 131 Wayne avenue. 

In the year 1891, Mr. Starr became one of 
the organizers of the Bailey Soap company, of 
which corporation he is president. The others 
of the official corps comprise the following: 
John F. Baker, vice-president, and Charles A. 
Lucius, secretary and treasurer. The officers, 
together with C. W. Schaeffer, constitute the 
directory of the company. The concern has a 
plant which is finely equipped with the latest 
approved mechanical devices and other facili- 
ties requisite to the enterprise, and the output 
includes all kinds of soap, special attention be- 
ing given to the manufacture of laundry soaps, 
in which line the products of the establishment 
have gained an enviable reputation throughout 
a very extended trade territory. The industry 
is one which has important bearing upon the 
industrial activities of the Gem City, and the 
success which has attended it has been con- 
served by the wise methods and unswerving 
business integrity of the interested principals, 
who are recognized as being among the repre- 
sentative citizens of Dayton. 

Mr. Starr takes a broad-minded interest in 
public affairs, and, though in no sense a seeker 
of political office, he renders a firm allegiance 
to the republican party. In religion he clings 
to the faith of his fathers, having been for the 
past forty years a member of the Raper Meth- 
odist Episcopal church and one of the most 
active workers in the same. In both church 
and Sunday-school work he has had a most 
loyal and effective coadjutor in his estimable 
wife. In his fraternal relations our subject is 
identified with Wayne lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. 
F., of which he has been the treasurer for the 
past eighteen years and a member for full two 



score years. He is also a member of Dayton 
encampment of the Odd Fellows' order and 
of the Ancient Order of American Mechanics. 
The marriage of Mr. Starr to Miss Emaline 
A. Smart, a native of Danbury, Conn., was 
solemnized October 24, 1855; she was born 
December 9, 1833. They became the par- 
ents of one child, who died in infancy. 



a APT. ROBERT C. SNEAD, an offi- 
cial of the national soldiers' Home, 
was born in Heathsville, Northum- 
berland county, Ya. , December 28, 
1842, and is the son of Rev. James A. and 
Mary Snead, natives respectively of Georgia 
and Yirginia. 

James A. Snead was born in the year 1804, 
received a liberal education in Baltimore, Md., 
entered the university of Yirginia, and while a 
young man entered the ministry of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, in which he became a 
prominent and influential preacher. He was 
a typical southern gentleman of the old school, 
fearless in his denunciation of wrong where- 
ever and whenever found and an uncompromis- 
ing opponent of the institution of slavery, in 
consequence of which he was obliged to leave 
his native state and seek a field of labor in 
northern conferences. He served as chaplain 
of the Fortieth Kentucky mounted infantry in 
the late war and died in the year 1866. His 
wife was Mary Christopher, who was born of 
English parentage in Northumberland county, 
Va. , about the year 1802. The family of Mrs. 
Snead were residents of the Old Dominion 
state during the war of 18 12, in which struggle 
her father took an active part as an independ- 
ent scout. She died at Ashland, Ky., October 
20, 1890. James A. and Mary Snead had a 
family of eight children, of whom there are liv- 
ing at this time one son and two daughters. 
Capt. Robert C. Snead was taken by his 



772 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



parents, when a child of four years, to Wells- 
ville, Ohio, thence in 1S56 to Ashland, Ky. , 
where he grew to maturity and where he re- 
ceived an academic education. He became a 
very proficient bookkeeper and was thus en- 
gaged until the breaking out of the Civil war, 
when he joined the home guards of Kentucky, 
a loyal organization, with which he served un- 
til 1863, in August of which year he enlisted 
in company E, Fortieth Kentucky mounted in- 
fantry. Three weeks after enlistment the cap- 
tain was made regimental quartermaster-ser- 
geant, and within a month thereafter was pro- 
moted to second lieutenant of company C, in 
which capacity he served until discharged De- 
cember 30, 1864. His service with the For- 
tieth was principally in Kentucky, Tennessee 
and Virginia, scouting and fighting the rebel 
guerrillas who overran portions of those states. 
Capt. Snead was in three engagements with 
John Morgan's band and took part in numerous 
skirmishes with rebel forces on the Cumberland 
near Fort Donelson, doing much desultory 
fighting with guerrillas and marauders through- 
out Kentucky and along its borders. He re- 
entered the service in April, 1865, as a mem- 
ber of the Fifty-fifth Kentucky mounted infan- 
try, and was discharged therefrom as adjutant 
on the 19th day of September following — the 
period of this enlistment being spent in the 
work of reconstructing the state of Kentucky, 
as the war was being practically ended about 
that time. 

Severing his connection with the army, 
Capt. Snead resumed his vocation as book- 
keeper, first with the Iron Valley Iron works 
in Stewart, Tenn. ; thence he went to Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, where he was similarly employed, 
going from the latter place to Saint Helena, 
Mich., where he became superintendent of a 
lumbering and manufacturing establishment. 
During the period between 1880 and 1886 the 
captain was more or less an invalid, being un- 



able to engage in his usual vocations by reason 
of a partial paralysis of the left side, which in- 
duced him to enter the national soldiers' home 
at Dayton in June of the latter year. Four 
weeks after becoming an inmate of the home 
he was appointed clerk at the headquarters 
and continued in that capacity the greater 
part of the time until 1895, m October of 
which year he was appointed captain of com- 
pany thirty-three a position he held until Octo- 
ber, 1896, when he was transferred to company 
Thirty-five. 

Capt. Snead is a man whose record is with- 
out a stain, and his high character and upright 
conduct have made him an object of esteem, 
alike in public and private life. His religious 
creed is represented by the liberal faith of the 
Unitarian church and in politics he is and al- 
ways has been a conservative republican. He 
is a member of the Grand Army of the Re- 
public, in the deliberations of which body he 
ever manifests an active interest. 



HNDREW J. SMITH, of Dayton, is a 
native of Logan county, Ohio, and 
was born October 31, 1847, his par- 
ents being John and Maria (Weeks) 
Smith, both natives of this state. Mrs. Smith 
died when young Andrew was about eight 
years old, and his father died eight years later. 
After the death of his mother, he went to live 
with an uncle on a farm in Logan county, 
where he continued to make his home until he 
had reached his majority. He had the ordi- 
nary opportunity of Ohio farm lads, a good 
common-school education, but he profited by 
what was offered him, and possesses a wide 
and useful range of information. When he 
was a lad of only sixteen years, he enlisted, in 
1864, in the 100 days' service as a member of 
company F, One Hundred and Thirty-second 
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



773 



conclusion of his term of enlistment brought 
him well toward the termination of the Civil 
war. The solid character of his education 
was attested by his teaching school for two 
terms when he was only eighteen years old, 
but he had studied to learn and to know, and 
thus early manifested a strength of mind and 
a maturity of judgment that have enabled him 
to make that success in life which is recorded 
in this memoir. 

At the age of twenty-two he married Miss 
Nancy E. Moore, who was born on the farm 
adjoining that of his birth, the wedding occur- 
ring September 7, 1869. The spring of the 
next year witnessed the removal of the young 
couple to Kansas, where they settled on a farm, 
and followed an agricultural life for the next 
three years. But Kansas farming did not 
promise a satisfactory career, and in 1873 they 
returned to Logan county, where Mr. Smith 
had charge of a grain warehouse for the next 
five years. He was then engaged for a time 
in a bakery and restaurant business. In 1883 
he secured a lucrative position as city sales- 
man for a Dayton milling firm, and removed 
to this city. This position he has held for the 
past thirteen years with satisfaction to his em- 
ployers and credit to himself. 

Mr. Smith is a republican in his political 
proclivities, is regarded as one of the prominent 
and reliable leaders and workers for the party, 
and now represents it in the Dayton board of 
education. He is much interested in fraternity 
matters and is actively interested in one of the 
patriotic orders of the veteran soldiery of the 
land, as well as in other bodies. He is now 
senior vice-commander of the Old Guard post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, recording secre- 
tary of Crown council, No. 35, Junior Order 
of United American Mechanics, and also holds 
membership in Gem City lodge, 795, I. O. 
O. F., of which he has been treasurer for five 
years past. To Mr. and Mrs. Smith there 



have been born four children, of whom the 
eldest, Wilminnie, is the wife of Elliott S. 
Burns of this city; Eunettie is the widow of the 
late William F. Cain, and Howard D. and 
Paul R. are still children at home. Father 
and mother are members of St. Paul Metho- 
dist Episcopal church, and the family is highly 
respected in its social and religious relations. 



EACKMAN A. SMITH, justice of the 
peace at Dayton, Ohio, was born 
in Phillipsburg, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, August 29, 1857. He is a son 
of Samuel R. and Lottie L. (Kolp) Smith, the 
former of whom was born in Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and the latter in Lancaster 
county, Pa. Samuel R. Smith was a Union 
soldier during the war of the Rebellion, and 
served in the Sixty-third regiment Ohio volun- 
teer infantry. His death occurred in 1886. 
His widow now resides at West Milton, Miami 
county, Ohio. The father of Samuel R. Smith 
was Peter Smith, who came to Ohio from 
Pennsylvania between sixty-five and seventy 
years ago. He was one of the pioneers of 
Montgomery county, settling about one mile 
south of Phillipsburg, in Clay township. 

The education of Hackman A. Smith was 
received first in the common schools, later at 
the Euphemia, Preble county, Normal school, 
and completed at the Miami commercial col- 
lege. For eight years during his earlier busi- 
ness life he was a school-teacher. He was as- 
sessor in Clay township in 1881-83, an( 3 was 
elected justice of the peace in Clay township 
in 1885, for three years. Mr. Smith located 
in Dayton in 1887, and has resided here ever 
since. He soon made many friends in the city, 
and in 1894 was elected justice of the peace as 
the candidate of the republican party, of which 
he has always been an active member. Fra- 
ternally he has reached the thirty-second de- 



774 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



gree in Masonry, and among the various other 
fraternal orders to which he belongs may be 
mentioned the Gem City lodge. No. 795, I. O. 
O. F. , Dayton encampment, No. 2, I. O. O. F. ; 
Daytonia Rebecca lodge, No. 342, I. O. O. F. ; 
Canton Earl, No. 16, Patriarchs militant, I. 
O. O. F.; Grand lodge of Ohio, I. O. O. F. ; 
O. F. N. B. A.; Linden lodge, No. 412, K. of 
P.; Carpenter's Union, No. 396; Young Men's 
Christian association; The Seniors; Tribe of 
Ben Hur: Garfield club and the O. S. C. A. 
His rehgion is that of the Christian church. 

Hackman A. Smith was married December 
24, 1879, to Mary E. Lees, of Phillipsburg, 
Ohio, and to this marriage there have been 
born three children, as follows: Edna D., 
wife of Miles Boyer, of Dayton; Leon E., and 
Earl R. 



eLI NEWTON SNYDER, member of 
the firm of Snyder, Tejan & Co., 
dealers in hay and other feed in Day- 
ton, was born in Alpha, Greene coun- 
ty, Ohio, September 27, 1855, is a son of John 
and Elizabeth (Kerschner) Snyder, natives of 
Hagerstown, Md., and lived in his native 
county until about thirty-one years of age. 

The Snyder family is of German origin 
and was established in Maryland by Jonathan 
Snyder, grandfather of Eli N. John Snyder, 
father of Eli N., was born in 1821, and when 
a young man moved to Greene county, Ohio, 
married there, and passed the greater part of 
his mature life in farming in that county. His 
death took place in Dayton in his sixty-ninth 
year. His widow, who was born in 1823, is 
now a resident of Dayton, and has her home 
with her son, Owen K. They were the par- 
ents of two sons and one daughter, the eldest 
of whom, Emma, died at the age of eleven 
years; the elder son, Owen Kerschner, is em- 



ployed as an assistant lumber buyer for the 
Barney & Smith car shops, which position he 
has held for eleven years. He is married to 
Miss Martha Barney, daughter of Benjamin 
Barney, of Greene county. 

Eli N. Snyder was educated in the graded 
schools of Beaver Creek township, Greene 
county, and his first business step was the pur- 
chase and operation of a sawmill in Xenia, 
which he ran from 1850 until 1885, when he 
disposed of his business by sale, came to Day- 
ton, and here secured a position as yard fore- 
man with the Barney & Smith car company, 
holding this situation for six years, when he 
met with an accident which compelled his 
retirement. He was then variously employed 
for two or three years, principally in teaming, 
and November 16, 1894, engaged in his pres- 
ent business, under the style of Snyder, Te- 
jan & Co., the firm being composed of E. N. 
Snyder, F. Tejan and E. Eckman. This firm 
deals extensively in hay and all kinds of grain 
and feed, and is well located for business, re- 
ceiving a full share of public patronage. 

The marriage of Mr. Snyder took place in 
Xenia, November r, 1883, with Miss Lizzie 
Pettigrew, a native of that city and a daugh- 
ter of William and Elizabeth (Medskerj Petti- 
grew, also natives of the Buckeye state. Will- 
iam Pettigrew was an undertaker by vocation, 
and is now deceased; his widow is still a resi- 
dent of Xenia. The marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Snyder has been blessed by the birth of 

I two sons and one daughter, named, in order 
of birth: Fred P., John and Elsie M. The 
parents are steadfast members of the German 
Reformed church, and in his political views Mr. 
Snyder is a strong republican, although he is 
not a partisan in the office-seeking sense of 
the word. The social relations of Mr. and 
Mrs. Snyder are very pleasant, the respect 
in which they are held by their friends and 

i associates being sincere and well merited. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



775 



* w * ENRY BENTON SORTMAN, con- 
|r% tractor for all kinds of brick mason- 
F ery, was born in Middleburg, Union 
county, Pa., January 12, 1840. He 
is a son of George and Maria C. (Bossier) 
Sortman, both natives of the same place in 
Pennsylvania. They were the parents of four 
children: Henry B., Jacob W., George A., 
and Charles C. George Sortman, the father, 
was by trade a chairmaker. He came to Day- 
ton, December 10, 1853, and here lived until 
his death, which occurred November 2, 1861, 
when he was sixty-nine years old. His wife 
died at Kent, 111., July 10, 1875, aged fifty- 
nine years. Both were members of the Re- 
formed church. Upon locating in Dayton he 
for a time followed teaming for a living, and 
afterward worked in agricultural implement 
warehouses until his death. The paternal 
grandparents of Henry B. Sortman reared a 
family of seventeen children; the grandfather 
lived and died in Pennsylvania, and the ma- 
ternal grandfather also died in that state. 

Henry Benton Sortman was thirteen years 
old when he came with his parents to Dayton. 
When he was sixteen years old he began learn- 
ing the brickmason's trade, which trade he 
continuously followed until recent years, and 
in these later years he has given his attention 
to contracting. He has built four or five large 
school houses, the high school building, and 
some of the buildings at the soldiers' home, 
besides hundreds of residences. His work all 
stands the test of time, and of the most scruti- 
nizing criticism. 

At Dayton, Ohio, April 18, 1861, Mr. Sort- 
man enlisted in Capt. Calvin Child's company 
A, Eleventh regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, 
for three months' service, under the first call 
for 75,000 men, made by Abraham Lincoln, 
and was discharged at Camp Dayton, Ohio, 
August 26, 1861. He then re-enlisted Octo- 
ber 5, 1 86 1, in company F, Birge's sharp- 



shooters, which was changed to company H, 
and to company G, western sharpshooters, 
April 20, 1862. His regiment was changed to 
the Fourteenth Missouri volunteer infantry, 
and from the Fourteenth Missouri to the Sixty- 
sixth Illinois volunteer infantry, western sharp- 
shooters, November 26, 1862, by order of 
secretary of war, E. M. Stanton. 

Henry B. Sortman, who was a brave and 
efficient soldier, participated in all the engage- 
ments enumerated in the biography of his 
brother, James W. Sortman, and with him 
was mustered out of the service. After the 
expiration of his term of service he returned to 
Dayton and began contracting. He has been 
a resident of Dayton for forty-three years, and 
it was he that offered the first resolution pro- 
viding for the erection of the beautiful soldiers' 
monument at Dayton, near the Miami river on 
Main street. 

On Febrauary 14, 1865, Mr. Sortman was 
married to Miss Sarah M. Lehman, daughter 
of David and Eliza (Brandenburg) Lehman, 
who were among the earliest settlers of Day- 
ton, having located there when the place was 
but nine years old. Mr. and Mrs. Sortman 
are the parents of four children, three sons 
and one daughter, as follows: Nettie L., 
Grove S., Miles R., and Clifford L. Grove S. 
married Blanche A. Ambrose, by whom he 
had one child, Earl C. , and died April 22, 1 889. 

Mrs. H. B. Sortman is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. While Mr. Sort- 
man's parents were members of the Reformed 
church, he has never identified himself with 
any denomination. Fraternally he is an Odd 
Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and a member of 
Old Guard post, No. 23, G. A. R. Politically 
he is a republican, and as such has served one 
term as a member of the board of education. 
His home is at No. 208 Dutoit street, where 
he has lived for twenty-nine years, his house 
having been erected in 1866. Where he now 



776 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



lives an orchard stood at the time he built his 
residence, and this orchard was surrounded by 
a cornfield. 



« y ■ * ON. WILLIAM EDWARD SPARKS, 

j^\ state senator Irom the third Ohio sen- 

F atorial district, and a representative 

citizen of Dayton, was born near 

Springfield, Clarke county, Ohio, August 25, 

1853, and is the son or Ephraim and Mary 

(Ellwell) Sparks. 

Ephraim Sparks, the father, was a native 
of Ohio, born in 1809, near Bellbrook, Greene 
county, where he was engaged in the wagon- 
making and blacksmith business as a member 
of the firm of Coon, Fryant & Sparks. Later 
in life he lived near Clifton, and thence re- 
moved to Springfield, dying in the latter city 
on March 12, 1880. The mother, Mary (Ell- 
well) Sparks, was born in New Jersey in 1809, 
and when a child was brought to Ohio, the 
family making the journey from Pittsburg down 
the Ohio river on a flat-boat. Her death oc- 
curred May 19, 1884. To these parents there 
were born the following children: Simon, a 
resident of Dayton; Mrs. Abbie Aughe and 
Mrs. Hannah Littleton, both of Springfield; 
Mrs. Sallie A. Bachman, of Clear Water Har- 
bor, Fla. ; Mrs. Ella Gifford, of Bloomington, 
Ills, (died July 30, 1896); Mrs. Lydia J. Slack, 
of Springfield, Ohio; Derostus F. L. , of Chi- 
cago, and William E. 

Senator Sparks spent his boyhood days at 
work and in attending the common schools. 
Aside from the education thus secured he had 
the advantage of a thorough course at a com- 
mercial school at Springfield. Later he learned 
the trade of a machinist at Richmond, Ind., 
which trade he has since followed, sparing 
only such time away from it as has been re- 
quired for his attendance upon the sessions of 
the state senate at Columbus in 1893-4 and 



1895-6. He removed to Dayton in 1873, and 
has always been recognized as a representative 
of the workingmen of this city, and has for 
years been prominent in the councils of the re- 
publican party. In the spring of 1892, Mr. 
Sparks was elected to the city council of Day- 
ton from the First ward, at a special election. 
In 1893 he was nominated by the republican 
party as its candidate for the state senate from 
the Third district, composed of the counties of 
Montgomery and Preble. At that time the 
normal democratic majority in this district was 
1,200, yet so popular was Mr. Sparks that, 
against a strong opponent, he was elected by 
a majority of 2,411 votes. In 1895 he was 
again nominated and elected to the state senate, 
this time running ahead of his ticket in Mont- 
gomery county, and receiving a total majority 
of 3,052 votes. He is the first republican who 
has been elected and re-elected to the state 
senate from Mohtgomery county since 1S64, 
when a similar honor was conferred on the 
Hon. L. B. Gunckel, of Dayton. During the 
Seventy-first general assembly Mr. Sparks was 
chairman of the committee on sanitary laws 
and regulations, was second chairman of the 
committee on municipal corporations No. 2, 
and a member of the committees on the Sol- 
diers' & Sailors' Home; manufactures and 
commerce; labor; mines and mining; fees and 
salaries, and public expenditures. In the Sev- 
enty-second general assembly he was chairman 
of the committee on municipal corporations 
No. 2, and a member of the committees on 
universities and colleges (of which he was sec- 
retary), manufacturers and commerce, labor, 
military affairs (of which also he was secre- 
tary), public expenditures, medical societies 
and colleges. Being a workingman himself, 
and well equipped for the duties of senator, 
Mr. Sparks has made a fine record in the high- 
est legislative body of the state. He has never 
missed an opportunity to advance the cause of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



777 



his constituents, and especially of the working 
class. His views on public and important 
questions have alvVays been broad and prac- 
ticable, and he has had the courage to make 
known his convictions. 

For five years Senator Sparks was a mem- 
ber of the Champion City guards, O. N. G., 
and served during the strikes of 1877. He is 
at present a member of Linden division, uni- 
formed rank, Knights of Pythias, and has 
served both as captain of the same and as col- 
onel on the staff of Gen. Weidner; is a mem- 
ber of Wayne lodge, I. O. O. F. ; of Dayton 
encampment. No. 2; of Gem City lodge. United 
American Mechanics, and of Columbia lodge, 
Knights and Ladies of Honor. 

On May 6, 1890, Mr. Sparks was married 
to Miss Minnie A. Kimes, a daughter of Frank 
and Melissa Kimes, of Dayton. During the 
presidential campaign of 1896, Senator Sparks 
organized the Workingmen's McKinley cam- 
paign club, which had a membership of over 
3,000, was the largest laboring men's club in 
the United -States, and of this club he was 
elected president. 



QAURICE L. SPEAR, of the national 
military home, near Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in White Marsh, Mont- 
gomery county, Pa., December 25, 
1843. His parents, Daniel and Barbara 
Spear, both died at the family home in White 
Marsh — the father in 1883, at the age of 
seventy-nine years, and the mother ten years 
later, at the age of eighty-five. 

Maurice L. Spear, at the early age of four- 
teen years, ran away from his home and en- 
deavored to enlist in the United States navy, 
but was rejected on account of his youth. He 
then bound himself to a blacksmith in Beverly, 
N. J., and with him he worked until the out- 
break of the Rebellion, when he enlisted, 



August 6, 1 86 1, at Philadelphia, in company 
K, known as Birney's Zouaves, of the Twenty- 
third Pennsylvania volunteer infantry. Remain- 
ing at Washington, D. C, until early in March, 
1862, the regiment was assigned to the army 
of the Potomac; and was embarked on trans- 
ports at Alexandria to steam to Fortress Mon- 
roe, Va. Mr. Spear then took part in the 
siege of Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg, 
and under Gen. George B. McClellan, fought 
throughout the war of the peninsula; was 
under Gen. Pope at the second battle of Bull 
Run, again under McClellan at South Moun- 
tain and Antietam, and at Fredericksburg 
under Burnside, being in Gen. Franklin's di- 
vision, which opened this disastrous battle. 
Gen. Burnside having been relieved of his 
command and Gen. "Fighting Joe" Hooker 
placed in his stead, and the Twenty-third Penn- 
sylvania infantry having been merged with the 
Sixth army corps, Mr. Spear became a partici- 
pant in the battle of Chancellorsville, in which 
Gen. Lee and " Stonewall " Jackson badly de- 
feated Hooker. Here Jackson was accidently 
killed by one of his own men — the fight having 
lasted two days, May 2-3, 1863. Gen. Meade 
being now placed in command, the Sixth army 
corps made the longest march known to mili- 
tary history and reached Gettysburg, Pa. , tak- 
ing its place in the second day's fight of that 
famous battle as "fresh" troops, July 3, 1863. 
Here, while standing at the side of Mr. Spear, 
his brother lost his right hand. Meade fol- 
lowed the retreating Confederates for a time, 
then made the expedition against Mine Run, 
Ya., and there went into winter quarters. In 
the winter of 1863 Mr. Spear re-enlisted, was 
given a veteran furlough home, and in May 
1864, rejoined the army at North Anna river, 
Va. ; he took part in the battle of Cold Harbor 
June 1, 1864, and there lost his left arm be- 
low the elbow, sustained a severe wound in his 
right leg, a wound in his side, and a second 



778 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



wound in his disabled arm — four wounds in 
one battle. His arm was amputated on the 
field June 3, and the day following he was 
conveyed to White House Landing; on the 
10th he reached Alexandria, Va. , and was 
thence sent to David's island, in New York 
harbor, where he was treated in hospital until 
August, 1864, when he was allowed again to 
go home on furlough. September 1, 1864, he 
reported at McClellan's hospital, Philadelphia, 
did duty until September 6, 1865, when he 
was finally discharged from Moyer hospital, 
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Mr. Spear then 
returned to his parental home in White Marsh, 
where for a time he was employed by the 
Reading railroad company, and later by the 
Union Street Car company of Philadelphia, 
until March, 1873, when he came to the sol- 
diers' home in Dayton. Here he has been em- 
ployed in various positions, part of the time as 
a guard and part of the time as commander of 
a company. For the past ten years he has 
had charge of the "order" department of the 
Home beer hall, which none but inmates are 
permitted to enter, and these only under rigid 
restrictions. 

The parents of Lieut. Spear had a family 
of twelve children, of whom nine were living 
at the opening of the Civil war. David, the 
only brother, lost his hand at Gettysburg, as 
heretofore mentioned, and is now living in re- 
tirement at Gloucester, N. J, ; two of his sis- 
ters, Mrs. Amanda Woods and Miss Cecelia 
Spear, reside in Philadelphia; another, Mrs. 
Aletia Anderson, lives near Camden, N. J.; 
Mrs. Mary A. Jern is a resident of Cambridge, 
Washinton county, N. Y., and Mrs. Adeline 
McCauley died in Philadelphia. The family 
being of German descent, Mr. Spear took his 
religious vows in the German Reformed church 
on reaching his majority. In politics he is 
republican, but for several years past he has 
not been active in matters political. 



^"^EORGE W. HOUR, deceased, was 

■ G\ born in Cumberland county, Pa., on 

\^_^ September 25, 4825. His father, 

Adam Houk, was a native of the same 
1 

county, to which his father, Adam Houk, Sr., 
had removed during the middle of the last cen- 
tury. In 1827 Adam Houk, Jr., removed to 
Dayton, Ohio, and in this city George W. 
Houk spent the remainder of his life. The 
education of George W. Houk was secured 
in the common schools and at the Day- 
ton academy. He studied law in the office of 
Peter P. Lowe, and was admitted to the bar 
in 1847, following which he formed a partner- 
ship with his preceptor. A year or so later, 
however, he dissolved this relation and entered 
into a like one with the Hon. George B. Holt. 
In 1 860 he formed a partnership with the Hon. 
John A. McMahon, which lasted for twenty 
years, and from 1880 on Mr. Houk practiced 
on his sole account. 

In 1852, though but twenty-seven years of 
age, Mr. Houk was sent to the Ohio legislature, 
and was distinguished by being made chairman 
of the judiciary committee. In i860 he was 
sent as a delegate to the national democratic 
convention at Charleston, S. C, at which 
Stephen A. Douglas was nominated for presi- 
dent. In 1876 he was a delegate to the demo- 
cratic national convention at Saint Louis, when 
Samuel J. Tilden was nominated for the presi- 
dency. In 1884 he was nominated a district 
elector. In 1890 Mr. Houk was elected to 
congress from the Third Ohio district, and in 
1892 was re-elected. His death occurred sud- 
denly in Washington, on February 9, 1894, 
during his second congressional term. 

On December 25, 1856, Mr. Houk was 
married to Eliza P. Thruston, daughter of 
Robert A. Thruston, a granddaughter of Ho- 
ratio G. Phillips, and a sister to Gen. Gates 
P. Thruston, of Nashville, Tenn. Mr. Houk 
left a widow and three children, of whom Mrs. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



781 



Harry E. Mead is since deceased, and Mrs. 
Harry Talbot and Thruston Houk reside in 
Dayton city. 

Mr. Houk was possessed of strong intel- 
lectual powers and of literary tastes and ability, 
which manifested themselves in the writing of 
essays, philosophical treatises and public ad- 
dresses upon subjects covering a wide range. 
Much of his best work of this character was 
done solely for the love of writing and in order 
to fix in his mind the result of his extensive 
reading. While, therefore, some of his most 
valuable literary productions remained in man- 
uscript and without publication, his fine gift of 
expression and wealth of knowledge were 
known, outside his library, chiefly through his 
addresses upon public occasions. In this di- 
rection, his dignity, his fine presence, his rich 
fund of information upon public questions, and 
his thorough command of the best graces of 
oratory, combined to make George W. Houk 
one of the most prominent figures in the past 
fifty years of Dayton's history. Added to his 
equipment as a scholar and thinker were most 
delightful social qualities, humor, urbanity, un- 
failing courtesy and genuine hospitality. In 
both private and public life Mr. Houk was a 
fine type of the high-minded, upright, useful 
citizen. His sudden death came as a severe 
blow upon the community in which he had so 
long been loved and honored, bringing the 
sense of personal loss to a great circle of friends 
and acquaintances whom for many years he 
had charmed with his personality and im- 
pressed with his strength of mind and high 
moral character. 



aHARLES ALBERT STAINROOK, 
brick contractor and president of the 
Dayton Pressed Brick company, of 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Philadel- 
phia October 16, 1852. He is a son of Will- 

29 



iam and Anna (Housel) Stainrook, natives of 
Pennsylvania, are the parents of eleven chil- 
dren, of whom the following are still living: 
Emma, Virginia, Kate, Charles A., Lewis, 
Clara and Maggie. The father of these chil- 
dren is a bricklayer by trade and still lives in 
Philadelphia, with all the family except 
Charles A. Formerly he was a contractor, 
but has lived retired for several years. His 
wife is a consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

David Stainrook, the father of William 
Stainrook, was a native of Philadelphia, of 
German parents, who came to the United 
States and settled in Philadelphia, where David 
Stainrook, a blacksmith by trade, lived all his 
life, dying when eighty years of age. He and 
his wife were the parents of twelve children. 
The maternal grandfather of Charles A., was 
an Englishman by birth, came to the United 
States, and settled at York, Pa., where he was 
engaged in hotel keeping. He reared a family 
of eight children, and died at an advanced age. 

Charles A. Stainrook was reared in Phila- 
delphia, received a common-school education, 
and at the age of eighteen began learning the 
brickmason's trade. This trade he followed 
some four years, and in 1880 removed to Day- 
ton, Ohio, where he became engaged in con- 
tract work. He has erected a large number 
of buildings in Dayton, among them the Dea- 
coness hospital, the Davies building, the Bar- 
ney building, and the Dayton Club building. 
He was one of the organizers of the Dayton 
Pressed Brick company in 1894, and is now 
its president. This company gives employ- 
ment to an average of twenty-five men, and is 
carrying on a prosperous business. 

On January 18, 1882, Mr. Stainrook was 
married to Miss Margaret Hagerman, daugh- 
ter of Christopher and Eliza Jane (Breen) 
Hagerman. To this marriaga there have been 
born four children, as follows: Mildred, Mar- 



782 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



garet, Bessie and Clara. Politically Mr. 
Stainrook is a republican, but is not in any 
sense an office seeker. He lives at No. 149 
High street, and is well known throughout the 
county as a reliable contractor and a straight- 
forward, honest man, kind and generous in 
disposition and worthy of the confidence of the 
community in which he has earned an ample 
business success. 



a APT. JACOB C. STALEY, one of 
the honored and prominent ex-sol- 
diers of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city, February 25, 1842. His 
parents, Solomon and Susan B. Staley, were 
natives of Frederick, Md., were born No- 
vember 21, 1S06, and March 7, 18 14, re- 
spectively, were married in Frederick, Sep- 
tember 21, 1 83 1, and came to Dayton, Ohio, 
in 1832. The father was a cooper by trade, 
and died in Dayton, May 3, 1855; his widow 
survived until December 8, 1S95, when she 
died in her eighty-second year. Of their ten 
children four only are living, and of these, 
three served with honor and credit in the late 
Civil war. The Staley family was of Dutch 
and Swiss descent, and for several generations 
was resident of Maryland, Solomon Staley, 
mention above, having been the founder of the 
family in Ohio. 

Capt. Jacob C. Staley, the eldest of the 
four surviving children born to his parents, first 
enlisted for three months, April 16, 1861, in 
company C, First Ohio volunteer infantry, 
served at the battles of Vienna, Va., and of 
Bull Run, was honorably discharged August 
16, of the same year, and immediately re-en- 
listed for three years, entering company F, 
Second Ohio volunteer infantry, as sergeant. 
He was assigned to the army of the Cumber- 
land, took part in the skirmish at West Lib- 



erty, Ky. , and then in the battle of Ivy Mount- 
ain, November 8, 1S61. His regiment then 
became part of Gen. Mitchell's division, and 
went to Huntsville, Ala., and was first in the 
skirmishes at Widow's Creek and at Bridge- 
port, then followed Bragg's army to Louis- 
ville, Ky., from the Tennessee river, and next 
participated in the battle of Perry ville, Ky., 
October 8, 1862. The battle of Stone River 
followed December 31, and here Mr. Staley 
had command of his company, having been 
commissioned second lieutenant; the regiment 
then lay at Murfreesboro until June, 1863, 
when it started on the Tullahoma campaign 
under Gen. Rosecrans, of Rousseau's division; 
Hoover's Gap battle followed, then Chickamau- 
ga, September 19 and 20, 1863. Remaining at 
Chattanooga until November 24, 1863, the reg- 
iment was in the battle of Lookout Mountain, 
followed by Missionary Ridge, November 25; 
and the enemy was next met at Ringgold, Ga. 
The regiment then started, May 7, 1863, on 
the Atlanta campaign under Sherman, and 
took part in the battles of Tunnel Hill, Buz- 
zard's Roost and Resaca. At the last-named 
place, May 15,-1864 (second day's fight), Capt. 
Staley received a wound across the crown of 
his head, fracturing his skull and leaving a 
depression so deep that even at the present 
time two fingers may easily be laid therein. 
He was placed in a field hospital for some 
time, was then furloughed home, and partially 
recovered; rejoined his regiment at Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn., in September, and on October 
10, 1864, was mustered out at Camp Chase, 
Ohio, as first lieutenant, although he held a 
captain's commission, received too late for 
active service thereunder. Politically, an un- 
comproming republican, Capt. Staley, after 
returning to Dayton from the service, served 
as constable, deputy sheriff , etc., and for a few 
years was in the restaurant business, but of 
late has not been actively engaged in any oc- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



783 



cupation. In religion, he adheres to the faith 
of his parents — that of the Reform church. 

The marriage of Capt. J. C. Staley took 
place October 31, 1866, with Miss Rachael 
McCafferty, a native of Dayton, who died in 
May, 1886, the mother of one child — Jacob G. 
Staley, a printer by occupation, living in Day- 
ton, Ohio. 

Henry J. Staley, brother of Capt. Jacob C, 
was a soldier in the Sixty-sixth Illinois volun- 
teer infantry, served three years, and died in 
Dayton. Joseph P. Staley, another brother, 
was captain of company I, Eleventh Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, incurred disability while in the 
service, which was the cause of his resignation 
and the eventual cause of his death, which 
also occurred in Dayton. The captain has 
two unmarried sisters, still living, and one mar- 
ried sister, Mrs. Mary C. Case, of Newport, 
Ky., and these, with himself, comprise the sur- 
vivors of the family born to his parents. Capt. 
J. C. Staley is at present lieutenant-colonel of 
encampment No. 145, Union Veteran Legion 
of Dayton. 



SOBERT STEIN, M. D., of No. 110 
East Van Buren street, Dayton, and 
one of the city's most successful 
physicians, was born in Germany, 
October 18, 1861, and since July 3, 1873, has 
been a resident of Dayton, Ohio. 

Louis and Johanna (Kuehne) Stein, his par- 
ents, came from Berlin, bringing their small 
family, in the year 1873, and the father, being 
a mechanic, upon reaching Dayton, found im- 
mediate employment as foreman for Zwick & 
Daniels, with whom he continued until his 
death in 1879, at the age of forty-four years. 
To his marriage were born five children, of 
whom Robert is the eldest; John is foreman 
for the Paper Novelty company of Dayton; 
George is spoke inspector for the Pinneo & 



Daniels Wheel factory of Dayton, and Mary 
and Anna are at home with their mother. 

After coming to Dayton, Robert Stein was 
placed under private instruction and also at- 
tended night school, in order to improve him- 
self in his knowledge of the English tongue, 
and when sufficiently • prepared entered the 
office of Dr. A. H. Iddings as a student of 
medicine. He then attended the Miami Med- 
ical college at Cincinnati, from which he was 
graduated with the class of 1886, and first lo- 
cated for practice in North Dayton, where he 
remained until the fall of 1S89, when he went 
to Vienna, Austria. Here he studied at the 
renowned university of that city for one year; 
returning to Dayton, he was elected a member 
of the board of education, and after passing 
eleven months in the city made another trip to 
Europe, and for ten months was a student in 
the university of Berlin, devoting himself 
chiefly to acquiring a knowledge of surgery and 
of the treatment of diseases of women. On 
his return from Berlin he engaged in general 
practice in Dayton, and has met with gratify- 
ing success. He stands high in the esteem of 
his professional brethren, as well as that of the 
public, and is a member of the Montgomery 
county Medical association, and of the D. O. 
H. Since his return he has been re-elected a 
member of the board of education. On Jan- 
uary 9, 1897, Dr. Stein was appointed United 
States pension examining surgeon for Dayton. 




HOMAS L. STEWARD, agent of the 
Royal Insurance company at Dayton, 
Ohio, was born near Emmittsburg, 
Frederick count}', Md. , July 5, 1833, 
and is of Scotch-Irish descent paternally and 
of German descent maternally. His grand- 
father, John Posey Steward, married Miss Mary 
Beam, and was flour inspector for the port of 
Baltimore for many years. John Beam Stew- 



784 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ard, son of John Posey Steward and father of 
Thomas L., was a miller by vocation, and 
August 30, 1832, married Miss Ann Mary Link, 
Rev. David Schaeffer, of the Lutheran church, 
officiating. To this union were born six sons 
and one daughter, two in Frederick county, 
Md., the others in Ohio, and of this family the 
mother and four of the children are still living, 
the latter being Thomas and John, of Dayton, 
Ohio; D. Minor, of Chattanooga, Tenn., and 
Mrs. V. C. Gelwicks, of Delphi, Ohio. Thomas 
Link, the father of Mrs. John Beam Steward, 
married Miss Anna M. Fout. He was a well- 
to-do farmer of Maryland and a slave owner, 
but in his heart was opposed to holding human 
beings in bondage and eventually emancipated 
his living chattels. In politics the forefathers 
of Thomas L. Steward were all anti-slavery 
democrats, and all American patriots, some 
having served in the wars, and one aunt of 
our subject drew a pension as the result of her 
husband's services in the war of 1812. John 
B. Steward was thoroughly loyal to his native 
land and ever inculcated in his children the 
motto: "Your country, right or wrong.'' In 
the fall of 1837 he came to Ohio and settled 
in Lewisburg, Preble county, saying that a slave 
state was no place for a man who had to work 
with his hands. Schools in those days were 
taught only in winter, and the instruction given 
was of an elementary character; the school- 
buildings were far apart, and that which our 
subject attended was two miles from his home. 
In December, 1846, John B. Steward had the 
misfortune to fall through a hatchway in his 
mill, the accident resulting in his death on the 
fourth day of the same month. 

Thomas L. Steward, being the eldest child 
in the family, was now called upon to aid in 
the support of his mother and the younger 
children, the estate of his father being lost 
through bad investments by the administrator. 
In 1847 a friend secured for him a situation as 



driver on the Miami & Erie canal at a com- 
pensation of $15 in gold per month. This 
proved of great aid to the mother and little 
ones, and later he was promoted to be steers- 
man at $30 per month. In 1850 he began 
learning the trade of carriage blacksmith with 
a Mr. Woodmansee, on St. Clair street, Day- 
ton, and this vocation he followed until the 
breaking out of the Civil war, in 1861. 

August 10, 1856, Mr. Steward was married 
to Miss Frances A. Garber, the ceremony being 
performed by Rev. George W. Williard, of the 
First Reformed church, of Dayton. This union 
has resulted in the birth of two children — 
Carrie M., on March 11, 1858, and LeRoyT., 
March 24, i860. The daughter is deceased, 
but the son, LeRoy T. , passed through the 
Dayton schools, and at the age of nineteen 
years went to Chicago, where he has risen to 
considerable distinction, having been president 
of the Marquette republican club, and being 
the present lieutenant-colonel and inspector 
of the First brigade, Illinois national guard; 
in fact, he has been identified with the state 
militia since he was sixteen years of age, and 
is well prepared to take part in the defense of 
his country should he ever be called upon for 
that purpose, as were his forefathers. 

In politics Thomas L. Steward was at first 
an anti-slavery democrat, and voted for John 
C. Fremont, as the representative of the anti- 
slavery principles, for president of the United 
States, in 1856. In local politics he voted 
with the democrats, but in i860 cast his vote 
for Lincoln in the presidential election. He 
was a member of the Washington (Dayton) 
light artillery, and when the call to arms was 
sounded at the firing on Fort Sumter, his 
company, of which he had been elected second 
lieutenant, went to Columbus and was as- 
signed, as company A, to the Ohio volunteer 
militia, served four months, and was then 
mustered out. After working at his trade, on 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



785 



his return to Dayton, until July, 1862, Mr. 
Steward, as second lieutenant of a company of 
thirty men, intended to enter the regular 
army, but this step was opposed by the county 
military committee and he was assigned as 
second lieutenant of company I, Eleventh Ohio 
volunteer infantry, to serve three years. He 
was mustered in at Camp Dennison, August 9, 
1862, joined his regiment in West Virginia, 
was with his company at the battle of Hoover's 
Gap, Tenn., and was mustered out as first 
lieutenant June 24, 1863, although he had 
commanded his company at Chickamauga and 
Missionary Ridge. After a leave of absence of 
twenty days he rejoined the army at Chatta- 
nooga, was appointed to the command of com- 
pany K, and fought at Resaca, which was the 
last battle in which his regiment took part. 
After that battle Capt. Steward was taken 
sick and was brought, on his way home, as far 
as Cincinnati, flat on his back. The regiment 
was mustered out at Camp Dennison, June 20, 
1864, and Capt. Steward was offered a 
lieutenant-colonelcy, but was refused the pro- 
motion by the examining surgeon, who decided 
him to be unfit for further active duty. 

Light employment was difficult to procure, 
but in November, 1864, Capt. Steward secured 
a responsible position with the United States 
and American Express companies, with whom 
he served seven years, when he resigned on ac- 
count of ill health. May ro, 1873, he was 
sworn in as chief of the Dayton Metropolitan 
police force, but resigned, and for two years 
was a traveling salesman for John Dodds&Co., 
then for ten and a half years acted in the same 
capacity for Greer & King, stove manufactur- 
ers. In 1887 he accepted his present position 
as agent for the Royal Insurance company, in 
which he has been very successful. 

Fraternally Capt. Steward is a member of 
the Loyal Legion; also of Old Guard post, No. 
23, Grand Army of the Republic, in which he 



has filled the offices of quartermaster's sergeant 
and trustee for two years, quartermaster two 
years, post commander one year, and one 
year inspector on the state staff for two coun- 
ties. In religion he has been a member of 
the First Reformed church since about 1858. 
The captain had two brothers who served in 
the Eleventh Ohio volunteer infantry, one 
cousin in the Ninety-third, two cousins in an 
Ohio cavalry regiment, and one in an Illinois 
regiment of infantry. In longevity, the span 
of life of the family is somewhat beyond the 
ordinary, the mother of the captain being now 
in her eighty-eighth year, and he and his wife 
in their sixty-fourth. In the respect of the 
community none stand higher. 



a APT. JOHN R. STEWART, who 
holds an important official position at 
the national soldiers' home, is the 
son of Neil and Mary (Barker) Stew- 
art, natives of Dublin, Ireland, and first saw 
the light of day on the 29th of June, 1844, in 
Cincinnati, Ohio. The father, a silversmith 
by trade, died when his son John was a small 
child, and after the mother's re-marriage, her 
three sons, William, Robert and John R. , left 
the parental roof, seeking their fortunes in 
different parts of the country; William en- 
tered the regular army before the Civil war, 
and Robert went to California, where he still 
makes his home. 

Capt. Stewart grew to manhood in his na- 
tive city, where, on the 12th of April, 1861, 
he enlisted in what was known as the Guthrie 
Grays, afterward designated as the Sixth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, for the three months' serv- 
ice. He re-enlisted in the field prior to the 
expiration of his term of service, the regiment 
retaining its original organization, but his com- 
pany being changed from E to A. Nicholas 



786 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



S. Anderson was made colonel of this regi- 
ment, which shared the vicissitudes of war for 
three years under Gens. Nelson, Buell and 
Grant, and took part in many of the hard- 
fought battles of the southwestern campaigns. 
In the battle of Murfreesboro, 152 of its men 
were reported killed, wounded and missing, 
out of 383 men and officers engaged; a heavy 
loss was also sustained at Chickamauga, where 
125 brave men failed to respond at roll call 
after the battle, Col. Anderson being among 
the number severely wounded. The loss at 
Stone River aggregated seventy-seven, of whom 
fifty-one, or thirteen per cent, were killed — a 
greater loss than that sustained by any other 
regiment engaged in that battle, except the 
Twenty-first Illinois. 

Capt. Stewart was mustered out of the 
service June 23, 1864, and shortly thereafter 
engaged in railroading, accepting the position 
of conductor, which he filled for a period of 
five years. During the twelve succeeding 
years he was connected with the fire depart- 
ment of Cincinnati, in which he filled every 
official station, and while thus employed met 
with a painful injury by falling from a ladder 
from the fourth story of a building. He was 
picked up for dead and resuscitated only after 
long and skillful treatment. After his recov- 
ery, he was promoted to the captaincy of 
another company with lighter duties, but 
finally, on account of his injuries, retired from 
the fire department, and, being unable by 
reason of his disabilities to engage in any active 
employment, he became an inmate of the 
national soldiers' home, where, with the ex- 
ception of two years, he has held official po- 
sitions of various kinds since 1886. 

Capt. Stewart was a brave soldier and 
earned a reputation for gallantry upon fields 
made memorable by reason of fierce struggle 
and great effusion of blood. He is proud of 
his record, which is indeed without a stain, as 



is also his official career since becoming iden- 
tified with the home. 

The captain takes great interest in Masonry, 
in which he holds high rank, having attained 
the thirty-second degree. He belongs to Mys- 
tic lodge, No. 405; Dayton Unity chapter, 
No. 16; Reese council, No. 9, royal and select 
Masons; Reed commandery, No. 6, K. T., 
and A. A., Scottish-rite, No. 32, Cincinnati. 
In February, 1896, he was honored with the 
shriners' degree; he is a member of the Syrian 
temple, Cincinnati, and also belongs to the 
Union Veteran Legion, the G. A. R. , and en- 
campment 82, W. V. S. In religion and 
politics the captain is most liberal, not being 
bound by creed or party. 



BRANK A. STETSON, telegraph oper- 
ator at the national military home, 
near Dayton, Ohio, was born in Mat- 
tawamkeag, Penobscot county, Me., 
May 17, 1848, and is a son of Charles W. and 
Margaret Stetson, the former of whom died 
when Frank A. was but six years of age and 
the latter while he was in the Civil war. Of 
the six sons born to these parents, four were 
soldiers in the Civil war and one a sutler, or 
military storekeeper; all five returned, but of 
these, two have since died ; one brother, Charles 
W. , is a merchant in Boston, Mass., and one, 
Alfred, resides in Hodgedon, Me.; two sisters 
are still living — Mrs. George Elkins, in Chi- 
cago, 111., and Mrs. J. M. Hilton, in Cam- 
bridge, Mass. 

Frank A. Stetson received his education in 
Lincoln, Me., and in Holton, Me., and at the 
early age of fourteen years and seven months 
enlisted in the Seventeenth United States in- 
fantry. Sixty of his boyhood associates — most 
of them his own age — enlisted at the same 
time, and of these but eight returned, of whom 
two or three were musicians and for that reason 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



787 



were not required to enter into the thickest of 
the fray. Mr. Stetson's regiment was assigned 
to the Fifth army corps, regular division, com- 
manded by Gen. Sykes. He joined the army 
at Harrison's Landing, Va., after its defeat in 
the Peninsular campaign. He fought at sec- 
ond Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- 
ville, Antietam, Gettysburg, through the Wil- 
derness, in the Petersburg campaign, and in 
the Weldon railroad campaign. In a battle 
fought by the First and Second divisions of the 
Fifth corps, at a place locally known as Squir- 
rel Level road, young Stetson and fifteen com- 
rades, with two officers, were captured from 
an aggregate of thirty-two men then in his 
regiment and detailed for duty. The sappers 
and miners had felled trees, forming an impen- 
etrable obstruction to the advance of the enemy, 
but by some means the rebels managed to se- 
crete in front of this abattis a body of infantry, 
who found it an easy matter to capture the 
Federals, who were deployed for skirmish duty 
— Mr. Stetson being among the number. This 
was the last battle in which he took part, as 
he was first sent to Libby prison, thence to 
Danville, and finally to Salisbury, N. C. He 
was held from October 10, 1864, until Febru- 
ary 22, 1865, when he was paroled and sent 
to Annapolis, Md., to await exchange. He 
was there discharged April 5, 1865, when he 
returned to his home in Lincoln, Me. 

Mr. Stetson now began the study of teleg- 
raphy, and was for thirteen years employed 
as an operator on the European & North 
American railroad — the last nine years of this 
period being passed in his native town. He 
was then employed for one year in a machine 
shop in Boston, Mass., and for four years in 
the same business in New York city. In 1883 
he entered the national military home at 
Hampton, Va., having been led to take this 
step from having lost his right leg above the 
knees, and finding in difficult to make a good 



living as a mechanic, in competition with able- 
bodied men. At the Hampton home he was 
employed in the manufacture of artificial limbs, 
and after passing three years in this manner, 
he came to the Central branch at Dayton, 
Ohio, where, for several years, he was em- 
ployed in the same occupation. For the past 
three years, however, he has had charge of the 
Western Union telegraph office at the home 
and has performed his duties in a most satis- 
factory manner. 

Mr. Stetson has never married. He was 
reared in the religious faith of his parents — 
that of the Methodist church — and politically 
has been a life-long republican. Fraternally 
he is a member of the Union Veteran Union 
encampment of Dayton. He has been so long 
separated from his relatives, and was so young 
when bereft of his parents, that his genealogy 
has been lost. It may be added, in regard to 
Mr. Stetson, that his habits of life have been 
those of morality and industry, and that he en- 
joys the confidence and esteem of the officials 
of the home and of his comrades. 



* w * ENRY STODDARD, deceased, was 
1^\ among the prominent, and, by many, 
W well-remembered pioneer citizens of 
Dayton, who contributed greatly to- 
ward the growth and development of the Gem 
City and her institutions, and who left their 
impress upon the history of the community, 
and for over half a century was closely identi- 
fied with the interests and affairs of this grow^ 
ing city, and for almost that length of time 
ranked as one of the foremost and most suc- 
cessful members of the Montgomery county 
bar association. 

Mr. Stoddard was born on the 1 8th day of 
March, 1788, at Woodbury, Conn., and was 
descended from prominent Pilgrim and Revo- 
lutionary ancestry. His father, Asa Stoddard, 



788 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



was a direct descendant from the Rev. Anthony 
Stoddard, of London, England, who settled in 
Boston, Mass., in 1670, and whose many de- 
scendants have for over two centuries occupied 
honorable and responsible positions in the New 
England, eastern and middle states. After 
attending the common schools and securing 
such education as was to be obtained from that 
source in that day, and after spending about 
five years clerking in a store, Mr. Stoddard 
began reading law, and in the year 1812 was 
admitted to the bar. Four years later, in 
company with the late Hon. George B. Holt, 
he came west on horseback, and in 18 17 lo- 
cated permanently in Dayton. At that time 
Dayton was but a village of not over 600 peo- 
ple, situated in the center of a vast and almost 
unbroken wilderness, and in the practice of his 
profession Mr. Stoddard made the circuit on 
horseback, attending court in the surrounding 
counties, in doing which he was compelled to 
undergo many hardships and often perils. 
Success attended his efforts, however, and for 
many years he ranked as one of the leading 
lawyers in this part of the state. During the 
years from 1840 until his retirement from prac- 
tice, Mr. Stoddard was the law partner of the 
late Judge D. A. Haynes, and between the two 
there always existed terms of intimacy and cor- 
diality. Having acquired a competency, and 
having reached an age when one who has lived 
an active life begins to seek rest, Mr. Stod- 
dard retired from active practice of the law in 
1846, and thereafter gave his time and atten- 
tion to his private affairs. His death occurred 
at his home in this city on the 1st day of No- 
vember, 1869. For many years Mr. Stoddard 
was quite active in church work, having been 
a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian church 
of Dayton. He was also for years vice-presi- 
dent and a life director of the American Coloni- 
zation society. 

Mr. Stoddard was twice married, his first 



wife having been Harriet L. Patterson, who 
died on the 1st day of October, 1822, leaving 
one son, Asa P. Stoddard, now a citizen of 
Saint Louis. His second wife was Susan Will- 
liams, who died on the 5th day of April, 1861, 
leaving the following children: Mrs. Samuel 
B. Smith, of Dayton; Henry Stoddard, now a 
resident of California; John W. Stoddard, 
president of the Stoddard Manufacturing com- 
pany, of Dayton, and E. Fowler, deceased. 
Sketches of the two latter sons may be found 
elsewhere in this volume. 



/^^f FOWLER STODDARD (deceased) 
U I was one of the most prominent and 
\^^ popular of the younger class of repre- 
sentative business men of Dayton. 
He was born in this city on July 16, 1845, 
and was the son of the late Henry Stoddard, 
of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this 
volume. At the age of twenty-two years he 
was graduated from Yale college, in the class 
of 1867; and in i8 4 68 was married to Miss Bes- 
sie W. Lowe, daughter of Col. John G. Lowe, 
of Dayton. 

After a varied business experience in Day- 
ton of several years, Mr. Stoddard became 
connected with his brother, John W., in the 
manufacturing business, where his superior 
business capabilities, mechanical aptitude, and 
excellent principles soon became of inesti- 
mable value, and led to his promotion to the 
position of vice-president and general manager 
of the concern. 

Mr. Stoddard was an active participant in 
everything that tended to promote the general 
business interests of the city and was a highly 
esteemed and valuable member of the Dayton 
board of trade. He was in attendance at one 
of the regular meetings of the board on the 
evening of Tuesday, May 31, 1887, and after 
the adjournment, at about nine o'clock, pass- 




From " Early Dayton," 

COL. GEORGE NEWCOM. 



1 



fee y 



ISM'WjMmlm 




From " Early I »aj t< n 



SEW< OM'S fc'IUST l OG CA BIN IN I fHfi. 




#%%- 



NEWCOM'S TAVEKN IN 1799 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



789 



ing down the east stairway from the city build- 
ing to Jefferson street, paused for a few min- 
utes, under the shelter, in conversation with a 
fellow-member of the board before passing out 
upon the sidewalk, to await the cessation of a 
heavy shower of rain. He had been standing 
there but a few minutes when a flash was sud- 
denly reflected from the water on the pave- 
ment, accompanied by the report of a pistol. 
A young man at the same instant was seen 
running by in the rain, but who, a few minutes 
afterward, hurried back to pick up the pistol, 
which had accidentally fallen from his pocket, 
and upon striking the pavement had exploded. 
The ball, thus driven from its chamber, un- 
aimed by any human hand or eye, struck Mr. 
Stoddard, some twenty feet distant, imme- 
diately below and in the rear of the left ear, 
and, ranging upward, lodged in the base of the 
brain. He was sufficiently conscious to realize 
the probable fatal character of the injury. His 
first thought was that his wife should be spared 
the shock, his next, that his brother should be 
called to his side. His last coherent words 
were that he had " tried to live square with the 
world." He was quickly removed to his home 
and the most skillful surgical aid was at once 
in attendance. He gradually became uncon- 
scious, and before the morning of June i, 
1887, breathed his last upon the same spot 
where, forty-two years before, he was ushered 
into existence. It would be impossible to ex- 
aggerate the deep and heart-felt sorrow that 
pervaded the community upon this most tragic 
occurrence, which had cut short a life and 
business career replete with every promise of 
happiness, usefulness and success. 

Mr. Stoddard was always an active Chris- 
tian, as enthusiastic in church work as he was 
in business. He was a man of marked versa- 
tility in church, in society and in business; and 
in the world of field sports, his excellencies of 
character was alike displayed, and their su- 



perior influence recognized. His mental fac- 
ulties were well trained. He possessed a great 
power of concentration with a large degree of 
enthusiasm in whatever he undertook. He 
was remarkably quick in his perceptions, 
and rapid, though not unsafe, in arriving at 
conclusions. 

As the general manager of the large manu- 
facturing establishment of which he was also 
vice-president, Mr. Stoddard was conspicuous 
for his intelligence, promptness and straight- 
forward dealing with the men under his man- 
agement. He always commanded their in- 
stant respect. With the innate instinct of a 
gentleman his intercourse with the employees 
was uniformly such as to inspire each of them 
with a sentiment of personal esteem — in many 
instances of affection. He was at once affable, 
kind and firm, and scores of these men, who 
were assembled at the manufactory on the 
morning when they learned the sad intelligence 
of his death, gave free vent to their sorrow in 
tears. No more touching tribute was ever 
paid to the memory of any man than was wit- 
nessed at his funeral, when several hundred of 
these plain, unpretentious laboring men, whom 
he had greeted daily with friendly words, and 
who had long been performing their daily tasks 
under his supervision, followed on foot his re- 
mains to the grave, and there stood with un- 
covered heads and tearful eyes to testify their 
appreciation of his worth and their sorrow for 
his untimely death. 



>t-»OHN H. STOPPELMAN, one of the 
m venerable and honored citizens of Day- 
/• 1 ton, Ohio, was born in the township of 
Dochren, parish of Riemsloh, amt 
Groenenberg, Osnabruck, Westphalia, king- 
dom of Hanover, on the 11th of August, 1826. 
His parents were Peter H. and Catherine Ma- 
rion (Hazelhorst) Stoppelman, the father being 



790 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



a native of the same province where the son 
was born, the mother coming from West 
Kiloer, parish of Roedinghausen, amt Buende, 
Westphalia, kingdom of Prussia. The father 
died in his native land, on February 23, 1841, 
and his wife survived him until November 13, 
1854. They were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, as follows : John Frederick died in 
Germany, in 1857 ; Mary Elizabeth, who came 
with the family to America in 1858, met her 
death as the result of an accident, in Dayton, 
on the 28th of December, i860, having been 
the wife of C. H. Althoff, who also is deceased ; 
Catherine Mary died in the fatherland in 1857, 
having been the wife of John F. Pape ; Her- 
man H. emigrated to America in 1853, but re- 
turned to Germany two years later and there 
died in 1S68 ; Catherine, who died in her na- 
tive land in 1873, was the wife of John F. 
Budde ; John H. was the next in order of birth; 
Flora became the wife of C. H. Kaeseman, 
and her death occurred in Germany in 1878 ; 
and Charles H. died November 10, 1892, on 
the old homestead. 

John H. Stoppelman was reared on the 
parental farm in Westphalia, and received his 
educational discipline in the excellent schools 
of his native land, remaining upon the old 
homestead until the time of his emigration to 
America. He landed in New York on the 
5th of May, 1849, being the first of the family 
to seek a home in the new world. He pro- 
ceeded to Ulster county, N. Y., where he en- 
gaged in work on a canal boat. On December 
6, 1849, he left New York for Cincinnati, 
Ohio, arriving in the Queen City on the 18th 
of the same month, making the journey by 
canal, stage, railway and the Ohio river. He 
remained in Cincinnati until June, 1850, when 
he went to Middletown, this state, where he 
was for some time in the employ of Adam 
Foster, a popular hotel keeper. In August, 
1 85 1 , Mr. Stoppelman made his advent in the 



city of Dayton, which has ever since been his 
home and the scene of his earnest and useful 
endeavors. He secured employment with 
Daniel Beckel, beginning his labors in the 
humble capacity of hostler ; but such was his 
intelligence and his manifest capacity for af- 
fairs of greater breadth that he was given a 
position in Mr. Beckel's bank, where he acted 
in a clerical capacity. After the failure of this 
enterprise our subject continued in the employ 
of Mr. Beckel, becoming a salesman in a dry- 
goods establishment which his employer had 
opened. Mr. Stoppelman was faithful to his 
employer and for a period of two years, while 
Mr. Beckel was absent in Michigan, where he 
was building a railroad, his entire business in 
Dayton was committed to the charge of our 
subject, who handled the same to the entire 
satisfaction of his principal. He remained for 
nine years with Mr. Beckel, and was a trusted 
friend and confidant of the man who had thus 
given him an opportunity to secure a start in 
the world. 

In i860 Mr. Stoppelman became, to a cer- 
tain extent, actively concerned in local politics, 
and was elected a member of the school board 
of the city. He was next given a position in 
the office of the county auditor, in 1861, re- 
taining this place for one year. In 1862 he 
was elected a justice of the peace, in which ca- 
pacity he served for the full term of three 
years. He then engaged in the insurance busi- 
ness, being one of the projectors and organizers 
of the Teutonia Insurance company, of which he 
was the first secretary, holding that office for 
more than two years. Within this time he 
engaged in the brewing business, in company 
with William Sander, and they operated the 
City brewery for a period of five years. This 
venture proved unsuccessful, and through it 
Mr. Stoppelman lost considerable money. He 
next turned his attention to the life insurance 
business, in which he continued for four years. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



791 



For over thirty years he has been a notary 
public, and since 1873 has given most of his 
attention to this calling. 

In 1870 and 1872 Mr. Stoppelman again 
served as a member of the board of education, 
and was returned to this important department 
in the centennial year. In the same year 
(1876) he was also elected a member of the 
board of equalization, in which capacity he 
rendered service for one year. In 1881 he was 
elected to the city council, and was re-elected 
in 1883, while in 1886 he was again elected a 
member of the board of equalization, and, in 
1 89 1, to the decennial board of equalization. 
In the various official capacities in which he has 
served Mr. Stoppelman has been alert and 
conscientious, holding the interests of the pub- 
lic at heart and doing all in his power to fur- 
ther wise municipal government and general 
prosperity. His life has been one of unswerv- 
ing integrity and honor, and within the long 
years of his residence in Dayton he has not 
faiied to gain and retain the esteem and confi- 
dence of the community. 

The marriage of Mr. Stoppelman was 
solemnized on the 4th of October, 1855, when 
he was united to Miss Margaret B. Schirmer, 
of Wapakoneta, Auglaize county, this state, 
she being a native of the county mentioned. 
To this union ten children have been born, and 
of the number six are living, namely: Susan, 
wife of Henry F. Logel, of Dayton; Margaret 
C. , a teacher in the Dayton public schools; 
John H., Jr., secretary of the Weston Paper 
company; Charles F., in the employ of W. L. 
Adamson & Co., wholesale grocers of this city; 
William S., assistant secretary of the Dayton 
water works, and Daniel W., at home. Three 
children died in infancy, and Flora A., who 
was born August 27, 1875, died September 10, 
1886. The religious connections of the family 
are with Saint Paul's Lutheran church, on 
Wavne street. 



>-TT»OSEPH STRAUB, merchant, of Day- 
M ton, Ohio, is a native of the city, a son 
A 1 of parents who were among the early 
settlers here and of the most sturdy 
German stock. He conducts a successful re- 
tail grocery at the corner of Boltin and McLain 
streets, where he has been located for a term 
of years. He was born September 25, 1854, 
in that portion of Dayton then known as 
Frenchtown. His father, Joseph Straub, Sr. , 
who is still living and who is honored as one of 
the patriarchs of Dayton, which has been the 
scene of his honest and active endeavors for 
so many years, was born in Baden, Germany, 
whence, in the early '50s, he emigrated to 
America. Upon reaching the United States 
the young German made his way directly to 
Dayton, which has ever since been his home, 
his arrival here dating back to 1852. In the 
fatherland he had learned the trades of cooper- 
ing and brewing, and soon after his arrival in 
Dayton he built the old brewery on Third 
street and operated the same for several years, 
after which he resumed work at the cooper's 
trade. In the war of the Rebellion he ren- 
dered loyal service in the Fifty-eighth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, being a member of Capt. 
Diston's company. The maiden name of his 
wife was Kunigunda Maier. By her marriage 
to Joseph Straub, Sr. , she became the mother 
of five children, all of whom are still living. 

Joseph Straub, Jr., the immediate subject 
of this review, passed his youthful days in Day- 
ton, receiving his education in the public 
schools, after which he assumed the practical 
duties of life by securing a clerkship in the 
grocery of John Wenz, in whose employ he 
remained four years, after which he held a sim- 
ilar position in the dry-goods establishment of 
Bunstine, Moses & Boyer for a period of three 
years. His next employment was as a sales- 
man in the clothing house of Chamberlain & 
Parker, with whom he remained only about 



792 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



nine months, when he became identified with 
the wholesale notion trade in the establish- 
ment of C. C. Moses, with whom he remained 
for two years. He then engaged, on his own 
account, in the confectionery business, and 
continued this enterprise with increasing suc- 
cess for a period of five years, after which he 
disposed of the same and accepted a position 
with William Focke & Sons, meat dealers, 
with whom he remained for three years. In 
October, 1886, he established his present suc- 
cessful business by opening a well-equipped 
and attractive grocery at the location already 
noted, and here he has since continued, hold- 
ing a representative patronage and the best 
class of trade. He has other interests which 
demand a part of his time and attention, and 
among these it may be noted that for the past 
five years he has been a member of the direct- 
ory of the Permanent Building & Savings as- 
sociation, of Dayton, and for the past two 
years has been vice-president of the same. 

In his political faith Mr. Straub is a mem- 
ber of the democratic party. Fraternally, he 
is a member of the order known as the Amer- 
ican Sons of Columbus and is also identified 
with the A. O. U. W. and the C. K. of O. 

In the year 1876 was solemnized the mar- 
riage of Mr. Straub to Miss Josephine Clemens, 
a daughter of Nicholas Clemens, of Dayton. 
They are the parents of four daughters, viz: 
Henrietta, Ida, Marie and Helen. He and 
his family are members of Holy Trinity Roman 
Catholic church. 



at 



'AYLAND P. SUNDERLAND, 
treasurer of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born near Centerville, 
Washington township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, on February 11, 1853. He is a 
son of Aaron and Minerva (Irwin) Sunderland, 
both of whom were born in the same locality, 



the father in the year 1809, and the mother in 
1 8 19. The father was a farmer by vocation, 
and died in 1872, at the age of sixty-three 
years. The mother is still living. 

The paternal grandfather of Wayland P. 
was Peter Sunderland, who was born in Penn- 
sylvania, of English descent, and was one of 
the earliest settlers in Montgomery county. 
The maternal grandfather was William Irwin, 
also an early settler of this county. 

Wayland P. Sunderland was reared on the 
farm. He attended the district schools and 
finished his education at the college in Leb- 
anon, Ohio. He followed farming exclusively 
for several years, and then turned his atten- 
tion to stock-raising, and for about ten years 
was one of the leading stockmen of the county. 
In the fall of 1894 he was elected treasurer of 
Montgomery county as the candidate of the re- 
publican party, and in 1896 was re-elected. 
He is also city treasurer of Dayton. In 1873 
Mr. Sunderland was married to Lucy Reich- 
stetter, who was born and reared in Dayton. 
Mr. Sunderland is a member of the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity. 



a APT. CHARLES J. TERWILLI- 
GER is descended from families .of 
English and Scotch origin that have 
been represented for several genera- 
tions in the state of New York. His father 
was Charles Terwilliger, who died when the 
son, Charles, was a mere child", and his mother, 
Keziah Shaw, who has since re-married, is 
still living at an advanced age in her native 
state. There were four sons and one daughter 
born to Charles and Keziah Terwilliger, eldest 
of whom, Col. William H., is connected with 
the U. S. custom house in New York city; he 
was colonel of the Sixty-third New York in- 
fantry during the Civil war and fought with 
the celebrated Irish brigade in the army of the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



793 



Potomac; Thomas Peter, the second son, died 
in January, 1895, h' s place of residence at the 
time being Makanda, Ills. , where he was 
engaged in the manufacture of flour; Moses S. 
is station and express agent for the New York 
& Erie railroad at Susquehanna, Penn., and 
the only daughter, Sarah, wife of William 
Vedenberg, resides at Newark, N. J. 

Charles J. Terwilliger, the third in order of 
birth, first saw the light of day in the town of 
Bloomingburg, Sullivan county, N. Y. , on the 
1st day of November, 1840. His early life 
was spent very much like that of other boys of 
his time, working at different occupations and 
attending school during the years of his minor- 
ity. He early learned the miller's trade and 
followed the same until the breaking out of the 
late Civil war, when he enlisted, in 1861, at 
Middletown, N. Y. in company C, Fourth 
New York cavalry, with which he served in 
the army of the Potomac under division com- 
mander, Gen. Blinker. He was first under 
fire at Rose Hill, Va., and in May, 1862, 
received a severe wound, which necessitated 
his removal to the U. S. general hospital at 
Grafton, Va., where he remained until the 22d 
of July following, when he was pronounced 
sufficiently cured to rejoin his command. 

The same year he re-enlisted in the One 
Hundred and Sixty-eighth New York infantry 
for nine months, which time he served with 
Gen. Keyes, doing garrison duty principally at 
Yorktown; subsequently he went further south 
with the Eleventh and Twelfth army corps 
under Gen. O. O. Howard, and was in Sher- 
man's army until the expiration of his term 
of enlistment, receiving his final discharge at 
Newburg, N. Y. 

In the fall of 1863, the captain again en- 
tered the army, enlisting in company E, Sixty- 
third New York infantry; this regiment was 
attached to the celebrated Irish brigade which 
formed a part of the famous Second corps 



under Gen. Hancock. Capt. Terwilliger was 
with his command in all the maneuvers of the 
corps during the final campaigns of the war, 
and took part in a number of celebrated bat- 
tles; he was present at the surrender of the 
Confederate forces of Gen. Lee at Appomat- 
tox, and took part in the grand review of the 
victorious armies of the Union at Washington, 
in May, 1865. It was during the period of 
his third enlistment that he was promoted 
from the ranks in January, 1864, first lieuten- 
ant of company E, and on the 2d day of 
April, 1865, was made captain, in which ca- 
pacity he served until the close of the war. 
In the grand review at the national capital the 
captain commanded the "color company" of 
the right. He held every position in the Sixty- 
third from private to captain, and at one time, 
by reason of the absence of other officers, he 
filled the positions of quartermaster and of ad- 
jutant; toward the close of the war, the right 
being weakened by casualties, promotions were 
not made to fill vacancies, as had formerly 
been the custom, which accounts for the im- 
portant places with which he was entrusted 
at different times. The captain received 
his final discharge July 8, 1865, at Hart's 
Island, N. Y., and shortly thereafter, turned 
his attention to railroading, finding employ- 
ment with the New York & Erie company, 
with which he remained eighteen years, filling 
during that time various positions, from that 
of section foreman to that of conductor. 
Severing his connection with the road, the 
captain next entered the employ of the War- 
der, Bushnell & Glessner Manufacturing com- 
pany of Springfield, O., and for several years 
traveled over the greater part of the United 
States, as an expert machinist. He was finally 
compelled to relinquish this arduous employ- 
ment on account of injuries received while in 
the service; these, intensified by advancing 
years, induced him in 1893 to become an in- 



794 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mate of the National Home for Disabled Volun- 
teers, where ever since his admission his worth 
has been recognized, and he has been entrusted 
with lucrative employment suited to his abili- 
ty. In November, 1895, he was appointed 
captain of company Thirty-one, which posi- 
tion he now holds. The captain gave the best 
years of his life to the service of his country, 
and his military record covers a period of over 
forty -two months of the most active period of 
the Rebellion; he proved true to every trust, 
was never known to flinch in time of danger, 
and now, in his declining years, while enjoying 
the comfort and protection of the government 
he so nobly defended, looks back to the stir- 
ring scenes through which he passed, as the 
most useful, if not the most agreeable, part of 
his life. He is a member of the Odd Fellows 
fraternity, an active worker in the G. A. R., 
and politically wields an influence for the 
democratic party. The captain was married, 
in his twenty-second year, to Miss Charlotte 
Wilson, who departed this life at Port Jervis, 
N. V., in 1870, leaving a daughter, who at this 
time is a resident of Springfield, Ohio. 



BRANK LEOPOLD SUTTER, archi- 
tect of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city August 22, 1866, and is one 
of the four children born to Leopold 
and Adeline (Nowak) Sutter. 

Leopold Sutter, father of Frank L. Sutter, 
was born in the grand duchy of Baden, Ger- 
many, October 10, 1832, came to America in 
1852, and for six months lived in Circleville, 
Ohio ; he then came to Dayton and at once en- 
tered the employ of Ladow & Winder, as a mar- 
ble cutter, and was thus employed for fifteen 
years, when he was made foreman of the works 
of Webber & Lehman, cut-stone contractors. 
This firm sold out to William Huffman, who, 



in turn, sold to L. H. Webber ; but Mr. Sutter 
was not disturbed in his position of foreman. 
In 1 88 1, however, Mr. Sutter engaged in busi- 
ness on his own account, with his eldest son, 
Benjamin, as a partner; but the son died in 
1S90, when the father returned to Mr. Webber, 
by whom he is still employed as a cut-stone 
contractor. 

Mrs. Adeline ( Nowak ) Sutter, also a native 
of Baden, Germany, was born July 4, 1832, 
came to America in 1852, and married Leopold 
Sutter in Dayton in 1855. Of the three chil- 
dren born to them, beside our subject, one 
died in infancy ; Benjamin Bernard, alluded to 
above as having been the business partner of 
his father, died at the age of thirty-one years, 
leaving his widow with one son — the latter 
also now deceased ; Mary is the widow of 
Anthony Kramer, who was a merchant of Day- 
ton and died February 3, 1895, leaving, beside 
his widow, two children — Albert A. and Julia 
Marie — the former of whom is employed in 
the office of Mr. Sutter. 

Frank L. Sutter, after receiving a solid 
common-school education, at the age of six- 
teen years entered the office of Matthew Bur- 
rovves, architect, as a student ; five months 
later he entered the office of C. I. Williams, 
where he continued his studies and remained 
until 1889, when he embarked in business on 
his own account. On January 1, 1893, he 
entered into a partnership with Joseph C. 
Peters, which continued until September 1, 
1896, when it was dissolved by mutual consent. 

The marriage of Mr. Sutter took place in 
Dayton April 30, 1889, to Miss Catherine Mun- 
ger, a native of the city and a daughter of 
George and Mary Munger. The mother of 
Mrs. Sutter tlied in 1881, and the father, who 
was a brickmaker, died in 1889 — the year of 
his daughter's marriage. To the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Munger were born eight children, 
viz: Martin, John, Frank, Joseph, George (de- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



795 



ceased), Mary, Magdalene and Katie (Mrs. 
Sutter). Of this family, Martin is engaged in 
the real-estate and insurance business; John 
served three terms as county commissioner of 
Montgomery county, and is now living in re- 
tirement; Frank and Joseph are manufacturers 
of brick; Mary is the wife of Matthias Kammer, 
a manufacturer, and Magdalene is the wife of 
John Uschold. To the felicitous marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Sutter have been born four chil- 
dren, of whom Helen Margaret died when six 
months old, the survivors being Horace Ben- 
jamin, Ruth and Naomi — all three beneath the 
parental roof. 

Mr. Sutter is a member of the American 
Architects' association and of several of the 
secret fraternal societies of Dayton, and polit- 
ically is democratic in his proclivities. As an 
architect he keeps well abreast of his profession, 
is a subscriber to all the standard journals pub- 
lished in the interest of his art, and possesses 
a well filled library of works on architecture 
and collateral sciences. Previous to forming 
his late partnership he had designed the plans, 
ground and elevation, of several fine church 
buildings and private residences in Dayton and 
elsewhere, and had achieved a fine reputation 
as a master of his art. 

Allusion may also be made here to some 
of the stone work superintended or executed by 
Leopold Sutter, above named, which includes 
that in the Dayton public library building, the 
court house, the Huffman block, and Col. 
Mead's residence, in Dayton; the Warren 
county jail,' as well as in many structures in 
Cleveland, Cincinnati and Columbus. He per- 
sonally laid the stone work of the Troy high 
school building, built the chapel at the na- 
tional soldiers' home, and, indeed, was con- 
nected with the erection of nearly all the 
churches and public buildings of the Gem City, 
and is still actively engaged in the prosecution 
of his life-long occupation. 



^y^V ICHOLAS THOMAS, prorpietor of 
m the Hydraulic brewery, of Dayton, 
r Ohio, was born in Germany in 1825, 
the son of John and Rickey (Machias) 
Thomas, both of whom died in Germany. In 
1848, at the age of twenty-three years, N. 
Thomas landed in New Orleans, came up the 
Mississippi and Ohio rivers by boat as far as 
Cincinnati, walking from that city to Dayton, 
and thence to the home of an uncle in Decatur, 
Ind., with whom he remained one winter. He 
then worked on the Wabash canal until the 
close of the following summer, when he re- 
turned to Dayton and worked for three years in 
the Dickey stone quarry, from which has been 
taken the stone of which many of the fine 
business blocks and residences of the city are 
constructed. He then, in 1852, engaged with 
Daniel Beckel in his teaming business, and 
was one of those who assisted in the work 
of excavation for the cellar of the Beckel house. 
In 1855 Mr. Thomas married Miss Mar- 
garet Higlerfoot, who was born in Oldenburg, 
Germany, in 1S25, and to them have been 
born three children — John H., Katie and 
Henry A., the last named being the only one 
married. In 1855 Mr. Thomas, having saved 
a sufficient sum from his earnings, purchased 
a team and for fourteen years drove his own 
wagon. He was then for four years appointed 
watchman of the Dayton banks. In 1873 he 
established a grocery and saloon, corner of 
Front and Third streets, conducting a success- 
ful business for some years. Mr. Thomas then 
took an important step, and one which has 
exerted a favorable influence upon his later 
fortunes. In 1881 he embarked his hard- 
earned capital in the present enterprise, the 
outcome of which might well have been con- 
sidered doubtful, as the plant where he located 
had been controlled during the previous eight 
years by three distinct firms. Its present 
sound condition is owing to the ability of one 



796 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



man, who, meeting the sharpest competition, 
increased a business of 2,000 barrels in 1881 
to 5,000 barrels in 1885, to 9,000 barrels in 
1890, to 10,000 barrels in 1891, to 14,000 
barrels for the fiscal year ending July 1, 1893, 
and to about 20,000 barrels for 1896. 

This business has been conducted without 
change of location since Mr. Thomas took it 
in 1 88 1. The first firm name was N. Thomas 
& Co., the present title being adopted in 1892. 
George Weddle, who was long connected 
with Mr. Thomas in the brewery, withdrew in 
1892. He was a conscientious business man, 
of personal reliability, and secured his large 
knowledge of brewing wholly through his ex- 
perience and training in this plant. 

John H. Thomas, son of the proprietor, 
was born in Dayton in 1859. He was edu- 
cated in this city at the public schools, finish- 
ing at the Miami Commercial college. When 
seventeen years of age he assisted his father in 
the grocery and afterward in the office of the 
brewery, manifesting from the first decided 
financial ability. All his business experience 
has been with his father, who has found in hjm 
an apt pupil, and one who may be relied upon 
in the future to take up the work of carrying 
an already large business to even greater mag- 
nitude. Undoubtedly the continued success of 
this brewery depends to a large extent upon 
John H. Thomas by reason of the age of his 
father. Henry A. Thomas, brother of John 
H., was born in Dayton in 1864. Like his 
brother he has a public school education, at- 
tending also the Miami Commercial college. 
After acquiring a knowledge of business at the 
grocery and the brewery, being desirous to be- 
come an expert, he engaged in 1885 with the 
Herman Lackmann brewery, and afterward 
with J. G. Sohn & Co., being with these Cin- 
cinnati breweries four years. While manifest- 
ing great skill in the brewing department, he 
was so apt in mechanics that, in 1890, the 



machinery of the brewery of his father was 
placed under his contral. Conversant with all 
departments of the business, his skill and 
knowledge are invaluable in promoting the 
best interests of the concern. 

In politics Mr. Thomas is a democrat, and 
in religion he, and all the members of his fam- 
ily, are members of the Catholic church. His 
residence is at No. 1732 East Third street, and 
he is recognized as one of the most solid busi- 
ness men of the Gem City. 



(D 



AJ. MILTON McCOY, civilian 
and soldier, was born December 9, 
1838, near Tarlton, Pickaway coun- 
ty, Ohio, and is descended from 
one of the earliest pioneer families of the 
county of Ross. His father, James McCoy, 
was a son of William and Drusilla (Brown- 
ing) McCoy, who emigrated from near Gettys- 
burg, Pa., to Flemingsburg, Ky. , in 1795, and 
in 1797 moved to the Northwest territory, 
settled north of Chillicothe, on the banks of 
Kinnikinnick creek, and there reared a family 
which has been identified with that part of the 
state for nearly if not quite a century. James 
McCoy married, in the county of Ross, Eliza- 
beth Entrekin, whose father, also a prominent 
pioneer resident, served with distinction in the 
war of 1 8 12 as lieutenant in what was known 
as the " Irish Gray" company. James McCoy 
and family emigrated about the year 1826 to 
Pickaway county, locating upon a farm not far 
from Tarlton, and in November, 1839, moved 
to the city of Circleville, where Mr. McCoy 
died January 10, 1 881, his wife having departed 
life on the 23d of August, 1872. 

Maj. McCoy attended, in youth, the public 
schools of Circleville, Ohio, and later com- 
pleted a course at South Salem academy. 
From boyhood his predilection was for a mili- 
tary life, and as soon as age permitted, he be- 




^y^^r^L 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



799 



came a member of the Ohio state militia 
organization, serving as second sergeant in the 
Pickaway guards until the breaking out of the 
late Civil war. When President Lincoln is- 
sued his first call for volunteers, Mr. McCoy 
at once responded, enlisting April 16, 1861, 
as a private, but upon the assembling of the 
company at Camp Jackson, Columbus, for the 
purpose of effecting an organization, he was 
chosen second lieutenant. The company 
designated as company G, was assigned to the 
Second Ohio regiment, which proceeded to 
Harrisburg, Pa., thence to Lancaster and 
Philadelphia, where some time was spent in 
company drill. From the latter city the regi- 
ment went to Washington city by way of 
Baltimore, Md., going into camp north of the 
capitol building and forming a part of the bri- 
gade commanded by Gen. Robert C. Schenck, 
the other regiments being the First Ohio and 
Second New York. This brigade was assigned 
to Gen. Tyler's division, which, on the same 
night that Col. Ellsworth was killed at Alex- 
andria, crossed the Long bridge into Virginia. 
At daylight on the following morning the com- 
mand went into camp near Alexandria, but 
soon afterward moved farther north along the 
railroad and established Camp Upton, Va. , 
where the regiment remained doing picket 
duty until the advance upon the rebels at Bull 
Run. While in Camp Upton, Lieut. McCoy 
was made provost marshal of Gen. Schenck's 
brigade, having under his command thirty 
men, one from each company in the brigade. 
On the 2 1st day of July, the provost guard 
being near the hospital, established on the 
Warrenton road, while having in charge a lot 
of prisoners, a charge was made by a company 
of Confederate cavalry, which he with the 
guard and quite a number of stragglers on the 
hunt for water, succeeded in repulsing after a 
sharp and sanguinary engagement. 

After the battle of Bull Run, the Second 

30 



Ohio proceeded to Columbus, Ohio, where it was 
mustered out of service several days after the 
expiration of its period of enlistment. Imme- 
diately thereafter Lieut. McCoy recruited a 
company for the three years' service, which 
was designated as company I, and formed a 
part of the Second Ohio, then being organized 
at Camp Dennison, and commanded by the 
late Col. L. A. Harris. This regiment moved 
into Kentucky as far as Paris, thence through 
the eastern part of the state under Gen. Nel- 
son, participating in a number of engagements 
during that memorable campaign, and advanc- 
ing to a point near Pound Gap, thence to the 
mouth of the Sandy river, where the troops 
took steamers and proceeded to Louisville, Ky., 
arriving there the morning of the 25th of No- 
vember, 1 86 1 . After remaining for a short time 
at the latter place, the command proceeded to 
a point south of Elizabethtown, going into 
winter quarters at Bacon Creek, Ky., and was 
assigned to a brigade commanded by Gen. 
Joshua Sill. In the early spring the troops took 
up their line of march for Bowling Green, Ky. , 
and Nashville, Tenn., under the command of 
Gen. O. M. Mitchell, commanding division, 
arriving at the latter place at the same time 
with the army which effected the capture of 
Forts Henry and Donelson; continuing the ad- 
vance they succeeded in capturing Murfrees- 
boro, Shelbyville, Fayetteville, Tenn., and 
Huntsville, Ala. At the last named place a 
large amount of rolling stock of the Memphis 
& Charleston railroad, consisting of seven- 
teen locomotives and nearly 400 cars, fell into 
the hands of the Federals, resulting in the cut- 
ting of the lines, thus preventing the enemy 
from transporting troops from Chattanooga, 
Tenn., to Corinth, Miss. 

Capt. McCoy served at the head of his 
company at the capture of Stephenson and the 
attack upon Bridgeport, Ala., and later was 
with Buell in the celebrated pursuit of the 



800 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



rebel forces under Gen. Bragg. He was de- 
tailed with his company to escort batteries 
over the mountains from Battle Creek to Mur- 
freesboro, thence with his command to Louis- 
ville, where the regiment was placed in Gen. 
Rosecran's division, Gen. A. McD. McCook's 
corps. Proceeding in pursuit of the rebel Gen. 
Bragg, the two forces finally met October 8, 
1862, on the bloody field of Perryville, Ky. , 
where Capt. McCoy received two painful 
wounds in the arm and hand; he also narrowly 
escaped being killed by a musket-ball which 
flattened itself against his scabbard, battering 
the latter so as to unfit it for further use. 
Capt. McCoy still has in his possession this 
old scabbard, which he carefully preserves as 
a memento of that bloody day of '62, and 
which he prizes more highly than any of his 
many relics of the war. On account of his in- 
juries he asked for and was granted a furlough, 
which was spent in the vain effort to obtain re- 
lief from suffering. In the spring of 1863, he 
returned to the regiment, but, after a careful 
examination of his wounds by skillful surgeons, 
at Murfreesboro, Tenn., they were pronounced 
very obstinate and exceedingly difficult to heal, 
and Capt. McCoy resigned his command and 
returned to the peaceful vocations of civil life. 
For some years following the war, he was en- 
gaged in farming, stock raising and shipping 
grain, in all of which he met with encouraging 
success. He followed agriculture until 1888, 
at which time he was chosen to the position of 
treasurer of the Central Branch, which he now 
occupies in the National Home for Disabled 
Volunteer Soldiers. 

Maj. McCoy has proved himself a capable 
and painstaking official, and since his connec- 
tion with the national home has discharged his 
duties in such a manner as to win the confi- 
dence and esteem of those under his charge 
and to gain the approbation of his superiors. 
He is a great lover of books, and his library, 



made up of the choicest products of the 
greatest minds in the field of literature, is one 
of the chief attractions of his delightful home. 

The major has given much time as well as 
considerable means in adding to his collection 
such books as have value on account of age, 
and a lover of books could desire no greater 
pleasure than to linger awhile among the old 
and rare volumes upon his shelves, some of 
which represent the earliest stage of the art 
preservative. Maj. McCoy was twice elected 
to the Ohio legislature from Ross county, serv- 
ing continuously from 1871 to 1875, the sec- 
ond term as speaker pro tern, of the house. 
He was elected as a democrat and took an 
active part as a member, serving on a number 
of important committees and carrying through 
important legislation, the wisdom of which 
has been abundantly demonstrated by the 
years which have since intervened. He intro- 
duced the first "school book bill" in an Ohio 
legislature. 

Maj. McCoy was married March 19, 1863, 
to Catherine Crouse, daughter of John and 
Lydia Crouse, and a native of the county of 
Ross, where the Crouse family settled as early 
as the year 1798. Major and Mrs. McCoy have 
three living children, namely: Alfred C, who 
married Mary Volmer and resides on the home 
farm in Ross county; Sarah M., wife of Dr. 
S. S. Wilcox, formerly first assistant surgeon 
in the Central Branch, and now of Columbus, 
Ohio; and Lincoln D., a student in the Cin- 
cinnati Academy of Music. The deceased 
members of the family are George \V. and 
Catherine, both of whom died in childhood. 

Maj. McCoy is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, the Loyal Legion, and the G. A. R. ; 
belongs to Dayton lodge, No. 147; Unity chap- 
ter, No. 16, and R. & S. M. council, No. 9, 
Ohio grand commandery. He was reared in 
the faith of the Presbyterian church, and, 
while not a member of any religious organiza- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



801 



tion, is a liberal supporter of christian and 
moral movements. Mrs. McCoy is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 



EENRY THEOBALD, Jr., secretary 
of the National Cash Register com- 
pany, at Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city September 28, 1865. His 
father, Henry Theobald, Sr. , is one of Day- 
ton's oldest citizens, is an ex-soldier, has been 
prominent in religious matters, and has always 
taken a keen interest in the development of 
the Gem City. 

Henry Theobald, Sr. , was born in Doncas- 
ter, Yorkshire, England, November 9, 1826, 
and was a son of William and Alice Theobald, 
natives of Nottinghamshire. The deaths of 
William and Alice occurred, respectively, at 
Doncaster in 1869 and 1873. Their son, 
Henry, came to the United States at the age 
of seventeen years, found employment in Mor- 
ristown, N. J., in 1844, at painting and grain- 
ing, and there remained for eighteen months. 
He went to New York city in the summer of 
1846, but in the fall of the same year returned 
to New Jersey, following his calling of painter 
in Asbury, Warren county, in summer, and 
in winter teaching a district school at Broad- 
way, in the same county. May 4, 1848, he 
married Miss Sarah Maria Dunham, who was 
born in Asbury, June 28, 1827, a daughter of 
Cyrus and Mercy Dunham, also natives of New 
Jersey. After marriage Mr. Theobald returned 
to Morristcwn, where he remained until De- 
cember 23, 1848, when he came to Ohio and 
settled in Dayton. Here he was actively en- 
gaged in the painting business until 1862, when 
he enlisted, as a musician, in company A, 
Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry. At the 
battle of Stone River the band's instruments 
were captured by the enemy, from which time 
forward Mr. Theobald acted as a member of 



the ambulance corps, and also as bugler, and 
was present at all engagements in which his 
regiment took part. The night before the bat- 
tle of Franklin, while on a forced march and 
acting in his capacity of bugler, his foot was 
crushed and his ankle dislocated by the fall of 
his horse through a bridge, and he suffered for 
the thirty-six hours following before his wounds 
were properly treated. He was then sent to 
Nashville, Tenn., thence to Louisville, Ky., 
and thence to New Albany, Ind., where he 
was placed in hospital No. 8, and remained 
until honorably discharged in May, 1865, 
reaching Dayton May 28. Mr. Theobald was 
too sorely injured, however, to resume his 
trade as a painter, and on the 5th day of June, 
1865, accepted a position as bookkeeper in the 
brewery of J. W. Harries, and remained there 
until August, 1877, when Mr. Harries went 
out of business. Mr. Theobald was then for 
a number of years employed as bookkeeper at 
the Phillips Cotton mill, after which he be- 
came secretary to George L. Phillips, who was 
at that time manager for the Bell Telephone 
company for the western and southern states. 
Mr. Theobald held this position until the office 
was transferred to Chicago, 111., since which 
time he has lived in comparative retirement, 
occasionally auditing accounts for various busi- 
ness firms in Dayton. 

Henry Theobald, Sr. , has four living chil- 
dren, viz: William D., of Canton, Ohio; 
John L., with L. D. Reynolds & Co., of Day- 
ton; Emma L. , school and music teacher of 
Dayton: and Henry, Jr., whose name opens 
this article. Mr. Theobald is prominent as a 
teacher of vocal music, and for forty years has 
been tutor of this art in the Sunday-schools of 
Dayton. Fraternally he is a member of Saint 
John's lodge, No. .13, F. & A. M. ; Unity 
chapter, No. 16, R. A. M.; Reese council, 
No. 9, R. & S. M., and Reed commandery. 
No. 6, K. T. In politics he is a republican. 



802 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Henry Theobald, Jr., attended the public 
schools of Dayton and was graduated from the 
Central high school in 1882 with the highest 
honors, being valedictorian of his class. With 
the energy and determination which have 
always marked him, Mr. Theobald at once 
entered earnestly into business. His first 
position was that of assistant bookkeeper in 
a papermaking establishment. He soon re- 
moved, however, to Canton, Ohio, where he 
was employed again as bookkeeper. He did 
not find here, however, the opportunity of ad- 
vancement which he desired and returned to 
Dayton, where he took a thorough course in 
stenography and typewriting. 

When this course was completed, in Octo- 
ber, 1884, Mr. Theobald entered the employ 
of the National Cash Register company. His 
career since that time has shown what can be 
accomplished by hard work, steady application 
and a conscientious endeavor to do one's best 
under all circumstances. For two years Mr. 
Theobald served as a stenographer. At the 
end of that time his ability was recognized to 
such an extent that he was practically made 
corresponding secretary of the company, all of 
the correspondence being under his charge. 
In June, 1891, Mr. Theobald was elected gen- 
eral secretary of the company, which position 
he has since held, yet in addition to the duties 
of that place Mr. Theobald has devoted much 
time and work to the advancement of the com- 
pany's interests in other directions. About 
two years ago he temporarily left his work as 
secretary, and with the president of the com- 
pany devoted himself to re-organizing the fac- 
tory, and, as a result of their work, the factory 
of the National Cash Register company stands 
to-day as the model institution of its kind in the 
world. Mr. Theobald also spent some time in 
New York city organizing a sales agency for the 
company, but his most creditable work is the 
one which he has lately completed. 



In the early summer of 1895, President 
John H. Patterson and Mr. Theobald went to 
Europe, where for some time the company had 
done an irregular and somewhat unsatisfactory 
business. President Patterson remained but a 
short time and returned to America, leaving 
Mr. Theobald to execute the great work of or- 
ganizing the European trade: The results of 
this work were shown at the recent interna- 
tional convention of the sales agents of the 
company which was held in October last. At 
this convention sales agents were present from 
France, Germany, England, Belgium, Holland 
and Denmark. The favorable impressions 
which they produced is emphasized by the fact 
that the orders from European territories have 
been quadrupled since Mr. Theobald crossed 
the water. 

Mr. Theobald is again at the factory and 
actively employed as chairman of the executive 
committee, which, under the supervision of the 
president and vice-president, controls all this 
great business. Mr. Theobald was married 
on June 25, 1890, to Miss Mary J. McCullough, 
of Dayton, daughter of Rev. P. M. McCullough, 
one of the old citizens. To this union one son, 
Robert R. , was born December 7, 1891. 



eVAN OWEN THOMAS, superintend- 
ent of markets of the city of Dayton, 
was born in Newport, Ky. , February 
7, 1836. His father, a native of 
Wales, was also named Evan Owen Thomas, 
and came from his native country to the United 
States in 1825. He was born in the year 1799 
and learned the trade of weaver, becoming a 
practical factory hand in the old country. 
Upon arriving in the United States he located 
in Indianapolis, where he married Jane Mayes, 
widow of John Hamarman, who was born and 
reared near Delaware, Ohio. From Indian- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



803 



apolis they removed to Zanesville, Ohio, and 
thence to Newport, Ky., finally coming to 
Dayton, Ohio, in 1838, to take charge of what 
is now the Kratochwill mill. Mr. Thomas was 
not only a practical factory man, but was also 
a man of genius and an inventor of note. He 
died in Dayton in 1892, his wife having died 
some time before. They were the parents of 
eight children, five of whom are still living, 
and beside these eight the mother had three 
children by a former marriage. 

Evan Owen Thomas, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared in Dayton, and was edu- 
cated in the excellent public schools of that 
city. In September, 1861, he enlisted in com- 
pany E, Fifty-ninth regiment Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and served until mustered out No- 
vember 1, 1S64. He was captured at Cyn- 
thiana, Ky. , July 22, 1862, but after being a 
prisoner two days was paroled. In October, 
1863, after the battle of Chickamauga, while 
guarding an ammunition train, he was again 
taken prisoner, but after three days was pa- 
roled at McMinnville, Tenn. 

Having returned from the war Mr. Thomas 
began working on December 26, 1864, for the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad com- 
pany as brakeman, was promoted to the posi- 
tion of conductor on a passenger train, and 
for twenty-eight years was in the employ of 
that company. On August 1, 1894, he was 
appointed superintendent of markets for Day- 
ton and was re-appointed in 1S95. Mr. 
Thomas is a member of the Old Guard post, 
No. 23, Grand Army of the Republic. 

Mr. Thomas was married December 20, 
1854, to Isabella Marshall, of Newport, Ky. 
To this marriage there have been born four 
children, as follows : Albert, superintendent 
of the Dayton Electric Light company; Mary, 
who died in her twenty-first year ; John E. , of 
Toledo, Ohio, and Evan Owen, who died 
when seven years of age. Mr. Thomas is a 



man of intelligence and integrity, and is dis- 
charging the responsible duties of his office 
with personal credit and to the approval of the 
people of the city. 



*w * ENRY E. THOMAS, chief guide at 
l^\ the national military home, Dayton, 
j|^ P Ohio, was born in Medford, Burling- 
ton county, N. J., July 16, 1846, and 
is a son of Jacob and Eliza (Yost) Thomas, of 
whom the former was born in Lancaster county, 
Pa., in 1800, and the latter in New Jersey in 
1802. They were the parents of five children, 
born in the following order: Esther, now 
Mrs. Hollingsworth and residing in Camden, 
N. J. ; Jacob, who served in the Tenth New 
Jersey volunteer infantry three years, and 
died in a southern prison pen after his term of 
enlistment had expired; Stephen, who served 
one year in the navy in the late war, and then 
for nine months in the Thirty-third New Jer- 
sey infantry; George, who served three years 
in the New Jersey cavalry, is living in Clayton, 
N. J., and Henry E., twin of George. 

Henry E. Thomas enlisted February 5, 
1862, in company I, Second Pennsylvania 
heavy artillery, served three years, five months 
and twenty days, and took part in many of the 
severest engagements of the Civil war. He 
was attached to the Sixth army corps, and 
fought through the Wilderness, at Spottsyl- 
vania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg (battles and 
siege), was at the mine explosion in front of 
Petersburg, and on September 29, 1864, was 
shot through the right shoulder and left leg at 
the battle of Chapin's farm, being so severely 
wounded as to incapacitate him for further 
military duty. June 29, 1865, "he was honor- 
ably discharged by reason of his wounds and 
has ever since been a pensioner. His father 
died in 1861, and, upon his discharge, Henry 
returned to the home of his mother, who sur- 



804 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



vived until July 3, 1873. Mr. Thomas worked 
in rolling-mills at various points until 1886, 
when he came to the national military home 
near Dayton, where he has ever since been em- 
ployed at light work, and for the past two 
years has filled the position of chief guide. 
This office is intended to gratify the curiosity 
of visitors and sight-seers, and Mr. Thomas is 
called upon[jto acquaint many hundreds with 
the beauties and interesting features of this un- 
rivaled institution. 

In January, 1894, Mr. Thomas married 
Mrs. Ella Craft, a native of Saint Louis, Mo. ; 
he has a pleasant home, purchased almost 
wholly with savings from his pension. He is 
an honored member of encampment No. 145, 
Union Veteran Legion, of Dayton, votes the 
republican ticket, adheres to the Methodist re- 
ligion, in which he was reared, and enjoys the 
sincere regard of all who know him. 



HLBERT THOMAS, superintendent of 
the Dayton Electric Light company, 
was born in Clermont county, Ohio, 
June 26, 1856, and is a son of Evan 
Owen Thomas, one of the old and well known 
residents of Dayton, and who is at the present 
time city market master. Evan Owen Thomas 
brought his wife and family to Dayton in 1861, 
having previously for many years been a con- 
ductor on the Dayton & Michigan railroad, his 
family residing either at Lima or at Toledo, 
according to the convenience and interest of 
Mr. Thomas. It was in the public schools of 
Toledo, Lima and Dayton that Albert received 
his education. While the family was living at 
Lima he began his career in railroading, taking 
a position as brakeman on the passenger train 
of which his father was conductor. At this 
time he was but thirteen years of age. After 
a short experience in this line he entered the 



grammar school at Toledo, then under the 
management of S. C. Crumbaugh, who had 
been a teacher in Dayton. Still later he at- 
tended the public schools in Toledo, afterward 
returning to the railroad as brakeman. In 
course of time he was promoted to a position 
as fireman on a locomotive under Master Me- 
chanic John Black at Lima. This position he 
held for five years and eleven months, and at 
the end of this period was promoted to the 
position of locomotive engineer on the Dayton 
& Michigan railroad. After two years' service 
in this capacity on that railroad, he accepted a 
similar position on the Nickel Plate railroad, 
then in course of construction, remaining on 
this road as an engineer for fifteen months. 

Retiring from railroad life, he came to Day- 
ton and established himself in the retail grocery 
business, which he conducted for three years, 
and then took a place as stationary engineer 
with the Troy Laundry company, remaining 
with this concern for about two years and a 
half. Upon the erection of the Dayton Elec- 
tric Light company's plant in 1S87, he became 
chief engineer for that company, and at the 
end of two years was promoted to the position 
of superintendent, which office he still retains. 
Thus it will be seen that steady promotion has 
been the history of the life of Mr. Thomas, 
which can have been the result only of faith- 
fulness and efficiency in the several positions 
he has filled. 

Mr. Thomas is a member of Iola lodge. 
No. 83, Knights of Pythias; of Iola division, 
uniform rank; of Earnshaw camp, Sons of 
Veterans; of the Knights of the Ancient Essenic 
Order, and of Mystic lodge, No. 405, F. & A. 
M. He was married October 25, 1877, to M' ss 
Maggie Kirby, youngest daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. J. H. Kirby, old citizens of Dayton. To 
this marriage there have been born four chil- 
dren, as follows: Mary, Isabella, Arthur and 
Albert O. Both sons died while young. Mr. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



805 



and Mrs. Thomas are members of the First 
Baptist church of Dayton, which was organ- 
ized May 29, 1824. 



%y^\ EV. HENRY ADAMS THOMPSON, 
1^ D. D., LL. D., of Dayton, Ohio, 
P was born in Center county, Pa. , March 
2 3. 1 837, and traces his paternal de- 
scent to an old family of Tyrone, Ireland, the 
American branch of which was founded by his 
great-grandfather. 

John Thompson, the father of Henry A., 
was also a native of Center county, Pa., and 
was born May 13, 1798. He was early left an 
orphan and was reared by a Quaker family, 
whose religious tenets he adopted as his own. 
He became a leading man in his county and 
served two terms as its sheriff, being a demo- 
crat in his politics and strongly anti-slavery. 
He married Miss Lydia Blake, who was born 
March 19, 1799, and died in the Methodist 
faith May 7, 1871, the mother of twelve chil- 
dren, while his own death occurred January 
22, 1876, near the place where he was born. 
Of their children, three died in infancy; of the 
nine that grew to maturity, six are still living. 

Henry Adams Thompson, having been 
fully prepared by a common-school and aca- 
demic training in his own county, entered Jeffer- 
son college, at Cannonsburg, Pa. (now Wash- 
ington & Jefferson college), in 1856, and in 
1858 graduated with the degree of bachelor of 
arts. He then entered the Western Theolog- 
ical seminary, of Allegheny City, Pa., where 
he studied for two years. In 1861 he was 
made professor of mathematics in Western 
college, Iowa, and in 1872 became president 
of Otterbein university, at Westerville, Ohio 
— which dignified position he held for fourteen 
years. In 1873 his alma mater conferred 
upon him the degree of D. D., and that of LL. 
D. was conferred, in 1886, by the Westfield 



(111.) college. He has rendered much valuable 
service to his church, and was its delegate to the 
Methodist Ecumenical Conference held in Lon- 
don, England, at which he read a paper on 
the "Training of Children in Sunday-school 
and Church." Dr. Thompson has also de- 
voted much' of his time and talents to matters 
educational, outside of his profession. He 
delivered the dedicatory address of the Union 
Biblical seminary, organized the board of 
education within the church, designed to aid 
in preparing young men for the ministry; he 
has occupied the position of associate editor 
of the Sunday-school literature of the church 
since May, 1893, and in this line contributes 
to Our Bible Teacher, Our Bible Lesson 
Quarterly, Our Intermediate Quarterly, The 
Children's Friend, Lessons for the Little Ones, 
etc. In addition to this labor, he has found 
time to prepare a work, which will soon be 
published under the title of Women of the 
Bible, which will, no doubt, add to his former 
reputation as editor and publisher of A 
Demand for an Educated Ministry, The 
Schools of the Prophets, Power of the In- 
visible, and Our Bishops. Dr. Thompson has 
likewise written extensively for the relig- 
ious and reform press, and his contributions to 
the latter upon temperance topics have led him 
somewhat into politics. He was nominated 
by the prohibition party for lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of Ohio in 1874, was chairman of the 
national prohibition convention in 1876, was 
his party's candidate for governor in 1887, 
was on the ticket for vice-president in connec- 
tion with Neal Dow in 1880, and has been 
chairman of the Ohio prohibition executive 
committee for many years. 

In 1862 Rev. H. A. Thompson was united 
in the bonds of matrimony with Miss Harriet 
E. Copeland, a native of Galena, Ohio, and 
of New England descent. Mrs. Thompson 
was educated at the Granville Female college, 



806 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and was a trained artist and a teacher of draw- 
ing and painting in a female seminary near 
Cincinnati. To the felicitous union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Thompson have been born three 
children, viz: Jessie Fremont, who gradu- 
ated from Otterbein university and from the 
Woman's Medical college of Philadelphia, and 
is married to Charles L. Bogle, an attorney, 
formerly of Springfield, Ohio, but now located 
in New York city; Clara Barton, who was also 
educated at Otterbein university, and is now 
the wife of Walter B. Huffman, bookkeeper 
for the Singer Sewing Machine company in 
Dayton; and Louis Agassiz, also a graduate 
from Otterbein and now a student in his sec- 
ond year at the Bellevue Hospital Medical 
college, New York city. 

Dr. Thompson is a profound scholar and is 
the possessor of a magnificent library, in which 
he passes much of his time with his books. 
He was one of the first members of the Ohio 
State Archaeological & Historical society, and 
has been a director thereof since its organiza- 
tion, in 1885; was the assistant secretary and 
aided largely in the preparation of the Ohio 
state exhibit at the late Columbian exposition, 
or world's fair, at Chicago, and has done 
much other public service in which erudition 
and sound judgment were essential factors. 



^y-j»ILLIAM HENRY TOMLINSON, 

MM one of the recent additions to the 

\%J distingi hedbarof the city of Day- 
ton, was born in that city January 
28, 1 86 1. He is a son of W. R. and Margaret 
(Needham) Tomlinson, both natives of Guil- 
ford county, N. C, who were taken early to 
Indiana by their parents, and there married, 
and removed to Dayton, Ohio, in i860. Mrs. 
Margaret Tomlinson died August 20, 1895, in 
her seventy-fourth year, a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Tomlinson 



was for a number of years a merchant in In- 
diana, following that branch of business with 
success; and he was also an influential member 
of the Indiana state bar. He is still living in 
Dayton and is in his seventy-second year. 

William Henry Tomlinson was reared in 
Dayton, and received an excellent education in 
the schools of that city, attending first the ele- 
mentary and grammar schools and graduating 
later from the Central high school in 1 88 1 . 
He was an honor pupil of his class, having as- 
signed to him the salutatory oration. The 
year of his graduation was the first year of the 
honor pupil system. In the first part of the 
year 1882 he entered the law office of Hon. 
John A. McMahon, well known as having been 
for many years one of the leading and most 
able lawyers of the state, and remained there a 
student for two and a half years. Owing to 
ill health and other unfavorable circumstances, 
however, he did not continue his studies to the 
point of being admitted to the bar in 1884, as 
he otherwise would have done; but, instead, 
spent several years in other pursuits, having to 
earn his own living and assist others who were 
dependent upon him. Therefore he was not 
admitted to the bar until 1892. In 1890, 
however, he had been appointed mayor's 
clerk under the Hon. J. E. D. Ward, a posi- 
tion which he held for two years, or until 
April, 1892, when the office of mayor's clerk 
was abolished in Dayton, through the estab- 
lishment by the general assembly of the police 
court. Of this court he was elected the first 
clerk in the city of Dayton by the largest ma- 
jority of any candidate on the democratic 
ticket. This position he held for three years, 
and in April, 1895, he was nominated by the 
democratic party for the office of police judge, 
but was defeated by fifty-one votes, the candi- 
dates upon the ticket being defeated by major- 
ities ranging from 1,000 to 1,600. The day 
following his defeat he rented an office, and, 




>HillW f,ft '?« H ' lli: « 




l|llfjlf|tt 

'llllili 




From "Early Dayton.' 



STEEL HIGH SCHOOL 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



807 



as soon as his term of office as clerk of the 
police court expired, entered upon the practice 
of the law. 

Mr. Tomlinson is a Mason, a member of 
the Knights of Pythias, of the order of Forest- 
ers, of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, of 
the Improved Order of Red Men, of the Bicy- 
cle club and of the Comus club, fie was mar- 
ried October 12, 1892, to Laura L. Thorniley, 
she being the daughter of Capt. T. Wallace 
Thorniley, of Gallipolis, Ohio. At present 
Mr. Tomlinson is a member of the board of 
elections. His career as above briefly nar- 
rated shows that he is one of Montgomery 
county's trusted citizens, and that he is popu- 
lar outside of party lines. 



QHARLES R. THOMAS, a successful 
grocer, located at No. 428 East Fifth 
street, was born on Fifth street, be- 
tween Main and Jefferson streets, in 
what was then known as the Arnold row, Day- 
ton, August 28, 1858. Arnold row stood on 
the present site of the Park theater. The 
father of Mr. Thomas was William H. Thomas, 
who was a native of Ohio. For a number of 
years he was a shoe dealer on Jefferson street, 
and his death occurred in Dayton in June, 
1 886, in his fifty-third year. His wife was Sarah 
Jane Ewing, a native of Indiana. She died 
in 1 871 in her thirty-fifth year. She and her 
husband were the parents of four children. 
The eldest was Rev. William N. Thomas, 
a Baptist minister of Lewiston, Me., who was 
educated in the public schools of Dayton, and 
afterward at Dennison university, Granville, 
Ohio. He completed his education at Hamil- 
ton college, a non-sectarian institution, estab- 
lished in 1822, and situated at Clinton, Oneida 
county, N. Y. After taking up his ministerial 
work he remained in the east. The other chil- 
dren were Hattie N., wife of George Bailey, 



of the Rike dry-goods house of Dayton; Charles 
R., and one who died in infancy. 

Charles R. Thomas was reared in Dayton 
and received his education in the public schools 
of this city. At the age of fourteen years he 
found employment in a grocery store, and 
afterward at various occupations until his sev- 
enteenth year, when he began working in a 
printing office. At the age of eighteen he be- 
gan an apprenticeship at the printer's trade, 
serving three years; but after completing his 
apprenticeship he decided not to follow that 
calling. For three years he was occupied as 
a confectioner, then became engaged with G. 
Durst in the grocery business, which he pur- 
chased from his employer after eight years' 
service. Under Mr. Thomas' careful man- 
agement his business has been marked with 
much success. 

In the spring of 1S94 Mr. Thomas was 
elected from the Second ward as a republican 
to the board of education for a term of two 
years. He is a member of Dayton lodge, No. 
273, I. O. O. F., and of the Earnshaw camp 
of the Sons of Veterans, his father having 
served in the late Civil war as a member of 
company G, Second regiment, Ohio national 
guard, under Capt. W. H. Wells. He served 
three years and was mustered out of the service 
May 1, 1866. 

On February 20, 1884, Mr. Thomas was 
married in Cincinnati, Ohio, to Miss Josie 
Rome, who was born in Germantown, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, August 28, 1 861, and is 
a daughter of A. F. and Sarah (Coombs) 
Rome. Her father was a native of Germany, 
and at twelve years of age came to the United 
States with an aunt. Mr. Rome's father was 
one of the king's officers, and in 1876 came to 
visit his sons in this country, where he died. 
The father of Mrs. Thomas located in Mont- 
gomery county, when he came to the United 
States, but later removed to Cincinnati, where 



808 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



for years he has followed the cigar and tobacco 
business. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Thomas there have been 
born two children, as follows: Ada Jane, born 
April 15, 1885, and Charles Russell, born 
March 12, 1S89. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are 
members of the First Baptist church, which 
was organized May 29, 1824. They reside in 
a comfortable home at No. 800 West Fifth 
street, and enjoy the respect and confidence 
of all their friends and neighbors. 



>-r , OSEPH ROBB THOMSON, justice 
■ of the peace of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
<% J in Logan county, Ohio, August 3, 1833, 
of Scotch ancestry. He was reared on 
a farm and attended the common district 
school, but not more than two months in a 
year, that being the length of the school year 
when he was a boy. Remaining on the farm 
until he was twenty-one years of age, he then 
attended a select school in Union county, Ohio, 
for one term, and afterward graduated from 
Bryant, Stratton & Felton's Commercial col- 
lege in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Almost immediately after arriving at his 
majority, he began to learn the carpenter's 
trade, and having completed his apprentice- 
ship he began business for himself, and con- 
tinued to follow his trade until the breaking 
out of the war, when he enlisted in Union 
county, Ohio, in company H, Eighty-second 
regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, on Novem- 
ber 22, 1 86 1. He remained in the service 
about one year, being then discharged on ac- 
count of an injury received in the line of his 
duty. Returning to his home, and having suf- 
ficiently recovered from his injury, he taught 
two terms of school; but finding that profes- 
sion unsuited to his taste, he engaged in other 
business, subsequently going on the road as 
traveling agent for a boot and shoe house lo- 



cated in Dayton, which position he held for 
four and a half years, and for a year and a 
half thereafter he was similarly employed by a 
Cincinnati boot and shoe house. Then, on 
account of the ill health of his family, he re- 
tired from the road and engaged in contracting 
and building, for which his early experience 
had well fitted him. This occupation he fol- 
lowed for ten years, and in that time over 200 
buildings in Dayton were constructed by him, 
among them some of the best in the city. Re- 
tiring from the building business, he engaged 
in buying and selling real estate, continuing 
thus engaged until 1S94, when he was elected 
justice of the peace for Dayton. This position 
he now holds. 

For thirty years Mr. Thomson has been a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, for forty 
years a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic for many years. He was married February 
12, 1S60, to Almira A. Davis, a daughter of 
Dr. A. S. Davis, of Summerville, Ohio. In 
politics he is a republican, and assisted in the 
organization of the party in his township. He 
was judge at the first election held in his town- 
ship in which the republican party took any 
interest, and he deposited the first republican 
ballot cast in that township. 

He has served as a member of the Dayton 
board of education, and in his present respon- 
sible position is most industrious and painstak- 
ing. He holds and deserves the good opinion 
of the members of the bar as well as of liti- 
gants who come into his court. 



s 



ents, 



AMUEL D. TRONE, plasterer and 
contractor, of 447 May street, Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in York county, 
Pa., December 5, 1840. His par- 
John and Caroline (Melhorn) Trone, 
were natives of Pennsylvania. They were the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



809 



parents of five children, three of whom are 
still living, as follows : Cyrus, Mary and 
Samuel D. 

John Trone, the father, was a cooper 
by trade, and followed this calling all his 
life until he retired from active labor in 
1884. He died in his native town, Hanover, 
Pa., in February, 1896, at eighty-five years of 
age. His wife died December 25, 1889, when 
she was seventy-nine. Mrs. Trone was a 
member of the Lutheran church, though both 
she and her husband attended the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

Jacob Trone, paternal grandfather of Sam- 
uel D., was of Scotch descent, but a native of 
Pennsylvania. By trade and occupation he 
was a cabinetmaker and undertaker. He 
reared a large family of children, eleven in 
number, and died in 1859, when sixty-eight 
years of age. The maternal grandfather, An- 
drew Melhorn, lived and died in Adams county, 
Pa. He was also of German descent and a 
cabinetmaker by trade. 

Samuel D. Trone was reared in Hanover, 
York county, Pa. In the early part of the Civil 
war he enlisted in company G, One Hundred 
and Sixty-fifth Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, 
and served eleven months as corporal of his 
company. He was slightly wounded at the 
battle of Fair Oaks and Black Water. Beside 
the above-named, he was in the battles of 
White House Landing, Sussex, Franklin, Suf- 
folk, Va., and many other minor engagements 
and skirmishes. 

After the war he returned to his home and 
for a time worked at his trade, that of plas- 
terer, and in 1867 came to Dayton, where he 
has ever since been engaged as a plastering 
contractor. August 16, i860, he married Miss 
Susan Heiss, daughter of Samuel and Lydia 
(Stabley) Heiss, of York county, Pa. To this 
marriage there have been born eight children, 
four sons and four daughters, as follows : 



Sarah, John, Anna, Carrie, William, George, 
Charles and Susie. The last named died in 
infancy ; Sarah married J. W. Mclntyre, of 
Cincinnati, and has one daughter, Irma; John, 
who has charge of the Smith & Vaile Manu- 
facturing company's works, married Miss Car- 
rie Dady, and has three children, viz : Ed- 
ward, John and Eugene ; Carrie married Frank 
Young, of Piqua, Ohio ; William married 
Sarah Reigel, and has one child, Lowell. 

Mr. and Mrs. Trone are members of the 
Lutheran church. He is a member of the 
American Insurance Union and of the Ameri- 
can Mechanics. He belongs to the Old Guard 
post, No. 23, G. A. R., and is, in politics, a 
republican. For two years Mr. Trone repre- 
sented the Seventh ward in the city council. 
When he first located in Dayton he was for 
some thirteen years foreman for Daniel Slentz, 
and thereafter, for seven years, the two men 
were in partnership. For the past eight years 
he has been in business for himself. In 1875 
he erected his present substantial and com- 
fortable residence. While Mr. Trone does all 
kinds of plastering, he makes a specialty of 
ornamental plastering and terra cotta work. 
He is a stockholder and director in the Dayton 
Lumber & Manufacturing company. Beside 
his immediate interests in Dayton he is largely 
interested in the fruit business in Georgia and 
Kentucky, being a member of five different 
companies, as follows : The Albaugh com- 
pany ; the Ohio Fruit Land company ; the 
Diamond Fruit company, of which he is pres- 
ident ; the Kentucky River Fruit company, 
and the Woodstock Fruit company, of which 
he is treasurer. The first three companies 
have, in the aggregate, 3,200 acres of land, 
and the last two, 500 acres. These 3,700 
acres of land have on them more than a quar- 
ter million trees. One pear orchard alone 
contains 10,000 trees. The fruit is shipped 
principally to New York, and in 1S95 there 



810 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



were shipped as many as nineteen car loads in 
a day. When the season is favorable the 
business done by these five companies is very 
large, and correspondingly profitable. Mr. 
Trone has always been fortunate and success- 
ful, and is a man whose integrity of character 
has earned for him the confidence of all who 
know his true worth. 




IHOMAS EDWARD TUCKER, presi- 
dent of the Gem City Boiler com- 
pany, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 
1864, the son of Thomas Tucker. 
While he was yet a child his parents removed to 
Erie, Pa. , and there he was reared, receiving 
his education in the public schools and later 
entering the Northeast college, in that state, 
where he completed a course of study and 
graduated with honors. Immediately after 
leaving college, with a view to acquiring that 
practical knowledge which he believed would 
best fit him for a successful career, he secured 
employment in a boiler manufactory in Erie, 
and devoted himself earnestly and intelligently 
to learning the trade. He made rapid progress 
in his chosen field of endeavor, and soon se- 
cured promotion to a responsible position as 
foreman of the Pennsylvania Boiler works at 
Erie, which place he retained from 1888 until 
1892. In this year he came to Dayton, and 
upon his arrival in this city associated himself 
with the Brownell company in the work of 
contracting for and superintending the erec- 
tion of stand-pipes for water works systems, 
being thus concerned until the fall of 1895, 
when he organized the enterprise with which 
he is now identified as president and which has 
been pushed forward to notable success within 
a short time. In this business he is associated 
with F. D. Morrison, who is secretary and 
treasurer of the corporation. Both interested 
principals are practical and scientific experts 



in their line, and are able to pass judgment on 
every production of the establishment. All 
departments of the business are under their 
direct supervision, their principal output com- 
prising boilers and standpipes. 

The plant of the Gem City Boiler company 
is located at the corner of Third and Mont- 
gomery streets, and in its mechanical accesso- 
ries and equipments it has a capacity for turn- 
ing out the very best class of work with de- 
spatch. It affords employment to a corps of 
about sixty skilled workmen, and is in opera- 
tion night and day in order to meet ever in- 
creasing demands. It is equipped with the 
latest and most approved mechanical devices 
for expediting the work of production, and is 
located on the line of the Pennsylvania rail- 
road, so that its shipping facilities are unex- 
celled. The enterprise is young in years, but 
is forging rapidly to the front and its project- 
ors and operators are recognized as young men 
of business sagacity and integrity, whose suc- 
cess is the just reward of steady application 
and well-directed efforts. • 

Mr. Tucker's parents still reside in Erie, 
Pa., as do also their other children, there hav- 
ing been six in the family. Mr. Tucker 
traces his lineage to pure Irish sources, though 
the family history is one of long and close 
identification with American interests. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Tucker is a 
member of the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, Dayton lodge, No. 58; and of 
the A. S. of C. 



BRED L. TURNER, instructor upon 
the banjo, mandolin and guitar, Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Syracuse, N. 
Y., December 17, 1864, a son of 
Chauncey B. and Marial ( Horton ) Turner. 
The father was a minister of the gospel and 
died at the age of forty-two years, and the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



811 



mother soon followed, expiring from the shock 
occasioned by her husband's death, which oc- 
curred about 1868. Their three sons, thus 
early bereft of parental care, were soon separ- 
ated and were reared by relatives. The eldest, 
Charles W., was an artist by natural endow- 
ment, and is now married and living in Chi- 
cago, 111., while Frank, the second born, is 
located in Seattle, Wash. 

Fred L. Turner was only four years of age 
when he lost his parents, but he had the good 
fortune to fall under the care of Philonzo H. 
Palmer and wife, whom he remembers with 
feelings of gratitude for their unselfish kind- 
ness. Under their roof in Syracuse he was 
reared to manhood, and through them re- 
ceived his education. He had early manifested 
a taste for music, and in 1886 became a stu- 
dent under competent instructors, until he 
developed into an expert performer on the 
instruments of his choice. In the meantime he 
had found employment in the alligning room 
of the Smith Premier Typewriter factory, and 
continued in that occupation and in his musical 
studies until he came to Dayton, in 1895. 
Here he has since devoted his entire attention 
to the teaching of the use of the instruments 
named at the opening of this notice, being the 
only professional instructor in their use in this 
city. He has a large number of pupils and 
has established himself in a substantial and 
rapidly growing business. 

Mr. Turner was united in marriage April 4, 
1893, with Miss Clara Van Duyne, a native of 
Syracuse, N. Y. , where she had always lived 
until coming to Dayton. Her parents are 
Henry Eugene and Augusta C. (Fisher) Van 
Duyne, and still reside in Syracuse, the father 
having passed the greater part of his life in the 
ministry. Beside Mrs. Turner they have two 
other children — both residents of Syracuse — 
viz: Ada F., married to Robert Rowe, and 
Arthur H., an electrician. Mrs. Clara Turner 



is also an accomplished musician, and as an 
assistant to her husband in his professional 
work has proven to be invaluable. 

Mr. and Mrs. Turner worship in the faith 
of the Baptist church, and in politics Mr. Tur- 
ner is a republican. They have gained many 
friends during their residence in Dayton, and 
their reputation as teachers of music is thor- 
oughly deserved. 



WAMES C. TURNER, a well-known ac- 
m countant and bookkeeper, of Dayton, 
(• J Ohio, is a native of this city and was 
born April 15, 1841, a son of William 
and Mary (Stockel) Turner, both natives of 
Kidderminster, England. 

William Turner, the father, was born in 
1 801, came to America in 1834, locating in 
Dayton in 1836, and was the first superintend- 
ent of the first ingrain carpet factory erected 
west of the Alleghany mountains. About 1846 
he went into the business on his own account 
and conducted it until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1 86 1, in Dayton, in which city his 
wife also died. These parents had born to 
them a family of eight children, five of whom 
are still living, viz: Hannah, now Mrs. Mont- 
gomery, of Rochester, N. Y. ; Jane, wife of 
Andrew Chamberlain, of Dayton, Ohio; James 
C. ; Richard, employed in the carriage manu- 
facturing business in Dayton, and Frances, 
wife of Isaac Moore, of the same city; the de- 
ceased children were named John H. (the eld- 
est), William and Samuel, all of whom died 
in Dayton. 

James C. Turner passed his youthful days 
in attending school and working in his father's 
factory. When President Lincoln issued his 
first call for volunteers for the Civil war, April 
15, 1861, Mr. Turner enlisted, but the quota 
for three-months men had already been filled; 
in 1862, however, he succeeded in enlisting in 



Si 2 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



company I, Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, was mustered in at Camp Chase, and 
soon afterward promoted to be orderly sergeant 
of his company. The regiment was assigned 
to Gen. Wool's division, was first stationed at 
Cumberland, Md., on guard duty, and five 
months later was ordered to New Creek, Va., 
and thence to Camp Delaware, Ohio, where, 
four months later, it was mustered out. Ser- 
geant Turner received a commission as first 
lieutenant, with authority to re-organize the 
company, but, through political chicanery, was 
superceded, and, as a consequence, he re- 
signed and quit the service. On his return to 
Dayton he was employed by the United States 
Express company, which he served in various 
capacities until 1891, with the exception of 
two years — 1882-84 — which were spent as tel- 
ler of the City National bank, of Dayton. 

Lieut. Turner was united in marriage, Au- 
gust 18, 1864, with Miss Aldah H. Snevely, 
daughter ofCapt. Christ and Sarah A. Snevely, 
early settlers of Dayton — the Snevely family 
having been represented in the war of 1812. 
To this happy marriage have been born four 
children: Catherine, who is unmarried and is 
stenographer for the American Strawboard 
company, at Chicago, 111. ; Idelette, a young 
lady of recognized musical and literary ability, 
and a teacher in the Dayton public schools; 
Joseph Brown, employed as clerk in Dayton, 
and Robert H., attending school in the city. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Turner stands 
very high in the Masonic order, having at- 
tained the thirty-second degree, which is next 
to the highest under the Scottish rite; he is 
also active in the Knight Templar degree — the 
uniform rank of the same brotherhood. Lieut. 
Turner is likewise a member of Old Guard 
post, Grand Army of the Republic. Relig- 
iously, the relations of Mr. Turner and his 
family are with the Episcopalians, while in 
politics Mr. Turner is quite independent, al- 



though his proclivities are strongly democratic. 
The health of Mr. Turner is indifferent, and 
when employed his labors must necessarily be 
of a light character. For the past six months 
he has acted as accountant for the plumbing 
establishment of W. T. Stewart, and, being 
an expert, is never unemployed in his calling 
when his health permits him to labor. His 
father's family and that of Mrs. Turner's hav- 
ing been among the earlier residents of Day- 
ton, he is prominent in social circles, and has, 
beside, won many warm personal friends 
through his own intrinsic merits. 



>-j , AMES TURPIN, secretary and treas- 
m urer of the Kratochwill Milling com- 
rtt 1 pany, of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
this city February 6, 1855, a son of 
James and Elizabeth (Griffith) Turpin, both 
natives of England, the father having been 
born in 1817 and the mother in 1820. 

The marriage of James and Elizabeth Tur- 
pin took place in New York, in 1841, after 
which they immediately came to Dayton, Ohio. 
James Turpin was a professor of music, and is 
credited with having been the first teacher of 
the art in the Gem City, teaching both vocal 
and instrumental music to private pupils and in 
the public schools. For many years he con- 
ducted a music store on Third street, and was 
well known throughout southwestern Ohio, 
being especially popular with the music-loving 
people of Dayton and this neighborhood. His 
death, which occurred when he was fifty-seven 
years old, was the occasion of great grief to 
his large circle of friends, who esteemed him 
as a man of bright and genial disposition, be- 
nevolent to a fault and free in the distribution 
of his means among the worthy poor. His 
widow, who is still a resident of Dayton, is 
highly honored by all who know her. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Turpin were 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



813 



nine in number, of whom two died in infancy ; 
of the survivors, George is the eldest, is in the 
employ of the Kratochwill Milling company ; 
Clara is the wife of W. F. Gebhart, of the 
Simon Gebhart Milling company ; Jeanette is 
an accomplished and successful music teacher ; 
Fannie is married to Joseph Huston, a well-to- 
do agriculturist in a suburb of Dayton ; Kate is 
the wife of P. H. Gunckel, an attorney-at-law 
of Minneapolis, Minn. ; James is the subject of 
this memoir ; Harry B. is also a successful 
music teacher of Dayton. 

James Turpin, whose name opens this bi- 
ography, was quite well educated in the Day- 
ton public schools, and began his business life 
as a clerk in the banking house of Gebhart, 
Harman & Co., now known as the City Na- 
tional bank, and there passed eight months; he 
then entered the employ of Van Ausdal & Har- 
man, and for five years had entire control of 
the financial part of their extensive business; 
he next engaged, with two associates, in the 
manufacture of blank books and commercial 
stationery, and in this business he continued 
for five years. In November, 1887, the firm, 
which had been very successful, sold out, and 
Mr. Turpin purchased a third interest in the 
Kratochwill Milling company, which was in- 
corporated in that year and Mr. Turpin elected 
its secretary and treasurer. The capital stock 
of the company is $'100,000, the capacity of 
the mills 500 barrels of flour daily, and the 
employees number twenty-five, exclusive of the 
proprietors. Mr. Turpin's practical business 
associate is George P. Huffman, the president 
of the company. Mr. Turpin has also other 
business interests in Dayton and has been very 
successful financially. His prosperity is due 
entirely to his fine business abilities and care- 
ful management, as he began with no pecuni- 
ary aid and with no capital, and to-day, after 
a devotion of nineteen years only to business 
pursuits, he stands, while yet a young man, 



among the prosperous and successful citizens 
of Dayton. 

Mr. Turpin was married on October 26, 
1 88 1, to Miss Louise M. Gebhart, daughter of 
Joseph R. and Maria (Hoagland) Gebhart. 
Mr. Gebhart is one of the wealthy and influen- 
tial business men of Dayton and a representa- 
tive of one of the early familes of the city, 
whose name appears on many of the pages of 
this volume. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Turpin have been born five children, of whom 
James Clifford, Helen Louise and Joe Gebhart 
still live to gladden the home, while Grace and 
Ellen died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Turpin 
are consistent members of the First English 
Lutheran church of Dayton, of which Mr. 
Turpin has been a communicant for twenty 
years, he and his wife being active workers in 
both church and Sunday-school. Mr. Turpin 
is a Freemason, but finds his chief enjoyment 
in the home circle. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, but takes little part in political affairs. 



*y* EONIDAS HAMLIN VAUGHAN, 
r contractor and builder, at the corner 

_^J^ of Wayne and Park streets, Dayton, 
was born in Bellbrook, Greene county, 
Ohio, November 3, 1854, and in his infancy 
was brought to Dayton by his parents, since 
which time he has always lived very near his 
present location. 

Harrison Vaughan, his father, was born in' 
Sugar Creek township, Montgomery county, in 
1812, and was the son of a Virginian, whose 
father came from Wales. Harrison always 
lived in the county of his birth, with the ex- 
ception of the time he was serving his appren- 
ticeship in Chillicothe. He first married Miss 
Charlotte Snowden, who died within a year 
after the wedding ; his second marriage was 
with Miss Elizabeth Wilson, who was born in 
Waynesville, Warren county, Ohio ; this union 



814 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



resulted in the birth of Leonidas H., their only 
child. Harrison Vaughan was also a contrac- 
tor and builder ; among other of his works he 
largely constructed the town of Centerville, 
and after fifty-eight years of industrious and 
intelligent devotion to his calling, he died in 
Dayton in April, 1890 ; his widow still resides 
at the old homestead, on Park street. 

Leonidas H. Vaughan was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton, and at the age of 
twenty years left the high school to learn the 
building business under instructions from his 
father. For about fifteen years father and son 
conducted the business conjointly, or in part- 
nership, and on the father's death Leonidas 
assumed entire control of the business of the 
former firm. This trade comprises contracting 
and building according to plans and specifica- 
tions ; and Mr. Vaughan, being an architect as 
well as builder, prepares many designs for 
others, and invariably prepares the plans and 
diagrams for those buildings which he con- 
structs under contract or erects on his own 
account for selling purposes. Since 1888 he 
has built and sold forty -nine houses — prompted 
by a keen foresight and close observation of 
the needs of the growing city. Beside con- 
tracting for and superintending the erection of 
a number of fine private dwellings and busi- 
ness houses, Mr. Vaughan has had a fair share 
of city work, having built the Eighteenth dis- 
trict schoolhouse and the houses for hose com- 
panies Nos. 8 and 9 ; also the superb twin 
dining rooms of the southern Ohio hospital 
for the insane. 

March 1, 1876, Mr. Vaughan married Miss 
Luella B. McLean, a native of Dublin, Ind. , 
but reared from infancy in Dayton, Ohio. She 
is a daughter of John and Mary (Swainey) 
McLean, who died in Dayton in 1893, but a 
few weeks apart ; her grandmother Swainey 
was the first white female child brought to 
Dayton, having come here with her mother at 



the age of nine years. Mrs. Vaughan was ed- 
ucated in the schools of Dayton, and gained 
all these schools could impart in the matter of 
instruction. To Mr. and Mrs. Vaughan have 
been born six children, named Charles H., 
Harry H., Florence M., Nellie Edna, Alice B. 
and Edith M., all of whom are attending 
school except the youngest. Incidentally it 
may be said that two of the teachers of these 
children were class-mates of their father in the 
high school of Dayton. Although his father 
was a local preacher in the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, Leonidas H. Vaughan and wife 
are members of the Oak street United Breth- 
ren church, in the faith of which they are rear- 
ing their children. Politically Mr. Vaughan 
is a stout republican. He is a member of the 
Dayton Builders' exchange, and, being a me- 
chanic of more than ordinary ability, stands 
high in the esteem of the other members of 
that influential business organization, as well 
as in that of the community at large. 



^y-j»ILLIAM BELVILLE ANDER- 
Mm SON, one of the leading business 

\JL>f men ol Dayton, is not only conspic- 
uously identified with the manu- 
facturing interests of the city, being secretary 
of the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, one of 
the Gem City's most important industries, but 
is a representative of one of the old and hon- 
ored pioneer families of the Buckeye state and 
of Montgomery county, the family having been 
identified with the history of the common- 
wealth from the days when this section was 
still a wilderness. 

William Belville Anderson was born in Cen- 
terville, Montgomery county, Ohio, on the 
30th of January, 1856, being the son of Robert 
M. and Elizabeth M. (Belville) Anderson, both 
of whom were natives of Montgomery county, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



817 



the former having been born in the year 1827, 
and the latter in 1831. His grandfather was 
Thomas Anderson, a native of New Jersey, 
who emigrated to the west with his parents at 
an early day, locating temporarily in Kentucky, 
whence they made their way to Cincinnati, 
the journey being effected in the true pioneer 
style, with team and wagon. They even- 
tually settled near the present city of Dayton. 

Robert M. Anderson was engaged in general 
merchandizing at Centerville for a full score of 
years, having been one of the most prominent 
and influential citizens of that section of the 
county. He retired from active business pur- 
suits in the year 1870, and in the year 1871 
took up his residence in Dayton, where he 
passed the remainder of his days, his death 
occurring January 6, 1889. He was a man of 
strong mentality and undubitable honor in 
every relation of life, and held the respect and 
esteem of all with whom he came in contact. 
On the 28th of February, 1855, he was mar- 
ried to Elizabeth M. Belville, daughter of Rev. 
John L. Belville (a Presbyterian clergyman) 
and Elizabeth M. Belville. Of the five chil- 
dren born to Robert M. and Elizabeth M. 
Anderson only two survive — our subject, who 
is the eldest, and his sister Cora B., who is 
the youngest. The mother died suddenly 
September 14, 1896, at Bemis Point, Chau- 
tauqua Lake, N. Y. 

William B. Anderson received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of Dayton and the 
Cooper academy, having matriculated in the 
latter institution after his second year in the 
high school. He continued his studies at the 
academy, under the guidance of Prof. J. A. 
Robert, until the year 1876, in June of which 
year he became connected with the Buckeye 
Iron & Brass works, with which concern he 
has ever since been identified. The following 
year he was elected to the responsible office of 
secretary of the company and has held this 

31 



place ever since, having done much to advance 
the prosperity of the enterprise. He has been 
signally alert and progressive in his business 
operations, and has important industrial asso- 
ciations aside from that above mentioned. He 
was the first president of the Dayton Fan & 
Motor company, with which corporation he was 
connected from the time of its organization 
until about 1893. 

In his political proclivities Mr. Anderson 
has always been a loyal member of the repub- 
lican party, but the only office he has ever con- 
sented to accept was that of a member of 
the board of police commissioners, to which 
position he was appointed by Gov. Campbell, 
and even this preferment he resigned at the expi- 
ration of three months. Mr. Anderson holds a 
leading rank in fraternal circles — particularly 
in the time-honored order of Freemasonry. 
He is a member of Dayton lodge, No. 147, A. 
F. & A. M., having been master of the same 
for two years; of Unity chapter, No. 16, R. 
A. M., and of Reese council, No. 9, R. cS: S. 
M., of which he is also past thrice illustrious 
master. He is also illustrious grand con- 
ductor of the grand council of Ohio. He re- 
tains membership in Reed commandery, No. 
6, Knights Templar, of which he is past emi- 
nent commander, having held this office at the 
time of the great triennial encampment in the 
city of Washington. In the ancient and ac- 
cepted Scottish-rite he has attained the thirty- 
second degree, and is a noble in Syrian temple 
of the Mystic Shrine. For several years Mr. 
Anderson was prominently connected with the 
Ohio state militia, being a member of the Har- 
ries guard during the strike in the Jackson 
county coal fields, and later adjutant of the old 
Fourth regiment, previous to its disbandment, 
at which time he received an honorable dis- 
charge from the governor of the state. He is 
known as one of the public-spirited citizens of 
Dayton, and his influence is at all times 



818 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



thrown in favor of any project which has as its 
object the advancement and stable prosperity 
of the city of his home. 

The marriage of Mr. Anderson was cele- 
brated, in Dayton, on the 14th of November, 
1883, when he was united to Miss Harriet E. 
Cooper, daughter of the late David Cooper, 
one of Dayton's most influential and promi- 
nent business men, who had been in the whole- 
sale mercantile trade here for a long term of 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are the par- 
ents of one son, Robert Cooper, who was born 
on the 1st of September, 1884. 



^y-j»ILLIAM H. VAN RIPER, one of 
Ma the members of the board of infirm- 

\JL>fl an directoj of Dayton and a well- 
known citizen of the West Side, 
was born in Seneca county, N. Y., March 20, 
1 S 5 1 , and is a son of Henry Van Riper, who 
was born in the same county in 1824, and 
who died January 3, 1863. Henry was a son 
of Garret and Ann Van Riper, and was one of 
triplets, all boys, and who, upon arriving at 
mature years, were each of remarkable stature 
and weight. Their resemblance one to another 
was so great as to make it difficult to distin- 
guish them. The two of the triplets that sur- 
vive are Richard and Peter. The grandparents 
of William H. Van Riper were natives of New 
Jersey, from which state they emigrated to 
New York, where they lived the rest of their 
lives. Henry Van Riper married Sarah Ann 
Gunn, who was a native of Ireland, and who 
came to the United States with her parents 
when she was nineteen years of age. She 
died in January, 1875, at the age of seventy- 
four years. 

William H. Van Riper was reared in the 
town of Waterloo, Seneca county, N. Y. , and 
there attended the common school. When 
fourteen years cf age he began serving an ap- 



prenticeship at the tinner's trade in Waterloo 
with I. N. Thorn, with whom he remained 
three years, after which he worked for Mr. 
Thorn for five years in Waterloo. At that 
time his employer removed to Dayton, and 
Mr. Van Riper came with him and continued 
in his employ for fifteen years more, thus mak- 
ing a continuous service of twenty years with 
one man. 

In 18S5 he retired from the employ of Mr. 
Thorn and engaged in the grocery business on 
the West Side, in company with his father-in- 
law, Christian Becker, and continued occupied 
for about two years. At the expiration of 
this time he purchased a tin and jobbing shop 
on West Third street, and in 1890 erected a 
shop on his home premises, at No. 127 South 
Williams street, where he now conducts a gen- 
eral tin, jobbing and contracting business. In 
this business he has been unusually successful. 

Mr. Van Riper has for years been actively 
identified with the public affairs of the city of 
Dayton, and has occupied a prominent position 
as a politician of the West Side. In the spring 
of 1875 he became a candidate for director of 
the city infirmary on the republican ticket, and 
after a heated campaign was elected by the 
largest majority of any candidate on the city 
ticket, viz: 810 votes. He took possession of 
his office April 10, 1895, and during the first 
six months of his connection with the board of 
infirmary directors, the expenses of running 
the infirmary were reduced forty per cent, 
showing that one man has sometimes great 
power for good. 

Mr. Van Riper was married Decembar 21, 
1882, to Miss Isora Becker, a daughter of 
Christian Becker, of Dayton. She was born 
in Montgomery county, March 16, 1861, and 
her father was born in the same county in 
1838. He located in Dayton in 1880, and for 
some years was engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness, but is now retired from active life. To 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



819 



Mr. and Mrs. Van Riper there have been born 
two children: Clayton, born February 24, 1884, 
and Carrie, born March 18, 18S6. 

Mr. Van Riper is a member of Hope lodge, 
No. 227, Knights of Pythias, and both he and 
his wife are members of Saint John's Eng- 
lish Evangelical Lutheran church. In his 
business career, his reliance has been entirely 
upon his own industry and judgment, and he 
has made his way in the world without assist- 
ance from any quarter. Perseverance, enter- 
prise and determination to succeed have been 
his best capital. On public matters he is in- 
clined to liberality of view, and is always ready 
and willing to lend his aid morally and finan- 
cially to any public movement looking to the 
good of the community in which he lives. 



aHARLES H. WARFORD, dealer in 
building supplies and general con- 
tractor, rooms 17 and 18 Kuhns 
building, is a representative of one of 
the oldest and best known families of Dayton. 
His father, Henry S. Warford, was a native 
of Hunterdon county, N. J., and his mother, 
whose maiden name was Mary E. Slaght, 
was born on Main street, Dayton, where 
her parents located as early as 1812. Four 
children were born to Henry S. and Mary 
E. Warford, of whom Charles H. was the 
eldest, the others dying in early childhood. 

Charles H. Warford was born in Dayton, 
February 5, 1867, and grew to manhood in his 
native city, in the public schools of which he 
received a fair English education. He first 
found employment as a clerk in the Fireman's 
Insurance company, in which capacity he con- 
tinued three years. The succeeding seven 
years were spent in. the employ of the Third 
National Bank, of Dayton, where he began as 
a messenger boy and rose within a short time 
to the position of assistant bookkeeper. On 



quitting the bank, Mr. Warford embarked in 
his present business, handling pressed brick, 
structural iron and many other articles of 
furnishing, beside a general line of building 
material. 

Mr. Warford has met with well deserved 
success in his present occupation. The Pres- 
byterian church represents his religious creed, 
and ever since obtaining his majority he has 
acted with the republican party. He was 
united in marriage February 27, 1S96, to Miss 
Belle Case, of Boston, Mass. Mr. Warford's 
paternal ancestors settled in New Jersey many 
years prior to the Revolutionary war, in which 
state the ancestors on the mother's side, who 
came from Holland, also found homes at a 
very early period in the history of the colonies. 
The father of Mr. Warford departed this life 
in 188 1 ; his mother is still living in the city 
where all her life has been passed. The family 
of mother Warford is noted for longevity, her 
grandmother having died at the age of 100 
years. Mrs. Warford is one of nine children, 
but two of whom, beside herself, are now 
living, Mrs. Sallie Rea, of Zanesville, and Miss 
Nancy Slaght, a resident of Dayton. 



eLIHU R. WATROUS, proprietor of 
the Glenview Pleasure resort, Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Middletown, 
Conn., December 8, 1843, and is a 
son of William and Eveline (Ackley) Watrous, 
both of whom were natives of the Nutmeg 
state and of Scotch descent. The latter died 
in Taunton, Mass., at the age of thirty-two 
years, and the former in Stone county, Mo., 
in 1875. Their children numbered four, of 
whom Elihu R. was the eldest. Two brothers, 
William and George, and one sister, Eveline 
A., constituted the remainder of the family. 

When a small' lad, Elihu R. Watrous im- 
bibed a liking for a seafaring life. The broth- 



820 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ers of his mother were seamen and were 
chiefly engaged in coasting on Long Island 
sound, and these uncles, whose ancestors came 
over in the Mayflower, doubtless inspired 
Elihu with his desire for a seafaring life. He 
first shipped as a cabin boy on an ocean 
steamer, and later served before the mast on a 
sailing vessel, passing, all told, two years at 
sea, during which time he made two trips to 
the West Indies. 

Mr. Watrous later acquired a good com- 
mon-school education in his native state, and 
at the age of twenty, in 1863, enlisted as a 
musician in the Twenty-fifth Connecticut vol- 
unteer infantry, and served under Gen. Banks 
until nearly the close of the Civil war. While 
on the expedition up the Red river, he was 
wounded and taken prisoner, April 16, 1864, 
and sent to Jackson, Miss. Two or three 
times he essayed escape, was as often recap- 
tured, but finally succeeded, and was in hiding 
in a cave in Washington county, Va., when the 
war closed. He remained in that region for 
four or five years after the cessation of hostili- 
ties, and in 1 870 went to Missouri. From 
Missouri Mr. Watrous went to Kentucky, where 
he was employed as a trainer of trotting horses 
for some months, and in the fall of 1878 came 
to Dayton, Ohio. 

On reaching Dayton, Mr. Watrous worked 
at sign writing and ornamental painting for 
some years, and still occupies a part of his time 
in that manner, although the management of 
his riverside resort claims his chief attention. 
In September, 1890, he bought his present 
place, most beautiful and picturesque, on the 
bank of the Stillwater river. Here he has 
erected his dwelling and also summer quarters 
for visitors, and established a general pleasure 
resort for boating and picnic parties, where he 
has, during the summer season of each year, 
many guests who appreciate courteous and ef- 
ficient service and attractive surroundings. 



Mr. Watrous married Miss Eva Fackley, a 
native of Dayton, but to this union no chil- 
dren have been born. 

Mr. Watrous is a member of the Independ- 
ent Order of Odd Fellows and also of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. Politically he 
has been a life-long republican, but never an 
office-seeker. His religious views accord with 
those of the Baptists, while his wife is a de- 
voted member of the church of the United 
Brethren in Christ. 



eLMER E. WATSON, a deputy sheriff 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born about five miles west of Dayton, 
on the Eaton pike, August 22, 1868, 
and is a son of John W. and Elizabeth (Bow- 
ser) Watson, both also natives of Montgomery 
county — the former born near Liberty in 1843, 
and the latter in 1846. 

Ephraim Watson, father of John W. and 
grandfather of Elmer E. Watson, is a native 
of Maryland, born in 1 8 1 8 ; when a boy he 
was bound as an apprentice to the shoemaking 
trade, and while yet a young man came to 
Ohio, settled in Montgomery county and was 
here married. He is still living about two 
miles west of Liberty, has followed his trade 
all his life, and even now makes his own shoes 
and does his own repairing or cobbling. He 
married Miss Elizabeth Martin, of Springbor- 
ough, Warren county, Ohio, but whose par- 
ents came from Kentucky and were early set- 
tlers of the " dark and bloody ground." She 
died in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1889, in 
her sixty-third year. 

John W. Watson, father of Elmer E. , 
when nineteen years of age, enlisted in com- 
pany H, Fourth regiment, Ohio volunteer cav- 
alry, and served until the close of the Civil 
war, when he was honorably discharged with 
the rank of corporal. On his return he began 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



821 



working at the carpenter's trade in Montgom- 
ery county, and in 1865 married Miss Eliza- 
beth Bowser, whose parents came from Penn- 
sylvania and are now deceased. To this mar- 
riage have been born five sons and five daugh- 
ters, in the following order: Edith, now Mrs. 
John S. Getter; Elmer E., Orlando, Henry 
Wilson (deceased), John E., Daisy E., Jessie 
Fremont, Hester, Josephine and Victoria. 

Elmer E. Watson attended the district 
school of his neighborhood in his youthful 
days, during the winter season, in the summer 
employing himself in farm work, until he 
reached the age of eighteen years, when he be- 
gan teaching school in Montgomery county, 
and followed this vocation for seven years. In 
September, 1894, he came to Dayton, having 
accepted a position in the county treasurer's 
office. This position he retained until the 
month of December following, performing ex- 
cellent service, and on January 7, 1895, was 
appointed a deputy sheriff by Sheriff Anderton, 
an office which he still fills. 

On Christmas day, 1892, Mr. Watson was 
united in marriage with Miss Zelina A. Dieter, 
a daughter of Charles W. Dieter, of Dayton. 
Mr. and Mrs. Watson are members of the 
First Reformed church, and are highly re- 
garded in both church and social circles. 



BREDERICK T. G. WEAVER, a well- 
known contractor and builder of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Abington, 
Wayne county, Ind., February 18, 
1S41, and is of remote German descent. 

John Weaver, his father, was born in Day- 
ton, Ohio, April 8, 18 10, and is to-day one of 
the best-known citizens of Montgomery county, 
and probably the oldest native-born resident 
thereof. The cabin in which he first saw the 
light in the backwoods of Ohio was one of the 
most primitive order, built of round logs, and 



consisting of one room only, which answered 
all the purposes of domestic life, being parlor, 
kitchen, bed-room, all in one. The floor was 
the bare earth ; the windows were apertures 
cut in the logs and covered with dressed deer 
skin. The pioneer subscription school of the 
neighborhood afforded him his education, and 
his attendance there was limited to three 
months. In 1835 he was elected and com- 
missioned by Gov. Robert Lucas ensign of the 
Sixth company, First regiment, First brigade, 
Fifth division, Ohio militia ; in October, 1836, 
was commissioned by Gov. Lucas captain of 
the Eleventh company, First regiment, First 
brigade, Fifth division, Ohio militia. In 1838 
John Weaver went to Indiana, returned to 
Dayton in 1S58, and now resides within four 
miles of his birthplace. While in Indiana he 
dealt largely in real estate, and was also en- 
gaged in contracting, and was very successful, 
being at one time quite wealthy, although he 
began his business life with but moderate 
means at his command. 

The paternal grandfather of our subject 
was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and 
was under "Mad" Anthony Wayne, when, 
with a force of 500 men against 3,000 Hes- 
sians, he captured the fort at Stony Point, 
N. Y. , at midnight, July 15, 1779, at the point 
of the bayonet, without firing a gun. Mr. 
Weaver was also at the surrender of Lord 
Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Va. , in July, 1781. 
After the war he returned to his home in Berks 
county, Pa., where the family resided for sev- 
eral generations, both before and after the 
Revolution, but, in 1805, came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio. 

John Weaver first married Miss Eve Hocker, 
a native of Greene county, Ohio, born in 181 1. 
She died at the age of fifty-five years, leaving 
a family of ten children, viz : John Edward, 
Susanna, David, Andrew, Frederick T. G., 
Rebecca, James K. P., Jacob, Elizabeth and 



822 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Franklin Pierce. The second marriage of 
John Weaver was with. Annie Dorsey, of Mary- 
land, who has borne him three children : 
Jennie May, Wilber and Maude. 

Frederick The Great Weaver, as he named 
himself at the age of seven years, was the fifth 
of the ten children born to John and Eve 
(Hocker) Weaver. His education was secured 
by a few months' attendance at a log school- 
house in Wayne county, Ind., but he has al- 
ways been an omnivorous reader, being espe- 
cially fond of historical and biographical works. 
His first independent effort at bread-winning 
was made as a clerk in his father's store, which 
also contained the post-office; he was next em- 
ployed in a dry-goods store, on a farm, in a 
sawmill and in a rlouring-mill. In 1863 he 
entered the army as a pioneer for ninety days, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, under Capt. Wood and 
without oath ; but was detained seven months, 
and although not required to bear arms except 
as a matter of self-protection while at work, 
he not having taken the oath of a soldier, was 
not entitled to any of the privileges afforded to 
the enlisted men. He participated, however, 
in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Stone 
River and Nashville. In the spring of 1864 he 
started west to the gold fields of Montana, out- 
fitting at Saint Joseph, Mo., with ox-teams 
and mining implements, passing through Kan- 
sas to Fort Kearney, up South Platte to Jules- 
burg through the Black Hills, headed for Fort 
Vancouver and passing through Idaho. He 
was six months crossing the plains with ox- 
teams — fighting Indians all the way. After 
passing the winter in Boise City, Idaho, Mr. 
Weaver went into the Rocky Bar mining coun- 
try, traveling over tree-tops that were buried 
in snow from sixty to 100 feet deep. He 
passed through the great lava bed country in 
Idaho, which he explored to a very consid- 
erable extent. 

At Rocky Bar, Mr. Weaver, in partnership 



with John H. Guenther, of Dayton, who had 
been a comrade in the army and was his com- 
panion in this expedition, established a bakery, 
but, the mines failing, the enterprise was not 
successful. From Bar City, Idaho, Mr. Weaver 
passed around the headquarters of the Missouri 
river to Helena, Mont., there being at that 
time but three cabins in that city, which now 
has a population of over 20,000; thence he 
went to Confederate Gulch, or Diamond City, 
Mont., where he found the mines to be un- 
usually rich, and in thirteen months cleared 
$30,000, but invested this in mining stock and 
lost it all. In 1869 he went on a ranch near 
Bozeman, Mont., and in the fall of 1870 went 
into the Yellowstone country, traveling at 
night, in order to avoid the hostile Indians — 
this being before the National park and the 
lands environing the springs were reserved by 
the government. He was among the first white 
men to visit this romantic country, within 
forty miles of the springs. 

In 1 87 1 Mr. Weaver, late in the fall, faced 
homeward from Bozeman, Mont., and for 
forty days suffered intensely from cold and 
snow. On his arrival at home, he went into 
partnership with his father in carpenter work, 
employing from twenty-five to thirty men. In 
1876 he went to Paris, 111., where he passed a 
year, and then returned to Dayton, Ohio, 
where, December 20, 1877, he married Miss 
Mollie E. Owen, a native of the Gem City, 
born June 13, 1852, a daughter of Benjamin 
and Hannah (Love; Owen. To this union 
have been born three children, viz: Eve Re- 
becca, born April 19, 1879; Charles Owen, 
born July 24, 1881, and Gracie May, born 
March 19, 18S7. 

After his marriage Mr. Weaver made Day- 
ton his permanent home, and at first worked 
as a journeyman; within two years his savings 
were sufficient to form the nucleus of his pres- 
ent thriving business. He employs from twelve 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



823 



to twenty men, and within the last five years 
has done work amounting to $150,000. He 
works from his own drawings and specifica- 
tions, furnishes the material, and is recognized 
as one of the most solid contractors and build- 
ers of Dayton. 

Mr. Weaver is a member of Dayton lodge, 
No. 48, Ancient Order of United Workmen; 
of the Knights of Honor, of the Knights of 
Pythias, being a charter member of Linden 
lodge, No. 412, of the last-named fraternity; 
is also a member of Gem City lodge, No. 795, 
Independent Order of Odd Fellows; of Fidelity 
lodge. No. 83, Senior Order American Mechan- 
ics; Dayton council, No. 132, the National Union, 
and of the Select Knights of America. Mrs. 
Weaver is a member of Columbia lodge, No. 
1280, Knights & Ladies of Honor. In poli- 
tics Mr. Weaver has served his fellow-citizens 
as the democratic member of the city council 
from the Seventh ward for one term, 1890-91. 
His father, who was an old-line democrat, was 
a member of the same body from the Sixth 
ward for three terms, 1866-68-70. 



BRANK W. WEGLAGE, member of 
the board of education of the city of 
Dayton, and also of the board of 
health, is one of the prominent busi- 
ness men of this important city. Mr. Weglage 
is a native Daytonian, and was born May 1, 
1855. His parents were Henry and Mary 
(Bonenkamp) Weglage, both natives of Prussia. 
Their early life was marked by a pleasant 
romance. They left the fatherland in 1836, 
both bound for the United States; and, cross- 
ing the ocean in the same ship, they became 
acquainted, a mutual attraction followed, and 
shortly after landing they were married in the 
city of Rochester, N. Y. In that city the 
young husband learned the cooper's trade, and 
working at it with old-country energy, he was 



soon able to support his little family. After a 
time he removed to Cincinnati, where he made 
his home for nine years. But the growing 
possibilities of Dayton as a place of business 
were drawing enterprising spirits, and the 
young Prussian, now quite thoroughly Ameri- 
canized, came to Dayton in 1852. He first 
located his family in what was known as North 
Dayton, but afterward made his home on 
First street, where he and his wife resided for 
the remainder of their lives. The father died 
in 1870, at the age of fifty-four years, the 
mother surviving until 1886, and passing away 
in her sixty-seventh year. Mr. Weglage was 
a member of the Harugari lodge, and both he 
and his wife were honored members of the 
German Lutheran church. They were the 
parents of eight children, of whom Henry is 
the eldest and is engaged in the grocery busi- 
ness in Riverdale; Rudolph is dead; John and 
William are molders, making their home in 
North Dayton and in Riverdale; Frank W. is 
the subject of this sketch; Mary is the wife of 
Joseph Merkle, city engineer of the Dayton 
water works department, while the two younger 
children, Charles and Caroline, are dead. 

Frank W. Weglage spent his early life in 
Dayton, where he was a student in the public 
schools until he reached the age of twelve 
years. Then the necessities of a large family 
and hard times compelled his father to call 
him from school and to set him at work in the 
cooper shop. Later he spent two and a half 
years at the molder's trade. But this not 
proving what he had hoped, he sought an en- 
gagement with the Barney-Smith Car works, 
and was set to work in their paint shop. This 
was a labor that was more to his liking, and 
he has become an expert and proficient painter. 
In 1878 he spent a year in Missouri, going 
thence into Kansas, where the Sante Fe rail- 
road gave him employment for three years. 
Coming back to Dayton, he passed two years 



824 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton rail- 
road, after which he again went into the car 
works, where he has since been employed. 

Mr. Weglage, on April 7, 1881, married 
Miss Lizzie Osterhaus, and this union has re- 
sulted in the birth of a daughter, Flora May, 
born February 12, 1882. Mr. Weglage has 
always taken an active part in politics, and has 
been thoroughly devoted to the support of true 
democracy. In May, 1895, he was appointed 
to the Dayton board of health, and in the 
spring of the following year was called to serve 
on the board of education. He is much inter- 
ested in all movements and organizations that 
look to the public good as the result of their 
efforts, and especially in those social orders cal- 
culated to weld their members in a closer 
brotherhood. He is now a member of the 
Masonic order, associated with Saint John's 
lodge, No. 13. He is also a worker in the 
Odd Fellows, his membership being in Mont- 
gomery lodge, No. 5, and is a member, beside, 
of Dayton encampment, No. 2, and of can- 
ton Earl, No. 13, P. M., of which he is cap- 
tain at the present time. 



^/^VETER WEIDNER, a prominent Ger- 
1 m man citizen of Dayton, and a mem- 
ber of the board of city affairs, is a 
native of Germany, born in 1839. 
He came to the United States when quite 
young, and received his education in this coun- 
try. He located in Dayton in 1853, and has 
since resided here. He enlisted in the One 
Hundred and Sixth regiment, Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and was mustered out a captain, his 
promotions having been won by many acts of 
bravery upon the field of battle. Returning 
from the war he engaged in the butcher busi- 
ness, which he followed for several years with 
success. He has taken an active part in pub- 
lic matters and politics for many years, and 



has been prominent in the councils of the dem- 
ocratic party. He served as a member of the 
board of directors of the city workhouse from 
1885 to 1890, and, in 1893, was appointed a 
member of the board of city affairs, which 
important position he now holds. Gen. Weid- 
ner has long been prominently identified with 
the uniform rank of the Knights of Pythias, 
his title of general coming from that source. 



HUGUST WEHNER, formerly a con- 
tractor and builder, living at No. 119 
Zeigler street, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Bavaria, Germany, April 26, 
1835. He is a son of Michael and Anna Mary 
(Grassmuck) Wehner, both natives of Ger- 
many, and the parents of three children, as 
follows: Agnes, deceased wife of Joseph 
Schwindt; August and Julius. 

Michael Wehner, the father, was a soldier 
and an officer in the German army for thirty- 
four years, in the service of the kings of Ba- 
varia. In 1854 he emigrated to the United 
States, locating in Dayton, but dying two days 
after his arrival, when he was sixty-one years 
of age. His wife died in 1876, at the age of 
eighty-two. Both were members of the Cath- 
olic church. 

The paternal grandfather of August was a 
tailor in his native country, and by reason of 
his superior skill and workmanship, he was 
called "schoen Schneider." He reared a family 
of three sons and two daughters, and was widely 
known and respected as an upright man and a 
good citizen. The maternal grandfather of 
August, Sebastian Grassmuck, was a surgeon 
in Germany, and lived to an advanced age. 

August Wehner was seventeen years of age 
when he came to the United States. Three 
years previously he began to learn the glazier's 
trade, and upon arriving in Dayton he went to 
work at the carpenter's trade, which he fol- 




DAYTON PUBLIC LIBRARY AND COOPER PARK 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



825 



lowed for many years. In 1861 he went to 
Darke county, and for ten years followed farm- 
ing in Greenville township, working also at his 
trade of carpenter, during the entire time. Re- 
turning to Dayton in 1872 he worked as a 
journeyman for three years, and then began 
taking contracts on his own account. This he 
continued until 1894, when he retired from act- 
ive business life. 

Mr. Wehner was married June 1, 1857, to 
Miss Mary Helen Sifferman, daughter of John 
George and Catherine (Weaver) Sifferman. To 
this marriage there have been born twelve chil- 
dren, as follows: John Henry, George Jacob, 
Katie Genevieve (deceased), Joseph, William, 
Barbara Anna, Mary Agnes, Ida, deceased; Ed- 
ward, Amelia, Rosa Louisa, and Frank An- 
thony. Of these John Henry married Louisa 
Hermann, and has by her five children, as fol- 
lows: Luella, Mary, Elnora, Walter and Ber- 
tha. George Jacob married Elizabeth Reich- 
mann, by whom he has six children, viz: 
Maria, Julius, Carl, Oliver, Hubert and Albert. 
Joseph married Clara Brink and has two chil- 
dren, Raymond and Vincent. Barbara Anna 
married John Sackstatter, and has two chil- 
dren, Hugo and Norberd. Amelia married 
William Anderson, and has one child, Florence 
Louise. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wehner and their children 
are members of the Catholic church, and he 
is a member of the Liebersbund, a German 
Catholic benevolent society. Mr. Wehner is 
also a member of the Veisenverein fraternity 
— Freundschaftsbund. Politically he is a free- 
silver democrat, though he has not been a 
seeker after office or political honors. During 
his forty-four years' residence in Dayton he 
has contributed his share to the upbuilding and 
growth of the city. He assisted to build the 
first house in Browntown, and has built a great 
many structures in Dayton, among them some 
of the largest factories. 



Mrs. Wehner's father, John George Siffer- 
man, came to Dayton in 1832, and aided in 
digging the canal. At the same time there 
came to this city a number of families who 
afterward became well known in the place, 
becoming in different ways and degrees identi- 
fied with its interests and growth. Among 
them were the following: The Makleys, the 
Weavers, the Hodapps, the Kochs, the Zinks, 
the Pauls and the Suchers. Mr. Sifferman lived 
in Dayton a large portion of his time; but his 
death occurred in Darke county, when he was 
seventy-five years of age, his wife having died 
previously at the age of seventy-two. 

Mr. Wehner is one of the most popular of 
of the German-American residents of Dayton, 
having been a most successful business man, 
and having been during his entire career well- 
known as a square-dealing, upright and honor- 
able citizen. 



aHRISTOPHER F. WEINMAN, one 
of the active and leading business men 
of Dayton, Ohio, and well known as 
a wagon and truckmaker, is a native 
of this city, born January 8, 1855. 

Christopher H. Weinman, his father, was 
born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and at the age 
of nineteen years, in 1853, came to America, 
settled in Dayton, and here married Miss Bar 
bara Werner, who was also a native of Wur- 
temberg. This marriage resulted in the birth 
of eight children, of whom four are still Jiving, 
viz: Christopher F. ; Christian J., formerly a 
machinist and vice-president of the Dayton 
Gasoline Engine works and at present a mem- 
ber of the firm of Weinman & Euchenhofer; 
William C, manager of the Postal Telegraph 
company; and Anna B., wife of Adam Menges, 
carriagemaker, of Dayton. The father of these 
children was a shoemaker by trade, and in 
1866 opened a boot and shoe store in Dayton, 



m'i; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



carried on this business for fifteen years and 
then retired to private life. Mrs. Barbara 
Weinman, who died March 30, 1889, was a 
devout member of the German Evangelical 
church, of which religious body Mr. Weinman 
is still a consistent adherent. 

Christopher Frederick Weinman, whose 
name opens this sketch, attended the public 
schools of Dayton until thirteen years of age, 
and then, for three years, worked in the cot- 
ton factory of T. A. Phillips & Son. He next 
served an apprenticeship of four years at car- 
riagemaking with DeCamp Brothers, of Day- 
ton, then worked for a year with Murray & 
Ogier as a journeyman, and for nine years fol- 
lowing was in the employ of W. W. Phillips 
as wagon-body builder. Mr. Weinman next 
had charge of the wheelroom of Pinneo & 
Daniels for five or six years, leaving that firm 
to form the partnership of Kramer & Wein- 
man, which carried on the wagonmaking busi- 
ness until 1894. The name was then changed 
to that of Kramer, Weinman & Co., but the 
business of this firm is now being closed out 
by Mr. Weinman. Although the original firm 
began with a small capital, the superiority of 
their trucks and wagons gained for them a 
widespread reputation, each member being an 
expert in wagonmaking, and, as an evidence 
of their skill, it may be mentioned that they 
constructed no less than ten hose carriages for 
the Dayton fire department. They employed 
an average of twenty men. Upon the close 
of active business by the above firm, on May 
1, 1896, Mr. Weinman became a member of 
the firm known as the Pioneer Wagon works, 
he buying the interest of Mr. Pfeiffenberger, 
the firm becoming Weinman, Geiser & Co., 
manufacturers of wagons and trucks, and doing 
also general repair work. 

Fraternally, Mr. Weinman is a member of 
Dayton lodge, No. 272, I. O. O. F. ; Gem City 
encampment, No. 116; Patriarchs Militant, 



canton Daytonia, No. 82; Isaac and Rebekah 
lodge, Daughters of Rebekah, No. 178. He 
is captain of canton Daytonia, also a member 
of Humboldt lodge, K. of P., and is vice- 
president of the Franklin Building association. 
The marriage of Mr. Weinman took place 
April 27, 1S79, with Miss Sophia C. Wies- 
math, of Dayton, daughter of the late George 
Wiesmath. Three children have blessed this 
union and are named Emma C, Mar)- S., and 
Minnie C. The family worship at the German 
Lutheran church and enjoy the esteem of a 
large circle of friends. 



£~V*TARK & WECKESSER, who are 
*\^^fcT concerned in a mercantile enterprise 

N^J which is now one of importance in any 
city, that of dealing in bicycles, sport- 
ing and athletic goods and supplies, have their 
finely equipped quarters at No. 113 East Fifth 
street, Dayton, and though the business had 
its inception as recently as February 1, 1895, 
it has shown a rapid and gratifying growth. 
The members of the firm are William H. 
Stark and Albert A. Weckesser, both of whom 
are practical mechanics and thereby enabled to 
give direct attention to all the details of their 
business. The firm handle all standard makes 
of guns and sporting goods, while the list of 
bicycles for which they are agents includes the 
Dayton and other well-known makes. Aside 
from their retail trade the firm also conduct 
a large jobbing business all through this 
section of the state. 

Albert A. Weckesser is a native son of 
Dayton, was born on the 15th of November, 
1870, and is a son of J. P. and Mary A. 
(Wenz) Weckesser, the latter of whom died in 
the year 1880. The father is a prominent 
clothing merchant of Dayton, where he has 
been established in business for many years. 
Albert A. was reared and educated in the city 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



827 



of his birth, and when fifteen years of age he 
began the work of preparing himself for the 
practical duties of life by entering the employ 
of James Dodds, in the capacity of salesman 
and assistant in the repair shop. This place he 
retained until February, 1895, when he asso- 
ciated himself with Mr. Stark in the establish- 
ing of their present business. 

Mr. Weckesser is a member of the A. S. 
of C. and also of the Catholic organization of 
St. Joseph's Institute. His religious affilia- 
tions are with Emanuel Catholic church, in 
Dayton. His home is at 120 West Fifth street. 



SEV. EDWARD THOMPSON 
WELLS, A. M., presiding elder 
of the Dayton district, Cincinnati con- 
ference, Methodist Episcopal church, 
was born in Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio, 
July 29, 1842, and is a son of Rev. Wesley J. 
and Olive (Clark) Wells, the former of whom 
was a native of York county, Pa., born Octo- 
ber 14, 181 1, and the latter of New York 
state, born April 14, 1805. They were mar- 
ried in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1839, and there 
were born to their union two children, viz: 
Edward Thompson and a daughter, now Mrs. 
O. M. Cary — the latter a resident of Toledo, 
Ohio. The father was an itinerant minister 
of the Methodist church in the north central 
Ohio conferences for thirty-three years, when 
he retired to Toledo, where his death took 
place in August, 1885, and that of his widow 
in December, 1S90. 

Edward T. Wells was primarily educated 
in the common schools of the towns of Ohio, 
wherever his father happened to be stationed 
during his ministerial appointments, and his 
first independent efforts for a livelihood were 
made in Findlay, where he became a dry- 
goods clerk as well as a drug clerk. In his 
seventeenth year he entered the university at 



Delaware, Ohio, and while there, pursuing his 
studies, he enlisted, in May, 1862, in the Eighty- 
fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, under Col. 
Lawrence, in the three months' service, but 
filled out a term of four months, doing guard 
duty at Cumberland, Md., and then resumed 
his studies, graduating, in 1864, with the 
degree of bachelor of arts. In the summer 
of 1864, the quarterly conference of the Will- 
iams street church, of Delaware, licensed Mr. 
Wells to preach, and he immediately entered 
the Christian commission service and pro- 
ceeded to Nashville, Tenn., where he preached 
his first sermon. The duties of this position 
required him to visit the sick, to attend to the 
physical and spiritual wants of the wounded 
soldiers, and to lecture each Sunday; after a 
short time he was transferred to Rome, Ga. , 
where the same class of duties awaited him, 
and in the fulfillment of these duties he wit- 
nessed more suffering than if he had been 
himself in the ranks. These services were, 
of course, rendered without any remuneration 
of a pecuniary character. 

Returning to Ohio in the fall of 1864, Rev. 
E. T. Wells entered upon itinerant labor, and 
at the same time engaged to teach a school in 
Hancock county; but his parishioners objected 
to his performance of a double duty, and in 
consequence he resigned his pastorate — but did 
not relinquish preaching; on the contrary, he 
conducted a protracted meeting which resulted 
in the conversion of twenty-one souls. In the 
spring of 1865 he taught a school in Oceola, 
Warren county, and filled in his leisure hours 
with the study of law; but the latter was soon 
abandoned, as there arose a demand for his 
services as a local preacher. He next taught 
for two years at Newbury, Clermont county, 
opening a seminary at that place; he next went 
to Toledo, where he engaged in the real-estate 
business and also did some preaching. He 
here, through a recommendation from the 



828 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



quarterly conference of Saint John's church, 
became a member of the Cincinnati conference, 
and in the fall of 1867 entered upon regular 
pastoral labors, his first charge being the East 
Pearl street church of Cincinnati, where he re- 
mained one year; his next charge was Grace 
church, at Piqua, where he remained three 
years, and here he also built a church edifice. 

While in the performance of his ministerial 
functions in Piqua, Mr. Wells was married Au- 
gust 3, 1869, to Miss Lucia M. Moorehouse, a 
native of Shelburne, Vt., a school-teacher, 
who graduated from the New Hampton insti- 
tute of Fairfax, Vt. Her parents were Frank- 
lin H. and Maria (Webster) Moorehouse, both 
natives of the Green Mountain state and born 
respectively in 1804 and 18 14. The father 
was a farmer and died at the age of fifty-seven 
years in Shelburne, Vt. , where, also, the mother 
died when sixty-three years of age. Of the seven 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Moorehouse. Ed- 
ward was conducting a sheep ranch in Texas 
when the Civil war broke out, was drafted into 
the Confederate army, but escaped into Mex- 
ico and enlisted later at San Antonio, N. M., 
in the Union army, served throughout the war, 
then went to Kansas, was elected to the legis- 
lature, and died at the age of sixty, in Topeka; 
Roderick Dhu entered the army as lieutenant, in 
Malone, N. Y. , rose to the rank of major, and 
is now engaged in mercantile business in Bos- 
ton and resides at Newtonville, Mass. ; Rev. 
George C. served in the Second Vermont in- 
fantry all through the war and is now an act- 
ive minister in the Methodist Episcopal church 
in Salem, N. Y. ; Jennie is the wife of Prof. 
George C. Edwards, of Boston, Mass. ; Clark 
W. is president of the New England & Bos- 
ton Christian alliance and is also engaged in 
evangelistic work. 

Reverting to the life work of Rev. E. T. 
Wells, it should here be stated that he was 
called from Piqua to the charge at Madison- 



ville, Hamilton county, and that during the 
year he officiated there, the noted woman's 
crusade took place, in which Mrs. Wells was 
an active participant. Rev. Wells was next 
called to the Central church at Springfield, and 
during his three years stay there conducted an 
extensive revival, through which over 200 ac- 
cessions were made to his congregation; his 
next charge was the Raper church, at Dayton, 
for three years, and following this he was for 
two years in charge of the First church at 
Xenia. Thence he was transferred to the 
Mulberry street church at Troy, and three 
years later to Grace church, Urbana, where he 
preached another term of three years; he then 
returned to the Green street church at Piqua 
for four years, the limit having been changed, 
and here, in 1892, was appointed presiding 
elder of the Dayton district, having supervi- 
sion of thirty-four appointments, with about 
sixty preaching places. The full membership 
of the Dayton district reaches 10,311, exclu- 
sive of 509 probationers; the number of church 
buildings is sixty -six, valued at $438,700; the 
parsonages number twenty-six, valued at 
$60,000; there are sixty Sunday-schools, with 
1,094 officers and teachers, and a total attend- 
ance of scholars reaching 8,711. Rev. Wells 
conducts three quarterly meetings each Sunday 
for ten weeks, his manifold duties requiring a 
large expenditure of mental and physical labor. 
To the union of Rev. and Mrs. Wells have 
been born nine children, of whom four were 
lost in infancy ; the survivors are named Eth- 
elwyn Olive, who was born at Mechanicsburg ; 
Reginald Warren, who was. born July 4, 1878, 
in Dayton ; Paul Morley, Bertram Whittier 
and Lillian Frances. Of these Ethelwyn Olive 
graduated from the Piqua high school, finished 
her education at the Cook county normal 
school, of Chicago, and taught a private school 
for a time. Her death occurred June 12, 1896, 
at her home in Dayton. Reginald graduated 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



829 



from the Steele high school, Dayton, in June, 
1896, and is now a member of the class of 
1900 of the Ohio Wesleyan university, of Del- 
aware, Ohio, and the other children are in 
attendance at school elsewhere. Mrs. Wells 
is ex-president of the Emerson club of Dayton, 
and is also president of the district branch of 
the Woman's Foreign Missionary society, of 
the M. E. church, and was president of the 
first woman's crusade of Hamilton county. 

Rev. Wells is a republican in politics, and 
is a member of the Old Guard post of Dayton ; 
but his chief interest lies in his church and his 
life is marked by an undivided attention to 
church and ministry. Since his incumbency 
of the position of presiding elder he has made 
his home in Dayton, and under his superin- 
tendency two new congregations have been 
organized — the Plainview and the Riverdale. 
Both are at present under one pastorate, but 
the time is not far distant when they will be 
erected into two separate charges. 

Rev. Wells' ministerial life, with the ex- 
ception of two years passed in Hamilton 
county, has been spent within a radius of three 
miles of Dayton, which fact speaks volumes 
for his popularity and efficiency, and the work 
of himself and his wife in the church and Sun- 
day-school, while highly commended, cann ever 
be fully appreciated except by their own per- 
sonal friends and by the friends of the church. 



aHRISTIAN J. WEINMAN, senior 
member of the firm of Weinman & 
Euchenhofer, machinists, Nos. 22-24 
Canal street, Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Dayton May 14, 1858, and is a son of 
Christopher H. and Anna B. (Werner) Wein- 
man, both of whom were natives of Germany, 
and of whom only the former is still living, 
Mrs. Weinman having been called to rest in 
March, 1889. 



Christopher H.Weinman came to this coun- 
try when a young man of eighteen or nineteen, 
and for a few years lived in Cincinnati, whence 
he came to Dayton, and for many years carried 
on a shoe store at No. 8 South Main street. 
In politics he has always been a republican, 
and in religion is a member of the Evangelical 
church, on Commercial street, of which he has 
been a trustee for years. To his marriage 
were born eight children, of whom four are 
still living, viz: Frederick, a carriage and 
wagonmaker; AnnaB., wife of Adam Menges; 
Christian J., and William C. , manager of the 
Postal Telegraph company, all residents of 
Dayton. 

Christian J. Weinman received his educa- 
tion in the public schools of his native city, 
and was about eleven years of age when he 
began working, during vacation, at anything 
he could find to do. At the age of sixteen he 
entered the Buckeye Iron & Brass works, 
served an apprenticeship, then worked as a 
journeyman until 1882 or 1883, when he es- 
tablished the Novelty Machine works on Third 
street, and a year later admitted Edward >E. 
Euchenhofer as a partner. This business was 
continued by the firm for about seven years, 
when it was made a stock concern under the 
name of the Dayton Gas & Gasoline Engine 
company. In March, 1895, the name was 
changed to the Dayton Gas Engine & Manu- 
facturing company, which was continued until 
May, 1896, when both Mr. Weinman and Mr. 
Euchenhofer sold out their stock in the com- 
pany and established their present business. 
Mr. Weinman is an inventor of rare ability 
and his patents have received the seal of public 
approbation wherever introduced, the produc- 
tions of the firm being welcomed in all parts of 
the United States, as well as in other countries. 

The marriage of Mr. Weinman took place 

June 28, 1888, with Miss Lizzie Darst, a daugh- 

1 ter of Henry Darst, and to this union have 



830 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



been born three children, named Edna, Leli 
and Bessie, the latter deceased. The family 
reside at No. 55 Perrine street, Dayton, and 
occupy a high social position in their quarter 
of the city. Fraternally Mr. Weinman is a 
member of lodge No. 273, I. O. O. F., of the 
Gem City encampment, uniform rank of 
Patriarchs Militant, and of the Rebekah lodge; 
in politics he is a republican, but has never 
sought for public office, being contented, 
rather, with the pursuit of the study of such 
labor-saving and economical mechanical de- 
vices as will inure to the benefit of mankind. 



j/'VROF. FRANK WERKMEISTER, 
|. M leader of the Metropolitan band, Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in Saxony, Ger- 
* many, October 17, 1846, and received 
his education in the public schools of that 
country. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth 
(Rauh) Werkmeister, were also natives of 
Saxony. Henry Werkmeister was a teacher 
of music, in which he was proficient, was of 
robust constitution, temperate in habit, and 
never had occasion to call a physician until his 
death, which took place in 1873, at the age of 
seventy years. His widow survived until 1 893, 
and died in Germany at the age of seventy- 
eight years. Of their family of five children, 
Christina is married and is living in Saxony; 
George died at twenty-six years of age; Caspar 
is a merchant; Frank is the only member of 
the family to come to America, and Joseph 
died in early manhood. 

Prof. Frank Werkmeister received his ele- 
mentary musical training under his father, 
and later attended the Annaberg college of 
Saxony, which school was under the manage- 
ment of the government. His first specialty 
iwas the volin, but he afterward adopted the 
cornet, which is still his preference, although 



he readily manipulates any wind instrument. 
He filled several important engagements as a 
musician in his native country, and also one 
season in Denmark, and another season in 
London, England, and then returned to Ger- 
many. In the spring of 1877 he accompanied 
the Hessian band to America, and here the 
band remained one year, playing, under the 
management of Mr. Werkmeister, six months 
in Cincinnati, and the remaining six months in 
Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, 
Colorado and other western states. All of the 
members of the band excepting Mr. Werk- 
meister, then returned to Germany, and the 
cause of his remaining may perhaps be found 
in the circumstance that, in 1877, while giving 
concerts in Dayton, he formed the acquaint- 
ance of the lady who is now his wife. After 
seeing his comrades safely embarked for Ger- 
many, the professor returned to Dayton, which 
city has ever since been his home. 

In September, 1878, Prof. Werkmeister 
was united in matrimony with Miss Lena Ebel- 
ing. This lady is a native of Dayton, of Ger- 
man ancestry, and has borne her husband four 
children, Ella, Clara, Frank and Dora, the 
eldest of whom is a student in the Steele 
high school, while the other three are pupils 
in one of the district schools. 

Prof. Werkmeister, soon after settling in 
Dayton, became a member of the old Fourth 
regiment band, but after a year's experience 
therewith resigned, and organized the Knights 
of Pythias band, which he managed for four 
years. Finally the manager of the Fourth 
regiment band made a proposition to Mr. 
Werkmeister to consolidate the two organi- 
zations and to utilize only the best artists of 
each. This scheme was adopted, and the 
new organization was for a time known as 
the Knights of Pythias band, but this title was 
dropped, and that of Metropolitan substituted. 
About 1884, Prof. Werkmeister assumed con- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



831 



trol of the consolidated band, a position which 
he still holds. In this capacity he has at- 
tended the conclaves of the Knights Templars 
at Chicago, Boston, Cincinnati, Akron, Lan- 
caster, Springfield, Indianapolis, Evansville, 
Sandusky, Columbus (a number of times), 
Wheeling, and at other places. On one occa- 
sion the Metropolitan band was paid the high 
compliment by Harper's Weekly, of being 
' ' second to none in the western states. " This 
band has been awarded several valuable 
prizes in competition with other musical or- 
ganizations of note, and some of its members, 
who were selected from the parent band, are 
wealthy and prominent citizens of Dayton. 

In 1889, the Metropolitan was regularly 
enlisted as the Thirteenth regiment band, O. 
N. G., and at the centennial celebration ac- 
companied the regiment to New York city, 
where it was royally received by the musicians 
of the metropolis. On the return to Dayton, 
however, its members withdrew from the 
national guard. 

Prof. Werkmeister is a recognized author- 
ity in the musical circles of Dayton. He has 
been instrumental in leading the people to ap- 
preciate a high standard of music, and is 
thoroughly qualified to filled the prominent 
position he holds. He was selected to conduct 
the musical features of the centennial celebra- 
tion in Dayton in 1896. His work in this city 
has been rewarded in a practical way, and he 
has prospered financially. He is prominent, 
also, in various fraternal and social organiza- 
tions in Dayton, being a member of Humboldt 
lodge, No. 58, Knights of Pythias; also of the 
Improved Order of Red Men, the German 
Lutheran society, the Elsass Lothringer Un- 
terstuetzungs Verein, and of Tentonia lodge, No. 
21, Ancient Order of United Workmen. The 
family worship at Saint John's German Lu- 
theran church, and in politics the professor is 
independent. 



Mrs. Werkmeister is one of the most ex- 
perienced and successful milliners in Dayton. 
She opened her present place of business at 
No. 337 East Xenia avenue when she was but 
seventeen years of age, and has profitably 
managed it for twenty-seven consecutive years, 
and it may be added that to her skill and taste 
are largely due the material prosperity of the 
estimable family. 



\S~\ ICHARD WHITCOMB, city weigh- 

I /^ master and wood measurer of Day- 

M P ton, Ohio; was born in the town of 

Dorchester, Suffolk county, Mass., 

August 15, 1 S 14. His parents were Richard 

and Susan (Littlefield) Whitcomb, the former 

of whom was a native of Massachusetts and 

the latter of Maine. 

Richard Whitcomb in his youth learned 
the trade of molder, but when nineteen years 
old went to sea as a sailor on board a whaling 
vessel bound for the Pacific whaling grounds. 
For twelve years he followed the sea, during 
which time he sailed twice around the world, 
and visited nearly every country on the globe. 
In 1S54 he came to Ohio, locating in Cin- 
cinnati, but some time later he went to Nash- 
ville, Tenn., where he lived for six years, 
and was there when the Civil war broke out. 
Leaving Nashville, he came to Dayton, and 
on November 25, 1864, enlisted for one year 
in company K, Sixtieth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
being mustered out of service at Washington, 
D. C, July 28, 1865. 

Returning to Dayton he began working 
at his trade, which he followed until 1886, 
and in April, 1894, he was elected to his 
present office for a term of two years. He 
was married December 31, 1839, to Anna 
Haller, who was born in Pennsylvania. To 
their marriage there have been born eight 
children, three of whom are still living, viz : 



832 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Edward, a molder of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
June 7, 1842 ; Lydia, wife of Gerhard Lauten- 
schlager, a railroad man of Cincinnati, and 
Louis, who is now in the west. Mr. Whit- 
comb is a member of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, of the Grand Army of the 
Republic and of the American Protective asso- 
ciation. His wife is still living, and is in her 
seventy-sixth year. 




IHEOBALD D. EICHELBERGER, 
one of the representative business 
men of Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Franklin county, Pa., August 6, 1822, 
and is a son of Daniel and Mary (Rowland) 
Eichelberger, both of whom were born in 
Pennsylvania — the father in 1768 and the 
mother in 1786, of German descent, the father 
of Daniel Eichelberger having been the found- 
er of the family in the Keystone state some- 
time in the seventeenth century. 

Both the father and the mother of T. D. 
Eichelberger were twice married. There were 
four sons and four daughters born to the fa- 
ther's first marriage — all being now dead. The 
mother's first husband was Jacob Gantz, by 
whom she became the mother of two sons and 
two daughters — all now deceased. To the 
marriage of Daniel and Mary Eichelberger 
were born three children — Theobald D., and 
two sisters; of these, Susan Higby is a widow, 
now living in Cincinnati; the other sister, 
Magdalene Hemrick, died at her brother's 
home in June, 1894, at the age of sixty-six 
years. The father died in Farmersville, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, in 1841, and the mother 
in Cincinnati, in 1869; our subject and his sis- 
ter, Mrs. Higby, are the only survivors of this 
old Pennsylvania family. 

Theobald D. Eichelberger was a mere 
child — not yet five years of age — when brought 
from Pennsylvania to Ohio by his parents, 



who settled in Montgomery county, in 1827, 
occupying a farm. He has a vivid recollection 
of the pioneer log schoolhouse which he at- 
tended in his infantile days — with its slab 
benches, puncheon floor and huge fireplace; he 
also remembers the homespun apparel of the 
pupils, while he has not forgotten the size and 
effect of the birches when wielded by the strong 
arm of the teacher. 

Mr. Eichelberger worked on the home farm 
until he reached the age of twenty years, al- 
though he was compelled to earn his living 
from his twelfth year, and also, at that early 
age, to assist in the support of his father's 
family. At the age of twenty years he came 
to Dayton and opened a cooper-shop on the 
corner of Fifth and Clay streets, where he had 
quite a successful trade in the manufacture of 
flour barrels in the winter; but worked at paint- 
ing, at home, during the summer, giving em- 
ployment to several men in both branches of 
his business. In i860, he entered into the 
grocery business with John W. Butt as a silent 
partner; this connection was maintained three 
years, or perhaps four, when he embarked in 
the real-estate business, in which he also met 
with great success. 

In January, 1879, he entered into cement- 
pipe manufacturing, which still occupies his 
attention, together with the handling of build- 
ers' general supplies, paving brick, cement for 
paving, etc., being associated in the business 
with two sons, Andrew W. and John W. 

The marriage of Mr. Eichelberger took 
place in Greene county, Ohio, April 8, 185 1, 
with Miss Melinda Wolf, a native of Bath 
township, that county, and daughter of John 
W. and Mary (Hawker) Wolf, the former of 
whom was born in Pennsylvania, November 
23, 1 791 , and the latter in Ohio, November 
17, 1800. Mr. and Mrs. Wolf were married 
December 31, 1S1S, and became the parents 
of ten children, of whom the names of the 




T. D. EICHELBERGER. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



835 



following nine are recalled : Israel, Andrew, 
Catherine, Abram, Susannah, George, Mary, 
Melinda and Louisa. Andrew, the only living 
son of this family, has been a resident of 
Stockton, Cal., since 1849 ; Catherine, now 
Mrs. Haynes, lives in Dayton, Ohio ; Susan- 
nah is Mrs. Snyder and resides in Indiana ; 
Louisa is married to a Mr. Visher ; Melinda is 
Mrs. Eichelberger ; Israel died at the age of 
fourteen years ; the others all lived to mature 
years, but are now deceased. The mother of 
this family died in Greene county at the age 
of thirty-six years, and the father died in the 
same county, June 25, 1877, in his eighty- 
fourth year. 

John W. Wolf, father of Mrs. Eichelberger, 
was a soldier in the war of 18 12, and on com- 
ing to Greene county, Ohio, assisted in cut- 
ting a road through the swampy country for the 
passage of a portion of the army over the spot 
where the Montgomery county court house 
now stands. 

The marriage of Mr. Eichelberger has been 
blessed with two sons — Andrew Wilford and 
John William — both associated with their 
father in business, as has already been men- 
tioned, and both married, with families of their 
own. Mr. and Mrs. Eichelberger have been 
church members from early youth. In 1840 
Mr. Eichelberger joined the Lutheran church. 
At the age of fourteen years Mrs. Eichelberger 
united with the Reformed church, but after 
marriage withdrew from this body and joined 
the congregation with which her husband had 
united. Mr. Eichelberger is also a faithful 
member of the Y. M. C. A. Fraternally, he 
has been a member of the I. O. O. F. for 
about forty years ; and politically, has been a 
republican ever since the birth of that party, 
his sons also being stalwart in that faith. He 
has, however, always declined to accept public 
office, although positions of honor and trust 
have frequently been offered to him. 

32 



When Mr. Eichelberger became a resident 
of Dayton, in 1842, the city contained but 
6,000 inhabitants, but he has lived to see it 
grow to a city of 85,000 population, and has 
grown with its growth, has been a factor in its 
progress, and now, after having made his home 
here for over half a century, maintains a proud 
position in business, social and religious circles. 



>Y*OSEPH C. WHALEY, well-driver and 

■ dealer in pumps and well fixtures, of 

Al Dayton, Ohio, was born in Defiance, 

Ohio, May 13, 1855, and is a son of 

Albert and Martha (Taylor) Whaley. 

Albert Whaley was a native of Boston, 
Mass., but in early manhood became identified 
with Dayton and its interests. He assisted in 
constructing the Miami & Erie canal, which 
runs through this city, and ran one of the first 
canal packets placed thereon. After a life of 
industry and usefulness, he was called from 
earth in 1866. Mrs. Martha Whaley was a 
native of England, and in early childhood was 
brought to America by her parents, who set- 
tled in Dayton, her father, Jonathan Taylor, 
being still remembered by the old settlers of 
the Gem City. The parents of Joseph C. 
Whaley were married in Kentucky, whither 
they went for that purpose in conformity with 
a marriage contract prepared and approved by 
the bride's mother. Of the eleven children 
born to this union two only are now living — 
Jonathan T. and Joseph C. , the others having 
all died in infancy, except two — James S. and 
Lewis — who reached man's estate and died in 
Dayton. The mother of this family survived 
until 1890, when she, too, ended her days in 
this city. 

Joseph C. Whaley lived in his native town 
until the death of his father, and in 1866 ac- 
companied his mother to this city, where he 
was employed from 1867 until 1880 in operat- 



836 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ing wood-working machinery. In 1881 he be- 
gan his present business of driving wells, at 
which he is more than an ordinary expert. 
About 1893 he began to deal in real estate, 
buying, building and selling, and has thus 
materially assisted in the improvement of the 
eastern portion of the city. 

In 1877, Mr. Whaley was united in wed- 
lock with Miss Amy P. McCandless, a native 
of Dayton and a daughter of James McCand- 
less, an early settler. To this marriage have 
been born nine children, of whom five are still 
living. The eldest, James Samuel, is now 
eighteen years of age, and is serving an ap- 
prenticeship with the Dayton Manufacturing 
company; Lewis W. is a polisher in the works 
of the same company; Martha Elizabeth, Jo- 
seph Harrison and Amy May Catherine Marie 
are at home or in school. The family attend 
the Baptist church, of which Mrs. Whaley is a 
consistent member. Mr. Whaley is a member 
of various trades unions. In politics he has 
been a life-long republican, of which party his 
father was one of the founders, he having 
previously been a whig and a knownothing. 

Jonathan T. Whaley, brother of Joseph 
C. , served for three years, faithfully and gal- 
lantly, in the late Civil war, and is now living 
in retirement in the city of Dayton. 

Joseph C. Whaley has always been an en- 
ergetic, hard-working citizen, whose own in- 
dustry and perseverance have brought him 
success and prosperity in his business life and 
the respect of the community, and has built 
up for himself a solid, prosperous trade. 



eLIAS WEINREICH, cigar manufac- 
turer of Nos. 1114-1118 East Fifth 
street, Dayton, Ohio, was born in 
Bavaria, Germany, September 19, 
1857. He is a son of David and Phillipine 
(Katz) Weinreich, both of whom were natives 



of Germany, and who were the parents of 
twelve children, six sons and six daughters. 
Nine of these twelve children are still living, 
as follows : Rachel, Caroline, Lena, Isaac, 
Amelia, Wolf A., Mary, Joseph and Elias. 

David Weinreich was a cattle dealer and a 
butcher by occupation in his native country, 
and in 1870 emigrated to the United States, 
coming directly to Ohio and locating in Day- 
ton. He was then retired from business, and 
lived in Dayton until 1883, when he died, at 
the age of eighty-two years. His wife, who 
still survives, is eighty-four years of age. He 
was, and Mrs. Weinreich still is, a member of 
the Jewish church, and both belonged to that 
sturdy German class from which the people of 
this country draw so much of good citizenship. 

The paternal grandfather of Elias, Isaac 
Weinreich, died in Germany when his son 
David was quite young. The maternal grand- 
father, whose name was Elias Katz, lived and 
died in Germany. 

Elias Weinreich, when he was brought to 
the United States, was twelve years of age, 
and had received his education in his native 
land. In 1872 he began learning the cigar- 
maker's trade, following it for one year, and 
then established a buisness of his own. This 
business, started on a small scale, has so pros- 
pered and grown that at the present time Mr. 
Weinreich employs 1 50 persons, of both sexes. 
He manufactures goods for the jobbing trade, 
and that he has been successful is sufficiently 
indicated by the statement made above as to 
the number of people in his establishment. 

On April 28, 1880, Mr. Weinreich was 
married to Miss Rebecca Cohn, daughter of 
Samuel and Miriam (Israel) Cohn. To this 
marriage have been born six children, as fol- 
lows : Bertha, David, Solomon, Samuel, 
Miriam and Bessie. Mr. Weinreich is an Odd 
Fellow, a member of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, and of the Commercial 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



837 



Travelers' association, while Mrs. Weinreich is 
a member of the Jewish church or synagogue, 
of the Hebrew Aid society, and also of the 
Daughters of Rebekah. Mr. Weinreich is also 
a member of the Hebrew congregation. Kilo 
Kodish, B'Nai Jeshuren, which was organized 
in 1850. Politically Mr. Weinreich is a dem- 
ocrat, but has never sought office or any kind 
of political preferment. He has spent some 
time in traveling, having visited most of Europe 
and of the states of the Union. He is a thor- 
ough business man, and ranks among the lead- 
ing tobacconists of Dayton, his goods being 
popular in all parts of the country where in- 
troduced. It is not too much to say of Mr. 
Weinreich that he is one of the self-made men 
of the city of Dayton ; that he has been the 
architect of his own fortune. His home is at 
No. 27 Maple street, Dayton, where he and 
his family are surrounded by a large circle of 
ever welcome friends. 



aOL. WILLIAM J. WHITE, for the 
past eight years superintendent of the 
public schools of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Uniontown, Muskingum coun- 
ty, Ohio, April 1, 1844. He is a son of John 
R. and Isabella M. (Simms) White, both of 
whom were natives of Culpeper county, Va. 
They came into Ohio in 1801, and located first 
in Perry county, whence they removed to 
Muskingum county, where they lived until 
their death, the former dying in 1876, the lat- 
ter in 1874. John R. White was a lawyer by 
profession, and a successful and influential man. 
William J. White was reared in Muskingum 
county, and secured his early education in the 
public schools, and passed through the graded 
schools of his native town. In December, 
1 86 1, he became a private soldier in the Fed- 
eral army, enlisting in company B, Seventy- 
eighth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, of 



which M. D. Leggett was colonel. His first 
experience of note was at Fort Donelson, 
Tenn., and his next at Shiloh, Tenn., his reg- 
iment being then in Gen. Lew Wallace's divi- 
sion. He went thence to Corinth, Miss., then 
to Iuka, Miss., and then to Bolivar, Tenn., 
where he became a member of what was known 
as the "mule cavalry." This was a body of 
fifty men selected from the regiment because 
of their fitness for special duty, or any emer- 
gency that might arise, requiring courage and 
discretion. Their first assignment was to the 
work of scouring the country in search of cot- 
ton burners and guerrillas, and they were to 
respond to the bugle call. For personal brave- 
ry and gallant conduct during an engagement 
with the rebel forces under Gen. Van Dorn, 
August 30, 1862, Mr. White was promoted to 
a position on the staff of Gen. Leggett, and 
remained with him through all the battles, 
skirmishes, etc., for some time, including the 
capture of Jackson, Miss., of Grand Junction, 
Tenn., La Grange, Tenn., the advance on 
Vicksburg, by way of Holly Springs, Miss., and 
to Water Valley, Miss. 

When at Water Valley it became Mr. 
White's fortune to be sent back with a com- 
munication to Gen. McPherson, commanding 
the Seventeenth corps, from Gen. Logan's di- 
vision, informing him of the fact that a large 
body of rebel cavalry was moving northward 
around the flank of the Union forces, which 
body of cavalry proved to be Van Dorn's, which 
captured Holly Springs, and cut off communi- 
cation with the Union army's base of supplies 
and compelled Gen. Grant to order a retreat 
to Memphis, Tenn. This communication Col. 
White carried through rebel territory, a per- 
fect wilderness for miles, in advance of the 
army. On this retreat the Union army was 
under constant fire from the pursuing rebels, 
and was compelled to subsist on parched corn. 
Memphis was reached in December, 1862, and 



838 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



from there the Union forces went to Lake 
Providence, where they cut the levee, letting 
the Mississippi run into Lake Providence. 
They then attempted to go up Bayou Baxter, 
and by a roundabout course get into Vicksburg. 
This attempt, however, failed, and the only 
result was to flood the country. 

The army then went down the Mississippi 
to Milliken's Bend, above Young's Point, oppo- 
site Vicksburg, camping on the levee and await- 
ing the opening of Grant'scanal across Young's 
Point, which was expected to allow the trans- 
ports and gunboats to pass through. This 
failing, the command began the movement 
across Young's Point, early in April, 1863, to 
a point opposite Grand Gulf, on the Missis- 
sippi river, forty miles below Vicksburg and 
well fortified. At this time the transports 
were manned by volunteers from the division 
and ran the blockade with safety, landing on 
the shore opposite Grand Gulf. By means of 
these transports Col. White's brigade and di- 
vision were the first to cross the river, reach- 
ing the Mississippi side in the early morning 
of May 1, and proceeding to Port Gibson, a 
town some miles in the rear of Grand Gulf. 
Here a severe battle occurred, in which the 
Union troops were victorious, driving the rebels 
toward Vicksburg and compelling the surrender 
of Grand Gulf. The line of march was then 
taken up toward Raymond, fighting continu- 
ously with the retreating rebels in front. At 
Baker's Creek, on the 6th of May, a very se- 
vere battle took place, in which Col. White's 
regiment suffered greatly, but succeeded in 
driving the rebel forces in disorder from the 
field. Proceeding then to Clinton and thence 
to Jackson, where they found the rebels 
strongly fortified, they succeeded in capturing 
the city, together with a large number of pris- 
oners and an abundance of stores, on May 12. 
Turning then toward Vicksburg, with the rebel 
Gens. Johnston in the rear and Pemberton in 



front, the Union forces were harassed continu- 
ously, both in front and rear, but succeeded 
finally in driving Pemberton within the fortifi- 
cations at Vicksburg, passing through Clinton 
and reaching Edward's Depot on the night of 
the 15th, and on the 1 6th fought the battle of 
Champion Hills, famous as one of the decid- 
ing battles of the war. The division in which 
Col. White was then serving was on the ex- 
treme right of the line, and Gen. Hovey was 
on its left. The battle began about 9 A. M. 
and raged until 3 p. m. with great severity. 
Gen. Hovey's division on the left giving way 
before the terrible onslaughts of the rebel 
forces, and causing the division on the right 
to become a sort of nucleus for a reforming of 
the lines, both in front and flank. Through 
the bravery and gallantry of Gen. Logan, who 
rode between the retreating division of Gen. 
Hovey and the advancing rebels, triumphant 
up to that time, the broken ranks of Hovey 
were re-formed and were personally led by 
Gen. Logan to a successful charge upon the 
rebel lines, which sent them in confusion from 
the field. Following up this victory, the next 
day Gen. Pemberton was compelled to con- 
tinue his retreat, and on the night of the 1 8th 
was driven within the fortifications of Vicks- 
burg, and on the 19th Grant's army took up 
its position around the city and commenced 
the regular siege, Gen. Leggett being placed 
in command of Gen. John E. Smith's division, 
the latter taking command of Gen. McCler- 
nand's corps. On the 22d a general assault 
was made on the rebel works, with the view 
of carrying them by storm, Col. White's horse 
being shot under nim on this occasion, and a 
portion of the troops entering the fortifica- 
tions; but, being unable to hold them, the 
army settled down to a regular siege, which 
lasted from that day, May 19. to July 3, the 
troops being during all of that time under fire 
from the rebel forces within the city. On 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



839 



the morning of July 3 a flag of truce appeared 
in front of Leggett's division, asking for an 
armistice. Here an interview took place be- 
tween the commanding generals, Grant and 
Pemberton, under what was afterward known 
as the Pemberton oak tree, a representation 
of which may be seen in the rotunda of the 
capitol at Columbus, Ohio. All the communi- 
cations between Grant and Pemberton leading 
up to and including the surrender of Vicks- 
burg were borne back and forth by Col. White. 
At noon of July 4, 1863, the Union forces 
inarched into Vicksburg, Gen. Leggett's divi- 
sion, in which Col. White was serving, in ad- 
vance, and receiving the surrender of the 
city, together with a vast army and military 
supplies. 

After the capture of Vicksburg, Col. White 
accompanied Gen. Leggett on an expedition to 
the Washita river to clear the country of rebels 
there collected. In December, 1864, Col. 
White received a commission as second lieuten- 
ant, and was afterward promoted to a captaincy 
in the Fifth United States heavy artillery, 
which regiment was assigned to the defense of 
Vicksburg, and there Col. White remained un- 
til the close of the war. He was appointed 
acting assistant inspector-general on the staff 
of Gen. Morgan L. Smith, commanding the fort 
of Vicksburg, and afterward was appointed 
aid-de-camp and acting assistant adjutant- 
general to Maj.-Gen. Thomas J. Wood, com- 
manding the department of the Mississippi. 
While on Gen. Wood's staff at Vicksburg, it 
became the duty of Col. White to escort Ben- 
son J. Lossing, the celebrated historical writer, 
over the battle fields in and around Vicksburg, 
while he was collecting data for his Field 
Book of the War, and other historical works. 
Two weeks were thus spent, Col. White point- 
ing out the different positions occupied by the 
several commands in the engagements referred 
to in this sketch. Mr. Lossing took prismatic 



views and made careful notes on the exact spot 
where each event took place, and thus a pecu- 
liar value was given to that historian's writing 
which is seldom found in such works. Mr. 
Lossing pays Col. White a very high compli- 
ment in his history of the war for these serv- 
ices, and Col. White was now given the rank 
of major by brevet by the president of the 
United States for gallant and meritorious con- 
duct during the war. 

After his retirement from the army he en- 
tered, in September, 1866, the Ohio Wesleyan 
university, at Delaware, Ohio, and so assidu- 
ous was he in his studies that he completed the 
five years' course in four years, graduating in 
June, 1870. In November, 1870, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Bertha A. Butterfield, of Bucyrus, 
Ohio, and in January, 1871, was appointed 
principal of the high school at Pana, 111., 
which position he held a year and a half, when 
he was elected superintendent of the schools of 
the same city. This position he held until June, 
1874, when he was elected to the principalship 
of the high schools of Springfield, Ohio, where 
he had charge of 125 pupils, and taught all the 
subjects or branches of the high-school course, 
with but one assistant. In June, 1875, ne was 
elected superintendent of the public schools of 
Springfield, Ohio, which position he held con- 
tinuously until February, 1887, when he re- 
signed because of business arrangements which 
required his presence in North Carolina. Hav- 
ing adjusted affairs in that state, he returned 
to Ohio and was elected superintendent of the 
public schools in Dayton, in June, 1888, and 
since that time he has been continuously serv- 
ing, by successive re-elections, in this position. 
While in Springfield, Col. White was invited 
to the superintendency of the schools of Leav- 
enworth, Kas., but he did not feel at liberty 
to accept that position. 

Col. White has served as city, county and 
state examiner, being appointed to the state 



840 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



board of examiners by Dr. John Hancock, 
who gave ten of the best years of his life, from 
1874 to 1884, to the public schools of Dayton, 
as superintendent. Col. White was offered, 
by Gov. Foraker, the appointment of state com- 
missioner of public schools, upon the death of 
Commissioner Tappan; but having just then 
assumed the superintendency of the public 
schools of Dayton, he did not feel at liberty to 
accept, but recommended Dr. Hancock for 
the position, and he was appointed. 

Col. White has served as president of the 
County Teachers' association of Clarke county, 
as president of the Central Ohio Teachers' as- 
sociation, and also of the State Teachers' as- 
sociation. At present he is a member of the 
board of directors of the National Teachers' 
association. He has been continuously en- 
gaged in school work for the past twenty-five 
years, giving to that work all his time, energy 
and talent. 

He was elected colonel of the Seventh 
regiment, O. N. G., in 1885, and served in 
that capacity for five years. He was in com- 
mand of the regiment at Carthage at the time 
of the second riot in Cincinnati. He is a mem- 
ber of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of 
the Loyal Legion, commandery of Ohio. He 
has taken thirty-two degrees in Masonry, and 
is a member of all the Masonic orders. He is 
a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal 
church of Dayton, Ohio, and for years has 
been superintendent of its Sunday-school. 



eAUL WELDON WHITE, of com- 
pany Four, soldiers' home, Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in county Wexford, 
Ireland, August 15, 1832, and came 
to America with his parents when a child of 
four years. These parents, Nicholas and Mary 
( Brown ) White, also natives of county Wex- 
ford, established their home, on reaching Amer- 



ica, in Baltimore county, Md., where the 
mother died in 1858, at the age of sixty-four 
years, and the father in 1868, aged about eighty 
years. Their children were seven in number 
and in order of birth were named Richard, 
James, Patrick, Paul, William, John and Anna 
Maria. Of this family James died on the voy- 
age to America and was buried at sea, and 
William was killed in the late Civil war. 

Paul Weldon White passed his early boy- 
hood in assisting his father, who was a dairy- 
man, and in his later youth was bound out to 
a gardener. He was in Virginia at the out- 
break of the Civil war, where he was arrested 
and imprisoned for expressing his Union senti- 
ments, but his extensive acquaintance with 
prominent secessionists secured him his liberty. 
About this time he was present at the execu- 
tion of John ( Ossawatomie ) Brown, who was 
hanged at Charlestown, (now) W. Va., De- 
cember 2, 1859, for his raid at Harper's Ferry, 
Va. Returning to Baltimore, via Washington, 
he went thence to Harrisburg, Pa., where he 
enlisted in company K, Forty-eighth Pennsyl- 
vania volunteer infantry, and was placed under 
the command of Gen. Burnside, then in the 
vicinity of Roanoke, Va. ; he accompanied 
this commander to the army of the Potomac, 
and participated in the battle at Cedar Mount- 
ain, and in the second battle of Bull Run, 
where Mr. White was wounded and taken 
prisoner. He was paroled on the field seven 
days later and sent to Annapolis, Md., where 
his wound was treated, and he was exchanged 
and sent back to his regiment in time to share 
in the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 
1862. On Burnside's being relieved of the 
command of the army of the Potomac, Mr. 
White accompanied his regiment to Kentucky 
and was detailed to guard duty at Lexington, 
then the headquarters of Gen. Wilcox, the 
camp being in close proximity to the estate of 
the notorious rebel raider, John Morgan. From 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



841 



Kentucky an advance was made into Tennes- 
see, where Mr. White was in the battle of 
Greenville, in various skirmishes, and at the 
siege of Knoxville, and here he was again taken 
prisoner, but escaped before his captors could 
reach the rebel lines. 

The second enlistment of Mr. White was in 
January, 1864, at Blain's Cross Roads, 
Tenn., when he was granted a furlough of 
thirty days and visited his friends near Balti- 
more. He rejoined the army at Annapolis, 
thence went to Washington, where he was 
encamped on Arlington Heights across the 
Potomac, in Virginia, for a couple of weeks, 
had a fight at Catlett's Station in April, 1864, 
and joined the army of the Potomac in the be- 
ginning of the Wilderness campaign. He was 
at Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, 
North Anna and South Anna rivers, but be- 
fore crossing the James river was prostrated 
by an accident in laying pontoon bridges, and 
was sent to the hospital in Philadelphia, at 
Chestnut Hill. After his partial recovery he 
was given employment in the hospital, and 
served as orderly, etc., until the close of the 
war, when he received his discharge in July, 
1865. After the war was over he went to New 
Orleans and to other points in the south, 
working at whatever employment was most 
convenient, and at Lexington, Ky. , was en- 
gaged in gardening for about a year and a half. 
He then visited Cincinnati and Baltimore, and 
in 1870 was admitted to the soldiers' home 
at Dayton, and, in point of residence here, is 
now the oldest inmate. 

When a young man Mr. White was of 
strong constitution and great physical strength; 
but his injuries, a wound through the left leg, 
another dangerous wound in the forehead, and 
a leg crushed in the pontoon accident, although 
treated as being trivial at the time, all con- 
spired to render him unfit for life's battle. 
Although enrolled at the soldiers' home in 



1870, he has not been continuously an inmate, 
as he is industrious and frugal, and has been 
employed outside the home for about half the 
time since his enrollment. Mr. White has 
never married. In his politics he is a radical 
republican, and in religion is a Catholic. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of encampment No. 
82 Union Veteran Legion, and socially he bears 
the reputation of being a reliable, intelligent 
and trustworthy man. 



>-r* 0HN G - WILL - one of the popular 
m merchants of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
(% J at Harper's Ferry, Va., August 2, 1850, 
a son of John G. and Margaret (Hip- 
pier) Will. He attended the public schools of 
his native town until they were abandoned, 
completing his education by attending the 
schools of Baltimore, Md., and finally those of 
Dayton, Ohio. 

John G. Will, Sr. , was a native of Bavaria, 
Germany, born May 7, 18 12, and came to 
America in 1845. He found work in the ore 
mines of Maryland, and at the breaking out of 
the Mexican war enlisted and served through- 
out the struggle. He then located at Harper's 
Ferry, and married Mrs. Smithutz, a widow, 
to which union was born one child, the sub- 
ject of this memoir. Mr. Will worked in the 
arsenal at Harper's Ferry until it was destroyed 
by the Confederates, and then followed ex- 
pressing until September, 1865, when he came 
with his family to Dayton, Ohio, where he en- 
gaged in the liquor business, at the corner of 
Warren and Joe streets, until his death on 
May 9, 1 87 1, his widow surviving until Feb- 
ruary 1 1, 1896. 

John G. Will, whose name opens this 
biography, at the age of seventeen years began 
working in Barney & Smith's car shops in 
Dayton, where he was employed in different 
departments for twelve years. For a number 



842 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of years thereafter he was engaged in the meat 
business at the corner of Warren and Joe 
streets, and in 1880 he purchased property at 
the corner of Franklin and Perry streets, 
erected a brick business block and dwelling 
combined, and here conducts a successful 
grocery business and meat market. 

The marriage of Mr. Will took place Oc- 
tober 20, 1874, to Miss Caroline Wise, a 
daughter of George and Barbara Wise, both 
of whom are now deceased. Seven children, 
all still living, have been born to this marriage 
in the following order: George Edward, Au- 
gust 25, 1875; Louisa Mary, June 12, 1878; 
Leo John, July 17, 1880; Cornealie Catherine, 
August 31, 1882; Charles Alvin, October 3, 
1884; Elmer Vincent, November 3, 1887, and 
Viola Marie, June 2, 1890. The family are 
devout members of the Emanuel Catholic 
church, Franklin street, Dayton. Mr. Will is a 
member of the Knights of Saint George, com- 
mandery No. 115, of the Emanuel church, of 
which he was one of the organizers, and also a 
trustee for a number of years; he served as first 
lieutenant until the resignation of Capt. 
Schnieble, when he was appointed to fill the 
vacancy and served for eight years. Mr. Will 
is likewise a member of commandery No. 225, 
of the Holy Rosary church, and Knights of 
Saint George of St. John's church. At the na- 
tional convention of the Catholic Knights of 
Saint John, held at Dayton, in June, 1896, Mr. 
Will was honored with the position of colonel 
and aid-de-camp on the staff of the Third regi- 
ment — an evidence of his popularity with that 
organization. In politics Mr. Will is a demo- 
crat, in which party he is also quite prominent, 
and which he represented in the Dayton city 
council for a term of two years, serving as a 
member of the market committee, for which 
position he was peculiarly fitted. As a busi- 
ness man, Mr. Will has been very success- 
ful, through industry and sound judgment. 



His social position is a pleasant one, and he is 
rearing his family to become useful members 
of Dayton society. 



•""'V'AMUEL SEARS, member of the 
*^^%T Dayton board of education and a 

K^_y well-known dealer in wind engines 
and pumps, with his place of busi- 
ness at No. 319 East Fifth street, was born in 
Champaign county, Ohio, April 10, 1845. He 
is a son of John G. Sears, a native of Prince 
George county, Va. , who came to Ohio about 
1830, locating in the southern part of Mont- 
gomery county. His wife, Elizabeth Winder, 
was a native of Ross county, Ohio, and was a 
daughter of Abner and Hope Winder, both of 
whom were natives of New Jersey. 

The grandparents of Samuel Sears were 
Paul and Hulda Sears, the former of whom 
was, a native of Virginia, and the latter of 
England. They were among the pioneers of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, were members of 
the Quaker church, and Hulda Sears was an 
active worker in that church and a preacher, 
her services in this capacity and her fame ex- 
tending over Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, 
Indiana and Ohio. She was also well known in 
England, as she preached in that country two 
years, as well as in Scotland, Ireland and 
Wales. Samuel Sears has several relics given 
as presents to his grandmother, such as a bull's 
eye watch, presented to her in England. All 
her labors were performed without compensa- 
tion, and without expense to her, the church 
taking care of her during her travels. 

John G. Sears and Elizabeth Winder were 
married in Champaign county, and came imme- 
diately to Montgomery county, where they re- 
sided for about six years, when they located on 
a farm near North Lewisburg, the farm being 
situated in the three counties of Champaign, 
Logan and Union. Their house was a station 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



843 



on the "underground railroad " for many years 
before the war, and they assisted many slaves 
on their road to liberty. Samuel Sears re- 
members several instances of escaping slaves, 
one case, in particular, where dogs were used 
in tracking fugitives, the hounds tracing them 
to his father's house. John G. Sears died on 
the above-mentioned farm in 1850, his widow 
remaining on the farm until 1866, when she 
gave up her home and lived the rest of her life 
with her children, being with a daughter in 
Cleveland, Ohio, at the time of her death, 
which occurred in 1894. 




Samuel sears. 

Samuel Sears was reared on his father's 
farm in Champaign county, remaining there 
until his father's death, when he went to live 
with an uncle in Logan county, remaining with 
this uncle until he was fourteen years of age. 
Then going to Clarke county he spent a year 
and a half on a farm, and then he and his 
brother took charge of the old home farm. 
After this he went to the uncle with whom he 
had previously lived and worked for him a part 
of a year, but returned to his mother on the 
home farm. 



In 1864 he enlisted in company K, One 
Hundred and Thirty-second regiment Ohio 
volunteer infantry, serving until the following 
September. Up to this time, with the rest of 
the family, he had adhered to the Quaker 
church, but on account of his going to war, 
and because he refused to express regret for 
this action, he was disowned by his church. 
Subsequently he united with the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

After the close of the war he remained on 
the home farm until 1866, when he went to 
Greene county, rented a farm and remained 




Mrs. Samuel Sears. 

there engaged in farming two years. While 
there he purchased the right for Montgomery 
county to a patent pump. Removing from the 
farm he located in Cedarville, Greene county, 
and was engaged in selling pumps one year, 
and in 1869 removed to Xenia, which place he 
made his home until 18S1, when he finally lo- 
cated in Dayton, and has been a resident of 
this city ever since. 

Politically Mr. Sears has always been a re- 
publican, but he has never sought office. 
While a resident of Greene county he was 



844 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



elected constable; but the election was entirely 
without his seeking and was unanimous. In 
1895, m order to maintain the ward organiza- 
tion, but without hope of success in the elec- 
tion, his ward being heavily democratic, he 
consented to accept the nomination for mem- 
ber of the board of education, and after quite 
an active campaign, was elected by a majority 
of four votes, for a term of two years, the nor- 
mal democratic majority being 326. 

Mr. Sears was married in Xenia, Ohio, 
June 20, 1870, to Leonora A. Martin, born 
February 5, 1849, a daughter of Isaac and 
Laura Martin. To this marriage there have 
been born the following children: Courtland 
M., deceased; Frederick H., member of the 
Dayton bar; an infant, deceased; and Walter 
E., now attending school in Dayton. Mr. 
Sears is a member of the Odd Fellows frater- 
nity and of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
He has always taken great interest in educa- 
tional matters, and is an earnest worker in the 
cause of good schools. In religious circles and 
in the business world he is in high standing, 
and his character is unquestioned for probity 
and integrity. 

Fred H. Sears, junior member of the law 
firm of Peebles & Sears, of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, 
February 5, 1872, and is a son of Samuel 
Sears, the well-known citizen and member of 
the Dayton board of education, of whom men- 
tion is made above. 

Fred H. Sears was educated in the public 
schools of Dayton and at DePauw university, 
at Greencastle, Ind., entering that institution 
in 1890 and graduating in 1893. He read law 
with the regular course at DePauw, and while 
there was admitted to the bar of Indiana. In 
March, 1894, he was admitted to the Ohio bar, 
since which time he has been practicing his 
profession in Dayton, meeting with success, 
and establishing a reputation as one of the 



progressive, able and successful of the city's 
younger attorneys. Mr. Sears is a member of 
the Phi Gamma Delta and of the Delta Chi 
college fraternities, and also of the Ancient 
Essenic order. He is a republican in politics, 
but has never been an office-seeker. 



HLBERT C. WHITE, member of the 
Dayton city council from the Tenth 
ward, and clerk in the freight office 
of the Erie Railroad company, was 
born in Hillsdale county, Mich., August 2, 
1844. His parents were F. S. and Amelia 
White, the former of whom was a native of 
Massachusetts and the latter of New Jersey. 
After their marriage in Ohio they removed to 
Michigan, and there, six months after the 
birth of the subject of this sketch, his mother 
died. In 1867 his father returned to Ohio, 
locating at Chillicothe. Later in life he went 
to Alabama, and died near Mobile, that state, 
about 1880. 

Albert C. White was educated in the pub- 
lic schools, and later spent two years in the 
Agricultural college in Michigan. In 1861 he 
received an appointment to a position in the 
United States treasury department in Wash- 
ington, D. C. , and in that city he spent the 
years of the late Civil war. In 1865 he was 
sent to Mobile, Ala., to take a place in the 
revenue department, his uncle, F. W. Kel- 
logg, an ex-member of congress, from Michi- 
gan, being at that time collector of internal 
revenue for the Mobile district. He spent 
two years in the south, returning north in 
1 867 and joining his father at Chillicothe, Ohio, 
where he remained for nineteen years. During 
this time he filled various clerical positions. 
In January, 1886, he removed to Dayton, and 
in December following entered the freight office 
of the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio division 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



845 



of the New York, Lake Erie & Western Rail- 
road company, in which position he is still 
retained. 

Politically, Mr. White has been a life-long 
republican, and has always taken an active in- 
terest in political affairs. In April, 1896, he 
was elected as a republican to the city council 
of Dayton from the Tenth ward, his official 
term expiring in the spring of 1898. While 
living in Chillicothe he was elected to the 
council from a democratic ward, notwith- 
standing that he was a republican, and he was 
one of the two republican members of that 
body. 

Fraternally Mr. White is a member of the 
Odd Fellows order, of the Knights of Pythias, 
and of the Junior Order of American Mechanics. 
He is a member of Saint Paul's Methodist Epis- 
copal church, located at the corner of Huff- 
man avenue and May street, and established 
in 1884. 

Mr. White was married in March, 1872, 
to Miss Jane Baldwin, of Ross county, Ohio, a 
daughter of Thomas Baldwin, deceased, a well 
known citizen of Ross county. To the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. White there has been 
born one child, F. Clifford White, who was 
born in Chillicothe in 1875. He was well edu- 
cated in the public schools and is now in the 
employ of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton 
Railroad company, with his office in Dayton. 




•HOMAS WILL, engineer at the na- 
tion military home, near Dayton, 
Ohio, was born in Germantown, 
Wayne county, Ind., June 9, 1853, 
and was educated and reared to manhood in 
his native state. 

Thomas and Margaret (Senger) Will, his 
parents, were natives of the kingdom of Ba- 
varia, and immediately after their marriage 



came to the United States, and about 1845 
settled in the village mentioned above. To 
their marriage were born ten children, of 
whom the eldest died in infancy, unnamed ; 
the others were born in the following order : 
Johan Henry, who is a mechanical engineer, 
residing at Minneapolis, Minn.; John and 
George Louis, «both farmers of Delaware 
county, Ind. ; Thomas ; Mary Annie, wife of 
William Lewick, of Delaware county, Ind.; 
Daniel, a traveling salesman, with his home in 
Minneapolis ; Samuel, who died at the age of 
about twenty-eight years ; Adam, a salesman 
and farmer, residing in Huntington, Ind., and 
Louisa, who died at the age of two and one- 
half years. Thomas, the father of this family, 
died in Indiana at the age of fifty-three years, 
and the mother at the age of forty-eight. 

Thomas Will, whose name opens this sketch, 
worked at farming until he attained man's es- 
state, when he learned engineering, and since 
1873 has acted as engineer in sawmills, 
flouring-mills, wagon factories, and in other 
places where steam was used as motive power. 
In April, 1888, Mr. Will came to Dayton and 
was selected as fireman for the pumping ma- 
chinery of the military home, and this position 
he filled until 1891, when he was put in charge 
of the lake pump house, which position he has 
since filled. 

December 18, 1884, Mr. Will was united 
in marriage with Miss Louisa Adams, a native 
of Franklin, Ohio, the ceremony taking place 
at Winchester, Randolph county, Ohio. Two 
children have come to bless this union and are 
named Carl Edward and Albert Royce, both 
now at school. Mr. Will has a pleasant resi- 
dence near the military home, where he passes 
the hours of leisure and rest. He has not lost 
one day from duty since taking his present 
place eight years ago, although the managers 
allow ten days " off duty " each year with 
pay. In politics Mr. Will leans toward the 



846 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



principles of the democratic party; and frater- 
nally he is a member of the Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows. 



HLBERT MILTON WILLIAMSON, 
M. D., of No. 122 South Broadway 
street, Dayton, was born at Russell- 
ville, Brown county, Ohio, April 28, 
1844. He is a son of John and Nancy J. 
(Henry) Williamson, the former a native of 
Kentucky, and the latter of Brown county, 
Ohio, and daughter of John C. Henry, who 
was born in this state of Irish parents. John 
Williamson, the grandfather of Dr. William- 
son, moved from Amwell, N. J., to Kentucky, 
and later removed to Ohio, settling in Brown 
county, where he died at an advanced age. He 
married a Miss Dalrymple, of New Jersey, 
who, like himself, was of English ancestry. 

John Williamson and Nancy J. Henry were 
married in Brown county, Ohio, and there 
reared a family of seven children, all of whom 
became useful members of society, namely: 
Albert M., of this mention; Martha E., wife of 
Amos McKinley, of Russellville, Ohio; J. 
Henry, deceased; A. Wilson, who is secretary 
and treasurer of the Peck-Williamson Heating 
& Ventilating company, of Cincinnati, Ohio; 
Samantha J., wife of John D. Seip, of Russell- 
ville, Ohio; Lizzie E., who became the wife of 
George E. Sidwell, of Russellville, and died in 
April, 1893; and William C. , who is president 
of the Helmig, Williamson Shoe company, of 
Cincinnati. 

The father of this family was for several 
years a successful farmer and speculator, but 
later in life engaged in hotel keeping. He 
died in Brown county, Ohio, January 29, 
1888, at the age of seventy-one years. His 
widow is still living, and is an honored resi- 
dent of the county in which she was born. 
Albert M. Williamson was reared on a 



farm, receiving his elementry education in the 
public schools before the war, and afterward 
in higher schools. In June, 1862, being then 
but eighteen, he enlisted in the Fourth inde- 
pendent company of Ohio volunteer cavalry, 
in which he served with honor until the close 
of the war. During the last year of his serv- 
ice, he was on detached duty at the headquar- 
ters of the army of the Tennessee, commanded 
by Gen. McPherson, and later by Gen. O. O. 
Howard, and was the messenger who bore the 
dispatch to Gen. Grant, informing him of the 
battle of Champion Hills. He was a member 
of a detail to carry prisoners to the rebel lines 
in exchange for Gen. Grant's adjutant, Gen. 
Rawlins, who was captured at Holly Springs, 
Miss. He was mustered out of the service at 
Columbus, Ohio, after participating in the 
grand review at Washington, D. C. 

After being mustered out of service, young 
Williamson began preparation for his life 
work, attending high school, and later the Na- 
tional Normal university at Lebanon, Ohio, 
after which he engaged in teaching for a time. 
He began the study of medicine with Dr. J. 
N. Salisbury, of Russellville, and attended the 
Starling Medical college, at Columbus, Ohio. 
Thence he went to the Medical College of 
Ohio, at Cincinnati, receiving his degree from 
that institution in March, 1871. Soon after 
his graduation he located at Russellville, Ohio, 
and there successfully practiced his profession 
for sixteen years, and in May, 1887, removed 
to Dayton, where he has since been engaged 
in practice. 

Dr. Williamson is a close student of his 
profession and keeps himself well abreast of 
the times. He is a member of the Brown 
county Medical society, of the Montgomery 
county Medical society, of the state Medical 
association, and of the American Medical as- 
sociation. The doctor was the last surgeon 
of the Thirteenth regiment, O. N. G., pre- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



847 



vious to its consolidation with the Third regi- 
ment. In social and fraternal orders he takes 
an active interest, being a member of Russel- 
ville lodge, No. 166, F. & A, M. ; of George- 
town chapter, No. 52, R. A. M. ; of Fraternal 
lodge, No. 510, I. O. O. F. ; of Hope lodge, 
No. 277, Knights of Pythias; and of Hiram 
Strong post, No. 79, G. A. R. , of Dayton. 
Politically, he is a republican, and has held 
several minor offices, serving for six years as a 
member of the city board of health. 

Dr. Williamson was married, March 23, 
1 87 1, at Russellville, to Miss Emma Salisbury, 
a daughter of Dr. Salisbury, and a native of 
that city. To this union three children have 
been born, namely: Frederick E., who is en- 
gaged in business in Dayton; Pliny W., a stu- 
dent at Oberlin, and Florence, at home. Dr. 
Williamson and his wife are members of the 
Presbyterian church, and take an active inter- 
est in all religious work. The doctor is es- 
sentially a self-made man, and his success in 
life is the result of his enterprise, industry and 
integrity. He is a valued citizen, who enjoys 
the respect and confidence of the community 
in which he lives. 



ISAIAH B. WILSON, M. D., physician 
and surgeon, of Dayton, Ohio, with his 
office at No. 66 East Jones street, has 
been a resident of the city for the past 
nineteen years. He was born in Montgomery 
county, December 28, 1853, and is a son of 
Bartholomew and Margaret A. (Brenner) 
Wilson. 

Isaiah B. Wilson was educated at the Otter- 
bein university, Westerville, Ohio, and after- 
ward studied medicine with Dr. A. R. Moist, 
now of Dayton, Ohio, but then of Sulphur 
Grove, Montgomery county. Afterward he 
attended and graduated from the Miami Med- 
ical college, of Cincinnati, Ohio, being a mem- 



ber of the class of 1877. He immediately 
afterward located in Dayton, on Jones street, 
where he has ever since been engaged in gen- 
eral practice, and has met with much success. 
Dr. Wilson was married February 5, 1891, 
to Mrs. Emma Giles, a daughter of Absalom 
Westfall. She was born in Shelby county, 
Ohio, and is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. Dr. Wilson is one of the broad- 
minded, practical citizens of Dayton, and is 
doing his part in advancing her best interests. 



(D 



ILTON E. WILLIAMSON, M. D. , 
residing at 126 North Jefferson 
street, Dayton, and one of the rising 
young physicians of the state, was 
born in Montgomery county, Ohio, August 29, 
1859, and is a son of Eleazar and Eliza (Aber- 
crombie) Williamson, both members of Mont- 
gomery county's oldest-settled families. 

Milton E. Williamson's early boyhood and 
manhood were passed on his father's farm, as- 
sisting in arduous agricultural labor, developing 
his muscle and expanding his brain. After a 
full preparatory course of education in the dis- 
trict schools he attended Xenia college two 
years and also spent three years in the Wes- 
leyan university, Delaware, Ohio, meanwhile 
reading medicine under Dr. John Turnbull, of 
Bellbrook, Ohio. He then entered the Ohio 
Medical college, at Cincinnati, from which he 
was graduated March 5, 1885, at the head of 
his class, having devoted all of ten years of 
hard study in preparing himself for his chosen 
profession. He then took a special course in 
the study of diseases of the eye, in the treat- 
ment of which he has since met with decided 
success and established for himself a most 
enviable reputation. He first opened his 
office for practice in New Paris, Preble county, 
Ohio, where his ability soon won for him a 
large patronage in general practice, and where 



848 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



he performed a number of complicated and 
difficult operations in surgery, being at the 
time surgeon for the Pennsylvania railroad 
company. But the field of his practice was 
somewhat cramped, and, with a view of 
enlarging its scope, he, on March 19, 1889, 
came to Dayton, where his recognized skill 
has gained for him a large and lucrative list of 
reliable and constant patrons. 

The doctor is a member of the interna- 
tional congress of physicians and surgeons; is 
examining physician for the Prudential Life 
Insurance company; and also chairman of the 
district examining board. He is a strong 
advocate of morality in all its phases, and is 
ever ready to direct the young in the paths of 
virtue and right. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, and in religion affiliates with the Third 
street Presbyterian church. His popularity in 
his profession has been and is of steady growth, 
and in Dayton's social circles he is always a 
most welcome visitor. 



at 



TLLIAM L. WINCHELL, residence 
1 326 Wayne avenue, one of the old- 
est and best known citizens of Day- 
ton, Ohio, was born in North East, 
Dutchess county, N. Y., August 31, 1827, and 
is a son of William and Laura E. (Lawrence) 
Winchell, of English ancestry. The father, 
William, was a merchant, and lived to the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-two years, and the mother 
lived until eighty-two years old, both dying in 
Springfield, Ohio. Their family comprised, 
beside William L., two sons and two daugh- 
ters, viz: James Frank, of Springfield, who 
is noted for his many inventions of farming 
implements and mechanics' tools; Flora A., a 
member of the family of her brother William 
since the death of her parents, whom she fili- 
ally cared for until their end; Elizabeth, who 
was married to E. P. H. Capron, a contractor 



in machinery, but died in Norwalk, Conn., in 
May, 1896; and Helen, the wife of Capt. J. 
V. Davis, who has had charge of the National 
cemetery, at Alexandria, Va. , for twenty-three 
years. 

William L. Winchell was educated at the 
Sheffield Collegiate institute. Conn., studied 
medicine, but did not enter upon its practice; 
he then prepared himself for the profession of 
teacher, and for twelve years taught school in 
his native state. He was then elected county 
superintendent 'of schools of Dutchess county, 
held the position for about five years, when he 
resigned and came to Ohio, in 1853, locating 
in Yellow Springs, Greene county. Here he 
took charge of the Christian Publishing house 
for two years, being for a portion of that time 
editor of the Gospel Herald. He then came 
to Dayton and married Miss Lidie A. Reesor, 
daughter of Jacob Reesor, a pioneer business 
man, extensively engaged in packing and favor- 
ably known to all the old residents of Dayton. 
This marriage was solemnized October 18, 
1855, and the following six months were spent 
in traveling throughout the east. On his re- 
turn Mr. Winchell joined his father-in-law in 
business, which connection continued until 
about i860. 

War being now imminent, in i860 Mr. 
Winchell joined the Dayton Light Guards, and 
was engaged in drilling recruits for the front 
until 1863, and of thirty-five men who passed 
under his instruction, twenty-eight afterward 
held commissions above the rank of captain. 
In 1864 Mr. Winchell entered the service as 
first lieutenant of company B, One Hundred 
and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
was sent to Baltimore, Md., where he was at 
once detached from his company and placed 
on the military commission authorized by the 
president for the trial of deserters, bounty 
jumpers, and traitors who aided the enemy, 
and his entire term was spent in this service. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



849 



On his return to Dayton he entered on his 
duties as a member of the board of education, 
to which position he had been elected and 
qualified prior to his enlistment. He served 
ten years on this board, and during this period 
edited the first manual or graded course of 
study for the city schools ; also prepared a 
graded course in German — intermediate and 
higher — which is still in force. He was dep- 
uty county auditor in 1864, and had charge of 
the school department ; in 1867 or 1868 he 
was elected clerk of the first metropolitan 
police force, but the law authorizing this or- 
ganization was repealed two years later and 
the city returned to the old police system. Mr. 
Winchell also served as police clerk under 
Mayor Baumann and then under Mayor Morri- 
son, and was next made chief deputy under 
Recorder Owen for three years. For the past 
eighteen years he has been engaged in book- 
keeping, principally for the undertaking firm 
of Berk & Fry, but is frequently employed as 
an expert in adjusting complicated accounts. 

Mrs. Lidie A. Winchell was called to her 
final rest in 1889, leaving surviving her four 
sons and one daughter, viz : Charles R., a 
machinist, who has .been employed by Smith 
& Vaile for the past fifteen years, and is mar- 
ried ; Jennie L. , wife of Jacob Perrine, a pat- 
ternmaker; Ward P., a graduate of Annapolis 
Naval academy and past assistant engineer of 
the United States navy, now making a trip 
around the world with fifty cadets ; Willie T., 
a trunkmaker by trade, married, and a resident 
of Columbus; Harry L., of Dayton, married, 
and a painter and decorator by trade. 

Mr. Winchell has been an active and prom- 
nent member of the I. O. O. F. for twenty- 
eight years, and has filled all the chairs of the 
subordinate lodge ; he has also been a repre- 
sentative to the grand lodge of Ohio two terms, 
and holds membership at present in Dayton 
lodge, No. 273, and Gem City encampment, 



No. 116, of which he is a past-chief patri- 
arch ; he is also a member of Old Guard post, 
G. A. R. , of Dayton. He has been a member 
of the city board of health, and no man in 
Dayton has taken greater interest in educa- 
tional matters. He united with the Baptist 
church, in his native state, in 1842, and trans- 
ferred his membership to the First Baptist 
church of Dayton, in 1853. 



a APT. JOHN H. WINDER, a retired 
business man of Dayton, Ohio, was 
born in Funkstown, Washington coun- 
ty, Md., October 22, 1832. His par- 
ents, John and Rebecca (Schlencker) Winder, 
were also natives of Maryland, and of German 
descent. John Winder was born in 18 12 and 
his wife in 1808, and in 1835 they came to 
Ohio and located oh a farm twelve miles north 
of Dayton, whence they removed to Center- 
ville, Ind., but returned to Dayton in 1847. 
Of their children, beside John H., one son and 
one daughter are still living — Silas D., a brick- 
layer, and Julia A., widow of William Snell, 
both residents of Dayton. The mother of 
these children died in this city in 1888, but 
the father survived until 1892, when he, too, 
was called away, both, it will be seen, having 
lived to the advanced age of eighty years. 

John H. Winder was a mere babe when 
brought to Ohio by his parents, and a lad of 
about fifteen years when they settled in Day- 
ton permanently. He was educated in the 
public schools of Indiana and of this city, and 
his earlier business life was begun in the whole- 
sale shoe and notion business, under the firm 
name of Coffman, Winder & Co. His first 
enlistment took place in April, 1861, for the 
three months' service with the Dayton Light 
Guards, with which organization he had been 
connected for ten years prior to the opening 



850 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of the war, and which was one of the first 
militia companies to leave Dayton for the front 
as Ohio volunteers. Mr. Winder was made 
orderly sergeant of his company, and when 
mustered into the United States service at 
Lancaster, Pa. , was commissioned first lieu- 
tenant. The company was the first to report 
to the governor of Ohio and was given the 
position of honor — that of company C, First 
Ohio volunteer infantry. The First and Sec- 
ond Ohio regiments were the only ones repre- 
senting the west at the first battle of Bull Run, 
and, in this opening fight of the great Rebel- 
lion, Lieut. Winder covered there treat in line 
of battle from Manassas to Washington. After 
the expiration of his three months' term, the 
lieutenant returned to Dayton, sold out his 
business, and accepted a position as clerk in 
the office of the county treasurer, but kept up 
the Light Guards organization. 

Early in 1862 Lieut. Winder re-entered 
the army as captain of company I, Eighty- 
fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, also for three 
months, served chiefly in guarding the fords 
along the upper Potomac river, and was in 
Cumberland when the rebels made a dash and 
captured Gen. Kelley at a hotel in that town. 
In 1863 Capt. Winder entered the Fourth in- 
dependent battalion, Ohio volunteer cavalry, 
known as Tod's Scouts, to serve six months; 
but the duty, mostly scouting, was extended 
to nine months. He commanded company B, 
of this regiment, having declined a major's 
commission, feeling in honor bound to stand 
by the company with which he had entered the 
regiment. The service of this regiment was 
chiefly rendered in the vicinity of Cumberland 
Gap, and Capt. Winder commanded the first 
Union force that ever entered Tazewell road, 
in southern Virginia. These three enlistments, 
which were nominally to cover one year only, 
were prolonged to a period of about one year 
and a half. On his return to Dayton, Capt. 



Winder engaged in the marble trade until 
1876. In 1876-77 he served as chief of the 
Dayton fire department, and then, as a mem- 
ber of the firm of Huber & Winder, he en- 
gaged in mercantile business until 1881, when 
he sold out his interest, and the following year 
was one of leisure. He then engaged as book- 
keeper and superintendent of a wholesale and 
retail furniture establishment until April, 1895, 
when the proprietor died and the business was 
discontinued, since which time the captain has 
lived in retirement. 

Capt. Winder was most happily united in 
marriage September 1, 1853, with Miss Joanna 
Kinney, a native of Clear Spring, Va. , and a 
daughter of Jonathan Kinney, a former resi- 
dent of Dayton. This union resulted in the 
birth of two children, viz: Charles A., who 
is married and carries on a collection agency 
in Dayton, and Ella M., who is still under the 
parental roof and unmarried. Both these 
children have enjoyed very superior educa- 
tional advantages. 

Capt. Winder is very prominent in his so- 
ciety relations, being a member of Old Guard 
post, G. A. R. ; Dayton lodge, No. 273, I. O. 

0. F., of which he is a past grand ; is also a 
member of the encampment ; has been a mem- 
ber of Miami lodge, No. 32, K. of P., for 
twenty-five years, and has been commander of 
Dayton division, No. 5, uniform rank, for the 
past eight years; he held membership with the 

1. O. R. M., and is a past grand officer in the 
Knights of Honor ; he also affiliated with the 
order of American Mechanics while that organi- 
zation existed ; of the last-named order he was 
the first candidate initiated in Dayton lodge. 
No. 273, and during his forty years' member- 
ship was never reported sick. In politics the 
captain is an active-working republican ; in 
religion, Mrs. Winder is a member of the Bap- 
tist church, while Miss Winder is a member of 
the Reform church. Socially, the family stand 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



85$ 



very high, and the captain is regarded as one 
of the most useful and substantial of Dayton's 
soldier citizens. 



ar 



'ILSON G. TANNER, late of the 
shoe firm of Diers & Tanner, of 104 
South Main street, Dayton, was 
born in Preble county, Ohio, April 
7, 1857, and is a son of Michael L. and Mary 
(Banta) Tanner, the former of whom is now 
deceased. 

Michael L. Tanner, a Virginian, was a mer- 
chant of West Manchester, Preble county, 
Ohio, for a number of years, and in 1865 came 
to Dayton, where he was employed as a trav- 
eling salesman for a wholesale grocery house, 
and in this employment he passed the re- 
mainder of his days, dying in May, 1871, being 
reputed one of the best salesmen that ever 
traversed Ohio and eastern Indiana. He was 
very prominent in the circles of Odd Fellow- 
ship, and in politics was a republican. His 
children were four in number and were born 
in the following order : Wilson G. ; William H . , 
a conductor on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & 
Dayton railroad ; Charles F., floor manager 
for Diers & Tanner ; and Flora, deceased. 

Wilson G. Tanner was reared in Dayton, 
and attended the public schools until sixteen 
years of age, although at the age of twelve he 
began clerking during the summer months, or 
vacations, and from fourteen until eighteen 
was engaged in farming. At seventeen he 
began teaching during the winter months, fol- 
lowing this life for three years, and at the age 
of twenty years entered the employ of Ander- 
son & Maxton, as bookkeeper, which position 
he retained three years. For the following 
eight years he had charge of the books of the 
United Brethren Publishing company, and was 
then, for four years, cashier for the Mutual 

Home & Savings association. In 1892 he 
33 



formed a partnership with August F. Diers, ini 
the shoe trade, at the corner of Fifth andf 
Jefferson streets, whence the business was re- 
moved, in 1893, to its present quarters, at 104 
South Main street, this salesroom being mod- 
ern and commodious and stocked with the 
largest assortment of the various styles of foot- 
wear to be found in Dayton. Here a very 
active and prosperous trade has beerrbuilt up 
through the united energies of the two young 
partners ; but a short time since Mr. Tanner 
was obliged, by reason of ill health, to retire 
from the firm, selling his interest to Mr. Diers. 

For fifteen years Mr. Tanner was recording 
secretary of the board of directors of the Young 
Men's Christian association, and is still a mem- 
ber of the board ; he is a Knight Templar in 
the Free & Accepted Masonic fraternity, is an 
Odd Fellow and a member of the Independent 
Order of Foresters, having passed all the chairs 
in the latter order ; is a member of the Junior 
Order of United American Mechanics, of the 
Garfield club and of the board of trade. 

The marriage of Mr. Tanner took place 
April 20, 1882, to Miss Emma Miller, daughter 
of William C. and Mary ( Shuey ) Miller, the 
union resulting in the birth of two children — 
Mary, now deceased, and Flora. Mr. and 
Mrs. Tanner are members of the High street 
United Brethren church, in which Mr. Tanner 
is chairman of the board of trustees and is also 
a class leader. The home of the family is at 
No. 37 High street, where their social com- 
panionship is of the most agreeable character. 



>^OSEPH MILTON WINE, M. D., phy- 
■ sician and surgeon, of Dayton, having 
(9 1 his office at No. 1833 East Fifth street, 
was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
December 11, 1865. He is a son of D. D. 
and Susie (Miller) Wine, both of whom are 



854 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



living in Covington, Miami county, Ohio, the 
family being one of the oldest in that county. 

D. D. Wine was born in Harrisonburg, 
Rockingham county, Ya., in 1839, and be- 
longed to one of the oldest families in the 
state. He was living in Virginia when the 
war broke out, and was a Union man; but 
being drafted into the southern army he fought 
only until he had an opportunity to desert, 
when he took advantage of his opportunity 
and came north in 1862. He settled in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, one mile west of Day- 
ton, and there engaged in farming. He mar- 
ried Miss Susie Miller, of Dayton, on February 
1, 1865, she being the daughter of Joseph and 
Catherine Miller, old settlers of the county. 
Mr. Wine continued to follow farming in 
Montgomery county until 1874, when he re- 
moved to Miami county, locating south of Cov- 
ington, where he has ever since resided. He 
is one of the prominent men of his locality, 
being president of the Crescent Metallic Fence 
company, of Covington, Ohio, and of the Ger- 
man Baptist Mutual Insurance company, of 
Covington, Ohio. D. D. Wine and his wife 
are the parents of eight children, as follows: 
Joseph M. ; Wilford, a physician of Troy, Ohio; 
Mary, a teacher in the public schools, living at 
home; Bertha, Martha, John, Alice and Grace. 

Joseph M. Wine was educated first in the 
public schools, and afterward attended the 
Western Normal school at Ada, Ohio. After 
teaching school for three years, he began the 
study of medicine, reading with Dr. A. S. 
Rosenberger, of Covington, Ohio, and then at- 
tended the Chicago Homeopathic Medical col- 
lege, graduating from that institution in the 
class of 1 89 1. He was then, for eighteen 
months, intern, or physician and surgeon, of 
the Cook county hospital, securing the position 
in a competition by himself and eight others. 
His class contained sixty-six members, and in 
this class Dr. Wine stood second at graduation. 



He received a diploma of honor for services in 
the hospital. In the fall of 1892 he went to 
Toronto, Ontario, where he served as house 
physician in a hospital for six months, after 
which he spent six months in practice in Cov- 
ington, Ohio, and in the fall of 1893 located 
in Dayton; in this city, in the comparatively 
short space of two years, he has succeeded in 
building up a flourishing practice. Dr. Wine 
is a member of the Dayton Homeopathic 
Medical society and also of the Miami valley 
Homeopathic Medical society. He is a mem- 
ber of the First German Baptist church, takes 
great interest in its work and success, and is 
one of the public-spirited and enterprising 
young men and physicians of Dayton. 



a APT. WILLIAM J. WINTER is 
the son of Thomas Winter, a native 
of England, whose birth occurred in 
the year 1784 and who came to the 
United States in 1819, locating near Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Here he married Mary Ann Wingert, 
a native of Pennsylvania, and for a number of 
years followed the tailor's trade, and later ac- 
cumulated a competence in mercantile business. 
Thomas and Mary Ann Winter reared a family 
of four children, one son, the subject of this 
sketch, and three daughters, all of whom are 
living at this time. The eldest daughter, Eliza- 
beth S., widow of Edwin S. Winter, resides 
on Price's Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio; 
Mary A., wife of Capt. S. C. Mclntyre, lives 
at Rossmoyne, Ohio, and Ella H. is the wife 
of Frank Monroe, head entry clerk in the ex- 
tensive mercantile house of John Shillito & 
Co., Cincinnati. 

William J. Winter was born in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, August 5, 1839, and received his educa- 
tion in the public .schools of the city, which he 
attended at intervals until early manhood. His 
first employment was in the Cincinnati post- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



855 



office, and covered a period of about five years. 
Later, he spent two years in the general ticket 
office of the O. & M. railway, where he was 
engaged at the outbreak of the Civil war. 
With patriotic valor, he resigned his place and 
responded to the first call of President Lincoln 
for three-month volunteers, enlisting on the 
19th da}' of April, 1861, in company G, Fifth 
Ohio infantry. The period of enlistment was 
spent principally at camps Harrison and Den- 
nison, and, at the expiration of the term, the 
regiment re-enlisted at the latter place for 
three years. For some time the regiment re- 
mained unassigned, but was finally attached to 
the command of Gen. Shields and saw its first 
active duty in the Shenandoah valley, partici- 
pating in the battle of Winchester. August 
11, 1862, Capt. Winter was ordered to Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, for the purpose of assisting in 
the recruiting service, and later he was con- 
nected with the general engineering corps, his 
duty being the taking of photographs and mak- 
ing maps and drawings of fields, buildings, de- 
fenses, etc. During this important service, in 
which he was engaged until the close of the 
war, he was often in possession of information 
not generally had by subordinate officers, and 
he rendered valuable assistance to his supe- 
riors along the line of the secret service. 

Following his discharge, which he received 
at Louisville, Ky., in 1865, Capt. Winter 
was a bookkeeper in Cincinnati until his 
father's death, at which time, 1866, he re- 
moved to Springfield, Ohio, and engaged in 
photography. He continued business until 
defective eyesight compelled him to dispose of 
his gallery, when, in February, 1891, he came 
to the National Home, D. V. S., to have his 
ailment properly treated. As soon as his eyes 
were sufficiently benefited, he was placed in 
command of company Twenty-nine, and had 
charge of the same until transferred in August, 
1892, to the command of company Two, his 



present position. The captain has 1 1 1 beds in 
his ward and carries the names of 1 50 men 
upon the books of the company which he com- 
mands. His record while in the active serv- 
ice of his country is all that could be expected 
of a brave and conscientious soldier, and since 
entering upon official life, he has discharged 
his duty with commendable fidelity and proven 
himself worthy of the confidence of his supe- 
riors. In politics the captain is a democrat, 
but not an aggressive partisan; he was for some 
time a member of the G. A. R., in which he 
held the position of adjutant-general of Ohio 
for three years, but at this timeheisnot identi- 
fied with any social or secret organization. He 
is a widower and the father of two children — 
Mary, wife of Samuel W. Hornbrook, a con- 
tractor and builder of Maplewood, Ohio, and 
Frank A., assistant foreman in the office of the 
Inter Ocean, Chicago. 



^ EWIS W. WINTERS, who is a 
I member of the successful firm of W. 

^^ F. Haas & Company, dealers in bicy- 
cles, in Dayton, Ohio, is to be noted 
as one of the enterprising and capable young 
business men of the city. 

A native of Carlisle, Warren county, this 
state, Mr. Winters was born on the 22d of 
August, 1874, his parents being John C. and 
Sarah Amanda (Hendrickson) Winters, repre- 
senting respective ancestral lines of German 
and Scotch-French extraction. They still re- 
side in Carlisle. The father has been engaged 
in railroading and express business the greater 
portion of his life. He began work as a tele- 
graph operator when he had attained his ma- 
jority, and from that time he was promoted to 
higher positions of trust in connection with 
railway affairs, being employed in various ca- 
pacities. For two years he was agent of the 
Erie Express company in Dayton, and for 



856 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



an equal length of time acted as cashier of the 
Dayton office of the United States Express 
company. During many years he has made 
Carlisle his home, though his duties have de- 
manded his frequent and continued absence. 
At the present time he is the agent of the Cin- 
cinnati, Jackson & Mackinaw railroad in Frank- 
lin, Ohio. He was born June 17, 1846, and 
his marriage to Sarah Amanda Hendrickson 
was consummated in Carlisle. Lewis W. is 
the only child born to them. 

Lewis W. Winters passed his childhood 
years in the town of his birth, where he at- 
tended the public schools and gained the rudi- 
ments of his education, supplementing this by 
a course of. study in the schools of Dayton. 
At the age of seventeen years he entered the 
employ of the Cincinnati, Jackson & Macki- 
naw railroad in the capacity of telegraph oper- 
ator at Franklin, this state, and occupied that 
position for one year, after which, in the spring 
of 1894, he came to Dayton. Here he was 
employed as bookkeeper in the establishment 
of A. W. Gump, with whom he remained until 
the time when he associated himself with Mr. 
Haas in the purchase of the business with 
which he had been connected; and he has 
since had the management of the enterprise, 
which he has brought to a highly successful 
condition, by reason of his interest, progress- 
ive spirit and well directed efforts. He is 
recognized as one of the live and energetic 
young business men of the city, and one whose 
every action is guided by principles of integ- 
rity and honor. Mr. Winters is an active and 
zealous member of the Y. M. C. A., and his 
religious affiliations are with the Presbyterian 
church. He enjoys a large acquaintanceship 
in Dayton, and his genial nature has secured 
to him a distinctive popularity. Of the busi- 
ness enterprise with which he is identified 
specific mention is made in connection with the 
sketch of the life of his associate, Mr. Haas. 



(D 



ILTON WOLFE has been a resi- 
dent of the city of Dayton since the 
centennial year — 1876. He is a 
native son of Ohio, having been 
born in Logan county on the first day of the 
year, 1848, the son of George and Olive (Hen- 
dricks) Wolfe, who were respectively of Ger- 
man and New England stock and lineage. The 
father was a substantial and honored farmer 
in Champaign county, Ohio, and there his son 
Milton was reared to the sturdy and invigorat- 
ing work of the farm, receiving his educational 
training in the district schools of the vicinity. 
He remained at home until he was about six- 
teen years of age, when, after successfully 
teaching a district school for one term, he went 
to Youngstown, Ohio, where he devoted him- 
self to the study of the photographic art, in 
which he became highly proficient. In 1867 
he went to Chicago, where he entered one of 
the leading studios, whose work represented 
the maximum of excellence in photographic 
processes. He remained in Chicago for about 
three years, during which time he attained a 
high degree of skill in every branch of the 
artist's work. 

Mr. Wolfe made his initial business venture 
by opening a studio at Richmond, Ind., and 
success attended his efforts in this old Quaker 
city, where he continued for about four years, 
after which he came to Dayton and effected 
the purchase of the business which he has 
since continued without interruption He 
stands to-day in the front rank of his profession 
in Dayton, having achieved marked artistic 
and business success. He does all kinds of 
photographic work and his productions com- 
pare favorably with those of the leading met- 
ropolitan studios. In 1888 he began the 
manufacture of screen plates for use in half- 
tone photographic engraving processes. At 
that time there were but few engaged in this 
line of manufacture, as the reproductive pro- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



857 



cess was as yet in its infancy, and at the pres- 
ent time Mr. Wolfe's plates are known 
throughout the Union for their superiority, be- 
ing of special design and construction. In fact, 
the Wolfe screen plates are known in every 
section of the world where engraving is being 
done by the photographic process. He has 
built up a most extensive business in this di- 
rection, and has found it expedient to give his 
attention very'largely to this branch of his en- 
terprise. In 1895 he still further increased the 
facilities of his establishment by engaging in 
the manufacture of plates for use in the three- 
color process, utilizing methods which have 
been the result of his personal investigations 
and experiments. The results secured have 
been gratifying in the extreme, and he is pro- 
ducing some most excellent work in this ortho- 
chromatic photography, the same being prin- 
cipally utilized for commercial purposes. The 
accessories of his studio are of the most mod- 
ern and approved order, and he retains in his 
employ only the most capable of assistants. 

In his fraternal associations Mr. Wolfe has 
advanced to high degrees in the Masonic order, 
having taken the thirty-second degree of the 
Scottish rite. He is a member of Mystic 
lodge, No. 405, A. F. &A. M. ; Unity chapter, 
No. 16, R. A. M., and Reed commandery, No. 
6, Knights Templar. He is also identified with 
the Knights of Pythias, being a member of 
Iola lodge, No. 83. 

Mr. Wolfe is one of the progressive and 
public-spirited business men of Dayton, whose 
advancement and material prosperity he has 
closely at heart. 



@EORGE H. WOOD, member of the 
Dayton bar, was born in Dayton, 
Ohio, on November 3, 1867, and is 
the son of Gen. Thomas J. Wood, 
United States army, retired, one of Dayton's 



most distinguished citizens. After obtaining 
his preliminary education George H. Wood 
entered the Sheffield Scientific school of Yale 
university, where he was graduated in the class 
of 1887. He next entered the Cincinnati Law 
school, where he was graduated with honors 
at the head of the class of '89. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in February, 1890, and spent 
two years following in the office of the law firm 
of Young & Young and of R. D. Marshall, of 
Dayton, since which time he has practiced law 
alone. Mr. Wood is a member of the Loyal 
Legion, of the Sons of Veterans and of the 
Dayton club. 



m 



ILLIAM F. WOLLENHAUPT, 
mail carrier, of Dayton, Ohio, is 
a native of this city, and was born 
December 10, 1854, a son of Henry 
A. and Carolina C. L. (Waltemathe) Wollen- 
haupt, old residents of Dayton. 

Henry A. Wollehaupt was born in Ger- 
many in 1830, and was a boy when brought 
to America by his parents, who came direct to 
Dayton. He received a common-school edu- 
cation in Germany, and on reaching Dayton 
worked at tailoring until the outbreak of the 
Civil war, when he enlisted in company B, 
First Ohio volunteer infantry, for three years. 
His brother, Christ, who enlisted at the same 
time and in the same company, was killed in 
the battle of Missionary Ridge, in November, 
1863, but Henry A. lived to take part in all 
the battles in which his regiment was engaged, 
and at the end of his term of three years was 
honorably discharged. On his return to Day- 
ton he found employment with the Dayton Car 
works, with which he remained several years, 
when he was employed at the works of the 
Farmers' Friend company, manufacturers of 
agricultural implements, but now known as a 
part of the Stoddard Manufacturing company, 



858 



CENTENNIAL. BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and with this company he worked until 1892, 
when he retired from active labor. 

The marriage of Henry A. Wollenhaupt 
took place in Dayton, May 15, 1S51, to Caro- 
lina C. L. Waltemathe, who was born July I, 
1833, at Krainhagen by Obernkirchen Kurhes- 
sen, Germany, and died in Dayton, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 16, 1896, themotherof sixteen children. 
Mr. Wollenhaupt is a member of Saint John's 
Lutheran church and of the Grand Army of 
the Republic. 

William F. Wollenhaupt received a lim- 
ited education in the public schools of Dayton, 
and at the age of nine years began work in the 
T. A. Phillips & Son's cotton mills, where he 
remained until the fall of 1869, when he en- 
tered the cigar factory of Munday & Laubach 
as an apprentice; was one year confined to 
stripping tobacco, and then advanced to the 
position of cigarmaker. He worked for this 
firm until 1874, when, having learned the 
trade, he was offered the foremanship of the 
Hanna Bro.'s cigar manufactory, which he 
accepted and retained until October, 1889. 
November 1, 1889, he received his appoint- 
ment as mail carrier under the Harrison ad- 
ministration, and is still faithfully performing 
the duties of that office. 

Mr. Wollenhaupt was married, May 15, 
1877, to Miss Anna C. Lang, daughter of 
George and Theresa (Sebald) Lang, who were 
both born in Germany. Mrs. Wollenhaupt 
was born in Dayton, Ohio, December 27, 
1857, and was educated in the common and 
parochial schools. To this union have been 
born five children — Blanche Emma (deceased), 
Laura Agnes, Clarence Eugene (deceased), 
Ralph Joseph, and Irene Antoinette. The 
parents are members of Holy Trinity Roman 
Catholic church, and Mr. Wollenhaupt is a 
member of the Knights of Saint John, being 
treasurer of commandery No. 104 of Holy 
Trinity church, having held the office since 



1891. February 25, 1896, he was elected 
second vice-commander of commandery No. 
104, uniform rank. He was a delegate to the 
twelfth annual convention of the order at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio; also to the seventeenth annual 
convention at Evansville, Ind., and the eight- 
eenth annual convention at Dayton, and has 
also attended other conventions of the order. 
He is a member of the Sons of Veterans of 
Dayton, and was the delegate of that order to 
the convention held at Hillsboro, Ohio, in 
February, 1896. He is likewise a member of 
Court Cooper, Independent Order of Forest- 
ers, and of the Catholic Gesellen Verein. Mr. 
Wollenhaupt is also a member of the National 
Association of Letter Carriers of Dayton; was 
elected at their first meeting as financial secre- 
tary, and later chosen to represent the Dayton 
branch at the seventh annual convention, held 
at Grand Rapids, Mich., in September, 1896. 
In politics he is a republican. 

Mr. Wollenhaupt resides with his family at 
No. 353 East Xenia avenue. He owns his 
home, and also the old home of his wife. No. 
250 South Henry street. He and his family 
stand in high estimation in society and church 
circles, while as a citizen his name is with- 
out a blemish. 



a APT. FRANCIS MARION WORK 
was born in Perry county. Pa. , No- 
vember 14, 1840, and his genealogy 
is directly traceable to ante-Revolu- 
tionary times, and to relationship with noted 
actors in that celebrated struggle for independ- 
ence. The paternal branch of the family, 
which is of Scotch-Irish origin, settled near 
Chambersburg, Pa., as early as 1760. The 
Works and Marions were closely related, and 
it was after a member of the latter family, 
Gen. Francis Marion, a patriot of national 
reputation, that the subject of this sketch was 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



859 



named. In the annals of the war of 1812, 
the name of Work appears frequently upon 
the numerous muster rolls, and, as far back as 
the history of the family can be traced, the 
ancestors appear to have been men of great 
personal bravery and soldier-like qualities. 

Andrew Work, the father of Capt. Work, 
was born in Pennsylvania and in that state 
married Hannah Miller, whose ancestors came 
to America from Germany at a period long 
antedating the Revolutionary struggle. An- 
drew Work enlisted in the Eighty-second 
Pennsylvania infantry and died near Washing- 
ton city, D. C, in 1862, at the age of fifty- 
seven years; his wife departed this life in 1849. 
They had a family of seven children, the eld- 
est of whom, Alexander, died in 1848; Joseph, 
a soldier in the Sixty-second Pennsylvania 
infantry, died while in the army; Henrietta 
died in early youth; William H. H. died while 
young; Rebecca Jane married Daniel Harman, 
deputy United States marshal for the northern 
district of Ohio, and the youngest child died in 
infancy, unnamed. 

Francis Marion Work was fourth in order 
of birth, and received his education in the com- 
mon schools, though he is largely self-educated. 
When of sufficient age young Francis entered 
upon an apprenticeship at Beaver, Pa., to 
learn the molder's trade, and, after becoming 
proficient in the same, worked for some time 
in that city, and later, about i860, engaged in 
the oil business on the Little Kanawha river, 
in Virginia, where he remained until the break- 
ing out of the Civil war. In May, 1861, he 
became a member of Hill's Rangers, a mili- 
tary organization for home protection, which 
afterward became company C, of the First Vir- 
ginia cavalry, the muster dating from August 
28 of that year. Capt. Work's military ex- 
perience began in the winter of 1 861-2 under 
Gen. Milroy on the Fremont campaign in the 
Shenandoah valley, during which time he 



served as sergeant of orderlies at the general's 
headquarters, discharging the duties of the po- 
sition in a most acceptable manner. He con- 
tinued in the valley during the Peninsula cam- 
paign and participated in the second battle of 
Bull Run, was under Burnside at the battle of 
Fredericksburg, served under Hooker at Chan- 
cellorsville, and was with Gen. Kilpatrick's 
cavalry at Gettysburg. In the winter of 1863 
the regiment re-enlisted, and took part with 
Gen. Sheridan in the battles of the Shen- 
andoah, including Winchester, Cedar Creek, 
and numerous other engagements oi that 
memorable campaign, which resulted in the 
final reduction of the Confederacy. The battle 
list during this period is a long one and the 
captain's record is replete with duty well dis- 
charged and with gallant conduct which won 
the approbation of his superiors. He was with 
Sheridan from Winchester to Appomattox, 
took part in the battle of Sailor's Creek and 
Five Forks under the immediate command of 
Gen. Custer, and was an eye-witness of the 
final surrender of the rebel chieftain, which 
terminated the war of the Rebellion. He 
passed through the various official stations 
from private to captain, and at the battle of 
Gettysburg was put in command of a squadron 
consisting of two companies. 

He was mustered out with the rank of cap- 
tain July 8, 1865, and immediately thereafter 
returned to Pittsburg, but did not long remain 
in that city, going thence to Saint Louis, Mo., 
where he worked at the molder's trade until 
1867. In January of that year he enlisted in 
company H, Thirty-sixth United States infan- 
try, with which he served at Forts Sanders and 
Bridger, Wyo., a part of the time as clerk in 
the adjutant's and quartermaster's department; 
on account of injuries received during his 
previous service, he did not complete his pe- 
riod of enlistment, but received his discharge 
on the 2 1st day of April, 1869. On leaving 



•860 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the army the captain became a member of the 
engineer corps of the Union Pacific railroad, 
and while thus engaged was employed to meas- 
ure and receive all the lumber used in the con- 
struction of snow fences along the line between 
Cheyenne and Ogden. He continued in the 
employ of the company until the completion 
of the road and its acceptance by the govern- 
ment, after which he was in the employ of the 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe road for about 
one year during the construction of that line 
through Kansas. From the latter state he 
went to Michigan, where he was for some time 
bookkeeper for N. B. Day & Co., contractors 
on the Menominee extension of the C. & N. W. 
railway, and later was a member of the en- 
gineer corps, having in charge the surveying 
and constructing of short lines of road in the 
Ishpeming country to the iron mines. 

Retiring from railroading, the captain aft- 
erward followed agricultural pursuits and cler- 
ical work for several years, and for some time 
resided in the city of Toledo, not actively en- 
gaged in any kind of employment. Subse- 
quently he worked at his trade in Pittsburg for 
a limited period, and afterward sold agricul- 
tural implements, following the latter business 
the greater part of the time until 1886, in 
which year he entered the southern branch of 
the national military home at Hampton, Va. , 
where he soon became commander of a com- 
pany. In this capacity he continued until 
transferred two years later to the northwest- 
ern branch, Milwaukee, Wis., where he ac- 
cepted a clerical position in the quartermas- 
ter's department. In addition to his duties as 
clerk, the captain was also sergeant-major in 
the Milwaukee branch for about two years, 
and, at the end of that time, took a discharge 
and visited the eastern states, where for a pe- 
riod of one year he worked at various kinds of 
employment. Finally he went to the sol- 
diers' home at Marion, Ind., and was made 



captain of the hospital and colonel of the 
Union Veteran Legion, remaining there until 
transferred, in March, 1894, to the Central 
branch, Ohio. Capt. Work has held various 
official positions: First, as wardmaster; and 
later, in September, 1S95, as captain of com- 
pany Seventeen, by promotion, the duties of 
which office he has since discharged. As will 
be seen from the foregoing brief sketch, Capt. 
Work has had a varied experience, his record 
as a soldier being one of which he feels justly 
proud. In his official station he has proved 
faithful and competent, and the home numbers 
among its inmates no more painstaking and 
conscientious public servant. 



>j*OSEPH A. WORTMAN, lawyer, of 
J Dayton, Ohio, was born in Berlin, 
/» 1 Prussia, September 11, 1863. With 
his parents he came to the United 
States in 1868, they coming direct to Dayton, 
and in this city Mr. Wortman has since re- 
sided. He was educated in the public schools 
and graduated from the Central high school in 
June, 1 88 1, when he was seventeen years old. 
He then took a course of study at the Miami 
Commercial college, A. D. Wilt, principal, 
after completing which he began reading law 
in the office of James Linden, of Dayton, and 
upon the removal of Mr. Linden, from the 
city, Mr. Wortman went into the office of O. 
F. Davisson, with whom he remained until 
1889, having been admitted to the bar in 1884. 
In 1889 he began the practice of law by 
himself, and has since thus continued with 
most gratifying success. Mr. Wortman is a 
republican in politics, and as such was a can- 
didate for mayor of Dayton in the spring of 
1 891, and upon the first count of the votes 
cast was declared elected by a majority of two 
votes ; but upon a recount of the ballots he 
was declared defeated by an adverse majority 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



861 



of two votes. He has, however, served two 
years as tax commissioner of Dayton. Mr. 
Wortman is a member of all the Masonic 
bodies — is a Knight Templar, a member of the 
Scottish-rite Masons, a .thirty-second degree 
Mason, and is also a Knight of Pythias. He 
was married January i, 1885, to Miss Cornelia 
Woodhull, of Dayton, a daughter of Lam- 
bert Woodhull, who was a member of the firm 
of L. & M. Woodhull, otherwise known as 
the Dayton Buggy company, which is one of 
the largest concerns of the kind in the state of 
Ohio. Mr. Wortman has five children, viz : 
Adolph, Robert P., Joseph A., Jr., Marguerite 
and Cornelia. The family are connected with 
the Memorial Presbyterian church. Mr. Wort- 
man was one of the organizers of the Teutonia 
National bank, and a stockholder and director 
for several years ; he is also secretary and at- 
torney of the Mechanics' Loan & Savings as- 
sociation, and is also largely identified with the 
building up of the northern end of the city, 
known as North Dayton. 



K^~\ fSHOP MILTON WRIGHT, D. D., 
If'^L of the United Brethren church, and 
JK^J at present a resident of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Rush county, Ind., No- 
vember 17, 1828. 

He received his preliminary education in 
the common schools and later attended Harts- 
ville (Ind.) college. In 1853 he was admitted 
into the White River conference of the United 
Brethren church and was ordained minister in 
1856. Soon after this event he was sent by 
the board of missions to Oregon, where for a 
time he was principal of Sublimity college, 
Marion county, that state, and in 1859 re- 
turned to Indiana, and in the same year mar- 
ried Miss Susan Catherine Koerner, a resident 
of Union county. He passed several years as 
pastor and presiding elder in the White River 



conference, and in 1869 was elected by the 
general conference to the editorship of the 
Religious Telescope, which position he filled 
with marked ability for eight years. In 1877 
he was elected bishop ; the degree of doctor of 
divinity was conferred upon him in 1878, by 
Westfield college, and he continued to perform 
the functions of bishop until 1881. In that 
year he became the editor and publisher of the 
Richmond ( Ind.) Star, but terminated his 
connection with that journal in 1885, when he 
was elected bishop of the Pacific coast. In 
1889, with fourteen associate ministers, he re- 
fused to accept as being lawful the action of 
the general conference at York, Pa., in pass- 
ing under a new confession of faith and consti- 
tution, and with them claimed to continue the 
true general conference of the church. This 
schism of the general conference resulted in 
two churches, both claiming precisely the same 
name. At this conference in 1889 he was 
elected bishop, and publisher of church litera- 
ture. At the general conference at Hudson, 
Ind., in 1893, he was re-elected bishop, which 
position of honor and prominence he has now 
held for fifteen years. Dr. Wright has attend- 
ed every general conference of his church since 
1865, has been a member of the board of mis- 
sions, of the board of education, and a trustee 
of the Union Biblical seminary, and, in fact, 
has been a zealous worker in the church ever 
since 1855. 

The parents of Dr. Wright were Dan and 
Catherine (Reeder) Wright — the name Dan. 
being that also of his grandfather, Dan Wright. 
His father was born in Orange county, Vt. , 
September 3, 1791, and was reared a farmer. 
At the age of twenty-five years he moved to 
the state of New York, where he passed one 
year, and then, in 18 16, came to Ohio, and 
resided in Montgomery county until 1821, 
when he moved to Indiana and cleared up a 
farm in the wilds of Rush county, and nineteen 



862 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



years later he removed to a farm in Fayette 
county, where he passed the remainder of his 
life. There were born to Dan Wright and 
wife six children, beside Milton, the subject 
of this sketch, of whom three sons and one 
daughter lived to raise families. Of these, the 
eldest, Samuel S., was a teacher, who died at 
the early age of twenty-three years ; Rev. 
Harvey lives on his farm in Rush county, Ind. , 
and has been a Baptist minister for over forty- 
five years ; Rev. William was a minister in the 
United Brethren church and died in 1868, at 
the age of thirty-six years, and the daughter, 
Mrs. Sarah Harris, was a resident of Franklin 
county, Ind., at the time of her death, which 
took place in 1868. 

The Wright family are of English origin, 
but for several generations have lived in Amer- 
ica, the family name having been established 
in Springfield, Mass., by Samuel Wright, 
about the year 1639. Dan Wright, paternal 
grandfather of the bishop, was a farmer and 
carpenter, and one of the heroes of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, having taken part in the bat- 
tle of Saratoga. His wife bore the maiden 
name of Sarah Freeman, and was a native of 
New Hampshire, having descended from one 
of the most eminent New England families. 

The Reeder family, the maternal ancestors 
of Rev. Dr. Wright, were of German descent, 
but went to England previous to the year 1600. 
They came to America (Long Island) about 
the year 1650. George Reeder, the subject's 
maternal grandfather, was captain of militia 
and baggage-master in the early days of Ohio. 
George Reeder was born on the James river, 
Va., and about 1792 settled in Hamilton 
county, Ohio, at Columbia, now a suburb of 
Cincinnati. John Van Cleve, Bishop Wright's 
maternal great-grandfather, was descended 
from a Holland family that settled in New 
York eight generations back. He was also a 
soldier of the war of the Revolution, and 



while in the battle of Monmouth his dwelling 
was burned by the retreating British. During 
this battle, or just previous to it, Mrs. Van 
Cleve escaped from the house with her three 
children, but all else was left behind and car- 
ried off or destroyed by the British excepting 
a few minor articles that had been placed in 
concealment. One of the three children alluded 
to above as having been rescued by their 
mother, was Benjamin Van Cleve, for many 
years afterward county clerk of Montgomery 
county, Ohio. In the early part of 1790, John 
Van Cleve came to Ohio and located at Cin- 
cinnati (then Losantiville), but met with an 
untimely death at the hands of the Indians on 
June 1, 1 791. His widow was married to 
Samuel Thompson two years later and left 
Cincinnati in a keel boat with her husband 
and her children, and settled in Dayton, ar- 
riving here April i, 1796, and, with the New^ 
com family, erected a double log cabin — prob-. 
ably on the site of what is now known as Van 
Cleve park. Here her death occurred in 1837, 
but her descendants are still well known and 
prominent citizens of Dayton. 

Mrs. Susan Catherine (Koerner) Wright was 
born in Loudoun county, Va., in 1831, but 
was reared from childhood in Indiana. Her 
father was a native of Saxony, and her mother 
a Virginian by birth. To the marriage of 
the bishop have been born seven children, of 
whom there are living four sons and one daugh-* 
ter: Reuchlin, now married, is a clerk in a 
general railroad office in Kansas City, Mo. ; 
Lorin is bookkeeper in the office of the John 
Rouzer Manufacturing company; Wilbur and 
Orville, now engaged in job printing and in 
conducting a bicycle store, still make their 
home under the parental roof, and Katherine 
is in her fourth year's course of study, at Ober- 
lin college. The mother of this family died 
July 4, 1889, and her loss was most keenly felt 
in the home circle and deeply mourned by her 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



863 



many acquaintances. She was a lady of edu- 
cation and refinement; of a quiet, unassuming 
disposition; ready of speech and an able coun- 
selor, whose advice was always sought and 
heeded by her husband. She died in the faith 
of the United Brethren church, of which she 
had been a pious and consistent member since 
early childhood. In politics, Bishop Wright 
has always been allied with the republican 
party, and his church record, of which the 
salient facts have been given in this memoir, 
furnishes its own best commendation. 



WOHN A. WRIGHT, a deputy sheriff 

m of Montgomery county, was born in 

*I Springfield, Ohio, June 28, 1857, a 

son of Robert and Catherine (Ritter) 

Wright. 

Robert Wright, a native of England, came 
to the United States at the age of sixteen 
years, located in Ohio, and here married, and 
became a successful and well-known railroad 
man, rising from the place of section " boss " 
to that of roadmaster of the old C. S. & C. 
railroad. The latter position he held until the 
time of his death, at Osborn, Ohio, in 1868, 
his widow being now a resident of Dayton, 
and there having been born to their marriage 
five children. 

John A. Wright was about one year old 
when his parents came fron Springfield to 
Dayton, and here he grew to manhood and 
has passed his entire life, with the exception 
of about nine years, which were spent at Os- 
born, where his father died. He was educated 
in the common schools of both Dayton and 
Osborn, but had early to relinquish his studies, 
and, after his father's decease, worked on a 
farm for a year and a half, in order to reduce 
the family expenses of his mother, who had 
been left in widowhood with three of her five 
children. He was next employed in a nursery, 



where he passed three or four years, and in 
both situations was faithful and attentive to 
his duties. His next step was the learning of 
the machinist's trade at the Globe Iron works 
in Dayton, where his devotion to the interests 
of his employers secured him constant work 
for the long period of twenty-two years. Jan- 
uary 7, 1894, he was appointed, by Sheriff 
Anderton, as one of his deputies, a position he 
has since filled to the satisfaction of the sheriff 
and of the general public. 

Mr. Wright was married, October 17, 1878. 
to Miss Phebe Tressler, a daughter of Mr. and 
Mrs. Daniel Tressler, well known residents of 
Dayton. To this union there have been born 
three children, Effie, Edward O., and Ambry 
Irene, all of whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wright are attendants of the First United 
Brethren church of Dayton, of which they 
have long been members, and to the tenets of 
which they strictly conform. 

Fraternally, Mr. Wright is a member of. 
the National Union and of the Patriotic Order 
of the Sons of America, also of the Interna- 
tional Association of Machinists. He served 
as president of the Dayton Trades & Labor 
assembly in 1892 and 1893, and has ever held 
dear to his heart the material interests of the 
workingman as well as his moral welfare. He 
and his family have a pleasant place in social 
life, and the respect paid them is well deserved. 



BREDERICK WUNDERLICH, a 
member of the firm of Wunderlich 
Bros. , sculptors and manufacturers of 
and dealers, in granite and marble 
monuments at No. 1225 East Fifth street, was 
born in Dayton, Ohio, September 15, 1864. 
His parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Kupp) 
Wunderlich, were born in Germany, the for- 
mer coming to this country in 1847, the latter 
in 1862. Henry Wunderlich first settled in 



864 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Auglaize county, but came to Dayton in March, 
1848. He was a stone-cutter, and followed 
this trade until 1873, when he established the 
business now being carried on by his (our sons. 
His death occurred in Dayton, February 23, 
1889, in his seventieth year. He was a mem- 
ber of the order of Odd Fellows, of the en- 
campment, and was also a member of the 
German order of Druids. He was a successful, 
honorable man, and one of the best known 
and highly esteemed citizens of the east end of 
the city of Dayton. His widow died in March, 
1896, in her seventy-third year. At the time 
of his death Mr. Wunderlich left four sons and 
one daughter, the latter being the wife of Otto 
Alstaeter. The sons are John, Henry, Fred- 
erick and William, comprising the firm of 
Wunderlich Bros. 

Frederick Wunderlich was educated in the 
Dayton public schools, and, having completed 
his education, learned of his father his present 
business. The firm was first known as Wun- 
derlich & Sons, but upon the death of the fa- 
ther the name was changed to Wunderlich 
Bros. This enterprise has been built up from 
a small beginning, and it is by strict attention 
to business and by fair and honorable dealing 
that the firm has established its reputation and 
acquired its present high standing and large 
and prosperous trade. 

Mr. Wunderlich has always been a repub- 
lican in politics and for many years has been a 
leading member of that party in the Ninth 
ward. In April, 1895, he was elected to the 
board of education for a term of two years, 
taking his place on the board in May. He was 
married in May, 1887, to Miss Emma Gayer 
of Riverdale, and to this marriage there have 
been born two sons, Elmer O. and Howard F. 
Mr. Wunderlich is a member of all the branches 
of the Odd Fellows fraternity, and of the Gem 
City senate Knights of the Ancient Essenic 
order. He and his family are members of the 



Third street, or Saint John's, German Evan- 
gelical Lutheran church, which was organized 
in 1838 or 1839. Mr. Wunderlich and his 
brothers are among the most highly esteemed 
citizens of the Gem City. 




HOMAS YENNY, of Dayton, Ohio, 

is a native of Switzerland, born July 

27, 1844. He came to the United 

States in the year 1866, and is the 

only member of his family who ever came to 

America. 

Before leaving his native land Mr. Yenny 
had secured a good education in the common 
branches of study, and had also prepared him- 
self for the practical duties of life by learning 
the carpenter's trade. He passed the summer 
of 1866 in Pittsburg, Pa., where he found em- 
ployment at his trade, and in the fall of the 
same year he came to Dayton, Ohio, where 
he has ever since lived, and where he has been 
continuously employed at his trade, being an 
expert workman and recognized as a skilled 
mechanic. He secured a position in the 
Barney-Smith Car works on his arrival in Day- 
ton in 1866, and has remained with that con- 
cern until the present day, with the exception 
of the interim from 1872 to 1879, when he 
was employed in the shops of the Farmers' 
Friend Manufacturing company. His industry 
and good management have brought to him a 
due measure of success, and he is well known 
and highly esteemed in the city where he has 
made his home for so many years. 

At the time Mr. Yenny left Switzerland 
both of his parents were living, but are now 
deceased. Two sisters and one brother still 
remain in the land of their birth, and he him- 
self has twice visited the home of his childhood 
— once in 1869, and again in 1890. 

On the 20th of December, 1871, Mr. 
Yenny was united in marriage to Miss Mary 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



865 



Freitag, who was born in Milwaukee, Wis., 
and to them has been born one child, a daugh- 
ter, Mary Margaret. All of the family are de- 
voted members of St. John's German Lutheran 
church. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Yenny is 
identified with the Knights of Pythias and the 
Druids. In politics he has been a loyal sup- 
porter of the democratic party and for six years 
served as a member of the school board of Mad 
River township. The esteem and confidence 
in which he is held by his fellow-citizens was 
also shown in April, 1896, when he was elected 
a member of the city council from the Third 
ward, as the candidate of the democratic party. 



K^~\ RUNO ZIMMERMAN, timekeeper at 
1/^^ the national military home at Dayton, 
J^_J Ohio, was born in Saxony, Germany, 
November 23, 1827, and was educated 
in an agricultural college. He was the only 
child born to his parents, and when about six- 
teen years of age, in 1843, ran away from a 
pleasant home and came to America. Here 
he employed himself in any honest labor his 
hands could find to do, first working for some 
time in New York and then going to Connect- 
icut, whence, in 1853, he went overland to 
California, where he drove a United States 
mail coach, on the Santa Fe route, for three 
years. This task was beset with dangers, and 
finally a train of several hundred wagons, to 
whicn his vehicle was attached, was attacked 
by ambushed Indians, and in the battle which 
ensued Mr. Zimmerman received a severe 
wound in the head, which rendered him un- 
conscious for several weeks and disabled him 
from further service as a mail coach driver. 
On recovering from his wound he went to 
Cincinnati, where he engaged in teaming. He 
enlisted in April, 1861, for the three months' 



service, and acted as orderly on the staff of 
Gen. Planker. Immediately after the expira- 
tion of this term of service he enlisted in Huff- 
man's Ohio battery, in which he became first 
sergeant. He filled out his two years' term 
with this battery and then re-enlisted in the 
field, becoming a member of the One Hundred 
and Eleventh Pennsylvania infantry, company 
B, from which he received his final discharge. 

Mr. Zimmerman served in the Eleventh 
and Twelfth army corps, and took part in 
many of the sanguinary battles under Gen. 
Hooker, among which may be mentioned that 
of South Mountain, where he was wounded. 
He was also at Antietam and Fredericksburg; 
went with his command to the southwest, 
where the Eleventh and Twelfth were merged 
into the Twentieth army corps, and took part 
at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout 
Mountain and Ringgold. June 15, 1864, at 
Pine Mountain, Ga., he received a disabling 
wound through the leg and ankle, and for this 
reason was honorably discharged at Camp 
Dennison, Ohio, in August, 1865. 

After his discharge, Mr. Zimmerman went 
to Kentucky, where he engaged in the grain 
and coal business. He there found among the 
discharged rebel soldiers many warm friends, 
and, disabled Yankee soldier though he was, 
they apparently thought none the less of him. 
But disaster overtook him, and in 1882 his 
property and business were destroyed by fire, 
and he sought refuge in the military home at 
Dayton. Here he was first employed as bread- 
cutter, then as clerk and store-keeper in the 
tailor shop, next served as assistant timekeeper 
for several years, and since February, 1896, 
has been timekeeper. 

The first marriage of Mr. Zimmerman was 
with Miss Emma Sarah Meade, a native of 
Connecticut, and to this union were born twelve 
children, of whom seven are still living. Two 
of these reside in Chicago, 111., and three in 



866 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Buffalo, N. Y., while the location of the other 
two is not known. The second marriage of 
Mr. Zimmerman took place in Lexington, Ky. , 
in 1876, with Mrs. Katherina Piot, a soldier's 
widow, but to this union no children have been 
born. Mrs. Zimmerman was the mother of 
five children by her first marriage and these 
have been reared in the Zimmerman house- 
hold, which occupies a very pleasant home on 
Fifth street, Dayton. 

Mr. Zimmerman is a member of Dister 
post, No. 444, Grand Army Republic, of Day- 
ton, and was a charter member of encamp- 
ment No. 82, Union Veteran Legion. In re- 
ligion he is a devout Roman Catholic, and in 
politics has always been a republican. He is 
a typical German, is frugal, and during his 
earlier and more productive years economized 
sufficiently to enable himself to provide the 
means for a good and comfortable home for 
his family. 



WOHN FOWLER YOUNG is a native 
M of Dayton, Ohio, was born April 28, 
/» 1 1840, and is a son of Henry and Eliza- 
beth (Fowler) Young. The father was 
born in Germany, served under Blucher in the 
war with Napoleon Bonaparte, and was still a 
comparatively young man when he came to 
America. 

Henry Young was a gardener and nursery- 
man, and for a time was an overseer on a 
plantation in Louisiana; he came to Dayton 
about 1838, and was soon afterward married 
to Miss Fowler. He owned a tract of three 
acres in North Dayton, on which he carried 
on his business as a gardener until his death, 
which took place in 1846. His widow sur- 
vived until 1883, when she was called away 
at the age ot eighty-three years, dying in the 
faith of the German Reformed church. 

Abel Fowler, the maternal grandfather of 



Mr. Young, was a miller by trade, and brought 
his family from Reading, Pa., to Dayton, Ohio, 
about the year 1835, or soon afterward. He 
purchased a farm of forty acres in what is now 
known as Dayton View. There were five chil- 
dren in his family, of whom four came with 
him to Dayton, and here his daughter Eliza- 
beth was married to Mr. Young. Mr. Fowler 
died about the year 1852, at the advanced age 
of eighty-nine years. 

John Fowler Young was reared to garden- 
ing in Dayton, to which he devoted himself 
until 1876, when he opened business as a flor- 
ist, locating his greenhouse at Dayton View. 
In November, 1868, he married Miss Eliza- 
beth Herby, daughter of George and Lydia 
(Corby) Herby, natives of England. Mrs. 
Herby and two of her children died in Eng- 
land, and in 1853 Mr. Herby and his only re- 
maining child, now Mrs. Young, came to 
America, from Earls Barton, England, where 
the father had been employed in a large mill. 
On reaching Dayton Mr. Herby engaged in 
teaming, draying, etc. His life here, how- 
ever, was very short, as he died in 1858, at 
the early age of thirty-seven years, leaving his 
daughter, then but fourteen years of age, alone 
in a strange land. To the marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Young have been born six children. 
The home and greenhouse of Mr. Young are 
at No. 105 Holt street, and he also has a fine 
piece of property on the corner of Holt street 
and Young avenue; the store is at No. 21 East 
Fifth street, where Mrs. Young has charge of 
the cut flowers and takes care of the office 
business, while Mr. Young cares for his well- 
equipped greenhouses, supplying all kinds of 
floral decorations. The Young family are 
members of the Lutheran church, and frater- 
nally Mr. Young is a member of the A. O. U. 
W. They have a pleasant home in Dayton 
View, and enjoy the association and esteem of 
a large circle of friends. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



867 



OTTO ZEIL, engraver in metal, die 
sinker, etc., and one of the most suc- 
cessful mechanics of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Baden, Germany, De- 
cember 10, 1844, and was a lad of eight or 
nine years of age when he was brought to 
America by his parents, Joseph and Anna Zeil, 
who were also natives of Baden. Joseph Zeil 
was a weaver of woolen goods, and after set- 
tling in Cincinnati, Ohio, on his arrival in this 
country, followed his calling until advancing 
years made it necessary for him to retire. He 
lost his wife in Cincinnati in 1862, and in that 
city his own death occurred some years later, 
at the age of eighty-one years. There were 
but two sons born to Joseph and Anna Zeil, 
Otto and his brother Joseph, the latter now a 
farmer in Indiana. Joseph Zeil served entirely 
throughout the Civil war, first enlisting in the 
Eighth Indiana volunteer infantry, and later in 
the Sixty-ninth Indiana infantry, and since the 
war has served three years in the regular United 
States army. 

Otto Zeil received a very good common- 
school education in Cincinnati and was then 
apprenticed to the general (metal) engraver's 
art, and while thus engaged enlisted in the 
One Hundred and Sixth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry. He was sent to the front, and with 
his regiment was taken prisoner at Hartsville, 
Tenn., but was paroled and sent to Columbus, 
Ohio, for exchange. Here Mr. Zeil was pros- 
trated by sickness and was discharged for dis- 
ability; but on recuperating he enrolled himself 
as a member of the Tenth Ohio militia, which 
was later called into active service for 100 
days and was placed on guard duty over pris- 
oners at Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, Ohio, 
and at Cumberland, Md., and elsewhere. At 
the conclusion of this service he returned to 
Cincinnati and re-.engaged in his early vocation 
until April, 1890, when he came to Dayton 
and established himself in business. 



Mr. Zeil was married, in 1869, to Miss 
Sophia Troendle, a native of Germany, and to 
this marriage have been born five children, 
viz: Otto, a partner with his father in busi- 
ness; Louis, a resident of Cincinnati; Tillie, 
Albert and William, still at home with their 
parents. Mr. Zeil is a member of Old Guard 
post, G. A. R., of Dayton. 

Otto Zeil, Jr., son of Otto and Sophia Zeil, 
and the partner of his father, under the firm 
name of Otto Zeil & Son, is almost the equal 
of his father in the art of metal engraving. 
The firm turn out to order, as specialties, em- 
bossing plates for book-binders; blank gilding 
rolls and tools; box pirnting plates; copper 
plates; steel stamps and everything pertaining 
to die sinking and stamping known to the art. 
Both father and son are skilled in the calling, 
and control almost the entire trade in their art 
in southwestern Ohio and adjacent territory. 



HUGUST ZWIESLER, superintendent 
of the Burkhardt Furniture company 
of Dayton, is a native of the city, 
born on the 20th of July, 1859, and is 
a son of Constantine and Marguerite (Schimel) 
Zwiesler, the former of whom is still living, at 
an advanced age, while the mother passed away 
in the year 1893. Constantine Zwiesler was 
born in the province of Bavaria, Germany, in 
May, 1820, and at the age of twenty-six years 
emigrated to America and forthwith made his 
way to Montgomery county, Ohio, where he 
has ever since resided. He is a tailor by trade 
and followed this vocation until he was fifty- 
five years of age, when he retired from active 
business. In the early years of his residence 
here he held for some time the office of assess- 
or. He has long been a zealous member and 
communicant of the Catholic church. Constan- 
tine and Marguerite Zwiesler became the par- 
ents of six children, of whom Christina is the 



stis 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



wife of Michael Wise, of Dayton; Charles J. 
died in May, 1885; John H. is a resident of 
the state of Washington; Lewis lives at Kansas 
City, Mo. ; August is the immediate subject of 
this review; and Annie still remains at the pa- 
ternal home. 

August Zwiesler received his early educa- 
tional training in the excellent Catholic schools 
(Saint Mary's parish), of Dayton, and at the 
age of thirteen years he entered the employ of 
the Stomps-Burkhardt Chair company, where 
he remained for eleven years. He was then 
for two years in the service of Parrott & Gil- 
bert, and subsequently for eight years with 
John Stengel & Company, resigning his posi- 
tion with this concern to become one of the 
organizers and incorporators of the Burkhardt 
Furniture company. Mr. Zwiesler is one of 
stockholders of the corporation and its super- 
intendent. He is a member of Saint Joseph's 
Orphan society, and is identified also with the 
Knights of Saint John, of Emanuel Catholic 
Knights, and a member of Holy Rosary church. 

Mr. Zwiesler was married on the 19th of 
February, 1888, to Miss Philomena Hunn, 
daughter of Adolph Hunn, and they are par- 
ents of four children, Aloyes. Joseph, Elenora 
and Charles. 



aHARLES WORTHINGTON RAY- 
MOND, second son of George M. and 
Eliza (Bonte) Raymond, was born in 
Dayton, Ohio, on the 17th day of 
January, 1851. George McMullen Raymond, 
his father, was an Ohioan whose place of na- 
tivity was near Cincinnati, and who married 
Eliza Ann Bonte, of Cincinnati, some time in 
the 'twenties. To them were born five chil- 
dren, all of whom reside in Indianapolis ex- 
cept Charles W., who lives in Dayton. 

George M. Raymond was well known in 
former days as a leader of music and was an 



unusually sweet singer. He was the first per- 
son to introduce in Dayton what are known as 
round notes. He was a member of Wesley 
chapel, Methodist Episcopal church, and later 
one of the founders of Raper chapel, of East 
Fifth street; was the first Sunday-school super- 
intendent of that church and always an es- 
teemed member, as well as a faithful christian 
citizen. He was a member of Wayne lodge, 
No. 10, I. O. O. F., also of the encampment, 
and represented his lodge at one time in the 
grand lodge. He died in Indianapolis on the 
1 6th of August, 1893, six years after the death 
of his wife. 

Charles W. Raymond was educated in the 
public schools of Dayton. After his school 
life he associated himself with his father in 
business. He learned the trade of blacksmith- 
ing and wagonmaking, which trade afterward 
proved the foundation upon which his exten- 
sive business interests were built. In early 
life Mr. Raymond developed an unusual fac- 
ulty for business, and this, with an inventive 
mind and habits of application, soon gained 
for him recognition as a prudent, careful busi- 
ness man, and success early crowned his efforts. 
During his entire life Mr. Raymond has been 
an ardent devotee of out-door and athletic 
sports, and has done much to foster harmless 
amusements of this class among the younger 
generation. He has always been a lover of 
music, inheriting this taste from his father, 
and for many years affiliated with the various 
musical societies of the city. 

Fraternally Mr. Raymond is a member of 
Wayne lodge, No. 10, I. O. O. F., also of the 
Essenic order; likewise a charter member of 
Linden lodge, K. of P. He is an influential 
member of the board of trade, associated 
charities and other kindred organizations. 
He has done as much towards the material 
and industrial progress of the city of Dayton 
as any man of his age. Besides his extensive 




/^ T^T^Y^^^^^-- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



871 



manufacturing interests, Mr. Raymond is the 
owner of ten or twelve business and residence 
buildings in Dayton. As a citizen and a busi- 
ness man, his standing in the community is 
very high, he being widely esteemed for his 
strong integrity and reliability. It is but just 
to say that Mr. Raymond inherits from both 
his father and mother a disposition of unusual 
energy and perseverance, which was character- 
istic of both families, tje was married, in 
1872, to Miss Viola Palmer, also of Dayton. 
To them were born three sons and one daugh- 
ter: Ellis Palmer, Eliza Ann, George McMul- 
len and Charles Herbert. Ellis, the eldest 
son, is associated with his father in business 
and has proven himself of great value, being 
the inventor of several very useful machines. 
He is also a musician of much merit. George 
has also started at the beginning, and promises 
a successful business career. Herbert, the 
youngest son, is pursuing his studies in the 
Steele high school of Dayton. 

In 1880 George M. Raymond and his son, 
Charles W. Raymond, established the present 
brick machine works, under the firm name of 
G. M. Raymond & Son. Upon the retire- 
ment of G. M. Raymond in 1888, by reason of 
age, Charles W. Raymond bought his interest 
and established the business under the name of 
C. W. Raymond & Co., clay working ma- 
chinery, with shops on the corner of First and 
Taylor streets. 

Entering the market with a machine, a re- 
versal of old ideas, and an addition of new 
ones, at a time when the market was ripe for 
it, he soon reaped the merited reward of his 
ingenuity, and to-day is at the head of a busi- 
ness, which manufactures machinery for the 
production of building brick, fire brick, pressed 
and ornamental brick, and terra cotta, also 
brick for the paving of streets, and shingles 
for the roofing of houses. Mr. Raymond's 

first invention, in 1886, was a machine for 
34 



pressing terra cotta and ornamental brick, in- 
stead of making them by hand as formerly, 
which increased the production of thirty pieces 
per day to about 3,000 pieces per day; later he 
invented a power re-press for the manufacture 
of paving blocks, by which 10,000 blocks per 
day were produced, and still later he invented 
the Columbian special re-press, capable of 
pressing 30,000 paving blocks per day, a won- 
der in this line of work. These, however, 
form only a small part of his inventions, which 
followed closely one upon another. It has 
been his good fortune to design and invent 
much of the machinery which now goes to 
make up a modern brick plant. 

The output of the Raymond factory is dis- 
tributed throughout the United Slates and it 
has also a large export demand. The firm 
takes contracts for equipping the largest 
plants with all necessary machinery, which is 
set up and guaranteed, and no charge is ever 
made of inadequacy to do all that is claimed 
for it. This is the only concern of the kind 
in Dayton, and the ingenuity of Mr. Raymond 
has secured to it almost a monopoly of its pe- 
culiar products. 



>-j*OSEPH ZIZERT, contractor and 
m builder, of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
/» 1 near Salem, Ohio, October 16, 1859. 
He is a son of Christian and Elizabeth 
(Pflum) Zizert, both natives of Germany, and 
who were the parents of eleven children, seven 
sons and four daughters, ten of whom are still 
living, as follows : John, Joseph, Christian, 
David, Samuel, Henry, Charles, Emma, Nettie 
and Mary. The one that is dead was named 
Lizzie, and she was the eighth in order of birth. 
Christian Zizert was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and, coming to the United States, located 
twelve miles west of Dayton, where he lived 



872 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until 1848, when he made an overland trip to 
California, traveling by means of an ox-team, 
and requiring 105 days to make the journey. 
Remaining there until 1851, engaged in gold 
mining, he returned by water to New York, and 
thence came again to Dayton, and located on 
the old farm at Salem, where he died in 1882 
at the age of sixty-nine. His wife is still living 
on the old homestead. Her husband was, and 
she is, a member of the Lutheran church, 
standing high in religious circles and in gen- 
eral society. 

The father of Christian Zizert was a stone- 
cutter by trade, and lived in Germany all his 
life, dying when nearly eighty years of age. 
The maternal grandfather of Joseph Zizert 
was named Charles Pflum, and also died in 
Germany. Mrs. Mary Piium, his grandmother 
on his mother's side, died in Montgomery 
county in 1872, when she was nearly seventy- 
four years of age. She was one of the excel- 
lent women of pioneer days, and, dying, left 
many sincere friends to mourn her loss. 

Joseph Zizert, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared upon the farm and received his 
early education in the district school. At the 
age of sixteen years he began learning the car- 
penter's trade, working eight years for Daniel 
Stouffer. After retiring from the employ of 
Mr. Stouffer he was a journeyman workman 
until 1890, when he removed to Dayton and 
began contracting upon his own account. Dur- 
ing the time he has lived in Dayton he has 
erected many substantial residences and other 
buildings in this city. 

In August, 1888, Mr. Zizert was married to 
Miss Kate Beekler, daughter of Henry and 
Matilda ( Bouser) Beekler. To this marriage 
there have been born three children : Lottie, 
Charles and Robert. Mr. Zizert is a member 
of Riverdale Knights of Pythias, No. 639, 
and in politics is a democrat. Mr. Zizert and 
his family are among the substantial citizens 



of Dayton, standing high in all relations, and 
enjoy the confidence and respect of all that 
know them. 



<V^VROF. J. EMIL ZWISSLER, one of 
1 m the leading musiciansof Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Urach, Germany, July 
14, 1867, a son of G. A. and Mary 
Zvvissler, the former of whom was a musician 
in the Theological university. Subject was pre- 
pared for his chosen profession by some of the 
finest masters of Europe, seven years of his 
life having been spent in preparatory study at 
the Stuttgart Royal conservatory of music 
under Profs. Von Faisst, Perry Goetschius 
and W. Speidel. 

From this famous institution he was grad- 
uated in organ, piano and 'cello instrumenta- 
tion and in musical composition, and later 
took a two years' course at the Royal high 
school for music in Berlin, under such famous 
masters as Haupt for the organ, Bargiel for 
composition, and Hausmann Joachim for the 
'cello. Among some of Prof. Zwissler's pro- 
ductions which have been played in Berlin 
with unqualified approbation may be men- 
tioned a concert overture for large orchestras, 
two string quartets, and several studies for the 
piano. For some time, also, Prof. Zwissler 
was engaged as director of a mixed chorus in 
his native historical city of Urach, where his 
ma/ked musical talent and his success as a 
teacher of his art were widely recognized. 

In March, 1892, Prof. Zwissler came to 
America, located at once in Dayton, and en- 
tered upon his career as a tutor in music, which 
has placed him at the head of his profession. 
He has large classes of pupils in all his depart- 
ments of musical study, and is master of the 
male choruses in the Harmonia, Schwaebischer 
Saengerbund and Harugari Liederkranz, all mu- 
sical organizations of Dayton. He is also em- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



873 



ployed every alternate week, as 'cellist in the 
Cincinnati Symphony orchestra. Since coming 
to America, Prof. Zwissler has written several 
high-class scores, including a string quintet 
and a symphony for large orchestras. The 
professor is a member of the Lutheran church 
of Dayton, and is prominent in social circles, 
having won many friends both by his personal 
qualities and by his professional successes. 



f\ EORGE V. ALLEN, manager of the 
■ ^\ Dayton agency of the Indiana Bicycle 
^L^F company, at 12 West Second street, 
is a native son of Dayton, and was 
born on the 20th of August, 1864, the son of 
James J. and Maggie (Knapp) Allen, both of 
whom are living. His lineage is of English 
and Scotch derivation. Mr. Allen was reared 
and educated in Dayton, and at the age of 
about fifteen years, entered the mercantile es- 
tablishment of his father, where he was em- 
ployed as a clerk for three or four years, after 
which he went to Chicago and entered the ex- 
tensive wholesale establishment of Hibbard, 
Spencer, Bartlett & Co., dealers in hardware 
and milling and mining supplies. Here he 
remained for about three years, after which he 
went out as a commercial traveler for the 
house, representing its interests through Mon- 
tana, Washington, Oregon and other sections 
of the northwest. Mr. Allen was thus em- 
ployed for a period of two years, when impaired 
health compelled him to seek other employ- 
ment. He accordingly resigned his position 
and returned to Dayton, where he engaged in 
the bicycle business, to which he has ever 
since devoted his attention and in which he 
has advanced to a prominent position among 
the bicycle agents of the state. 

On the 1st of June, 1894, Mr. Allen was 
united in marriage to Miss Daisy M. Rockey, 
daughter of Henry Rockey, of Dayton. They 



are members of Raper Methodist Episcopal 
church, and their home is located on Reuben 
avenue. 

The Indiana Bicycle company, of Indiana- 
polis, whose wheel, the Waverley, Mr. Allen 
represents, is one of the most extensive con- 
cerns of the sort in America, and its plant is 
one which will bear comparison with any in 
the world in matters of facilities for rapid pro- 
duction, extent of mechanical equipment and 
character of its output. Mr. Allen is one of 
the best known and most popular representa- 
tives of wheeling interests in this section of 
the Buckeye state, and is one of the pioneers 
of the bicycle business in Dayton, having es- 
tablished a local agency for different wheels in 
1888 and ever since devoted his attention to 
this now important line of industry. He is 
personally an enthusiastic wheelman, and this 
is evident in the fact that he has been a rider 
for the past sixteen years. In the year 1894 
Mr. Allen assumed the agency for the Waverley 
wheels in Dayton, and he also attends to the 
management of the company's affairs through- 
out a considerable portion of the state, visiting 
the outside trade during the winter months. 



ORION L. BOUCK, contractor and 
builder, of Dayton, was born July 6 < 
1853, in Greene county, Ohio. His 
parents were James Henry and Sarah 
(Aley) Bouck, the former of whom was a 
native of Maryland, of German descent, was 
a farmer and mill owner, and died in Greene 
county, Ohio, when Orion was but eight years 
of age ; his widow lived to reach the age of 
fifty-nine years, and died in Dayton. Of their 
two children, Orion is the elder ; his brother, 
Charles A., is a prosperous business man and a 
resident of Los Angeles, Cal. 

Orion L. Bouck received his elementary 
education in the country schools of Greene 



874 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



county, came to Dayton when eighteen years 
of age, and served an apprenticeship of three 
years at the carpenter's trade under Abraham 
Cosier; he then worked one year as a journey- 
man in the shops in which he learned his trade, 
also one year as superintendent. Being now 
prepared to engage in business on his own ac- 
count, he formed' a partnership with Jacob 
Perrine, in the contracting and building in- 
dustry. This continued for about three years, 
when, following its dissolution, Mr. Bouck 
alone carried on a similar business until 
1884. He then erected a planing-mill, which 
he operated, in connection with contracting, 
until, in 1894, the O. L. Bouck company was 
incorporated, with a capital stock of $75,000, 
and of this company Mr. Bouck was chosen 
president and manager. In January, 1896, he 
retired from the presidency, but still retains 
an interest as stockholder in the concern. 
In October, 1896, Mr. Bouck withdrew from 
active relations with the Bouck company, 
and entered upon his present extensive busi- 
ness as contractor and builder, operating a 
planing mill in connection therewith, at No. 
107 Commercial street. 

April 19, 1877, Mr. Bouck married Martha 
L. Meyers, a native of Dayton, and the daugh- 
ter of James and Martha Meyers, the former 
of whom is a native of Germany, but came to 
America and located in Dayton in early youth, 
and the latter a native of the Buckeye state. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bouck have two children — Clifford 
R. and Margaret Dale. The son was educated in 
the city schools of Dayton and at Otterbein 
university, and has also been well trained in 
music ; he is an athlete of more than ordinary 
strength and skill, and is now assistant book- 
keeper in his father's office. The daughter is 
a bright little girl of seven years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bouck and their son are 
members of the First United Brethren church, 
in which Mr. Bouck is a teacher in the Sunday- 



school, a class leader and a member of the of- 
ficial board. In politics, Mr. Bouck affiliates 
with the republican party, and is a strong ad- 
vocate of temperance. Fraternally, he is a 
member of Dayton lodge. No. 273, I. O. O. 
F., and formerly held membership in the en- 
campment, but has withdrawn from his con- 
nection with the latter body. 



5>^Y H. BROOKINS, member of the Day- 
■ ton city council from the Fourth ward, 
r and secretary and treasurer of the 
Mathias Planing Mill company, was 
born in Madison township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, October 14, 1858. He is a son of Rich- 
ard R. and Christina (Holsapple) Brookins, 
the former having been born in Maryland 
of Scotch parents, and the latter in Madison 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 

Richard R. Brookins came to Montgomery 
county when a boy, and here grew to manhood. 
He was engaged in the saw-mill and brick man- 
ufacture until his enlistment, in 1861, in com- 
pany I, Ninety-third regiment, Ohio volunteer 
infantry. On the first day's fighting at Chick- 
amauga he was taken prisoner and was incar- 
cerated in Libby prison at Richmond, Va. , 
where he died January 21, 1864. His wife 
survived him until July 21, 1893. There were 
five children born to the parents, three of whom 
are now living: Joseph H., of Anderson, Ind.; 
Martha A., now the wife of A. F. Allaman, of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and our subject. 

N. H. Brookins was reared on a farm in 
Madison township, and was educated in the 
public schools; he also attended the National 
normal college at Lebanon, and while there 
taught school during the winters. At the age 
of nineteen years he began teaching, and con- 
tinued for nine years, in Montgomery county. 
While teaching he learned bookkeeping and 
shorthand at A. D. Wilt's Commercial college, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



875 



and in 1889 took a position with S. N. Brown 
& Co., of Dayton, where he continued until 

1893, when he became interested in the Ma- 
thias Planing Mill company, being made sec- 
retary and treasurer of the company. 

Mr. Brookins was married in 1880 to Clara 
Belle Spitler, of Perry township, Montgomery 
county. To them four children have been 
born, viz: Alpharetta, John C, Walter R. 
and N. Orville. Mr. Brookins was first elect- 
ed to the Dayton city council in the spring of 

1894, for the term of two years. He is a 
member of Hope lodge, No. 277, K. of P., 
and of Oak lodge, I. O. O. F., of New Leb- 
anon, and of Dayton lodge, No. 147, F. & A. 
M. Mr. Brookins is one of Dayton's de- 
servedly successful young business men, and, 
in his service in public office, has become 
known as one of her most useful and reliable 
citizens. He and his family occupy a pleas- 
ant and prominent place in the social life of 
the West Side, which is almost a city by itself 
and whose people are among the most pro- 
gressive and prosperous to be found in Dayton. 



kS^I ENJAMIN F. McCANN, attorney, of 
1^*^ Dayton, was born near Zanesville, 
J^J Muskingum county, Ohio, January 
22, 1 861, and is a son of Thomas A. 
and Jane (McKee) McCann. The mother was 
born near Cadiz, in Harrison county, and the 
father in Muskingum. Both parents are now 
deceased. Their grandparents came from the 
old country. 

Benjamin F. McCann was admitted to the 
bar of Ohio in June, 1890, and then went to 
Europe, remaining until the following October, 
when he returned and began practice. He 
was appointed police prosecutor of Dayton in 
1892 and re-appointed in 1895, the term of 
the office being three years. Mr. McCann is 
one of the best known of the younger members 



of the Dayton bar and enjoys not only a high 
professional standing, but a position of strength 
and influence in the general community. His 
discharge of the duties of his office has been 
marked by fidelity and efficiency, and his se- 
lection by the board of police directors for a 
second term met with public approbation. 



ax 



ILLIAM L. DARROW (deceased), 
who resided in Dayton, Ohio, for 
more than fifty years, was born in 
Portage county, Ohio, October 15, 
1 8 16. He was a son of James and Betsey 
(Pease) Darrow, both natives of western New 
York. They were the parents of four children, 
one of whom is still living, viz: Harriet, widow 
of Jonas Butterfield of Cincinnati. James 
Darrow and his wife were members of the 
Baptist church. W. L. Darrow's mother died 
when he was fourteen years old, his father 
living for many years in Warren county, where 
he died June 11, 1875, at the age of eighty- 
six. He was a soldier in the war of 18 12, 
and a farmer by occupation. The Darrow 
family is of Scottish origin, and the earliest 
ancestor in this country settled in New Lon- 
don, Conn., in 1696; thence the family moved 
to western New York, where most of the de- 
scendants now reside, and where they hold an 
annual reunion. 

William L. Darrow was reared in Warren 
county, Ohio, until he was sixteen years of age, 
as a farmer's boy, and then began the serious 
work of life for himself. He started a tan- 
nery on Jefferson street, Dayton, Ohio, and 
continued this for some years, also operating 
another tannery in Marion. On account of 
scarcity of bark in this region he removed his 
tannery to Vanceburg, Ky., where his brother, 
James, managed the business for him. While 
the business was being conducted in Kentucky, 
William L. Darrow continued to reside in Day- 



876 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ton, where for forty-five years he also had a 
leather store. His death occurred in this city, 
February i, 1891. 

William L. Darrow was married to Miss 
Permilla John, daughter of John and Virginia 
(McFarland) John. To this marriage there 
were born six children, as follows: James 
Madison; Harriet A. E., who died while at- 
tending high school in Dayton; Millie, wife of 
John R. More, formerly of St. Louis, but for 
the past ten years of Dayton; Lucretia, who 
died in infancy, William J., who died March, 
1877. The wife of William J. Darrow, who 
still survives him, resides in Springfield, Ohio, 
and has one child, Millie, wife of Harry H. 
Sellers, of Springfield, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
Sellers have two children, Darrow and Joseph. 
The youngest child of William L. Darrow, 
Harmon P. Darrow, died in 1884, leaving one 
son, Willie H. Darrow, of Dayton, Ohio, now 
the only living descendant of W. L. Darrow, 
who bears the name. 

Mrs. Permilla Darrow died in 1867. Her 
father, John John, was a son of Thomas John, 
who was a native of Wales, and who came to 
America in 1750, settling first on Welch Run, 
in Chester county, Pa. Thomas, Jr., the 
youngest son, married Elizabeth Pierpont, of 
Pennsylvania, and lived near Morgantown, 
now in Berks county, Pa., and there they 
reared their family of ten children. They re- 
moved to Ohio in 1797, purchased a section of 
land in Greene county, from the government, 
at $2 per acre, later located six miles east of 
Dayton, and lived there until their death, Mr. 
John dying in 1S01. At his death the prop- 
erty was divided among his ten children, John 
John remaining on the part that fell to him 
until his death. John John served in the war 
of 1812, having enlisted at Dayton; the gun 
he carried is still preserved. There is still 
living on his farm his daughter, Rebecca 
John, a maiden lady, eighty-eight years of age, 



the only one of the family remaining in this 
part of the country. 

William L. Darrow was married to his 
second wife, Miss Sarah R. Stewart, January 
20, 1870. She was a daughter of Alexander 
and Rebecca (Clark) Stewart, the former of 
whom was a native of South Carolina, and the 
latter of English and Scotch descent. The 
name Stewart was originally spelled Stuart. 
Mr. and Mrs. Darrow were members of the 
First Baptist church, and she is still a mem- 
ber. She resides at his late residence, No. 
390 West First street. Her grandmother 
Clark came to Ohio in 1805, when her mother 
was a young woman. Her grandfather Stuart, 
or Stewart, also came to this state about the 
same time, both families settling in Warren 
county, where her father died. Mrs. Darrow's 
mother, who was a widow for a number of 
years, died in Dayton, Ohio, when ninety-six 
years and six months old. 

Mr. Darrow was unusually modest and re- 
tiring; but, notwithstanding this, he had a 
large acquaintance and was well and widely 
known as one of the most substantial and in- 
fluential men in Dayton. He was very suc- 
cessful in business, and his death was deeply 
mourned by a large circle of friends aside from 
the members of his family. 

Maj. John R. More, who married Miss Mil- 
lie Darrow, was formerly a wholesale grocer 
of St. Louis. When Mr. Darrow's last son 
died, Mr. and Mrs. More removed to Dayton. 
Mr. More then became associated with Mr. 
Darrow in business, and so continued until the 
latter died, Mr. More becoming his successor 
in the leather business. Mr. and Mrs. More 
live on the old home place occupied by Mr. 
Darrow, at No. 400 First street. They have 
two children, Mildred and Richard. Mildred 
is now the wife of Harvey Conover, and has 
one child, a daughter, named Dorothy. 

Mr. Darrow's son, James Madison, was a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



877 



soldier in the late Civil war, and after serving 
a few months died from the effects of a severe 
cold contracted while in the line of his duty. 
He was a member of the Dayton zouaves, and 
served under Col. King. The mother of Mr. 
Darrow, Betsey Pease, was a daughter of Capt. 
Abner Pease, of the northern part of Ohio. 
He married Abigail Blackman, daughter of 
Maj. Blackman, a soldier of the Revolutionary 
war. Thus it will be seen that the family of 
Mr. Darrow, in all its relations and connec- 
tions, was full of patriotism, and that it repre- 
sented the noble stock of the pioneer, now 
seldom found, except in the western states, 
but to whom the state of Ohio owes so much 
of her present development and prominence 
in the affairs of the nation and in the eyes 
of the world. 



WOHN WESLEY MUNDORFF, super- 
■ intendent of the Foglesong Horse Col- 
m 1 lar Machinery company, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
November 2, 1847, and is a son of Adam and 
Mary (Young) Mundorff, both also natives of 
the Keystone state. Adam and Mary Mun- 
dorff are the parents of two children, Eliza, 
wife of D. H. Hensley, and John Wesley. 

Adam Mundorff was a carpenter by trade, 
was a Baptist in religion, and died in Lancas- 
ter county, Pa., in 1850, aged thirty-two years. 
His wife, who is a member of the Baptist 
church, still survives. William Mundorff, the 
paternal grandfather of John Wesley Mundorff, 
was also a native of Pennsylvania, a teacher 
by profession, teaching school twenty-eight 
winters in succession, and served in the Mex- 
ican war. He and his wife reared a family of 
eleven sons and three daughters, and he died 
at the age of sixty-two years. The maternal 
grandfather was also a native of Pennsylvania, 
but little is now remembered of him. 



The mother of John Wesley Mundorff, 
after the death of her husband, married, for 
her second husband, William Hamil. To this 
marriage there was born one child, William, 
who is at the present time superintendent of 
the gas company at Hamilton, Ohio. Mr. 
Hamil died in 1890, and Mrs. Hamil, his 
widow, now sixty-nine years of age, resides at 
Hamilton, Ohio. 

John Wesley Mundorff spent his youth 
chiefly in Cumberland county, Pa., receiving 
there a good common-school education. At 
the age of sixteen he began learning the trade 
of machinist at Hamilton, Ohio, remaining at 
that place until 1866, when he came to Day- 
ton, Ohio. For five or six years previous to 
his present employment he was foreman of the 
Davis Screw company, and for the past eight 
years he has filled his present position, that of 
superintendent of the Foglesong Horse Collar 
Machinery company. During the thirty years 
of his residence in Dayton he has earned the 
reputation of being a careful and competent 
man and has discharged every duty with 
credit to himself and to the satisfaction of 
his employers. 

December 24, 1861, Mr. Mundorff was 
married to Mary Jane Marts, daughter of Solo- 
mon and Elizabeth (St. Clair) Marts. To this 
marriage there have been born three children, 
as follows: Elmer A., Earle Augustus, and 
Flora. Elmer A. was killed in 1892 by the 
White Line street railway cars, when he was 
nineteen years of age. The other children 
are living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Mundorff 
are excellent citizens and are members of the 
Hartford street United Brethren church, as 
also are the children. Mr. Mundorff is stew- 
ard and treasurer of his church. 

He is a member of the Knights of Pythias 
fraternity, of the Odd Fellows and of the 
American Mechanics. Politically, he has al- 
ways been a republican. His residence is at 



878 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



No. 25 Portland avenue, where he lives sur- 
rounded by many sincere friends who appre- 
ciate the value of Mr. Mundorff as a citizen, 
and of his family as members of the church 
and of general society. 



eLIHU THOMPSON, member of the 
Dayton bar and president of the city 
board of police commissioners, was 
born about ten miles north of Dayton, 
in Randolph township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, October 13, 1837. He is a son of James 
F. and Mary Ann (Riley) Thompson, both of 
whom were natives of Pennsylvania and were 
brought to Montgomery county by their par- 
ents about 1820. James F. Thompson was a 
son of Aaron Thompson, of Allegheny county, 
Pa., and Mary Ann Riley was a daughter of 
Isaac Riley, who died in Bedford county, Pa., 
his widow afterward removing to Montgomery 
county, this state. 

James F. Thompson was by occupation a 
farmer, and was a very prominent and useful 
citizen. For about fifteen years he served as 
constable for Randolph township, and was 
justice of the peace for six years in Jackson 
township. He was twice land appraiser and 
once a member of the Ohio legislature, all of 
which indicates the respect in which he was 
held by his fellow -citizens, and the confidence 
they placed in him. His death occurred De- 
cember 10, 1890, when he was nearly eighty 
years of age. His wife died in 1887, aged 
seventy-four years. 

Elihu Thompson was reared on the farm 
until he was eighteen years of age, his early 
education having been secured in the country 
schools. Afterward he attended the National 
normal school at Lebanon, Warren county, 
Ohio, and when nineteen years of age began 
teaching school, following this profession for 
eight years, and attending school during his va- 



cation. While teaching and attending school, 
having provided himself with law books, he 
fitted himself largely by private study for the 
legal profession, entering the law college at 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he was graduated May 
26, 1862. 

On August 4, 1862, he enlisted at Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, in company E, Ninety-third regi- 
ment Ohio volunteer infantry, and was cap- 
tured at Lexington, Ky. , when the Union 
forces were defeated by Gen. Kirby Smith, Mr. 
Thompson being at the time an inmate of the 
hospital. After being held a captive for about 
a week he was paroled, but was held within 
the rebel lines for ten days longer. At length 
he made his way out of their lines, being at 
the time near Patriot, Switzerland county, Ind. , 
whence he made his way to Columbus, Ohio, 
reporting at Camp Chase, and was honorably 
discharged on account of physical disability, 
October 29, 1862. On December 9, 1863, he 
was commissioned by Gov. Tod as adjutant of 
the Second regiment of Ohio militia, with the 
rank of first lieutenant, and that position he 
held as long as the organization was maintained. 

Soon after graduating from the Cleveland 
Law school Mr. Thompson was admitted to 
the bar, and, after returning from the war, 
opened an office, March 10, 1864, for the 
practice of his profession at Dayton, and has 
practiced continuously since that time. He 
was in partnership for five years with W. H. 
Belville, for three years with James P. Whit- 
more, and for about one year with James A. 
Mumma, and since the dissolution of the last 
partnership he has been practicing alone. 

In politics, Mr. Thompson is a democrat, 
and as such was elected, in 1869, prosecuting 
attorney for Montgomery county, and was re- 
elected in 1 87 1, thus holding the office for 
four years. He has twice been a member 
of the board of education of the city, is 
now a member of the city board of police 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



885 



compelled him to relinquish all active pursuits. 
He came to Dayton from Maryland in 1806, 
located southeast of the place, and lived there 
until April, 1825. He lived in Dayton until 
he was over eighty-nine years of age, his wife 
having died in 1864, in her seventy-first year. 
She was one of the good, motherly pioneer 
women of the early day, and was a member of 
the Methodist church. 

The paternal grandfather, John Ensey, was 
born in Maryland, reared a large family of 
children, and died in Ohio, near Beavertown. 
The maternal grandfather was Samuel Thomp- 
son. He was a native of Pennsylvania, moved 
to Cincinnati and there married Mrs. Cather- 
ine- Van Cleaf, widow of Capt. Van Cleaf, 
who was killed by the Indians. In 1796 he and 
his wife came up the Miami river and settled 
in Dayton. Afterward he was drowned in Mad 
river, just above its mouth, and his wife sur- 
vived him until 1837. when she died. 

Dennis Ensey grew to manhood in Dayton, 
and, with the exception of three years, has 
lived there all his life. He was educated in 
the public schools of that city, and there 
learned the bricklayer's trade, which he fol- 
lowed for some years, after which he engaged 
in contracting. He was one of the contractors 
for the erection of the first of the asylum 
buildings, and beside this he built many of 
the substantial structures of Dayton.. 

On April 10, 1845, ne married Miss Mar- 
garet Wilson, daughter of James and Jane 
(Shirley) Wilson. To this marriage there 
were born four children, as follows : Lila G. , 
Orvis B., Charles W. and Jennie S. Lila G. 
married Thomas De Armon, and has three 
children, viz: Margaret, Helen and Robert. 
Orvis B.and Charles W. are also married, and 
Jennie S. is single, and is living at home. 

Mr. Ensey formerly was a very active 
Mason, but of late years, on account of failing 
eyesight, has been compelled to forego attend- 



ance on the meetings. His present home was 
erected in 1852, a handsome brick residence at 
No. 35 South Tecumseh street, where he and 
his wife have lived since June, 1855. Mrs. 
Ensey is a member of the Third, formerly the 
Park, Presbyterian church, and is a most excel- 
lent woman, wife and mother. Mr. Ensey 
can remember when most of the present site 
of the city of Dayton was covered with timber, 
and he has seen it grow up from the condition 
of a wilderness to that of a large and prosper- 
ous manufacturing city. His great age and his 
remarkable physical strength, together with 
his knowledge of the history of the country, 
tend to render him an object of great interest 
to all citizens, young and old, and all manifest 
toward him that tender regard and friendship 
to which his character and useful career so 
clearly entitle him. 



s 



AMUEL W. HOOVER was born 
April 16, 1837, near Liberty, west 
of Dayton, Ohio, and thirty years of 
his life were spent in that vicinity as 
a farmer. 

January 26, 1857, he was married to Cath- 
arine Basore. To them were born three sons 
— Anthony Webster, Oliver Perry, and Will- 
iam I. T. Anthony died in infancy; the other 
two and the mother survive, and the latter oc- 
cupies the family residence on the West Side, 
Dayton. 

In 1 87 1 Mr. Hoover entered into part- 
nership with J. W. Gaines in the nursery 
business, at Kinsey, Ohio, the two previous 
years having been spent in the employ of Kin- 
sey & Gaines. Ten years later they were able 
to purchase the present fine site on the West 
Side, known as Star Point. To this place the 
plant was moved in August, 1879. The firm 
was incorporated into the Hoover & Gaines 
company in January, 1882, and of this com- 



886 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



pany Mr. Hoover remained the president until 
his death. He was president, also, of the 
Mathias Planing Mill company. This change 
marked the end of his active business life. He 
had entered the ministry of the Brethren 
church in August, 1882, and this was the be- 
ginning of the third period of his life — first a 
farmer, then a business man, and last a minis- 
ter of the gospel. Although now well ad- 
vanced in years, he took into the pulpit the en- 
ergy of youth, and an indomitable spirit. 
His voice gave no uncertain sound, "growth," 
"progress," "development" — these were the 
key-words of his sermons. He saw clearly the 
needs of his church in missionary and educa- 
tional lines. He embraced these causes whole- 
heartedly and set to work to create sentiment 
in favor of advancement. His active ministry 
was spent as pastor of the West Dayton 
Brethren church. The pastoral duties re- 
quired much time, but he gave all absolutely 
without compensation, and contributed regu- 
larly to the church needs beside. In the 
church council he was prompt and fearless in 
asserting the right of individual opinion. He 
made no boast of his independence, yet in the 
highest sense was independent. If for the 
time he submitted to the judgment of others, 
in spirit he never yielded the cause he sought 
to advance. Whatever were the reforms he 
advocated, whatever were his failures in judg- 
ment or expedients, never can it be said that 
he contended for anything unworthy. 

He was chief in organizing the Brethren's 
book and tract work. The general confer- 
ence located it at Dayton, Ohio, but without 
any means to begin the work. A few solicit- 
ors were appointed to secure contributions in 
the churches of the brotherhood, some of 
whom refused to act at all, others did but lit- 
tle, while the majority cried failure, but he se- 
cured a sufficient sum from friends outside the 
fraternity to print a few tracts; and in five 



years the endowment fund reached over $50,- 
000. He was president of the institution until 
its consolidation with the general mission 
board in 1894, whereupon he became a mem- 
ber of its executive committee and subse- 
quently the board placed him in charge of the 
mission's large orange farm in California. He 
served one year also as president of the Nur- 
seryman's Protective association. One of the 
fundamental principles of faith of his brother- 
hood, is, that the members do not use the civil 
laws against each other. Their differenced are 
adjusted among themselves on the basis of 
Matthew, xviii, or by arbitration, and many 
were the times that he was called to adjust 
some unpleasant case in family or church, and 
rarely did he fail to reach an amicable settle- 
ment. The day previous to his death was 
spent in thankless work of this kind. The 
case was aggravated, but he returned home 
that evening with a happy heart because he 
had brought peace to an unhappy family. 
His strength was almost exhausted, yet in this 
condition he dared to prepare for the morrow's 
services, which proved to be too much for his 
mortal powers. 

Rising from poverty to wealth did not close 
his heart to the needs of the unfortunate. He 
gave liberally and no one was ever turned from 
his door hungry. He gave a handsome en- 
dowment to the missionary interests of the 
church, and aided five colleges in all. He had 
the ability to make money, and no doubt would 
have become wealthy, if he had not left busi- 
ness for the church's work. 

He had a large circle of friends, who will 
remember him for his genial social qualities. 
Children were his fast friends, in whom he took 
great delight. With all his social qualities he 
was not a home man in the full sense of the 
word, but withal took a pardonable pride in 
his family. His active life either took him 
from home, or he spent it in reading, study or 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



ss7 



attention to other duties. If for these reasons 
his home life was imperfect, yet his best influ- 
ences were not lost in his children — both 
sought eagerly a college education, which he 
gave them, and both entered the ministry of 
his church. When he saw clearly a principle 
involved, he contended firmly for it and the 
triumph of the cause was a vindication of his 
purposes. It was his delight to preach, and 
he sought the opportunity, though he well 
knew that he was no sermonizer. Most men 
would have considered that old age had set in 
when he entered the ministry, but he- entered 
upon that sacred calling with the vigor of 
youth. What he lacked in manner he gained 
in practicability, for if he was not earnest and 
practical he was nothing. He had no teach- 
ers, he imitated none, his methods were his 
own. During the earlier years of his ministry 
he conducted revivals during the winter season, 
and met with -fair success. No preacher is 
equally strong in all lines, so he gave up re- 
vival work, after becoming a member of the 
general missionary board, finding that work 
more suited to him. 

The one word which expresses best the 
sum of his characteristics, is action. He did 
nothing slowly, .and knew not how to conserve 
his powers. He would press on to the point 
of exhaustion if he saw that anything depended 
upon him. He was always a prominent figure 
on the street, because of his quick step. His 
outward activity was the reflex of a life within. 
He lived and worked faster than most men, 
and thus reached his end before the allotted 
length of life. He was not great as men look 
upon greatness, but he filled an important po- 
sition, and was a leader among his people. 

He was not overtaken by old age or in- 
firmity. He was not ripe for the grave. He 
was pressing on with indomitable will into 
larger usefulness. He had often expressed a 
desire to die in active work, but never did he 



suppose that his would be a tragic end — not 
to say sacred, for God had erected a pulpit for 
his death-bed. On that last Sunday, March 
10, 1 89 5, he preached with unusual energy in 
the morning. The afternoon was spent in 
study for the evening service, upon which he 
entered somewhat weary, but with the energy 
and will that were so characteristic of him. 
His text was, ' ' Whatsoever a man soweth 
that shall he reap." As he was nearing the 
end his words became prophetic, "One by 
one we are passing over, " and in an instant 
his great soul stepped into the eternal world. 
Two weeks later, after the return of his 
eldest son from the university at Leipzig, Ger- 
many, his body was laid away in the family 
burying-ground. 

Jacob Hoover, born in 181 3, died in 1895, 
the father of S. W. Hoover, was a pioneer in 
Montgomery county. He came from Morri- 
son's Grove, Pa., in 1821, and settled west of 
Dayton. His first wife died thirty-two years 
ago. The last few years of his life were spent 
with his daughter, Mrs. S. Bock, of the West 
Side. He died October 22, 1895. Mrs. Cath- 
erine Hoover, wife of S. W. Hoover, was 
born May 31, 1S41. She occupies the home 
residence on the West Side. 

Oliver Perry Hoover, to whom the pub- 
lishers are indebted for this memoir, born 
March 31, 1864, was the second son of S. W. 
and Catherine Hoover. He married Ida Alice 
Klepinger March 3, 1886; entered the ministry 
of the Brethren's church July 31, 1890, grad- 
uated at DePauw university, Greencastle, Ind., 
in June, 1894, and later studied in the uni- 
versity of Leipzig, Germany. He is now a 
teacher and pastor of West Dayton Breth- 
ren's church. His residence is on North West- 
ern avenue. 

William I. T. Hoover, born March 8, 1869, 
was the third son of S. W. and Catherine 
Hoover; he married Carrie May Yundt, June 



888 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1 6, 1892; entered the ministry of the Breth- 
ren's church April 30, 1892; graduated in June, 
1894, at DePauw university, and is a teacher 
and preacher. His residence is on North 
Western avenue. 




HOMAS J. FARRELL, superintend- 
ent of police of Dayton, Ohio, whose 
efficient discharge of the duties of his 
office has done much to advance the 
police department of this city to a leading po- 
sition in the state of Ohio and in the country, 
has had a life long experience in his profession. 
He first became identified with police work 
some twenty years ago, when he entered the 
service of his uncle, Capt. M. J. Farrell, of 
New Orleans, the founder of the Farrell 
Detective agency. He remained with the 
Farrell agency until the death of his uncle in 
1883, when he joined the Pinkerton service of 
Chicago, and at once sprang into prominence 
in the north by his success in various cases. 
In 1888 he made a wide reputation by his suc- 
cessful work in the famous tally-sheet forgery 
case, at Columbus, Ohio, in which a number 
of politicians of that city were arrested and 
indicted for participation in the crime, which 
aimed at the overthrow of the Hon. John Sher- 
man, then United States senator from Ohio. 
It was hoped to prevent the election of Mr. 
Sherman to the United States senate, by 
forging the tally sheet and thus seating enough 
members in the legislature to render it numer- 
ically democratic. 

Mr. Farrell has been identified with some 
of the most important cases with which the 
Pinkerton agency has had to deal, and his 
work in this respect is reported as being of the 
highest character. He has been detailed very 
often upon train robberies in the southern 
states, and also upon difficult cases in the 
mining regions of Colorado and Montana. 



Mr. Farrell was appointed to the position 
of superintendent of the police department of 
Dayton, May 3, 1892, while he was yet in the 
employ of the Pinkerton agency, and while 
engaged elsewhere throughout the country, an 
honor seldom conferred upon an officer outside 
of the city in which he may live. He is forty 
years of age, having been born in the province 
of Leinster, Ireland, and came to the United 
States at the early age of ten years. He set- 
tled with his people in New Orleans, where 
he entered school and was educated at Saint 
Vincent's academy, which is located at Jeffer- 
son City, La., and afterward, as indicated 
above, he entered the employ of his uncle, 
Capt. M. J. Farrell, of New Orleans. 

The career of Mr. Farrell is illustrative of 
the fact that energy and an eye single to the 
purpose in hand, must necessarily lead to suc- 
cess and recognition. 



>-j*OHN O'CONNOR, one of the well- 
J known citizens of Dayton, and for the 
ft 1 past ten years superintendent of re- 
pairs of the middle division of the 
Miami & Erie canal, was born in county Lim- 
erick, Ireland, on January 11,. 1836. He was 
reared at Abbeyfeale, and was educated in the 
parochial schools. In 1851, when the famine 
came on in Ireland, the family were evicted 
from their leased lands, and removed to Eng- 
land. Our subject worked on a farm in Eng- 
land until 1854, when he joined the English 
navy at Chatham. The same year he went 
with Admiral Napier's fleet to the Baltic sea, 
and was with the naval brigade that attacked 
Bomasund, in July. His ship returned to Eng- 
land in November, and he was transferred to 
the Hannibal, commanded by Capt. Dalrymple, 
which dropped anchor, in the following De- 
cember, in front of Sebastopol. He remained 
with the Black sea squadron, his vessel taking 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



891 



part in the engagement with the allied fleet in 
the sea of Azov. He was at Constantinople, 
Smyrna, and the Ionian islands, returning to 
England in the winter of 1856. 

Mr. O'Connor has two medals and the Se- 
bastopol clasp from the British government for 
services in the Crimean war, and a medal from 
the Turkish government. 

Mr. O'Connor was married in England in 
1 86 1 , and in 1 862 came to America and located 
first at Lima, Ohio, where he was in the em- 
ploy of the railroads. In 1866 he went to Can- 
ada as first lieutenant in Capt. Lawlor's com- 
pany, but returned ten days later, the invasion 
having come to an end. He came to Dayton in 
1869, and secured the contract for building the 
Big Four railroad between Miamisburg and 
Carrollton. He subsequently had a similar 
contract on the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chi- 
cago and Lake Erie & Western roads. In 1 886 
he was appointed to his present position. 

Mr. O'Connor was president of division 
No. 1, Ancient Order of Hibernians, for the 
first three years after that order was organized, 
and is still a member. He is also a member 
of the Emmet club, and a member of the Sa- 
cred Heart Catholic church. Mr. O'Connor 
was married, as stated, in England, June 29, 
1861, to Miss Catherine Brennan, who was a 
native of Athlone, Ireland. To them ten chil- 
dren have been born. 



>j , OHN HENRY PRINZ, the well-known 
A contractor and builder, of 142 East 
(• / Jones street, Dayton, Ohio, is a Hes- 
sian by nativity, and was born Novem- 
ber 2, 1838. His parents were John and Marie 
( Gungles ) Prinz. The father, in (lis early 
manhood, was also a mechanic, but in later 
years became a farmer, and was engaged in 

that calling until his death, which occurred in 
35 



Germany some little time after the arrival of 
his son, John Henry, in America ; the mother 
had died prior to the departure of the- son for 
this country. Of their three living children 
the history of John Henry is given in this 
memoir ; George, a carpenter, resides in Day- 
ton, and Adam is a cabinetmaker, living in 
California. 

John H. Prinz received his elementary edu- 
cation in the excellent public schools of his 
native land, and on coming to the United 
States, in 1854, at once settled in Dayton, 
where he learned both the cabinetmaker's and 
carpenter's trades.' For a number of years he 
worked as a journeyman, at either or both of 
these, and finally drifted into the contracting 
business, which, for the past twenty-three 
years, he has followed with unvarying success, 
erecting some of the finest edifices in the Gem 
City. Commencing without a dollar, save that 
earned by his own labor, he now owns four 
fine residences in Dayton. 

In 1863 Mr. Prinz married Miss Minnie 
Degenhardt, who was born in Germany, but 
was a child when brought to America by her 
parents, who settled in Dayton and here passed 
the remainder of their days. To the marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Prinz have been born nine 
children, viz : George B., an architect, living 
in Omaha, Neb., and a widower; Louis, a 
carpenter, working with his father ; Charles, a 
wood carver, working for the Rouzer Manu- 
facturing company, of Dayton ; Harry, a jew- 
eler, of New Castle, Pa. ; Conrad, a machinist 
in Dayton ; Arthur, at school ; Annie, wife of 
John Wahn, of Cincinnati ; Caroline, married 
to Mr. Schubert, a cabinetmaker, and living 
in Dayton, and Lizzie, who is stili under the 
parental roof. The Prinz family attend wor- 
ship at Saint John's German Lutheran church, 
connected with which is a benefit order, known 
as the Saint John's Men's association, of which 
Mr. Prinz is a member. He is also an Odd 



892 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Fellow, and a member of the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen, and politically has always 
been a democrat. 



Wl 



ILLIAM L. BATES, one of the well- 
known citizens of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 
1844, and is a son of Richard and 
Nancy (Trotter) Bates. Richard Bates was 
a native of Lincolnshire, England. He was 
one of the old time merchants of Cincinnati, 
having been the proprietor of the first whole- 
sale grocery house on Walnut street, in that 
city. His death occurred in Clifton, a suburb 
of Cincinnati, in 1855. Nancy Trotter was a 
native of Steubenville, Ohio. In 1S58 she, 
with her family, removed to Dayton, her 
eldest daughter having previously married 
John H. Winters, the prominent citizen and 
banker of this city. Mrs. Bates's death oc- 
curred in Dayton in 1870. She was a woman 
of unusual attainments, and charity and be- 
nevolence were among her strong characteris- 
tics. She was the founder of the first orphans' 
asylum in Dayton, and she and Mrs. Parrott, 
mother of Col. E. A. Parrott, raised the money 
by subscription to purchase the land (the pres- 
ent site of the Deaconess hospital) upon which 
the orphans' asylum was situated. The num- 
ber of inmates became so large that Mrs. Bates 
was instrumental in having a bill passed by the 
Ohio legislature establishing a county orphan 
asylum, and the original asylum was removed 
to the West Side and made a county institu- 
tion. The widows' home was subsequently 
established upon the site of the orphans' asy- 
lum, and of that institution Mrs. Bates became 
first president, and so continued until her 
death, being succeeded in the presidency by 
her daughter, Mrs. Winters. In 1868 the in- 
creasing number of inmates of the widows' 
home necessitated the establishment of a new 



and more commodious home, and following its 
removal to another location the present Dea- 
coness hospital was erected on the site of the 
first orphans' asylum. 

Three sons and two daughters were born 
to Richard Bates and wife, as follows: Rich- 
ard J., Adolphus S., William L., Susan and 
Ella. The eldest daughter married John H. 
Winters, and the youngest married Charles T. 
Huffman. All of the children reside in Day- 
ton except Adolphus, who is a resident of Saint 
Paul, Minn. 

W. L. Bates was educated in the public 
schools of Cincinnati and Dayton. At the end of 
his third year in the high school, in 1 862, he en- 
tered the army. After the war he returned to 
Dayton and became interested in the grocery 
business, and has ever since been associated 
with that industry. He engaged in the broker- 
age business in 1877. Mr. Bates was made a 
master Mason in Mystic lodge, in 1871. He 
was made a Knight Templar of Reed corn- 
mandery in 1874, and received the Scottish- 
rite thirty-second degree in 1881. He served 
as commander of Reed commandery in 1885, 
and as captain-general of Reed commandery 
for eleven years. He was elected presiding 
officer of Dayton chapter of Rose Croix, Scot- 
tish rite, in 1891, and served as such until 
1894. He was elected grand warden of the 
grand commandery of Ohio in 1893, and has 
been promoted each year since and is now 
grand junior warden. He is a member of Old 
Guard post, G. A. R. Mr. Bates was married 
in October, 1868, to Belle, daughter of the 
Hon. Warren P. Noble, of Tiffin, Ohio. 



>-j*ESSE BOOHER.— This venerable na- 

m tive-born citizen of Dayton first saw the 

A 1 light in the embryo days of what is now 

a great center of trade and population. 

His father, Samuel Booher, settled in Dayton 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



893 



in 1806, was a wagonmaker by trade, and 
died in 1857 at the age of seventy-five. He 
married Miss Susan Lehman, who was the first 
person baptized into a church in this city, and 
was connected with the Christian church the 
remainder of her life. She became the mother 
of thirteen children and died at the age of 
eighty-four years. Of her large family four are 
still living. Gideon is a farmer in Kansas; 
Mrs. Catherine Ware, the widow of Thomas 
Ware, has her home in this city; Mrs. Susan 
Beachler has her residence in Salem, in this 
county; and the fourth is the subject of this 
biography. Jesse Booher's birth occurred 
February 15, 1821, in a frame structure which 
stood on East Second street, next east of the 
present Windsor hotel, and which was later 
known as the Schieble house. Being only a 
quarter of a century behind the birth of the 
city, he has had the privilege of watching its 
growth from an insignificant village of less than 
a thousand people to its present proud place 
as the fifth city in the state of Ohio. 

Mr. Booher is a man of clear mind and ob- 
serving eye, and there is no one better in- 
formed upon Dayton affairs. He enjoys the 
distinction of being the oldest living male born 
within the boundaries of the city. It is cur- 
rently believed and reported by the younger 
residents of the city, those who get their infor- 
mation from tradition, that the old Newcom 
tavern was the first house erected upon the 
present site of Dayton. This, Mr. Booher 
says; is not true. He states from positive 
knowledge that the first house erected here 
was brought on a raft by a Marylander named 
Watson, and was located on the east part of 
the ground now occupied by the Steele high 
school. 

Mr. Booher has been a carpenter and mas- 
ter mechanic all his days, occupying the same 
shop on Booher alley for half a century. For 
the centennial celebration of April, 1896, he 



constructed, out of timber taken from the huge 
logs of the Newcom tavern, a miniature cabin 
which remains an heirloom in the hands of 
John Cotterill, the owner of the old tavern at 
the time of its removal to Van Cleve park. 

Mr. Booher, when a mere boy, had the 
opportunity of seeing a steamboat, then a new 
invention, and an object of curious interest to 
a person of his inventive genius. He was 
given a lithograph of the boat; and from this, 
after a year's toil, he succeeded in producing 
a model. This he named Lucretia, No. 2, 
the original having been Lucretia, No. 1. 
This model frequently changed hands, and is 
now preserved in the Dayton Library & 
Museum building in Cooper park. 

The Booher family was a sturdy one, inured 
to toil, and generally of long life. The ma- 
ternal grandmother of Jesse Booher attained 
the remarkable age of 100 years, lacking only- 
two weeks. Our subject is a man of fine 
physique, though not above the medium 
height. He is the embodiment of bodily health 
and endurance. Though past seventy-five 
years of age, he still takes delight in skating, 
in which art he has been the envy of the boys 
of three generations. 

During the dark days of the Rebellion, he 
was among the first to enter the three months' 
service. He enlisted under the president's 
first call for volunteers in company A, Eleventh 
Ohio volunteer infantry, serving four and a 
half months. He offered himself for enroll- 
ment in the three years' service, but was re- 
jected on account of a crippled hand. Mr. 
Booher was married in this city, April 26, 
1 841, to Miss Cynthia Ann Reynolds, a native 
of Philadelphia, born in 1822. To this union 
there have come seven children, four of whom 
are still living, viz: Lucretia Creamer, the 
wife of a conductor in Indiana; Belle, now 
Mrs. Gager of New York city; Emma Rule, 
living in Portland, Ore., and William Orvis, 



894 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



who is connected with a circus. Mrs. Booher, 
who is still living, is in feeble health, largely 
as the result of a fall. 

Mr. Booher is a member of Old Guard 
post, G. A. R. Politically he is a republican, 
served for twenty-eight years as city sealer of 
weights and measures, and has held other 
official positions. 

In 1852 he made the journey to California 
via Cape Horn. On the way out he visited 
the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Valparaiso. 
He returned to Dayton in 1854, and engaged 
in pine coopering, which he followed very ex- 
tensively for several years, employing as many 
as forty men at times; but he could not make 
head against labor-saving machinery, and after 
a time retired from the business. He prepared 
a model for a steam fire engine as early as 
1849, thus being among the first to discover 
a practical way of fighting fire. This model 
was destroyed in a fire in Cincinnati, and the 
idea was never patented by him. 



@EORGE W. HOUR.— The ancestors 
of George W. Houk came from Hol- 
land to Cumberland county, Pa., 
where his grandfather and father were 
born. The former was a man of large prop- 
erty for that day, owning five or six adjoining 
farms, skirting the Alleghany mountains upon 
the east, and also opened iron mines and built 
a forge at a cost of $60,000. His wife, Salome 
Line, was of French ancestry. They had a 
large family. Adam, the third son, married 
Katherine Rnisely, a beautiful girl, educated 
at York, the nearest city to the Cumberland 
county farms, affording the best educational 
advantages at that time. They had four chil- 
dren, Mary, Adam, David and George. Dis- 
satisfied with financial and educational pros- 
pects, and averse to rearing his children to horse 
and hound — the rude though manly sports of 



the mountains — deer hunting being the favorite 
past- time, Adam Houk and his wife started 
on horseback for the Ohio valley. Graceful and 
fearless in the saddle, the mother carried George 
before her, the other children, with the house- 
hold wares, following in the wagon. After 
several weeks of varied experiences through 
fields and forests, over mountains and rivers, 
they crossed Mad river, near Dayton, upon 
George's second birthday, September 25, 1827, 
wintering at Knisely's Mills and coming into 
Dayton the following spring. 

George began his studies in the public 
schools, but attributed his love for study and 
intellectual pursuits to the admirable training 
of E. E. Barney, who had the rare faculty of 
imparting an ardent desire for learning. He 
inculcated the principle, that as the Creator 
and His creature are infinite, the text books 
of school days were but to initiate gleams of 
thought in each branch, which were to be fol- 
lowed up by life-long progress — to continue 
through the great forever — for only eternity 
could suffice to follow in this infinite pathway 
of Life, Truth and Love. 

Thus equipped for a beginning, George be- 
came a teacher before he was eighteen years 
of age. In the summer he assisted his father in 
his work as superintendent of the construction 
of the Miami canal, through the Montgomery 
county division. 

In early manhood he was distinguished for 
graceful, accomplished horsemanship, and for 
athletic feats and vigor of mind and body. 
Lithe, and tall and slender, he could bend back- 
ward and pick up a small coin from the Moor 
with his mouth — a striking contrast to his form 
in later years. Mr. Houk studied law in the 
office of Peter P. Lowe, was admitted to the 
bar in 1847, an ^ formed a partnership with 
his preceptor. Later he was associated with 
the Hon. George B. Holt. In 1S60 he 
formed a partnership with the Hon. John 




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^AZ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



895 



A. McMahon, which lasted for twenty years, 
and from 18S0 Mr. Houk practiced on his sole 
account. 

In 1852, though but twenty-seven years of 
age, Mr. Houk was sent to the Ohio legisla- 
ture, and was distinguished by being made 
chairman of the judiciary committee. In i860 
he was sent as a delegate to the national dem- 
ocratic convention at Charleston, S. C. , at 
which Stephen A. Douglas was nominated for 
president. In 1876 he was a delegate to the 
democratic national convention at Saint 
Louis, when Samuel J. Tilden was nominated 
for the presidency. In 1884 he was nominat- 
ed a district elector. In 1S90 Mr. Houk was 
elected to congress from the Third Ohio dis- 
trict, and in 1892 was re-elected. His death 
occurred suddenly in Washington, on Febru- 
ary 9, 1894, during the period of his second 
congressional term. 

December 25, 1856, Mr. Houk was mar- 
ried to Eliza Phillips Thruston, daughter of 
Robert A. Thruston, a grand-daughter of Hor- 
atio G. Phillips, and a sister of Gen. Gates P. 
Thruston, of Nashville, Tenn. Mr. Houk left 
this lady a widow with three children, viz: Mrs. 
Harry E. Mead, who resides at Runnymede, 
her father's residence for thirty-eight years, 
overlooking a wide, beautiful stretch of the 
Miami valley and the city of Dayton; Mrs. 
Harry E. Talbot, and Robert Thruston Houk, 
residing near the homestead, south of the 
city's limits. 

Mr. Houk's brother, David, is still living. 
He has had repeated calls to positions of trust 
and honor, and is distinguished as a criminal 
lawyer, for true nobility of character and un- 
impeachable integrity. 

His brother, Adam, died in his country's serv- 
ice in September, 1864. He has one son — 
now living in South Dakota. His sister Mary, 
who married William Ramsey, has passed to 
her reward after a most exemplary and useful 



life, her warm-hearted benevolence, intelli- 
gence and practical interest in all good 
works endearing her to many friends. 

George W. Houk was possessed of strong 
intellectual powers and of literary tastes and 
ability, which manifested themselves in the writ- 
ing of essays, philosophical treatises and public 
addresses upon subjects covering a wide range. 
Much of his best work of this character was 
done solely for the love of writing and in order 
to fix in his mind the result of his extensive 
reading. While, therefore, some of his most 
valuable literary productions remained in man- 
uscript and without publication, his fine gift of 
expression and wealth of knowledge were 
known, outside his library, chiefly through his 
addresses upon public occasions. In this di- 
rection, his dignity, his fine presence, his rich 
fund of information upon public questions, and 
his thorough command of the best graces of 
oratory, combined to make George W. Houk 
one of the most prominent figures in the past 
fifty years of Dayton's history. Added to his 
equipment as a scholar and thinker were most 
delightful social qualities, humor, urbanity, 
unfailing courtesy and genuine hospitality. In 
both private and public life Mr. Houk was a 
fine type of the high-minded, upright, useful 
citizen. His sudden death came as a severe 
blow upon the community in which he had so 
long been loved and honored, bringing the 
sense of personal loss to a great circle of friends 
and acquaintances whom for many years he 
had charmed with his personality and im- 
pressed with his strength of mind and high 
moral character. 



OBED W. IRVIN, judge of the pro- 
bate court of Montgomery county, 
and one of the most prominent of 
the younger citizens of Dayton, was 
born in this city January 12, 1866, and is the 



S'.Hi 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



son of James B. and Ellen (Montfort) Irvin. 
Judge Irvin passed through the public schools 
of Dayton, and in 1883 entered Yale college, 
from which institution he was graduated in 
1887. Following this he accepted a position 
as teacher in the Dayton high school, being 
thus engaged for four years, and having charge 
of classes in mathematics and Latin. In 1889 
he entered the senior class of the Cincinnati 
Law School, where he was graduated in the 
spring of 1892. He at once began the prac- 
tice of law in Dayton, but in 1893 was nomi- 
nated by the republican party for the office 
of probate judge, to which position he was 
elected in the following fall, overcoming at 
the time a large democratic majority. The 
administration of the office by Judge Irvin 
was endorsed in 1896 by a renomination and 
re-election by an increased majority, and he 
is now serving his second term. 



K^\ EV. EDMUND SIMON LORENZ, 
l/^ A. M., D. D., of Dayton, Ohio, is the 
_9 eldest son of Rev. Edward and Bar- 
bara (Gueth) Lorenz, of whom a me- 
moir is given on page 351, and was born in 
Stark county, Ohio, July 13, 1854. His ele- 
mentary education wa'S received in the public 
schools of his neighborhood and at the Toledo 
high school, from which latter he was gradu- 
ated in 1870. He then engaged in teaching 
for some time; in 1880 he was graduated from 
Otterbein university with the degree of A. B., 
followed in 1883 with that of A. M.; from 
1880 to 1 88 1 he was a student in Union Bib- 
lical seminary of Dayton, and from 1881 to 
1883 in Yale Theological seminary, receiving 
from the latter the degree of bachelor of di- 
vinity; from 1S83 to 1884 he studied in the 
university at Leipzig, Germany, giving special 
attention to philosophy and church history. 
Mr. Lorenz joined the United Brethren 



church in 1871; in 1877 he was licensed to 
preach by the Miami conference, and ordained 
in 1882. After his return from Europe he 
rilled the pastorate of the High street church 
of Dayton from 1884 to 1886, and during the 
following year served as German Protestant 
chaplain of the national military home near 
Dayton. In 1887 he was chosen president of 
Lebanon Valley college at Annville, Penn. 
He entered upon this work with zeal and de- 
votion, to which was dui; great progress in the 
development and usefulness of the institution. 
During his first year he secured an attendance 
of over fifty per cent, above that of any pre- 
ceding year. But his physical constitution, 
undermined by his double work during his col- 
legiate and theological training and the sever- 
ity of his pastoral duties, suddenly gave way in 
1888, and he was completely prostrated. The 
next three years were passed in weary invalid- 
ism, and he is still a sufferer, being compelled 
to relinquish all public ministerial labor and to 
avoid general society. He turned his atten- 
tion to music, which had been his diversion 
previously, and in the theory of which art he 
had been thoroughly grounded. 

Issuing his first book in 1875, Mr. Lorenz 
has published many musical compositions, 
which have been hailed with gladness in hun- 
dreds of thousands of homes, not only in 
America, but in England and Germany. His 
books are wholly of a religious character. 
Some of them were prepared in conjunction 
with other gentlemen of acknowledged talent; 
as, for instance, in conjunction with Rev. W. 
H. Lanthurn, Praise Offering; conjointly with 
Rev. I. Baltzell, Heavenly Carols, Songs of 
Grace, Gates of Praise, Holy Voices, Songs of 
the Kingdom, Notes of Triumph, Songs of Re- 
freshing, Garnered Sheaves, Songs of the Morn- 
ing, and The Master's Praise; with W. A. Og- 
den he was joint editor of Notes of Victory; 
was associated with President J. E. Rankin, of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



897 



Howard university, in the publication of Mur- 
phy's Temperance Hymnal; with Kev. W. F. 
McCauley, in the Christian Endeavor Hymnal, 
Songs for Christ and the Church. Beside 
these, Mr. Lorenz has issued alone, Songs of 
the Cross, Missionary Songs, Otterbein Hym- 
nal (the authorized United Brethren Hymnal), 
The People's Hymnal, Tried and True, Spirit 
and Life (Nos. i and 2), the anthem books 
Gloria, Festal Anthems, and the Anthem Prize, 
an infant class song book in English and one 
in German and two books for male voices. 
He has also issued scores of exercises for 
Christmas, Easter and other special occasions, 
of which millions of copies have been sold, and 
publishes two periodicals in this interest, one 
entitled Festal Days in English, and a Ger- 
man one, Fest-Tage. 

In 1886 Mr. Lorenz projected a series of 
books on revival work, and in 1887 issued the 
Coming Revival, a handbook for laymen, and 
also the Gospel Worker's Treasury of Hymns 
and Revival Anecdotes, which also contains 
suggestive revival texts, sermon outlines and 
Scripture readings, and this work is now a 
standard with preachers of all denominations. 
In 1 888 appeared his Getting Ready for a Re- 
vival, which also occupies a high place in re- 
vival literature. After somewhat recovering 
from his nervous collapse he began the publi- 
cation of sacred music in a small way under 
the firm name of Lorenz & Co., and this firm 
is now one of the leading houses in its line in 
the country, its trade extending from ocean to 
ocean and into foreign lands. In 1894 he 
founded the Choir Leader, a monthly period- 
ical, devoted, of course, to choral music, and 
this is now recognized as being the leading 
publication of its class in the world, and has 
at this time over 10,000 subscribers. 

Rev. E. S. Lorenz was united in marriage, 
October 1, 1877, with Miss Florence L. Kum- 
ler, daughter of Henry F. and Catherine E. 



(Zehring) Kumler and granddaughter of Bishop 
Henry Kumler, of the United Brethren church. 
She is a native of Lewisburg, Ohio, was for 
some years a student in Otterbein university, 
is a lady of fine social spirit, and a companion 
meet for her husband. Of the six children 
born to this happy union four are still living — 
Karl Kumler, Justina, Mary and Edward 
Henry; Paul Shuey and Catherine E. died in 
early childhood. Politically, Mr. Lorenz des- 
ignates himself as an independent republican. 
Personally, Mr. Lorenz is extremely genial 
and companionable. Intelligent, earnest and 
discriminating, an hour spent in his company 
is both enjoyable and profitable. Of many of 
his best songs he is author of both words and 
music. His hymns, which always appear un- 
der a nom de plume, are free from the com- 
monplace jingle that has been too common in 
recent years, showing thought and a cultivated 
mind, and breathing a spirit of worshipful de- 
votion that naturally commends them to those 
who desire to use music which can be sung 
" with the spirit and with the understanding 
also," and thus are very popular. 



SEV. EDWARD HERBRUCK, DD., 
Ph. D., is a son of Rev. Peter Her- 
bruck, DD., late of Canton, Ohio. 
His father's life was one of constant 
activity in the ministry, retiring at an advanced 
age only when compelled to do so by the in- 
firmities of his years. Rev. P. Herbruck was 
probably one of the most widely known minis- 
ters in Ohio, and his labors in the Reformed 
church were most flatteringly successful. He 
was born in Hengsberg, Germany, February 
8, 1 S 1 3 . From early youth he had decided 
upon the ministry as his life work. At the 
age of eighteen years he came to America, and, 
after many hardships, finally reached Canton, 
Ohio. He lived with a family named Wirt, a 



898 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



short distance west of the then hamlet of Can- 



ton, and taught school during 1831. 



Hi 



pastor, Rev. Faust, saw the possibilities of a 
preacher in the young man, and aided him in 
his education, Riving him private instruction in 
theology. Rev. Faust died in the latter part 
of 1832, and young Herbruck was elected his 
successor, and, at the age of nineteen years, 
became the pastor of a church, and from 1833 
until 1883 hj was pastor of the same church 
by regular appointment — a period of fifty years 
— and served the same, periodically, for sev- 
er?.! years later. During that time he per- 
formed 2,611 marriages, attended 2,560 fu- 
nerals, baptized 5,938 people, and confirmed 
2,917 novitiates. 

He was married, in 1832, to Miss Sarah 
Holwick, and of the thirteen children born to 
them, ten are living, several of them being 
ministers of the gospel; othere are business 
men and all honored and respected citizens. 
The death of Rev. Herbruck occurred at Can- 
ton, September 22, 1895; his widow still re- 
sides in Canton, she being a native of Stark 
county, Ohio. 

Rev. Edward Herbruck was born in Can- 
ton, Ohio, May 11, 1849. His elementary 
education was acquired in the public schools 
of Canton and his collegiate education in 
Heidelberg university, Tiffin, Ohio, from which 
he was graduated in 1868, as valedictorian of 
his class. As a minister, he was stationed 
four years at Akron, and eight years at Can- 
ton. In 1 88 1, he was elected by the synod of 
the Reformed church as associate editor of the 
Christian World, continuing thirteen years in 
this work. Since 1884 he has devoted his 
time and attention to researches into the his- 
tory of Egypt, and lecturing upon the land of 
the Pharaohs, or the story of a Long Lost 
Nation. He has not only visited Egypt 
personally, but has given many years of study 
to the subject. Being one of the honorary local 



secretaries of the Egypt Exploration society, 
he is in position to obtain all the latest facts 
regarding the discoveries made by that society. 
The lecture abounds in graphic descriptions of 
the land of the Nile, and its buried cities, as it 
was four thousand years ago. The life and 
literature of that ancient people, and the won- 
ders which have been turned up by the spade 
of the excavator, bear witness to the fact that 
Egyptian civilization was not surpassed by that 
of any other ancient people. 

Dr. Herbruck was united in marriage, No- 
vember 21, 1872, with Miss Clara A. Burrowr>, 
daughter of J. A. Burrowes and granddaughter 
of the reverend pastor, D. Winters. She is a 
native of Fairfield, Ohio, and was educated at 
Springfield Female seminary. Dr. and Mrs. 
Herbruck have three children: Nellie B., 
Ralph and Hilda; the former, a graduate of 
Dayton high school, attended Wilson college 
one year; Ralph is a commercial student, and 
Hilda is a student in the city schools. Dr. 
Herbruck is devoted wholly to literary pur- 
suits, and from the many press and individual 
criticisms and notices of his scholarship and 
lectures, the following clipping is made: 

The Rev. Dr. E. Herbruck enjoys the very 
high esteem of the clergy of Dayton, Ohio. 
His ripe scholarship, his finished oratory, his 
wide travel, with the most decided success of 
his lectures on ancient Egypt, have confirmed 
his position in the very front rank of platform 
speakers. It is with much pleasure that we 
have witnessed Dr. Herbruck's growth, both 
as a close student and in increasing favor with 
the public. It is the reward of honest toil, 
and our good opinion, formed of our friend and 
brother twenty-five years ago, has only inten- 
sified as the years have passed. We confi- 
dently predict that he will always please and 
instruct, and the preacher who has always met 
the demands of the occasion will more than 
please the scholarly and cultured audience. 

Wm, A. Hale, 
Pastor First Re formed Church. 
Dayton, Ohio, May 22, 1895. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



899 



At the meeting of the synod of Ohio of the 
Reformed church in October, 1896, Dr. Her- 
bruck was elected professor of historical the- 
ology for Heidelberg theological seminary. 



BREDERICK BRENNER, senior mem- 
ber of the firm of Fred Brenner & 
Son, proprietors of cooperage works, 
Dayton, Ohio, was born in Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, December 31, 1842. He is a 
son of Michael and Christina ( Rau ) Brenner, 
both natives of Germany, and who were the 
parents of seven children, three of whom are 
still living, as follows : Jacob, Rosanna and 
Frederick. Michael Brenner was a cooper by 
trade, as was his father before him. He died 
in Germany at the age of sixty-eight, his wife 
dying in 1861 at the age of sixty-three. Both 
were consistent members of the Lutheran 
church. The paternal grandfather of Fred- 
erick was John Brenner. He and his wife were 
the parents of six children, and he died when 
well advanced in years. The maternal grand- 
father of Frederick Brenner was named Michael 
Rau, and he also lived to an advanced age. 

Frederick Brenner was reared in Germany, 
receiving there the education commonly given 
the youth of that country, and also learning 
the cooper's trade. In i860 he came to the 
United States, settling in Cincinnati, and car- 
rying on the cooper's trade until 1892, with 
the exception of the time he spent in the army 
of the Union in the late Civil war. He en- 
listed in 1 86 1 in company C, Twenty-eighth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, serving three years 
and two months. He was in some of the most 
important battles of the war, among them 
those of Carnifax Ferry, Lookout Mountain, 
Troop Mountain, Frederick, Md. , South Mount- 
ain, Antietam, and Piedmont, W. Va., beside 
many others of minor importance. 

When the war was over Mr. Brenner re- 



turned to Cincinnati, and there for a time 
worked in a brewery cooperage shop, at length, 
however, starting a shop of his own. In 1892 
he removed to Day ton, Ohio, where he has since 
resided and carried on a successful business. 

On July 15, 1865, he was married to Miss 
Margaret Kimmerlin, daughter of Mathias and 
Dora ( Schenck ) Kimmerlin. To this mar- 
riage there have been b'orn eleven children, 
five of whom are still living, as follows : Jo- 
hanna, John, Caroline, Dora and Michael. 
Mr. and Mrs. Brenner are members of the 
Lutheran church, and active workers in aid of 
the church organization. Fraternally, Mr. 
Brenner is a member of the order of Odd Fel- 
lows and of the Knights of Honor. Politically, 
he is independent, taking greater interest in 
the success of proper principles than in the 
success of either party at the polls. Mr. 
Brenner employs from sixteen to twenty men 
and makes a specialty of the manufacture of 
large casks, storage vats, tubs, tanks, etc., 
his work in this line being noted throughout 
the country for its excellent construction and 
workmanship. He has also recently furnished 
large casks and storage vats for Mexican and 
South American breweries and wine cellars. 



?^~\ R. LEE CORBIN was born April 
I 18, 1845, on a farm near Point 
/^^J Pleasant, Clermont county, Ohio. 
He, like other country boys, went to 
school in winter and helped on the farm in the 
summer. He trudged along to school with his 
elder brother (now Col. H. C. Corbin, U. S. 
A.) over a road three miles long, and as bad 
as could be found among the Ohio river hills. 
The winter school days and summers on the 
farm came and went until the war times of 
the '60s. By this time young Corbin was 
in his "'teens," and having passed through 
the course of the district schools, was now at 



900 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Clermont academy, Prof. James K. Parker, 
proprietor and principal. As the war pro- 
gressed the big boys enlisted in twos, threes 
and squads, until the school might very prop- 
erly have been termed a girl's academy. Lee 
Corbin, though somewhat tardy in enlisting 
(on account of age), did don the blue and was 
off for the war, where he remained until he 
was mustered out by reason of the close of the 
war. He came home with the rest of the boys 
and again took up his books, teaching and 
going to school for about ten years. During 
the last three, years of his pedagogic experi- 
ence, which was at Osborn, the thriving vil- 
lage to the north of Dayton, he read medicine, 
his chosen profession. 

On the 2nd day of March, 1876, he grad- 
uted as one of the prize winners of a class of 
102, at the Medical college of Ohio, at Cin- 
cinnati. Soon after completing his medical 
course Dr. Corbin was married to Annie A. 
Martin of Osborn, Ohio, and commenced 
housekeeping as well as the practice of medi- 
cine at Hamilton, Ohio. His wife died one 
year afterward and he continued practice in 
Hamilton for two years longer. He then 
married Bell Robison, of Warren county, Ohio, 
and located anew at the village of Vandalia, in 
the northern part of Montgomery county, nine 
miles from Dayton. Here he played the part 
of "village doctor" for ten years, varying 
the monotony of practice by mixing in local 
politics, being an active republican. Under 
the Harrison administration Dr. Corbin re- 
ceived the appointment of pension examiner, 
his being one of the appointments made by 
ex-CommissionerTanner during his brief period 
of office. This appointment necessitated the 
removal of the doctor to Dayton, which took 
place in the late autum of 1889. The pension 
board of which Dr. Corbin was a member 
probably examined more applicants for pen- 
sions than any other board in the United 



States. It was known as the soldiers' home 
board. In the fall of 1894 Dr. Corbin was 
nominated and elected coroner of Montgomery 
county, for two years. He was renominated 
and re-elcted in the fall campaign of 1896, 
and is now serving his second term. When 
the doctor came to Dayton he located in the 
thrifty suburb of Riverdale and built a com- 
fortable home, No. 625 North Main street, 
where he now resides, enjoying an extensive 
practice, and surrounded by a happy family. 
Dr. Corbin has, since the close of the war, 
taken an active part in G. A. R. matters. 
He is an ex-post commander and has for sev- 
eral years filled the chair of surgeon in Old 
Guard, one of the largest posts in the state. 



^^USTAVE A. HOCHWALT, M. D., 
■ ^\ a rising young physician of Dayton, 
^lW Ohio, was born in this city May 13, 
1872, and is a son of George and 
Theressa (Lothammer) Hochwalt, the former 
of whom was a native of Germany and the 
latter of Canton, Ohio. They were married 
in Dayton, and here George Hochwalt was 
for many years one of the most successful shoe 
merchants of the city, as well as one of the 
earliest established in that industry. He was 
attentive to his business, realized a compe- 
tence, and retired from the cares of active life 
in 1890. His death occurred April 25, 1894, 
and his widow still has her residence in Day- 
ton. Of the six children born to George and 
Theressa Hochwalt, the doctor is the young- 
est. In order of birth they were as follows: 
Edward A., who resides in Dayton; Charles 
C. , of Cleveland; Emma, wife of Frank Burk- 
hardt: Anna, deceased; Albert, of the Grim 
Furniture company, Dayton; and Dr. Gus- 
tave A. 

Dr. Hochwalt received his elementary edu- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



901 



cation in the Brothers' school of Saint Mary's, 
in Dayton, from which he graduated in his 
eighteenth year. He then entered the office 
of Dr. George Goodhue, an experienced phy- 
sician of Dayton, under whom he read assidu- 
ously for two years, qualifying himself to enter 
Starling Medical institute, of Columbus, in 
1892, and from this institution he graduated 
after three years of faithful study, receiving 
his diploma in 1895. He at once returned to 
Dayton and entered upon practice, in which 
he has been very successful. 

The Hochwalt family are all devout Cath- 
olics, and are members of Emanuel parish, 
and socially stand very high in the esteem of 
the community. In politics the doctor is a 
democrat, but is not a partisan, being more 
concerned in the study of his profession than 
in any interests foreign to it. 



HS. BYRNE NELLIS, M. D., phy- 
sician and surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Mount Vernon, Canada, 
October 5, i860, and is a son of Will- 
iam G. and Mary E. (Byrne) Nellis, both now 
residents of Dayton. 

Dr. Nellis resided in Canada until sixteen 
years of age, receiving in the meantime his ele- 
mentary education at the district school and at 
Wesleyan college of Tilton, N. H., and was 
thus prepared for the study of medicine under 
Dr. William Nichol, of Brantford. After a due 
course of reading under this capable preceptor, 
young Nellis entered the university of Michi- 
gan at Ann Arbor, and after a special course of 
study in the medical department of that famous 
institution, completed his medical studies at 
the Homeopathic college of Chicago, from 
which he graduated with the class of 1882. 
He then began practice at Knightstown, Ind., 
where his initiatory experience was quite satis- 



factory, and in October, 1883, came to Dayton, 
where he has met with abundant success, not 
only as a general practitioner but as a special- 
ist in the treatment of throat and lung affec- 
tions — having taken a post-graduate course of 
study in this branch of therapeutics in a New 
York hospital college in 1895. He has been 
honored by being selected physician to the 
Deaconess hospital of Dayton, and he also 
holds membership in the Montgomery county 
and Dayton Medical associations. Fraternally 
he is a Knight of Pythias. 

The marriage of Dr. Nellis took place in 
Brantford, Canada, February 27, 1889, to 
Miss Hattie Lyons, a daughter of Woods and 
Abbie (Colder) Lyons, and this union has been 
blessed with one child — William Lyons. The 
doctor and his wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which he is a re- 
spected official. 



t y^V ARIUS WETZEL, carpenter and con- 
■ tractor, of Dayton, Ohio, was born 
J^^f in Frederick county, Md., June 4, 
1839, came to Dayton with his par- 
ents in 1847, and this city has ever since been 
his home. He here learned the carpenter's 
trade in his youth, and enlisted, April 14, 1861, 
in company B, First Ohio volunteer infantry, for 
the three months' service. At the expiration 
of his term he re-enlisted, in July, 1861, this 
time in company E, Sixtieth Ohio volunteer 
infantry, but on March 17, 1864, was trans- 
ferred to the Seventy-fourth Ohio infantry, 
company E, in which regiment he served until 
July 10, 1865. He was mustered out at Louis- 
ville, Ky., as sergeant — having served over 
four years. 

Among the many severe engagements in 
which Mr. Wetzel took part during this long 
period of service, the most important may be 



902 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



thus enumerated : Stone River, Mission Ridge, 
Chickamauga, Kenesaw Mountain, Resaca, 
Dalton, Atlanta, Savannah, Goldsboro, and 
Jonesboro (N. C). He served faithfully in all 
the marches, skirmishes and engagements in 
which his commands took part, and passed 
through all without a wound. On his return 
to Dayton, Mr. Wetzel resumed, and has ever 
since followed, the peaceful pursuit of his trade. 

Daniel and Mary A. ( Coover ) Wetzel, the 
parents of Darius Wetzel, were natives of 
Maryland, and of German descent, Jacob 
Wetzel, the father of Daniel, being the foun- 
der of the family in America. Louis Wetzel, 
an uncle of Darius, was the founder of Louis- 
ville, Ky., and maternally Darius is a nephew 
of Daniel Boone, the famous Kentucky pioneer. 

Darius Wetzel was united in marriage, 
March 4, 1861, with Miss Mary C. Tobias, a 
native of Greene county, Ohio. To this mar- 
riage have been born six children, viz : Luella, 
wife of John B. Ankeney, a carpenter and build- 
er, of Dayton; John H., who is a carmaker, in 
the employ of Barney & Smith ; George B., 
an architect and foreman for his father; Charles 
Edward, a graduate of Miami Commercial col- 
lege, and now bookkeeper for a mercantile 
house in Dayton ; Mary O, who is an organist, 
a member of the Woman's Relief corps, and 
living with her parents ; and Darius, working 
with his father as a carpenter. The family 
are members of the Reformed church, of which 
Mr. Wetzel has been a deacon for many years. 
In politics Mr. Wetzel is a republican, and for 
twelve years served as constable in Dayton. 

Mr. Wetzel has been identified with the 
Grand Army of the Republic, as an active and 
enthusiastic worker in the order, and for two 
years has been commander of Dister post, 
No. 446. He is a member of Harris lodge. 
No. 331, I. O. O. F., having united with the 
fraternity many years ago, and is the present 
past grand of his lodge. 



*rj»ONATHAN WEAVER, D. D.— This 
&3 venerable pioneer in the history of the 
rtj ■ Inited Brethren church enjoys the dis- 
tinction of having served the church for 
a longer period of time than any other living 
bishop. In fact, it is doubtful if any layman 
or preacher can far exceed him in actual years 
of service. But this is not by any means 
Bishop Weaver's only distinction. Coming 
into existence before the first quarter of this 
century was completed, born of humble par- 
entage in the thick backwoods of Ohio, he has 
successfully arisen through the various grada- 
tions of life, and has fully demonstrated that 
" there is always room at the top of the ladder 
of fame." His birth occurred on the 23d of 
March, 1824, in Carroll county, Ohio, and he 
was the youngest of twelve children, all of 
whom save himself and one sister have passed 
to the eternal beyond. 

His parents were both natives of Washing- 
ton county. Pa., and both were born the same 
year — probably about 1775. No reliable fam- 
ily records were kept, as the parents were un- 
educated save in the elements of the German 
language, and, like their pioneer neighbors, 
gave little heed to anything except the clear- 
ing up of their farm and providing for the com- 
fort of their large family. 

The paternal grandfather came from Ger- 
many about the year 1750 and lived for a time 
in Lancaster county, Pa. About 1752 he 
moved to Washington county, Pa. , where he 
died. The maternal grandfather was born in 
this country, of German origin, and also set- 
tled in Washington county, Pa., in an early 
day. The parents of Bishop Weaver were 
married in Washington county, Pa., about 
1798, and immigrated to Ohio twelve years 
later. The father was a moral and upright 
man, but never professed religion until he was 
sixty years of age. and died three years later. 
The mother was converted at about the same 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



905 



age, though she had always been religiously 
inclined and was a faithful and persistent Bible 
reader. After her conversion she was a very 
devoted and earnest Christian; and during the 
declining years of her life, spent much. of her 
time in reading and prayer. She was excep- 
tionally well informed upon the fundamental 
doctrines of the Scriptures and rendered much 
valuable assistance to her son as a young 
Christian and embryonic minister, he inherit- 
ing her temperament and much of her nature. 
The mother died in her eighty-seventh year. 

Jonathan Weaver was reared on a farm 
amid the trials, privations, ignorance and hard 
labor of early pioneer days. There were no 
social castes in those days; all were upon the 
same level, equal in possessions, equal in am- 
bition, and equal in incentives to hard labor. 
Amid these conditions young Weaver grew to 
manhood, having, as associates, the farmers' 
sons and daughters of the neighborhood, most 
of whom had no aspirations beyond those in- 
duced by their surroundings. The school- 
houses of those days were built of round logs, 
with a huge fire-place across one end of the 
school-room and light admitted through greased 
paper pasted over apertures left in the walls. 
The prevalent garb of the students was the red 
"womus," and other garments made of the 
product of the home loom, which was placed 
in the "parlor" of nearly every cabin. The 
scholars stood around the huge fireplace, filled 
with blazing logs contributed by the patrons of 
the school, and studied their lessons from the 
United States Spelling-book, or the West- 
ern Calculator, according to advancement. 
The little ones sometimes had their A. B. C's 
pasted or printed on a paddle and were ex- 
pected to study diligently. The teachers 
made no pretentions to teaching any subject 
except those included in the "three R's," and 
a scholar was presumed to have graduated 
when he could figure through the single rule of 



three. Discipline was maintained by the ap- 
plication of birch or hickory "oil," and the 
stronger th^ teacher or master, the better the 
discipline. Often there was no floor except 
the earth, and the seats consisted of slabs or 
puncheons, smooth side up, with holes bored 
in the bottom corners at proper angels, and 
wooden legs driven in. It did not matter, 
then, ifthe feet of the littleonesdangled afoot or 
two from the floor. In a school of this kind our 
subject learned to read, write and cipher. He 
early cultivated a taste for reading, and occa- 
sionally saw a newspaper, but books were 
scarce, and those to be had were not suited to 
young minds and desires. 

There were no churches within reach, so 
that he never attended church or Sunday- 
school until he was fourteen years of age. 
Occasionally a Methodist or United Brethren 
circuit rider would preach in some neighbor's 
cabin, often in his father's; but their discussion 
of spiritual affairs only mystified him; he could 
not understand the plan of salvation, and 
though sincerely seeking the light, he knew of 
no one to whom he could go for counsel. 

By reason of his father's misfortune in his 
financial affairs it became necessary for the fam- 
ily to seek a new home, and this change neces- 
sarily brought a change of surroundings, and 
while the loss of the old home was considered 
a great calamity to the family, it nevertheless 
proved a blessing in disguise to the young man. 
The change brought him in contact with rather 
better schools and decidedly better teachers. 
By reason of the family reverses, his labors 
were more than ever required on the little 
farm which they were able to purchase with 
the remnant of the proceeds of the sale of the 
former and larger one; but he managed to get 
three months' schooling each year, and em- 
ployed all his leisure moments in reading and 
study. When he was about twenty-one years 
of age — his father being now dead — his mother 



906 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



increased his little store of funds until he was 
able to attend a five-months' term at a Pres- 
byterian academy, located at Hagerstown, 
Ohio. This was the sum total of his education 
as far as the schools were concerned, though 
he never relinquished his efforts to inform 
himself at all times, and of course it is need- 
less to add that he is to-day a man of extensive 
reading and general information. His religious 
career took tangible shape in his seventeenth 
year, while he was attending a camp-meeting. 
The first time the " mourners' bench " was of- 
fered, he accep'ed the invitation without solic- 
itation, being himself scarcely able to tell why 
he went. During the progress of the meeting 
he became a member of the United Brethren 
church. His religious life for several years 
following was not satisfactory to himself, and 
he had no one to whom he could go for much 
needed counsel. Within a year after he began 
his religious life, he had the great satisfaction 
of seeing the most of his father's family con- 
verted and united with the church. 

When about nineteen years of age Mr. 
Weaver was elected class leader and served for 
two years. From the time of his conversion 
(in 1841) he felt that he ought to enter the 
ministry, but realized that he had no special 
qualification for the high calling; yet in those 
days an educated ministry was neither re- 
quired nor desired among the common people. 
Fortunately he had a brother-in-law who was 
a young minister, and through his help he re- 
ceived some light on the doctrines of the gos- 
pel. He read what he could and studied more 
or less when about his work. When twenty 
years of age he was licensed to exhort, and 
six months afterward was licensed to preach 
the gospel. His first exhortations and first 
sermons — if sermons they could be called — 
were studied for the most part while following 
the plow. The conviction grew upon him that 
he must give his life to the ministry, but how 



creditably to fill that place he could not see. 
He had little to start with, except good health, 
a strong voice and an abundance of zeal — all 
desirable qualifications in the preacher. His 
term at the academy, which gave him a little 
start in educational matters, had also enabled 
him to form better habits of systematic study, 
or, rather, had taught him how to study. 

In 1845 he was placed on a circuit by the 
presiding elder to fill a vacancy. During 1846 
he taught school for a few months, studied, 
and worked on the farm the balance of the 
year ; in February, 1847, he united with the 
Muskingum conference, under Bishop Russell ; 
at this conference he received his first regular 
appointment, the name of the charge being 
Lake Erie mission. The mission was 200 
miles round, had seventeen appointments, and 
there were twenty-three members. He says: 
"When time came to start for the mission, 
which was distant over 100 miles, I felt some 
misgivings, but would not suffer even my 
mother to know that my mind was in the least 
cloudy. I packed up my effects in an old- 
fashioned pair of saddle-bags, and took a hasty 
leave of home and friends and set my face 
toward the north." He soon increased the 
number of appointments to twenty-three, and 
rilled them every three weeks. Eighty mem- 
bers were received into the church during the 
year, and eighty dollars was paid him for his 
year's work. 

Though a young man of robust constitu- 
tion, the rigors of the winter spent on this 
work have never been forgotten. It was a 
year of trials and struggles, yet of great profit. 
At times, when awakening in the morning, he 
would find a half inch or more of snow spread 
on his bed, which had drifted in through the 
crevices in the cabin walls. Yet he was buoyed 
up with the knowledge that, in his own distant 
home, a dearly beloved mother was praying 
for him. He says : " You may call me weak, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



907 



but during all the years I have spent in the 
ministry, I have always held sacred in my 
memory this thought : Mother prays for me. 
I presume to go to my grave with the fond and 
closely cherished recollections of a kind chris- 
tian mother." 

Bishop Weaver continued to serve the 
church of his choice as an itinerant minister 
until 1 85 1, when he was elected presiding 
elder, and was three times re-elected, declin- 
ing a fourth re-election. As a pastor he was 
always more than ordinarily successful, his 
manner as a pulpit orator and companionable 
friend being such as to draw people to him 
and through him to seek for a higher life. 

In 1857 he was a delegate to the general 
conference held at Cincinnati, and was by that 
body elected soliciting agent for Otterbein 
university. Having been a friend of the uni- 
versity for some years, he well knew its needs, 
and was very successful in raising the funds to 
perpetuate its existence. Though not entirely 
in sympathy with the management of the insti- 
tution at that time, he was usually able to 
defend its policy and to show that it was the 
best that could then be done. He has always 
taken a firm stand on the question of higher 
education, and earnestly advocated the estab- 
lishment of a church theological school long 
before that was thought possible. In fact, it 
is believed that the Union Biblical seminary 
is largely the outgrowth of his earnest labors. 

His first election to the office of bishop 
occurred in 1861, but he resigned the office 
without entering upon its duties on the Pacific 
coast. In 1865 he was again elected and was 
placed upon the east Mississippi district, com- 
prising the states of Indiana, Illinois and Mich- 
igan. Four years later he was placed in the 
east district, which comprised the states of 
Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, Maryland, Ten- 
nessee and Virginia. During this quadrennial 
he visited the Pacific coast, and held confer- 



ences in California, Oregon and Washington 
territory, traveling about 1 , 300 miles by stage. 
At the general conference, held in Dayton in 
1873, he was again elected to the bishop's 
office, Ohio district, which included the states 
of Ohio, Kentucky, and the dominion of 
Canada. In 1877 he was elected to the same 
office and placed in the east Mississippi dis- 
trict. In 1 88 1 he was elected and assigned to 
the northwest district — the districts having 
been changed since the last conference. This 
district extended from Detroit, Mich., west, 
including Colorado. His sixth election occurred 
in 1885, and he has been elected at each 
quadrennial period since, having served over 
thirty years as one of the official heads of a 
great and prosperous church. 

Bishop Weaver is still in active work, 
though, in deference to his age, his labors are 
made as light as possible, he having, in 1893, 
been elected bishop emeritus; however, in 
1895, he held conferences on the Pacific coast 
and was active in his official duties. It will 
thus be seen that his ministerial work has ex- 
tended over a period of fifty years in all, dur- 
ing which time he has traveled nearly all over 
the United States and Canada. Bishop 
Weaver has been officially connected with the 
legislation of the church for over thirty years, 
and perhaps no man in the United States is 
better informed upon its history than he. His 
policy has always been conservative and con-, 
ciliatory, though firmly believing in and aiding 
in the recent reforms and changes in the con- 
stitutional law of the church. He believes that 
the period of prohibition of Freemasonry with- 
in the church has passed, though convinced 
that the time was when it was a wise provision 
of the church curriculum. As a writer, Dr. 
Weaver is plain and terse. No one can mis- 
understand his meaning. Beside being a 
regular contributor to the different church 
papers, he has written some pamphlets and 



908 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



several books which have been published in 
permanent form. The first of these was on 
the Resurrection of the Human Body; the 
second was entitled Divine Providence, a 
smaller volume Veated of Ministerial Salary; 
while Universal Restoration is the title of 
another. He is the author of a work on 
Christian Baptism, and of another on 
Christian Theology. Throughout his writings 
ings there is apparent a vein of the humorous, 
which makes his work readable with that large 
class who are not specially interested in ab- 
stract theology. A characteristic of the man 
is his entire freedom from formality. He will 
meet, with a pleasant smile and hearty hand- 
shake, the lowest of God's creatures, and seek 
to win them to a new life by acts of love and 
brotherly kindness. 

Bishop Weaver has been twice married. 
The bride of his youth was Miss Keziah L. 
Robb, of Mahoning county, Ohio, whom he 
wedded on the 24th of February, 1847. They 
lived together pleasantly and happily until she 
was removed by death about four years after 
marriage, leaving two daughters. In 1854 he 
married Miss Mary E. Forsyth, of Canton, 
Ohio. She is a most estimable lady and a 
valued helpmate. Nine children have blessed 
this second marriage. 

In his younger years, the bishop had been 
a most perfect specimen of physical manhood, 
and although now past the ' ' threescore and 
ten years" allotted to man, he stands erect, 
and shows his full stature of six feet four and 
a half inches, and bids fair to continue his 
useful labors for years to come. 



K^% ERNHARD MESCHER, of Dayton, 

I C^L was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 

g^^_J 10, 1855. His parents, Joseph and 

Mary A. Mescher, were natives of 

Germany, and came to this country while 



young, their marriage occurring in Cincinnati, 
whence they came to Dayton in 1856. The 
father engaged first in the shoe business on 
Second street the same year, but in 1869 re- 
linquished the shoe trade and opened a gro- 
cery on Washington street. In 1890 he 
closed out his business and retired, and in 
July, 1891, his death occurred. He was a 
member of St. Emanuel's Catholic church. 
His widow still lives in Dayton, residing at 
1 J} Washington street. To the parents nine 
children were born, six of whom are still liv- 
ing, as follows: Bernhard; Mary, wife of John 
Hoban, ex-president of the Dayton city coun- 
cil, and at present a member of that body: 
Joseph, a molder of Dayton; Clara, wife of 
Raymond Lachey, a brass finisher; Henry, also 
a brass finisher, and George, a machinist, all 
of Dayton. 

Bernhard Mescher was reared in Dayton, 
and was educated at St. Emanuel parochial 
school. He learned the machinist's trade with 
the Davis Sewing Machine company, and after 
three years' time was made shipping clerk and 
foreman of the sorting and packing department 
of the works, remaining with that company 
seven years. 

In the spring of 1876 he left Dayton, going 
to Cincinnati, where he took a position as clerk 
in the clothing house of J. H. Richter, with 
whom he remained nine years, being manager 
of one of the departments the last two years 
of that time. In the fall of 1885 he returned 
to Dayton, and took a half interest in his fath- 
er's grocery business on Washington street, 
and thus continued until the fall of 1887, when 
they dissolved, and he went into the grocery 
business for himself on the northeast corner of 
Cincinnati and Albany streets. He conducted 
that business until the spring of 1888, when 
he sold it out, and opened his present business 
in the fall of the same year at the southeast 
corner of the same streets. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



909 



Mr. Mescher was married on October 13, 

1880, to Miss Annie M. Kemper, daughter of 
Henry and Margaret Kemper, of Cincinnati, 
Ohio, in which city she was born February 
22, 1 861 . To this marriage two children have 
been born, as follows: Joseph, August 13, 

1881, in Cincinnati; and Louis, June 10, 1884, 
in Covington, Ky. 

Mr. Mescher has always been a member of 
the democratic party. In 1891 he was ap- 
pointed a member of the Decennial Equaliza- 
tion board of Dayton, which board inspected 
every piece of property in the city. He is a 
member of St. Emanuel's Catholic church, 
and of Carroll commahdery, No. 225, Catholic 
Knights of St. John; also of the St. Joseph's 
Catholic Orphans' society. In September, 
1894, he was appointed by Mayor McMillin to 
the board of city infirmary directors, to fill a 
vacancy caused by the death of Charles Spatz, 
and served until the following spring. 



•~>TAMUEL CRAIGHEAD, late a dis- 
•y^^kT tinguished member of the bar of Mont- 

\^J gomery county, Ohio, was born June 
16, 1 S 1 7, in Cumberland county, Pa. 
In his youth he went to New York city, where 
he was for several years in the employ of a 
large publishing house. He prepared himself 
for the profession of the law, was admitted to 
the bar of Ohio, and became a resident of 
Dayton in 1844. Here he at once entered 
upon the practice, and in 1848 was elected to 
the office of prosecuting attorney, which he 
filled for two terms. 

Mr. Craighead speedily attained promi- 
nence and wide reputation as a criminal law- 
yer, and during a period of forty years he was 
engaged upon one side or the other of well- 
nigh every criminal case of importance in the 
courts of this county, his practice extending 
also to other portions of the state. In about 

36 



1854 he formed a copartnership with Wilbur 
Conover, and this became, and for a quarter 
of a century continued to be, one of the lead- 
ing and most successful legal firms in Ohio, 
when it was dissolved by reason of Mr. Con- 
over's failing health. 

In February, 1853, Mr. Craighead married 
Mrs. Jeannette A. Schenck, daughter of Judge 
William Miller, of Cincinnati, and widow of 
Lieut. Woodhull S. Schenck, of the United 
States navy. To this marriage were born 
three children: Robert G., Emanuel J. and 
Charles A. Craighead. 

Samuel Craighead died September 6, 1894. 
Rightly to estimate the place he held in the 
community, and especially in the profession to 
which he had devoted his great gifts of intel- 
lect and eloquence, we turn to the words of 
the tribute paid to his life and character by 
his associates at the bar of Montgomery county. 
We quote from the memorial adopted by the 
Bar association following Mr. Craighead's 
lamented death: 

"For nearly a quarter of a century he was 
the acknowledged leader of this bar. In these 
halls others contended with him as to the 
soundness of legal propositions or as to the 
effect of evidence, but no one hoped to triumph 
over him by personal superiority. The ele- 
ments of his great professional success were, 
in part, the generous gifts of nature. His 
presence was attractive, his capacity for work 
was great, his mind was active and versatile, 
his judgment as to what should be offered or 
omitted in the trial of a cause was instinctive 
and accurate, and his power of dramatic pres- 
entation could hardly have been acquired. 
But these native qualities were strengthened 
and supplemented by a close and extensive 
study of the law, by a careful preparation of 
all the causes in which he appeared, and by 
the zeal and fidelity which are prompted by 
an accurate appreciation of the high .duty 
which a lawyer owes to his client. A clear 
conviction that the law is a profession, and 
not a trade, lay at the foundation of his sue- 



910 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



cess and was the corner stone of his profes- 
sional character. It raised hitn to those intel- 
lectual- and moral heights where controversies 
are courageous and honorable, where victories 
ennoble and defeats are not followed by shame. 

"Most of us, upon our admission to the 
bar, found him in full practice, engaged in 
nearly all the important causes that were tried 
here, winning favorable judgment in most of 
them and in all adding to his reputation as a 
powerful and honorable advocate. Rejecting 
the overtures of those who desired to place 
him in public positions for which his talent so 
admirably fitted him, he was nevertheless a 
public man by virtue of his ability. In our 
professional circle he was the Great Com- 
moner. We have all respected his character 
and emulated his success. Those of us have 
been most fortunate who have most clearly 
observed that honor and virtue made that 
success possible. 

"In the trial of causes he was fearless and 
aggressive. He must have been conscious of 
his great powers as an advocate, though he 
was without arrogance. 

" Loyalty and fidelity were prominent in 
his character. These qualities bound him 
firmly and closely to profession, to clients, to 
family, to friends, to truth, to country. He- 
received patriotism by inheritance, and through T 
out his long and useful life he nurtured it by 
the faithful performance of those duties which 
every citizen owes to the state. 

■ ' In his later years his life showed a strange 
and beautiful blending of vernal and autumnal 
colors. To his own business and to that of 
his clients he brought the ripe fruit of long 
experience and much observation. But at 
home and 'office his friends were sure of a 
cheery welcome, and at the meetings of law- 
yers his favorite place was among the younger 
members of the bar, whom he encouraged by 
kind words and delighted with the sallies of 
wit which so often enlivened the court room 
and the social circle. It seems as though it 
were but yesterday that he passed among us 
with the erect figure, the elastic step, the nat- 
ural vision and the cheery voice of youth. 

• ' But age brought even to him its inevitable 
infirmities, and compelled his gradual aban- 
donment of active professional duties. Yet 



he never ceased to teach us by his exemplary 
conduct. When the twilight deepened, his 
life became a perpetual benediction upon all 
whom he met and all whom he had ever 
known. 

• ' The memory of his talents, his virtues and 
his kindness will remain to us a valued herit- 
age. But we cannot cherish the hope that we 
shall ever meet a manlier man." 



<a 



9 ILLIAM LAWRENCE BLOCHER, 
superintendent of the manufactur- 
ing department of the United Breth- 
ren Publishing house, Dayton, Ohio, 
was born in Celina, Ohio, May 25, 1854, and 
is the youngest son of Judge W. L. Blocher, 
who lost his life on the battle field, while in 
the Union service during the late Civil war. 
Left an orphan at the age of eleven years, he 
worked for five years in Logan county as a 
farmer's lad, receiving, as compensation, his 
board and clothing and three months' school- 
ing each year, during the winter season, and 
this in a common country school. 

In 1869, Mr. Blocher began learning the 
printing trade under the Hon. A. P. J. Snyder, 
proprietor of the Mercer County Standard, 
served until 1873, and in the latter year came 
to Dayton, and went to work for the United 
Brethren Publishing house. In 1881, he was 
promoted to be foreman of his department, 
and in 1893 was advanced to his present po- 
sition — thus making a continuous term of serv- 
ice, to date, of twenty-four years. 

Mr. Blocher was united in marriage, 
September 16, 1886, with Miss Elizabeth But- 
terfield, daughter of A. A. Butterfield, and 
this union has resulted in the birth of one 
daughter, Helen. Mr. Blocher enjoys the 
sincere regard of the citizens of Dayton and 
the esteem of every employee under his juris- 
diction, as well as the thorough confidence of 
the house by which he is employed. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



911 



OTHO EVANS FRANCIS, physician 
and surgeon of Dayton, Ohio, has 
been a resident of Dayton since 1 88 1 . 
He was born at Franklin, Warren 
count)-, Ohio, August 30, 1851, and is a son 
of Adonijah and Cynthia (Bergen) Francis, the 
former of whom is still living in Warren coun- 
ty, at the age of eighty years, and the latter 
of whom is deceased. The family is of New 
England and French Huguenot extraction. 
The Francis family have usually turned their 
attention to agriculture, while the Bergen fam- 
ily have for the most part become members of 
some one of the professions. 

Adonijah Francis, father of Dr. Francis, 
has always been a farmer, and he and his 
wife. Cynthia, reared a family of eight chil- 
dren, as follows: Tobias, a farmer and auc- 
tioneer of Carlisle, Ohio; Lydia, wife of Will- 
iam Anderson, of Johnson county, Kans. ; 
Richard, a farmer of Preble county, Ohio; 
Mary, deceased wife of D. Vandemire, of 
Grinnell, Iowa; Cornelia, wife of Joseph Sum- 
mers of Dayton, Ohio; Otho E.. the subject 
(it this sketch; George B.. a farmer of Carlisle, 
Ohio, and Sallie, wife of Clinton Mitchell, of 
Carlisle, Ohio. 

Otho E. Francis received his education in 
the academy at Birmingham. Iowa, conduct- 
ed by his uncle, George Bergen, and after- 
ward at Mount Pleasant Normal school and at 
Monmouth college, 111. Having thus acquired 
an excellent literary education he began the 
reading of medicine, taking one course in the 
medical department of the university of Mich- 
igan, and one course of study at the Ohio 
Medical college at Cincinnati, Ohio. He then 
attended the college of Medicine and Surgery 
at Cincinnati, after which he was engaged for 
three years in practice at Camden, Preble 
county, Ohio. In order further to prepare 
himself for his professional career he attended 
the Medical college at Louisville, Ky., grad- 



uating in the class of 1878. Here he took a 
special course, and received a special diploma, 
in diseases of women. Returning to Camden, 
Ohio, he remained there in practice four 
years, and in 1881, as stated above, removed 
to Dayton, where he has since been engaged in 
successful practice. 

Dr. Francis is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society, and is examining 
physician for the Protected Home circle. He 
was married August 13, 1871, to Miss Lillian 
Woodside, daughter of Robert Woodside, who 
was born in Somerdale, Butler county, but 
who was reared in Glendale, Hamilton count}', 
Ohio. Dr. and Mrs. Francis have two children, 
viz: Paul and Adonijah, both students. Dr. 
Francis is a strong republican in politics, and 
has acceptably filled the position of city phy- 
sician. He and his wife are members of the 
Presbvterian church. 



aHARLES F. KIMMEL, an ex-soldier 
of the late Civil war, and now residing 
in Dayton, Ohio, was born in the 
city of Langensalza, Prussia, Ger- 
many, October 15, 1843, and is a son of Au- 
gustus B. and Johanna Louise (Gentzle) Kim- 
mel. The father, Augustus B., was also born 
in Langensalza in 1806 — that city being fa- 
mous as the scene of one of the great battles 
between the German and Austrian armies in 
1S66. Augustus was a miller, and after coming 
to Dayton, in 1846, worked at his trade for 
some years, and died May 16, 1895. His 
widow survived until January 26, 1897, when 
she passed away aged seventy-three years, and 
they are both buried in Woodland cemetery. 
They had five children, beside Charles F. , viz: 
Christian, who was killed at Manteno, 111., in 
a railroad accident while returning from the 
world's fair — his wife being crippled for life in 
the same accident; a son who died in infancy; 



912 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Caroline, wife of George W. Fishbaugh, died 
in Roseville, Ohio, at the age of sixty-one; 
Harriet, the wife of Jacob Stolz, of the 
Ninety-third Ohio infantry, who was killed at 
Stone River, December 31, 1862, his widow 
dying September 5, 1865, and Mrs. Roepken, 
a widow of a soldier of company G, Sixty-sixth 
Illinois, who died October 3, 1895. 

Charles F. Kimmel was brought by his par- 
ents to America when a mere babe, and Day- 
ton has ever since been his home, with the ex- 
ception of the time he was in the army or 
away on a journey through the west, which 
lasted five years. His education was some- 
what neglected in youth, but he has since 
made good this deficiency by hard study. At the 
outburst of the Rebellion he made an effort to 
enlist in the three-months service, but, being 
then a minor, his father prevented him. How- 
ever, on October I, 1861, he succeeded in en- 
listing in John W. Birge's regiment of sharp- 
shooters, which, April 20, 1862, became known 
as the Western sharpshooters, and was at- 
tached to the Fourteenth Missouri infantry, 
but, November 26, 1S62, was merged into the 
Sixty-sixth Illinois infantry. With this regi- 
ment he served all through the war, and was 
honorably discharged July 15, 1865, at Camp 
Butler, near Springfield, 111. 

Among the haps and mishaps encountered 
by Private Kimmel, while in the army, may 
be mentioned the following: He captured a 
rebel mail rider at Fort Donelson, February 
16, 1862; was slightly wounded in the head 
May 21, 1862; captured a rebel flag May 31, 
1862, at Corinth; was captured by the rebels 
at Pine Ridge, but escaped within eight hours; 
was slightly wounded in the thigh at Rome 
Cross Roads, May 16, 1864; was wounded in 
the leg at Dallas, May 31, 1864; was slightly 
wounded in the right knee at Kenesaw Mount- 
ain, June 27, 1864, and was the first man of 
company G, Sixty-sixth Illinois, to re-enlist in 



the veteran service, at Pulaski, Tenn., in De- 
cember, 1863. 

After his return from the war, Mr. Kimmel 
was appointed as an assistant in collecting and 
burying the remains of fallen soldiers at Fort 
Donelson, Shiloh and Corinth, but in a few 
months resigned. He then devoted his time 
to a tour in the south, and after an absence of 
seventeen months returned home for rest. He 
then started on a tour west, which lasted over 
four years, and during which he visited Leav- 
enworth, Hayes City, and Marino, N. M., 
where, from March until August, he worked in 
the gold mines; had fights with Indians June 
28, 1868, at White Pass, N. M. ; at Big Tim- 
bers, Colo., August 28, 1868, and at Kiowa 
Creek, August 29; went to Colorado and 
worked in a gold mine at Central City for 
three months; then went on foot to Cheyenne, 
Wyo. ; thence he worked his way on the Union 
Pacific railroad to Ogden, Utah, in 1869; 
walked to Boise City, Idaho; from there he 
went on foot to Walla Walla; thence down 
the Columbia river to Portland, Ore. ; thence 
by steamer to San Francisco, where he en- 
listed to go with the German army to the 
Franco-Prussian war, but was stayed by the 
French consul, and after four months in Cali- 
fornia returned home. 

September 26, 1871, Mr. Kimmel married 
Miss Kate Stephens, a native of Germany, but 
who was brought to this country when four 
years old. To this union nine children were 
born, viz: Harriet Pauline, Elmer Ellsworth, 
Mary Willamette, W. T. Sherman and James 
B. McPherson (twins who died in infancy), 
Ida May, Atlanta Garfield (deceased), Joseph 
Donelson and Charlotte Stephens. The liv- 
ing members of this family are members of the 
German Evangelical church, in which faith 
Mr. Kimmel was reared. In politics he has 
always been a strong republican, and frater- 
nally he is a member of Old Guard post, No. 




COL. ROBERT PATTERSON. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



913 



23, G. A. R. For a time he served on the 
Dayton police force, but has been in the em- 
ploy of the United States Express company 
for the last sixteen years. He owns a beauti- 
ful home at No. 214 East Adams street, and 
being a constant reader, possesses a fine 
library, comprising chiefly historical works and 
books of reference. He has been true to every 
trust as citizen and soldier, and has an envia- 
ble military record. 



aOL. ROBERT PATTERSON, father 
of Jefferson Patterson and grandfather 
of John H. Patterson, of Dayton, and 
whose name was so closely identified 
with the histories of the states of Kentucky 
and Ohio during the latter years of the eight- 
eenth century, was born in 1753, in Bedford 
county, Pa., and began his military career as 
a member of a company of rangers raised to 
protect the frontier of his native state from 
Indians. When twenty-one, he and several 
other young men started in boats from Fort 
Pitt for Kentucky, with nine horses and four- 
teen head of cattle, and supplies, implements 
and ammunition. At Limestone Creek, in 
Kentucky, they met, "guarding a little corn 
patch with their tomahawks," Simon Kenton 
and Thomas Williams, the only white men in 
what is now that state. In 1777 Patterson 
and his party cleared land and planted corn 
near a big spring, naming their camp " Lex- 
ington," in honor of the Revolutionary battle. 
Later he entered land and laid out the city at 
this point. In 1787 he was one of the found- 
ers of Cincinnati. He accompanied Gen. 
George Rogers Clark in the Illinois campaign 
in 1778, and Col. Bowman in the expedition 
against the Shawnee towns at old Chillicothe 
in 1779; served as captain in 1780 in Gen. 
Clark's raid on old Chillicothe and old Miami, 
was in command of a company of Logan's 



regiment in Clark's campaign, in 1782, against 
Indians at Piqua, on the Miami, and at Lara- 
mie. Col. Logan's command camped three 
days at the mouth of Mad river; that is to say, 
at Dayton. In 1786 Patrick Henry, governor 
of Virginia, commissioned Robert Patterson a 
colonel in the State Line. In 1786 his 
regiment of Col. Logan's division marched to 
destroy the Macacheek towns on Mad river. 
But for these battles and victories over the 
Indians, in which Col. Patterson was for many 
years engaged, the Dayton settlement would 
have been an impossibility. His part in the 
history of this city is of the greatest impor- 
tance, for he helped win its site from the In- 
dians, and secured a peaceful and prosperous 
home for the pioneers. He was present with 
his regiment at St. Clair's defeat in 1791. 
In the war of 1812 he had charge of trans- 
portation of supplies from Camp Meigs, near 
Dayton, north to the army. All his later 
years he was a sufferer from wounds received 
in his campaigns. The above facts are gleaned 
from "Early Dayton." 



WOHN JACOB SPATZ, of No. 445 
A North Main street, Dayton, Ohio, is a 
A 1 native of this city and was born Sep- 
tember 25, 1866, and is of German 
parentage, his parents, Sylvester and Frances 
(Schaffer) Spatz, having both been born in 
Bavaria. 

Sylvester Spatz was a blacksmith by trade 
and came to America a single man and shortly 
after his arrival met and married Miss Schaffer, 
the union resulting in the birth of six sons and 
two daughters. Of this family four are still 
living, viz: Carrie, wife of George Helmick, 
who resides on Hickory street, Dayton; John 
J., the subject; Alexander is a grocer of Harri- 
son township, Montgomery county, and Frank 
is employed in the Davis Mantel & Grate 



i»14 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



works of Dayton. The four deceased were 
named Charles J., Emile, Mary and John, the 
last named of whom died in early infancy. 
The mother of this family was called from 
earth January 12, 1882, dying in the faith of 
the Catholic church, and the father, who in his 
later years had become a baker and had made 
through his industry a snug fortune, died 
March 20, 1888, in the same religious faith. 

John J. Spatz was educated in the Dayton 
city schools, and thoroughly learned the baker's 
trade under his father — a business he followed 
fourteen years. June 25, 1890, he married 
Miss Mary Sullivan, a native of Crawfordsville, 
Ind., and a daughter of Timothy and Mary 



;McCaffry) Sullivan, and this union has been 
blessed with two children — Marie and Helen — 
the youngest of whom died at the age of nine- 
teen months. Mr. Spatz owns the premises 
at the address given above, and in 1890 re- 
linquished the baking business and opened a 
well-ordered saloon, which his pleasant and 
genial disposition has rendered quite popular. 
Mr. and Mrs. Spatz are respected members of 
Emanuel's Roman Catholic church, and strictly 
conform to its teachings. In his politics Mr. 
Spatz is a democrat, and during the presiden- 
tial campaign of 1896 was a strong advocate 
of free silver. 



* mm * 




JOHN A. SHAUCK. 
Judge Supreme Court. 



OBEB W. IRVIN, 
Probate Judge. 

CHARLES W. DUSTIN. 
lldge I ommon Pleas Court. 



OREN BRIT BROWN, 
Judge Common Pleas Court. 

ALVIN W. KUMLER, 
Judge Common Pleas Court. 



MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 




i HE MACY FAMILY is one of the 
best known and most highly esteemed 
families of Montgomery count)', Ohio, 
and takes a just pride in its ancestral 
history, compiled in a large volume, contain- 
ing the genealogy of the Macy family in Amer- 
ica. From this volume it is learned that the 
founder of the family in this country was 
Thomas Macy, who came from near Salis- 
bury, Wiltshire, England, a county named 
from Wilton, a city near Salisbury, which was 
the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of 
Wessex, and which has for many years been 
famous for its manufacture of carpets. Thomas 
Macy came to America about 1655. In re- 
ligious faith he was a Friend, or Quaker, and 
it is believed he sought this then new country 
as an asylum from persecution, where he could 
worship God according to the dictates of his 
own conscience. Through his worth and in- 
telligence he acquired prominence in the com- 
munity in which he lived, which was in the 
vicinity of Cape Cod, Mass. He was known 
in the office that he filled as a " selectman." 
Here he preached for some time, but soon re- 
ligious intolerance gained a foothold, and he, 
with nine others, in 1659, took possession of 
the island of Nantucket, having paid to Gover- 
nor Mayhew ,£30 for nine-tenths thereof, there 



being in the whole island about fifty square 
miles. From this independent and sturdy 
pioneer and early colonist has sprung all of 
the Macy family in this country. 

But even on the island of Nantucket the 
family was not free from persecution, and one 
of the Macys fled with his wife to the main- 
land. Still later, but yet at an early day, 
some of the Macys, together with others of the 
islanders, went from Nantucket to North Car- 
olina, and settled in the woods, where they 
prospered, increased in numbers, and spread 
over the country. 

Paul Macy came to Ohio, settling in Miami 
county, with his son, Thomas. He lived to 
be ninety-two years old, and died in Miami 
♦county. Thomas Macy married Annie Gard- 
ner, by whom he had the following children: 
Mary J., Thomas, John, Paul, Nancy, Eliza- 
beth, Phcebe, Lydia, Jonathan and Aaron. 
Thomas Macy and his wife removed with their 
family to Tennessee, lived there about five 
years, and then came to Ohio, settling in Mi- 
ami county, two miles west of where Thomas 
Macy now lives, in Monroe township. Four of 
their children were born in North Carolina, 
four in Tennessee and two in Ohio. The 
journey was made to Ohio by means of teams 
and wagons, the children walking and driving 



'.nt; 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the cattle. Thomas Macy, bought eighty acres 
of land, and entered the eighty acres on which 
his grandson, Thomas Macy, now resides. 
This land he cleared of its surplus timber, 
lived on it some years, and then bought the 
land on which Davis Macy now lives, in But- 
ler township, Montgomery county. Upon this 
farm he passed his remaining days. He was 
a Friend, or Quaker, in religion, a man of 
strong convictions and of high character. He 
was familiar with all the hardships of pioneer 
life, and was accustomed to go through the 
woods to Cincinnati to market. He died at 
the age of sixty-five. 

John Macy, his son, and father of the pres- 
ent Thomas Macy, was born in Tennessee, 
August 8, 1795. When his father came to 
Ohio he was about fifteen years of age, and 
he was brought up among the pioneers, became 
a farmer, and married Nancy Yount. 

Thomas Macy was born May 28, 1820, on 
the farm where he now lives, in Monroe town- 
ship, Miami county. His early life was that 
of the pioneers, hard work being his portion, 
though not unmixed with many pleasures which 
people of the present day can scarcely appre- 
ciate; but the strongest pleasure of those early 
times was the true friendship that existed 
among the pioneers. In 1845, when he was 
about twenty-five years of age, he married, in 
Butler township, Miss Sarah J. Wagener, who* 
was born March 2, 1827, in Morgan county, 
Va., and was a daughter of John and Nancy 
(Prill) Wagener. John Wagener was a native 
of Virginia, of German ancestry, and came to 
Ohio, locating in Miami county about 1831, 
and remaining there for a short time, when he 
bought eighty acres in Butler township, Mont- 
gomery county, which he cleared of its timber, 
and made of it a good home. He and his wife 
had the following children: Frank, Hiram, 
John, William, Ann, Matilda, Mary, Nancy 
and Jane. Mr. Wagener lived to be about 



fifty-eight years old, dying on his farm. He 
was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and a most worthy citizen. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Macy, after their 
marriage, settled on the old homestead. This 
land his grandfather had originally entered, and 
his father had lived upon it. Here they have 
since lived and prospered, and by industry and 
thrift have accumulated a handsome property. 
They have had the following children: Salina, 
Mary, Ellen, Laura, Carrie, William H. and 
Warren A. William H. died when four years 
of age. Mr. and Mrs. Macy are members of 
the Disciple church, of which Mr. Macy has 
been a deacon for the past twenty-five years. 
In his earlier life he was an old-line whig, and 
when the republican party was organized, be- 
came one of its original members, voting for 
Gen. John C. Fremont for president in 1856. 
Mr. Macy has never been an office seeker, but 
has held the office of supervisor, and has al- 
ways enjoyed the confidence of the community. 

Davis Macy, a leading farmer of Butler 
township, is living on the old Macy homestead. 
He was born July 15, 1846, and is the son of 
John and Abigail (Weeks) Macy. Reared a 
farmer, he has followed that independent and 
honorable vocation all his life. His mother 
was a daughter of Benjamin Weeks, one of 
the pioneers of Ludlow Falls, Miami county, 
Ohio, who located there in 18 10. In his 
youthful days Davis Macy was well educated 
in the common schools, and was reared in the 
faith of the Friends. When he was twenty- 
three years old he married, June 10, 1869, in 
Miami county, Miss Mary Jane Turner, who 
was born November 18, 1847, in Miami 
county, Ohio, and was a daughter of Abraham 
and Lydia (Yount) Turner. Abraham Turner 
was born in Orange county, N. Y. , in 18 19, 
and was of New England ancestry. His fath- 
er's children were George W. , who died a sol- 
dier in the late Civil war; Levi, Daniel, Abra- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



917 



ham, Elizabeth, Mary, Sarah and Jennie. 
Abraham Turner was by trade a carpenter and 
millwright. He came to Ohio, settling in 
Miami county when a young man, and in 1846, 
when he was twenty-eight years old. married 
Lydia Yount, who was born June 15, 1825, in 
Montgomery county. She was a daughter of 
John and Nancy (Insco) Yount, the former of 
whom came from one of the Carolinas to 
Ohio, where he became a prosperous and sub- 
stantial farmer. He was engaged also in the 
distillery business in Little York and in the 
contracting business in Dayton. He died in 
Harrison township when seventy-one years 
old. His children were Daniel W., Mary, 
Jane, Lydia, Eliza, Sallie and Callie. Mr. 
Yount was one of the prominent men of his 
day, intelligent and influential. After their 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Turner settled on the 
John Yount homestead. He then bought mill 
property on the Stillwater above Milton, op- 
erated the mill for a few years, and then 
bought a farm in Miami county and there 
worked at his trade. His children were as 
follows: Mary J., Bell, Sallie, John, Fremont, 
Emma, Reeder, Lulu, Clifford and May. 

Mr. and Mrs. Davis Macy, after their mar- 
riage, settled on the Mac}' homestead, upon 
which they are still living. Here, through 
thrift and judicious management, Mr. Macy 
prospered, and now has a most excellent farm. 
His children are Dorsey Clyde and Charles 
Leo. Mrs. Macy is a member of the Disciple 
church, and Mr. Macy has been for years an 
active officer in the-Christian church. Politic- 
ally he is a republican. On May 2, 1864, he 
enlisted as a member of company G, One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, and served four months, when he was 
honorably discharged, August 31, 1864. His 
service was rendered in Virginia, and he was 
with his regiment when Gen. Jubal Early 
made his raid in the vicinity of Washington, 



D. C. Here he was under fire for two days 
and nights. Mr. Macy was an active, faithful 
soldier, and is an equally active farmer. He 
takes great interest in the education of the 
young, and is giving his children the best edu- 
cation in his power. Charles Leo is attending 
Antioch college, at Yellow Springs, Ohio. 
Dorsey Clyde married Jennie Pierson and is 
living on the home farm. Mr. Macy well 
maintains the high reputation of his ancestors, 
whose best qualities are repeated in him, and 
find in him a worthy representative. 

Isaac Macy is one of the pioneers and 
solid farmers of Butler township. John Macy, 
his father, was born in Tennessee August 8, 
1 79 15, and came when a boy with his father's 
family to Ohio. He grew up among the pio- 
neers, and received the usual education and 
training of the times. He was always a farmer, 
and married Nancy Yount, who was born in 
July, 1798, in North Carolina or Tennessee. 
John Macy and wife settled in Monroe town- 
ship, Miami county, where Thomas Macy now 
lives, and this farm he cleared from the woods. 
After the death of his father he removed to the 
old homestead in Butler township, Montgomery 
county, where he died January 17, 1854, aged 
fifty-nine years. His children by his first wife, 
Nancy Yount, were : George, Thomas, Isaac, 
Mary, Alexander, Nancy and William. The 
mother of these children having died, he mar- 
ried Abigail Weeks, who was born October 
31, 1805, and a daughter of Benjamin Weeks. 
By his second wife Mr. Macy had the follow- 
ing children : Benjamin, Clarissa, Phebe, 
Delilah, John, Davis and Annie. Mr. Macy 
was a member of the Society of Friends, and 
in politics an old-line whig in early life, and 
later a republican. He was a man of sterling 
honesty of character and sound business 
methods, and a prosperous farmer. 

Isaac Macy was born May 22, 1822, in 
Monroe township, Miami county. What lit- 



918 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tie education he received was gotten in an old- 
fashioned log school-house two and a half miles 
from his home. He was trained from youth 
in habits of industry, which he has followed 
through life. He married at the age of twenty- 
two, March 16, 1844, Nancy E. Wagener, 
who was born in Virginia, May 5, 1824, and 
was a daughter of John and Nancy (Prill) Wag- 
ener, the former of whom was of German an- 
cestry and came from Virginia, settling in 
Butler township on eighty acres of land. His 
children were as follows: Hiram, John, Will- 
iam, Jane, Nancy and Matilda. In religion 
Mr. Wagener was a Methodist, lived to be 
about sixty-five years of age, and died in But- 
ler township. 

Isaac Macy and wife settled on a rented 
farm in Union township, Miami county, upon 
which they lived for about six years, at the 
end of which period Mr. Macy bought his pres- 
ent farm of 128 acres, which he has materially 
improved, having now one of the best farms to 
be found in the county. To his original lands 
he has added from time- to time, until he now 
owns 468 acres, beside having given some land 
to his children. To Mr. and Mrs. Macy there 
were born the following children: Eli P., Ad- 
die, Jennie, Lulu and Arthur. Mrs. Macy 
died October 21, 1875, a member of the Chris- 
tian church, and a most excellent woman. Mr. 
Macy, on March 10, 1887, married Mrs. Alice 
Bell Hall, who was born April 14, 1857, in 
Salem, Ohio, and is a daughter of Amos and 
Mary (Stevenson) Ardinger. Mr. Ardinger 
came from Williamsport, Md. , was a cooper 
by trade, and located in Dayton, Ohio, when 
nineteen years of age, afterward removing to 
Salem, and a year later settling in Tippecanoe 
City, where he has been an honored resident 
for thirty-five years. His children are Ade- 
laide, Sallie G., Jacob, Clyde, Blanch, Emma, 
Harry, John and Leuetta, of whom Clyde, 
Emma and Leuetta have died. Mr. and Mrs. 



Ardinger are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. 

Mrs. Macy was first married to Willard J. 
Hall, of Dayton, Ohio, a machinist, by whom 
she had one child, Mary A. Mr. Hall died at 
Tippecanoe City in October, 1885, aged about 
thirty-three years, a member of the Protestant 
Episcopal church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Macy are members of the 
Christian church of Frederick, Ohio, of which 
Mr. Macy has been a trustee for many years. 
He and his brother Thomas aided largely in 
founding the church. Politically Mr. Macy is 
a republican, but has never sought office. He 
has from his youth up been a hard working 
and industrious man, and has prospered through 
his own perseverance and application. He 
has well earned the honor and respect in which 
he is held by those among whom he has passed 
his long and useful life. 

George Macy, one of the oldest living res- 
idents of Montgomery county, is a grandson of 
Thomas Macy, one of the original pioneers, 
and is a son of John and Nancy (Yount) Macy. 
He was born in Monroe township, Miami county, 
July 27, 181 8. His education, though limited to 
what could in his boyhood days be obtained 
in the common schools, has always been 
sufficient, together with his natural ability, to 
carry him successfully through life. Brought 
up on a farm, he became a fanner, and has al- 
ways followed that honorable occupation. 
When he was twenty-two years of age, on 
March 4, 1 841, he was married to Miss 
Abigail Pierson, who was born in Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio, February 11, 1821, and was a daugh- 
of Abel and Mary (Buffington) Pierson, Mary 
Buffington at the time of her marriage to Mr. 
Pierson being a widow. 

Abel Pierson was a native of North Car- 
olina, in which state he was first married, and 
between 1807 and 18 10 came to Ohio, located 
in Miami county and settled on 160 acres of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



919 



land. Here he lived the remainder of his 
days. By his first wife his children were 
Sarah, Olive, Charles and James. By his sec- 
ond wife, Mary Buffington, whom he married 
in Ohio, he had the following children: 
John, Samuel, James, Nancy and Hiram. In 
religious belief Mr. Pierson was a Quaker or 
Friend, and was a man of undoubted integ- 
rity and high character. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Macy 
lived for two years on the old homestead farm, 
and at the end of this period rented land a 
short distance east of Milton, upon which they 
lived four years, when they removed to Butler 
township, where Mr Macy bought 140 acres. 
This was in 1846, and upon this farm he and 
his family lived twenty-five years. Their chil- 
dren were Austin, Mary Ellen, Silas, Nancy, 
Sarah Jane, James, Augustus, Elmira (deceased ) , 
Annie, Laura A. and Eliza C. Mrs. Macy, 
who was a woman of many excellent traits of 
character, and who was, as Mr. Macy is, a 
member of the Christian church, died in [894. 
In politics Mr. Macy is a republican, but was 
formerly an old-line whig. During his entire 
life he has been a man of industrious habits, 
and is well known throughout the community 
in which he lives as a man of exalted character 
and sterling worth. During the late Civil 
war he was a strong Union man, and had two 
sons, Austin and Silas, in the army of the 
Union. Silas was a private soldier in com- 
pany D, Eighth Ohio cavalry, served three 
years, and participated in many of the battles 
of the. war. Austin was killed in a skirmish 
near Heckman's Bridge, in Kentucky, March 
25, 1863. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Macy married 
as follows: Mary Ellen married Eli Sinks, a 
carpenter of Dayton, Ohio, and has two chil- 
dren; Silas married Philora Beck, of Butler 
township, and has five children; Nancy mar- 
ried William Jester, a school-teacher, and died 



shortly after her marriage. She had been a 
school-teacher twelve years. Sarah Jane mar- 
ried William M. Long, a bookkeeper of Tip- 
pecanoe, and has one child. She was a school- 
teacher in Ohio twelve years. James A. mar- 
ried Mary Hoover, who died two years after 
marriage, leaving one child. Annie married 
Levi Embree, a farmer of Union township, 
and has three children. Laura Alwilda mar- 
ried C. W. Surface, of Preble county, and died 
leaving one son. Eliza Caroline married D. 
W. Embree, railroad agent in Miami county, 
and has one child. 

Silas Macy, one of the old soldiers of the 
late Civil war, and a citizen of Montgomery 
county, whose post-office is Fidelity, is a de- 
scendant of Thomas Macy. He is a son of 
George and Abigail (Pierson) Macy, and was 
born October 1, 1845, in Miami county, Ohio. 
Educated in the common schools of his day, 
which had by the time he attended them 
greatly improves! over those attended by his 
ancestors, he was better equipped than many 
of them for the battle of life. He was reared 
a farmer and has always followed that occupa- 
tion. When his country called for volunteers 
to preserve her life and integrity, he enlisted, 
February 14, 1864, at Dayton, Ohio, in com- 
pany D, Eighth Ohio cavalry, to serve three 
years or during the war, under Capt. Frank 
E. Moore. Serving until the close of the war, 
he was honorably discharged, June 1, 1865, at 
Columbus, Ohio. His service was in West 
Virginia and Kentucky, and he participated in 
the battles of Lynchburg, Liberty, Martins- 
burg, Winchester and Kernstown, a place four 
miles north of Winchester, at which place 
Gen. Sheridan made his famous ride, rallying 
his forces, and of which memorable scene Mr. 
Macy was an eye-witness. Afterward he was 
in several skirmishes, and at Beverly he, to- 
gether with 400 others, was captured on Janu- 
ary 11, 1865, the camp being taken by surprise 



920 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and surrounded by about 3,000 rebel cavalry. 
The prisoners were marched through the coun- 
try 170 miles to Staunton, Va., in the dead of 
winter, the march lasting eight days. Half- 
starved and nearly frozen, they at length 
reached Staunton, where the prisoners were 
searched, and all extra clothing, money and 
valuables taken from them. Not long after- 
ward they were placed on cattle cars, taken to 
Richmond and confined in Libby prison. In 
a few days Mr. Macy and a few others of the 
private soldiers were removed to a corner of 
Libby, called Pemberton prison, where they 
remained for thirty-six days, at the expiration 
of which time they were exchanged and sent 
to Annapolis, Md., the exchange taking place 
on Akins' Landing on the James river. 

Mr. Macy received a thirty days' furlough, 
and at its expiration returned to Camp Chase 
in April, and was there discharged. Mr. 
Macy was always an active soldier, who served 
his country faithfully and well and is justly 
proud of his record. 

After the war he resumed farming, and on 
April 29, 1 87 1, was married to Miss Philora 
Beck, who was born in Union, Ohio, April 16, 
1853. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary 
Jane (Riley) Beck, the former of whom was born 
in Maryland and came to Ohio when a single 
man. He was a shoemaker by trade and mar- 
ried Mary Jane Riley, by whom he had, three 
children, as follows: Mary Adeline, Leonida 
and Philora. Mr. Beck died at Union, Ohio, 
when seventy-eight years old. In politics he 
was a republican, and was a citizen of public 
spirit and sterling qualities. 

Ever since his marriage Silas Macy has 
lived at Fidelity, Ohio, in Butler township. 
He and his wife are the parents of the follow- 
ing children: Dorsey, Owen, Florence B., 
Earnest Clifford, Dora Aletta and Mary Alice. 
In politics he is a republican and has held the 
offices of pike commissioner and supervisor. 



He is a member of Austin Macy post, No. 671, 
G. A. R., of Union, Ohio, and has filled all 
the offices up to that of commander. He is 
recognized as one of the influential and valua- 
ble citizens of the county. 

Austin Macy, brother of Silas, was born 
in Union county, in March, 1841. Educated 
in the common schools, he was reared to the 
practical life of a farmer. As a private sol- 
dier he entered the three-years' service during 
the late Civil war, becoming a member of 
company D, Forty-fourth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, under Capt. Tully. After participating 
in many battles he was killed in April, 1863, 
at Heckman's Bridge, while taking part in a 
skirmish, and his memory is cherished by all 
that knew him and that love their country. 



^Y'OHN CARROLL, of Chambersburg, 
m Ohio, one of the old soldiers of the late 
/» 1 Civil war, is descended from an old 
colonial family of Maryland, a branch 
of the famous family of that name. Charles 
Carroll of Carrollton, who was one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
belonged to a branch of the same family. 

John Carroll was born in Butler township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, August 31, 1831. 
Having received a good common-school educa- 
tion, he was bound out in November, 1844, 
to Rev. John Berkner, a United Brethren 
minister, who soon afterward removed to Illi- 
nois. Young Carroll lived with him until he was 
eighteen years old. He enlisted at Ransas, 111., 
in August, 1 861, in company H, Fifty-ninth 
Illinois volunteer infantry, for three years or 
during the war, and was honorably discharged 
at Whiteside Station, Tenn., December 31, 
1863, by reason of re-enlisting as a vet- 
eran in the same organization, also to serve 
for three years or during the war. He was 
honorably discharged the second time at New 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY, 



921 



Braunsfield, Tex., December 8, 1S65, by 
reason of the close of the war. He served in 
all four years and five months, and was in the 
battles of Pea Ridge, siege of Corinth, Bay 
Springs, Miss.; Perryville, Stone River, Chick- 
amauga, Chattanooga, Wild Cat Mountain, 
Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ring- 
gold, Ga.; Rocky Faced Ridge or Buzzard 
Roost Mountain, Resaca, Dallas, and Kenesaw 
Mountain. His regiment was the first of 
Sherman's army to enter Marietta, Ga. , he 
himself being the first Union soldier to set 
foot in that place. He was in the battle in 
front of Atlanta, also at Lovejoy station, and 
returned with Gen. Thomas to Tennessee, 
fighting at Columbia, Duck River, Franklin 
and the second battle of Nashville, thus mak- 
ing a fine record. Mr. Carroll was in all the 
campaigns, marches, battles and skirmishes 
in which his regiment was engaged, and was 
wounded at the battle of Lookout Mountain, 
being shot in the hand, and in consequence 
lay in the hospital nine days. Always an act- 
ive soldier, he performed his whole duty to 
his country promptly and cheerfully. 

After the war Mr. Carroll returned to Illi- 
nois, being mustered out at Springfield, January 

15, 1866. Then returning to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, he settled down at Chambers- 
burg, and married on January 25, 1866, Miss 
Margaret A. Kennedy, who was born August 

16, 1826, on the farm on which she and her 
husband now live. She is a daughter of Will- 
iam and Martha (Sloan 1 Kennedy. William 
Kennedy was born March 25, 1783, and was a 
son of Gilbert and Isabel (Snody) Kennedy, the 
Kennedy family being of Scotch-Irish stock, 
and an old Pennsylvania family of the days be- 
fore the Revolutionary war. Gilbert Kennedy 
was a farmer of Cumberland county, Pa., and 
by his wife had the following children: Joseph, 
William, Margaret and Mary. 

Gilbert Kennedy removed with his family 



to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1804, settling 
in the Stillwater valley, where he died an aged 
man. William Kennedy came with the family 
in 1804, when he was twenty-one years old, 
settled in Butler township, and married Martha 
Sloan, who was born in Pennsylvania and who 
was a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Ramage) 
Sloan. 

John Sloan, father of Mrs. Kennedy, was 
a farmer in Pennsylvania, and upon coming to 
Ohio settled first in Steubenville. Afterward 
he removed to Montgomery county, where he 
entered 160 acres of land, in Butler township, 
and became a well-to-do and influential citizen. 
His children were Martin, Jane, Mary, Eye- 
bright, Margaret, John and William. Mr. 
Sloan lived to be an old man, dying sometime 
in the 'sixties. His wife was struck by light- 
ning and died therefrom in 1832. 

Mr. Kennedy, after his marriage, settled on 
the farm on which John Carroll now lives. 
He entered this land in 1805, and his deed is 
signed by President James Madison. In 1S12 
he became surveyor of Montgomery county, 
and in 18 18 he was elected justice of the peace, 
serving eight years. In the winter of 1812 
and 1 8 1 3 he surveyed a road from Eaton, 
Ohio, to Vincennes, Ind., notwithstanding 
trouble was anticipated with the Indians, who 
were numerous and hostile. While engaged 
in this survey his party saw no white men be- 
tween Eaton, Preble county, and a point 
within five miles of Vincennes, when they 
reached a French settlement. 

Mr. Kennedy was a prominent man in 
Montgomery county. His children were : 
Joseph, who died when fifteen years of age; 
Jane, who died in 1847; James, who died in 
1863; and Margaret A. In politics Mr. Ken- 
nedy was a Jacksonian democrat. He lived 
to be seventy-five years old, dying in October, 
1858, on his farm, leaving an honored name. 

After his marriage Mr. Carroll settled on 



922 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the old homestead, on which he still lives. He 
is vet a great sufferer from the wounds he 
received in the army. At the battle of New 
Hope Church he was shot in the left side, the 
ball being stopped by a silver half dollar he had 
in his pocket. On July 4, 1864, on Chatta- 
hoochie river, a ball struck the U. S. plate on 
his shoulder strap and slightly wounded him. 
Mr. and Mrs. Carroll are members of the 
Christian church at Chambersburg. Politic- 
ally Mr. Carroll is a republican. Mrs. Car- 
roll is secretary of the woman's relief corps 
of Milton Weaver post. 



aHARLES CROOK, a member of one 
of the most distinguished families of 
the Buckeye state, and a prominent 
citizen of Wayne township, Mont- 
gomery county, was born October 17, 1830,' 
on the parental homestead, and is of Scotch- 
German origin. 

Thomas Crook, his father, was born in 
Baltimore count)', Md., in November, 1788, 
and was the third of the name in the family by 
direct descent in America, his ancestors having 
come from Scotland to the colonies at a date 
too remote for remembrance. He was a tan- 
ner by trade, and served in the war of 18 12. 
He married, February 4, 18 12, Elizabeth 
Mathews, a native of Maryland and a daughter 
of John and Catharine Mathews, who were 
the parents of three children — Elizabeth, John 
and Elias — all of whom became residents of 
Montgomery county, Ohio. After residing 
two years in Maryland, where their first child, 
Elizabeth, was born February 18, 181 3, 
Thomas Crook, in 1S14, brought his wife and 
child to Ohio and settled on the east bank 
of the Miami river in what is now Wayne 
township, Montgomery county, the tract being 
entirely in the woods. Here, in due course of 
time, he built a two-story log house, which is 



still standing, cleared a fine farm, and here all 
his children, except the eldest, were born and 
reared — the sons, as they grew in strength, 
assisting in the development of the original 
homestead. These children were born in the 
following order : Maria, Catherine, Oliver, 
John, Thomas. Jr., Walter, James, George 
and Charles. The father of this family was a 
good manager, practical, industrious and well- 
informed. He accumulated 340 acres of excel- 
lent land, the most of which he improved, 
although he suffered from the inconvenience of 
having broken his right thigh-bone by an acci- 
dent; he was a justice of the peace for many 
years, and was otherwise prominent in the 
affairs of his township. In politics he was first 
a whig and afterward a republican, and re- 
tained his mental faculties until the end, hav- 
ing read the daily paper the day prior to his 
death, which took place January 11, 1875, at 
the age of eighty-six years, six months and 
twelve days. Thomas Crook's name will go 
down to posterity as the father of several chil- 
dren who have shed a luster upon Wayne town- 
ship through the prominence they received 
in civil and military life, and of his sons special 
but brief mention may be made as follows : 

Dr. Oliver Crook reached eminence as one 
of the most skillful and successful physicians of 
Dayton. He married, in 1848, Sarah Traple, 
of Brooklyn, N., Y. , to which union were born 
Lida, Maria, Eveline, Oliver and George. 
The doctor died May 28, 1873, aged fifty-four 
years, six months and fourteen days. 

Dr. Thomas Crook, a well-known practi- 
tioner in Montgomery county, Ohio, and in In- 
diana, married Lucy A. Worst, became the fa- 
ther of three children — Oliver, Maria Annie 
and Goldie, and died December 20, 1881, aged 
fifty-nine years, three months and one day. 

Dr. James Crook practiced medicine for 
some years in Dayton, in partnership with his 
brother, Dr. Oliver, made a fine reputation, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



923 



and died unmarried in 1856, at the age of 
twenty-nine years, two months and twenty- 
three days. 

Gen. George Crook, who so distinguished 
himself during the Civil war and also made his 
name great as an Indian fighter, was appointed 
to West Point by Hon. Robert C. Schenck, 
and graduated July 1, 1852. He married Miss 
Mary Daily, of Virginia, and died in Chicago, 
111., March 22, 1890. His military record, a 
matter of history, is familiar to the people of 
the county of Montgomery as well as to the 
entire country, and need not be repeated here. 

Capt. Walter Crook, yet living, raised a 
company of volunteers at the commencement 
of the Civil war, served in the Seventy-fourth 
Ohio infantry, and was a gallant soldier. He 
married Miss Martha J. Bates. He has served 
as treasurer of his township and one term as 
state senator. 

Of the other children born to Thomas 
Crook, John, a tailor by trade, died unmarried; 
Catherine was married to Thomas Ater, and 
died May 6, 1891; Maria was married to Sam- 
uel Sullivan, November 4, 1S32, bore eight 
children — Thomas, Martha, Elizabeth, James, 
John, Theodore, Oliver and George — and died 
May 11, 1884; Elizabeth was married January 
10, 1839, to Dr. Adam Koogler, bore three 
children — William, Mary A. and Ellen J. — 
and died February 9, 1844. 

Charles Crook, with whose name this mem- 
oir is opened, was educated in the common 
schools of Wayne township, one of his pre- 
ceptors having been 'Squire Henry Cuppy, 
whose biography will be found on another page 
of this volume. December 2 1, 1 854, Mr. Crook 
married, in Butler township, Miss Eliza A. 
Booher, who was born December 18, 1836, a 
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Combes) 
Booher, whose family history may also be found 
on another page. It may be added, however, 
that Samuel Booher was a native of Pennsyl- 



vania and was but six years of age when he 
came to Ohio with his parents. He grew to 
manhood in Butler township, Montgomery 
county, married, for his first wife, Mary Beard- 
shear, who bore him five children, and after 
her death, married Elizabeth Combes, to which 
latter union were born Eliza A., Martha J., 
David, Jacob, Samuel, Henry, Ellen and John. 
To the marriage of Charles and Eliza A. Crook 
have been born three children, viz: Laura E., 
wife of James Templeton; Charles W. , de- 
ceased, and Thomas Theodore, who lives on 
the parental farm of 186 acres. 



^j' ACOB SMITH, one of the early settlers 
fl of Butlertownship, Montgomery county, 
(% 1 Ohio, is a son of one of the first of the 
pioneers of Dayton. He is of an ancient 
North Carolina family which was of German 
origin, his grandfather having been born in 
Germany, and having come to this country and 
settled in North Carolina, where he lived for 
many years. 

Henry Smith, father of Jacob, was born in 
Stokes county, N. C, in 1795. When he was 
eighteen years of age he packed up his small 
possessions in a hand sachel and came to Ohio, 
settling in Dayton. At this time, in 181-3, 
Col. Reed was the landlord of Newcom tavern, 
and for him Henry went to work as a hostler, 
also performing any kind of work about the vil- 
lage that he could find to do. He remained in 
Dayton six years and then went to Springboro, 
Warren county, Ohio, where he worked on a 
farm for one year. At Springboro he married 
Elizabeth Deardorff, a daughter of Jacob and 
Elizabeth Deardorff, who were of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock. Jacob Deardorff was a pioneer 
farmer of Warren county, and served for many- 
years as justice of the peace, coming from 
Pennsylvania at an early day. His children 
were : Jacob, John, Abner, Gregory, Eliza- 



924 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



beth and Margaret. Mr. Deardorff was an old 
Regular Baptist in religion, and was deacon in 
his church for many years. He died when 
about seventy-three years of age and his wife 
when she was ninety-one years old. 

Henry Smith and wife settled the next 
spring after their marriage on a lot at the 
corner of Wayne and Third streets, Dayton, 
Ohio, which was then all covered over with 
timber. Here he built a log cabin, and for 
one year worked at such labor as presented 
itself. He then took out his papers for six- 
teen acres of land four miles out on the New 
Troy pike, where he erected a log cabin in the 
woods. The next spring he and his wife re- 
moved to their new home, and he engaged 
himself industriously in clearing up the land, 
and by thrift and good management, working 
his little farm and burning charcoal, which he 
hauled to Dayton, he prospered. Adding to 
his land from time to time, he finally owned 
800 acres, and became one of the most sub- 
stantial farmers of the county. 

Mr. Smith and his wife were the parents of 
the following children: Hannah, Jacob, John, 
Benjamin, Mary J., Margaret, William H., 
Ellen, Franklin and James W. The parents 
were members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and in politics Mr. Smith was an old- 
line whig in his early days, later in life becom- 
ing a republican. During the late Civil war he 
was a strong Union man, and had four sons in 
the army, viz: William, Franklin, James and 
Jacob, all in Ohio regiments. William served 
one year and was discharged because he was 
wounded by a shell at Chickamauga. Frank- 
lin was second lieutenant in the First Ohio 
volunteer infantry, served three years and was 
in many battles, among them Pittsburg Land- 
ing. James was in the one hundred days' 
service. 

Jacob Smith was born on the home farm 
September 24, 1826, and was educated in the 



poor common schools of his boyhood days. 
He began early to work on the farm, clearing 
the land, holding the plow, and leading the 
life of toil of the pioneer. On March 23, 
1847, he married, in Wayne township, 
Rosanna Lowrey, who was born February 24, 
1828, and was a daughter of James and Nancy 
(Stoker) Lowrey. James Lowrey was a pioneer 
settler of Wayne township, was born in Ken- 
tucky about 1788, and came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, with his parents. He died in 
1835, when but forty-seven years old. His 
children were as follows: Elizabeth, William, 
Catherine, Sarah, Grace, James, David and 
Rosanna. The Lowrey family was a highly 
respected one, and most of its members be- 
longed to the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Three days after their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Smith settled on the farm on which they 
they now live. It then consisted of fifty acres 
of land, which he bought of his father. This 
he cleared and at length purchased the remain- 
der of the tract, and then had 160 acres, 
which he much improved in every way, but 
especially by the erection of good buildings. 
His children were as follows : Henry, George, 
Catherine, Belle, Arthur, Lorena, Lewis K. 
and Elmer. Mrs. Smith was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and died January 
23. 1893. 

Politically Mr. Smith is a republican. 
Enlisting at Chambersburg, Ohio, May 10, 
1864, he afterward became second lieutenant 
of company E, One Hundred and Thirty-first 
Ohio volunteer infantry. His company was 
consolidated with another company, and he, 
losing his commission, resigned. As a repub- 
lican and a capable citizen, Mr. Smith served 
his party as township trustee for eleven years, 
and as justice of the peace eighteen months. 
He also served as a member of the school 
board twenty-two years. Four of his sons 
are living in Dayton, Ohio. 




&;fi.J(6~ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



927 



aHARLES R. ALLEN, deceased, for- 
merly a prominent business man of 
Miami township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born in what is now known 
as Cassville, Ocean (then a part of Monmouth) 
county, N. J., August 25, 1828. The Allen 
family is of Scotch origin, and of prolonged 
American genealogy, John Allen, the grand- 
father of Charles R., having been a son of 
William and Susan Allen, of New Jersey. 
John Allen married a Miss Haley, and from 
this old family the greater part of the Aliens 
of New Jersey descends. John Allen and wife 
lived at Prospertown, Ocean county, N. J., 
where all their children were born. After the 
children grew to maturity and were married, 
the parents moved to Goshen (now Cassville), 
Ocean county, where they lived the remainder 
of their lives. Their remains were buried 
side by side in the Methodist cemetery of 
that place. 

Charles R. Allen was a son of Isaiah and 
Rebecca (Rouse) Allen, who came to Ohio in 
1833, and located in Warren county, in what 
was known as the Jersey settlement, but in 
1840 removed to Miami township, Montgom- 
ery county, where for several years the father 
was engaged in farming and milling, but later 
in life removed to Miami county, where he 
died, near Piqua, a highly respected citizen. 
The children born to Isaiah and Rebecca Allen 
were named in order of dirth, as follows: 
Mary (Mrs. Dr. Isaac Treon), Charles R., 
Firman, John, Abram (who died in the de- 
fense of his country in the Civil war), Joseph, 
and Josephine (Mrs. William Bland). 

Charles R. Allen was married June 10, 
1852, to Elizabeth Hoover, daughter of 
David H. and Catherine (Houtz) Hoover, to 
which union were born three children, Elwood, 
David H., and Kate (Mrs. Arthur Weaver). 
Mr. Allen enlisted, in 1 861, in the One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, 
37 



of which he was, by the voice of the regiment, 
chosen major; but, the reginent being merged 
with another, it became necessary to "draw 
cuts" to ascertain whether the rank should fall 
to him or to the major of the other regiment, 
and in this contest for position Maj. Allen was 
defeated. Like a true soldier, however, Mr. 
Allen fell into the ranks and went to the front, 
and took a gallant part until the close of the 
war, acting a portion of the time in the capac- 
ity of sutler — a position which none but a sol- 
dier can fully understand — until honorably dis- 
charged. Returning to his home, at the close 
of the war, Maj. Allen engaged in the grocery 
and general commission business at the old 
canal basin, in which business he held an in- 
terest until 1866, when he became a member 
of the firm of Hoover & Co., with which he 
was connected until his death, which occurred 
June 12, 1876. He was a faithful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and as a 
Freemason had attained the degree of Knight 
Templar; in politics he was a republican, and 
as such served as city councilman, as township 
trustee, and as a member of the board of edu- 
cation. He died an honored citizen and left, 
as a precious heritage to his famity, an honor- 
able name. 

David H. Allen, second child of Maj. 
Charles R. Allen and wife, was born in Miami 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, August 
6, 1859, and, after passing through the minor 
public schools of Miamisburg, graduated from 
the high school in 1879; he then took a special 
course at the Stevens institute of technology, 
in Hoboken, N. J., acquiring both a theoret- 
ical and practical knowledge of the mechanical 
arts, and after his graduation returned to Mi- 
amisburg, and has ever since been identified 
with the manufacturing interests of this thriv- 
ing young city. Since 1891 he has been con- 
nected with the Acme Folding Boat company, 
which is engaged in the production of a boat 



ifJS 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



invented by himself, with the co-operation of 
W. H. Gamble. This boat has already won 
for itself and inventors a world-wide reputa- 
tion and is in constant demand on account of 
its portableness for overland transportation 
and for economical storage. Mr. Allen was 
one of the incorporators of the first twine fac- 
tory in Miamisburg, has been stockholder in 
all the twine factories subsequently established, 
and is now a member of the Miamisburg Twine 
& Cordage company; he is also a stockholder 
and director in the Kauffman Buggy company, 
a stockholder in the Bookwalter Wheel works, 
and a director in the Citizens' National bank. 
He is thoroughly a business man and an in- 
ventor far above mediocrity, being now the 
owner of some valuable patents, the result of 
his creative genius. 

The marriage of David H. Allen was sol- 
emnized October 1 1, 1 893, with Alberta Gray, 
daughter of Henry C. and Elizabeth (Dick) 
Gray, of Hamilton, Ohio, the union being 
blessed with two children, Donald Gray, who 
died August 26, 1896, and Charles Henry. 
Mr. Allen and wife are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church and live in strict con- 
formance with its discipline; in his fraternal 
relations he is a Knight Templar, and has at- 
tained the thirty-second degree, in Freemasonry 
(the thirty-third being the highest that this 
ancient order confers), and he is also adjutant 
of the Fourth regiment, Ohio brigade, uniform 
rank, Knights of Pythias. In his politics Mr. 
Allen treads in the footsteps of his respected 
father, being a republican to the core. 



**S~\ EV. CHRISTOPHER ALBRECHT 

I /*^ (deceased) was born in the grand 

P duchy of Baden, Germany, March io, 

1824, a son of Andrew and Catherine 

Albrecht. In 1833 he came to America with 

his parents, landing in Baltimore, Md., whence 



the family came to Ohio and settled in Tiffin. 
There young Christopher passed his early 
years, and while still a youth, after having 
been instructed in the doctrines of Christianity, 
was received by confirmation into full com- 
munion with the Evangelical Lutheran church. 
He was educated, primarily, in Tiffin, when, 
being impressed with the idea that it was his 
duty to become a minister of the gospel, he 
entered upon a course of literary and theolog- 
ical instruction at the Capital university, of 
Columbus, Ohio. He was a diligent and ar- 
dent student, and graduated with high honors. 
He was ordained in 1843, and entered at once 
upon the active discharge of his duties as a 
minister of the Evangelical Lutheran church, 
and most ably filled five different pastoral 
charges in the state of Ohio, namely : The 
Amanda charge in Fairfield county, which 
comprised four congregations, for five years ; 
the Thornville charge, Perry county, in 1 848 
and 1849 ; the Circleville charge, in Pickaway 
county, for six months ; the Miamisburg 
charge, which at first included a few outside 
congregations, from April 1, i860, until April 
1, 1883, a period of twenty-three years, and, 
lastly, the Salem Lutheran church at Ellerton, 
Montgomery county, from August, 1883, until 
the close of his life, his death, which occurred 
in his sixty-third year, being sudden and 
caused by paralysis. 

Rev. Mr. Albrecht was twice married, his 
first wife having been a Miss Conrad, who bore 
him one son, Luther M., now deceased. His 
second marriage was with Miss Julia A.Wagen- 
hals, daughter of Rev. John Wagenhals, of 
Lancaster, Ohio, and to this union were born 
the following children : John W., William 
H., Philip, Julia (Mrs. Ralph Dutcher), Mag- 
gie (Mrs. John Schell), George and Mary C. 
(Mrs. Granville Shade). 

Rev. Christopher Albrecht possessed fine 
natural endowments and an inquiring and pene- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



929 



trating mind, and improved these gifts by dili- 
gent and persevering study. He was, there- 
fore, a divine of scholarly attainments, well 
informed in matters theological, an eloquent 
declaimer, and of fine executive ability. He 
was an efficient worker in his sacred office, 
held a prominent place in ecclesiastical organ- 
izations, and in the business transactions of 
his church often served on important com- 
mittees. He was well fitted in all respects for 
thorough work in the pulpit and out of it, and 
as a pastor his ministry was one of unqualified 
success and usefulness. 



<>^VHILIP M. ACKERET, general elec- 

E 9 trician and superintendent of the 

Miamisburg electric light plant, was 

born at Mount Eaton, Wayne county, 

Ohio, August 19, 1865, a son of Rev. John 

and Mary B. (Wise) Ackeret, both natives of 

Germany, the former of whom was a minister 

of the German Reformed church, and died at 

Millersburg, Ohio, in 1869, his son, Philip M., 

being then but four years of age. 

Philip M. Ackeret was reared in Millers- 
burg and received his earlier education in that 
city, chiefly in the public schools. March 6, 
1889, he graduated from the International 
business college of Altoona, Pa., and for four 
months following was employed as book- 
keeper by a business firm of the same city; 
later he served in the same capacity for a 
wholesale and retail house in Pittsburg, Pa. 
In 1890 he returned to Ohio, and for two 
years was employed as inspector for the Lima 
Electric Light & Power company; from Lima 
he went to Delphos, where he resuscitated the 
electric light plant; he was next employed by 
the electric light company of Winchester, Ind., 
as superintendent and general manager of its 
electrical and mechanical apparatus, and filled 
this responsible position for two years; in 



August, 1893, he located in Miamisburg, 
where he has since been the trusted superin- 
tendent and efficient electrician of the electric 
light company. 

August 28, 1890, Mr. Ackeret was united 
in marriage with Phebe Maurer, daughter of 
John Maurer, of Lima, Ohio, the union being 
blessed with one son, Mifflin J. In his relig- 
ious affiliations Mr. Ackeret is a member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his 
fraternal relations is a Freemason and a 
Knight of Pythias. He is conceded to be one 
of the best practical electricians in the state of 
Ohio, and his devotion to his calling has se- 
cured for him a high standing with many ob- 
servant members of other corporations beside 
those by which he has been employed. 



eLLWOOD ALLEN, one of the enter- 
prising and energetic young business 
men of Miamisburg, wks born in 
Miami township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, December 31, 1854. He is a son of 
Charles R. and Elizabeth (Hoover) Allen, of 
whom a full genealogical and biographical 
memoir is printed in close connection with this 
sketch, and further mention will be found in 
the history of the life of David H. Allen, a 
younger brother of Ellwood, attached to the 
biography of the late Charles R. 

Ellwood Allen received a good English 
education in the schools of Miamisburg, and, 
at eighteen years of age, entered the foundry 
and machine shops of Hoover & Company, 
where he was fully instructed, within a year, 
in the practical use of iron-working tools and 
taught the trade of a machinist. He next en- 
gaged in the grocery business for a year, and 
then, in 1879, re-entered the employ of the 
Hoover company and acted as shipping clerk 
until 1883, when, as a capitalist, he entered 
upon a broader field of business enterprise, in- 



930 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



vesting a part of his means in numerous insti- 
tutions of industry that have resulted in the de- 
velopment of the city of Miamisburg and the 
increase of its population. He is a stockholder 
in all the companies of which mention is made 
in the sketch of the life of his younger brother, 
including an interest in the Citizens' National 
bank, and additional interest or stock in the 
First National bank — both of Miamisburg. 

Mr. Allen is also the owner of a fine stock 
farm, four miles from Miamisburg, on which 
he finds time to devote attention to the breed- 
ing of Poland-China hogs and Shropshire 
sheep, as well as other choice strains of live 
stock. Beside his stockholding and director- 
ship in the various industrial corporations al- 
luded to in the sketch of his brother, Ellwood 
Allen is also vice-president of the Kauffman 
Buggy company, treasurer of the Miamisburg 
Building & Loan association, senior member 
of the firm of Allen & Ressler, and a member 
of the Tivoli Land & Fruit company of Georgia. 

In his secret society relations Mr. Allen is 
a thirty-second degree Freemason, beyond 
which degree very few Masons care to advance. 
As a member of the city council of Miamisburg 
he did faithful duty for six years, having been 
elected to the office by the republican party, 
of which he is a stanch member. His marriage 
was consummated November 16, 1889, with 
May Belle, daugher of George A. and Sally 
(Mullendore) Mutz, of Edinburg, Ind. 



aHARLES BAUM (deceased), late pro- 
prietor of the Baum house, Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, was born in Rhinefaltz, 
Germany, February 2, 1852, a son 
of Philip and Caroline (Retterbach) Baum, 
and was the third child of a family of five sons 
and two daughters. In 1869 he came to 
America and for about one year resided in New 
York city, in the fall of 1S70 he came to Ohio 



and located in Miamisburg; from 1874 to 1878 
he conducted the Miami house for Mrs. Dr. 
John Treon; in the interval, in 1875, he pur- 
chased the lot on which the Baum house now 
stands, began the erection of his hotel in 1877, 
opened it to the public in February, 1878, and 
at once met with a pronounced success, secur- 
ing for the place a reputation which has never 
since diminished. In the winter of 1884-85, 
he erected the Star City opera house, with a 
seating capacity for 800 persons, one of the 
first built in the state for a town of the size of 
Miamisburg. He was, in fact, one of the 
most enterprising business men that ever lived 
in Miamisburg, and his death was a great loss 
to the community, viewed even from the ma- 
terial standpoint alone. 

February 11, 1873, Mr. Baum was united 
in marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Henry 
and Dorothea (Schmerz) Schneider, of Hesse 
Cassel, Germany, and the marriage was blessed 
with eleven children, seven of whom still sur- 
vive, viz: William, Julia, George, Kate, Jen- 
nie, Lewis and Charles. The death of the 
honored father of this family took place Janu- 
ary 22, 1895, and since that lamentable event 
the Baum house has been conducted by his 
widow, who has fully maintained its high 
reputation. 

Probably no name was more widely known 
or was oftener on the lips of the people than 
that of Charley Baum, either as proprietor of 
the Baum house or of the opera house, and his 
acquaintance extended throughout Ohio and 
adjoining states, and yet he was personally 
known to but comparatively few of the resi- 
dents of Miamisburg, as he never left his hotel, 
except to make a brief trip to his bank once a 
month, and this covered the extent of his ap- 
pearance on the streets. This close attention 
to his business was undoubtedly one of the 
hastening causes of his early death. He was 
a man of genial and ob'iging disposition and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



931 



was possessed of indefatigable energy and in- 
dustry, which never tired in making his guests 
happy and comfortable, and from these he 
made hosts of friends. He was always best 
pleased when adding means for the accommo- 
dation of his guests, or when adding to or build- 
ing on his large landed property. His great 
energy and devotion to business were so no- 
table that the remark was frequently made by 
those capable of judging, that the possession 
of these qualities, coupled with his native 
abilities, would have made him one of the 
greatest of merchants, had he embarked in 
mercantile trade in his earlier youth. 



y^^EORGE W. BEACHLER, a suc- 
■ Cj\ cessful business man of Miamisburg, 
^k^J was born in Jackson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohic, February 19, 
1832, and is a son of Jacob and Mary M. 
(Weaver) Beachler, both of whom were na- 
tives of Pennsylvania. His paternal grand- 
father, Henry Beachler, was originally from 
Lancaster county, Pa., but became a pioneer 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, settling in Ger- 
man township, where he cleared and improved 
a farm and where he lived the rest of his life. 
His children were as follows: Henry; Chris- 
tiana, wife of Conrad Iser; Adam, Jacob, Peter, 
George, John, and Mrs. Peter Weaver. 

Jacob Beachler, father of George Wash- 
ington, came with his parents to Montgomery 
county, they settling in German township. 
In early manhood he removed to Jackson 
township, where he engaged in farming until 
his death. His wife, Mary M. Weaver, was 
a daughter of Jacob and Margaret (Gebhart) 
Weaver, who settled in Miami township in 
1805. She bore him seven children, as follows: 
William; Jonathan; Magdalena, wife of George 
Stine; Mary, wife of Daniel Peffley; George 
W. ; Jacob, and Sarah, wife of John A. Recher. 



George W. Beachler was reared on the 
homestead in Jackson township, was educated 
in the common schools, and afterward in the 
National Normal university, at Lebanon, Ohio, 
in which he prepared for teaching. Beginning 
life for himself as a teacher, he followed that 
vocation for eight years. In the spring of 
1864 he located in Miamisburg and established 
himself in the grocery business, at which he 
continued seventeen years, and at the end of 
this time engaged in the sewing machine, gun 
and fishing-tackle business, in which he has 
ever since been successfully employed. In 
1892 he added a bicycle department to his 
store, and in this branch has built up an ex- 
tensive trade. 

Mr. Beachler has been twice married; first, 
in 1856, to Catherine Heitman, of Miamisburg; 
who bore him four children, as follows: Mary, 
Charles W., George Monroe and Laura. His 
second marriage was with Elizabeth N. Ney, 
who was born in Pennsylvania, coming to 
Ohio in early womanhood. Mrs. Beachler is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Mr. Beachler also is an attendant and sup- 
porter of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
for many years has conducted the Sunday- 
school Bible class. In politics he has always 
been a strong and consistent republican, and 
is know as a man of integrity, uprightness and 
honor. 



'^•j'ULIUS F. ALLEN, an accomplished 
C machinist and a member of the Frank- 
/• 1 lin Electric & Manufacturing company, 
was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, De- 
cember 20, 1856, a son of Firman and Louisa 
(Plate) Allen. His paternal grandfather, 
Isaiah Allen, was a native of New Jersey, and 
a pioneer farmer and miller of Miami town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, and his 
maternal grandfather, John F. Plate, a native 



932 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of Germany, married Miss Eliza Craft, and 
later became one of the pioneer merchants of 
Miamisburg, Ohio. 

Firman Allen, father of Julius F., was reared 
in Miamisburg, and, while a miller by trade, 
passed the greater part of his life in farming. 
To his marriage with Miss Plate were born 
three children, viz: Cora P. (Mrs. Thomas J. 
Kauffman), Julius F. and Walter S. 

Julius F. Allen was educated in the public 
schools of Miamisburg and was well grounded 
in the elements of a sound English education. 
Beginning in 1872, he served an appren- 
ticeship of three years at the machinist's trade 
with Hoover & Gamble, and then worked as a 
journeyman up to April, 1896, when, being an 
expert mechanician, he became a member of 
the Franklin Electric & Manufacturing com- 
pany and has since been the efficient superin- 
tendent of the mechanical operations of this 
extensive industry. 

The marriage of Mr. Allen occurred June 4, 
1885, with Miss Joanna Emley, a daughter of 
James and Susannah (Mullendore) Emley, re- 
spected residents of Miami township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Allen are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and their social relations 
are most excellent. In politics Mr. Allen is a 
republican, and fraternally he is a member of 
the Knights of Honor. As a machinist he has 
few equals, and it may safely be asserted that 
he has no superior in his native town. 



*y * ENRY BEACHLER, a progressive 

j"^ farmer of Randolph township, and a 

r son of one of the early pioneers, 

sprang from sterling German ancestry. 

His grandfather, John Beachler, who came 

from Germany and settled in Pennsylvania, 

had one son, John, who was born in Lancaster 

county, Pa., in 1796, near Reading. He was 

educated in the common schools, and married, 



in Lancaster county, Pa., Barbara Stein, a 
native of that county. Mr. and Mrs. Beachler 
were the parents of eight children, as follows : 
William ; Mary ; George ; John ; Katie, who 
died at the age of seventeen ; one other that 
died quite young ; Henry and Daniel. The 
first four were born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
the others in Montgomery county, Ohio. Mr. 
Beachler came to Ohio in 1834 or 1835, and 
here worked at his trade of blacksmith for a 
short time, when he purchased 144 acres of 
land, in Madison township, which his son, 
Henry Beachler, now owns. The most of this 
land he cleared from the woods, making of it 
a well-cultivated and profitable farm. A hard- 
working and industrious man, John Beachler 
was a representative of the reliable farming 
class upon whom so much of our prosperity 
depends. He was a member of the Lutheran 
church. By thrift and honest industry he ac- 
cumulated money and property and was always 
ready to aid his neighbors and friends. He 
lived to be eighty-five years old, and died in 
Phillipsburg, at the home of his son, William, 
while there on a visit. 

Henry Beachler, son of John, was born 
January 25, 1840, on his father's farm in Mad- 
ison township. He was brought up on the 
farm, received his education in the district 
schools, and on March 25, 1864, when he was 
twenty-four years of age, he married Matilda 
Bowser, who was born in February, 1846. 
She is a daughter of Henry and Catherine 
( Long) Bowser, the former of whom was born 
in Montgomery county, and was a son of one 
of the earliest settlers of that county. Henry 
Bowser's children were as follows : Mary, 
Elizabeth, John, Kate, Matilda and William. 
Mr. Bowser was a member of the German 
Baptist church, a man of integrity of charac- 
ter, well known for many miles around, and 
died on his farm when sixty-four years of age. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Beachler 




^ 



(jje^Ki^y PvS&&/£t 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



933 



settled on the Beachler homestead, of which 
they still own forty-two acres, and in addition 
to this Mr. Beachler has purchased 125 acres 
and now owns 167 acres of good farming land, 
which he has greatly improved. He has 
always been a careful and industrious farmer, 
and an upright man. To him and his wife 
there have been born the following children : 
Catherine ; Barbara A., who died at the age 
of eleven years ; Sarah B. ; Cora ; Ida, who 
died at the age of nineteen years ; Lizzie ; 
Bertha ; Jesse and Agnes. Mr. Beachler pos- 
sesses strict integrity of character, is honest 
and reliable in his dealings with men, and is a 
member of the German Baptist church. Re- 
alizing the value of truth and probity in each 
man's everyday life, he is bringing up his chil- 
dren to appreciate the value of these qualities. 



EENRY BECKER, a well-known and 
substantial farmer of Randolph town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, is 
descended from an old Pennsylvania- 
German family, united with Swiss stock. 

John Becker, his great-grandfather, was 
born on the Atlantic ocean, the father of John 
being, in fact, the founder of the family in 
America. John Becker, the grandfather of 
Henry, was born in Bedford county, Pa., was 
reared a miller, lived awhile in Lancaster 
county, and married a Miss Snowbarger ; of 
the children born to this marriage the follow- 
ing named grew to maturity : John, Jacob, 
Samuel, Andrew, Henry, David, Elizabeth, 
Nancy and Maria. In 18 15 their father 
brought his family to Ohio, and in June ar- 
rived in Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, settling on the farm now partly owned 
by Henry Becker. With Mr. Becker came 
William Hart and family, the latter compris- 
ing Mrs. Hart, their son Henry, and daughters 
Rebecca, Catherine, and Eve, all born in 



Lancaster county, Pa. Mr. Becker bought 
section No. 4, on which was a small clearing 
and a log cabin, and Mr. Hart bought section 
No. 5. Mr. Becker bought his section from 
several parties, and for a portion of it paid as 
high as $10 per acre, and on this land he died 
at the age of sixty-six years. 

John Becker, father of Henry, was born in 
Bedford county, moved with his father to Lan- 
caster county, Pa. , and came with him to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, where, in i8i5,he 
married Rebecca Hart, daughter of William 
Hart, alluded to above, and settled on the 
land bought by his father, clearing 103 acres, 
and also bought land in Darke and Shelby 
counties. He died at about the age of sixty- 
six years, a member of the Lutheran church, 
of which his wife was likewise a member. In 
politics he was a democrat, had served as 
township trustee, and was a well-known and 
esteemed citizen. His children were named 
Henry, David, Abraham, Annie and Rebecca. 

Henry Becker, son of John and Rebecca 
(Hart) Becker, was born on his father's farm 
in Randolph township May 13, 18 16, and ac- 
quired a very fair education in a subscription 
school, taught in a frontier log cabin in the 
neighborhood. He was reared to the hard 
work of the farm, and also assisted his father 
in a saw-mill which had been erected on this 
land in the year of his birth. Henry began 
work in this mill at the age of thirteen years, 
and has always made its operation his chief 
business, the mill being now on his home farm. 
Here, in his early days, were sawed huge 
black walnut logs four feet through, and also 
the great poplars and oaks of the virgin forest. 

Henry Becker was united in marriage, Jan- 
uary 16, 1840, in Darke county, Ohio, to Miss 
Sarah Shiltz, who was born in Adams county, 
Pa., January 20, 18 19, a daughter of John 
and Catherine (Myer) Shiltz. John Shiltz was 
a farmer, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, and 



v)34 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the father of the following children: Amos, 
John, Cyrus and Sarah. He settled in Darke 
county in 1830, cleared a farm of 120 acres, 
and died at the age of seventy-eight years, his 
widow living to be eighty-four years old. After 
his marriage Mr. Becker settled on his present 
homestead and continued milling, the old mill 
and twenty-four acres of land having been de- 
vised to him by his father. In 1865 he built 
a new mill, and has done a very large business 
in shipping black walnut lumber to distant 
points. He has prospered, and now owns 190 
acres in his homestead, 170 acres in Miami 
county, 120 in Darke county, and a forty-eight 
acre tract on the pike in Randolph township, 
Montgomery county, or a total of about 528 
acres. Mr. Becker's life has been one of con- 
tinued activity, and at the age of eighty he is 
still hale and strong, enjoying the fruits of his 
industry. The children born to himself and 
wife were named Sarah A., who died when 
twenty-two years old; Catherine, Thomas J., 
John S., Isaac N. and Clement. In politics 
Mr. Becker is a democrat, and has served as 
township trustee for several years. He is one 
of the oldest living of the native-born citizens 
of Randolph township, is consequently widely 
known, and is honored for his pioneer work as 
as well as for his deeds as a good citizen. 



>-j'ESSE A. BINKLEY, retired farmer of 
■ Clay township, Montgomery county, 
f% J Ohio, is remotely of Swiss ancestry, his 
earliest traceable forefathers having been 
disciples of the Mennonite faith in their native 
country, and, having been forced, in conse- 
quence of the persecution which was inflicted 
upon their religious sect, to seek refuge in Ger- 
many, where but a little better fate awaited 
them, and later their descendants turned their 
eyes toward America. 



In the first decade of the eighteenth cen- 
tury one Martin Kindig, a Mennonite, came 
from the Rhine valley, Germany, secured a 
home in Pennsylvania, five miles south of Lan- 
caster, and then returned to Germany, where 
he created an intense excitement by his glow- 
ing description of the new country, and an ex- 
odus was the result. Among the many who 
were induced by Martin Kindig to emigrate to 
the land of free worship were John Binkley and 
Jacob Beam (the latter name being then 
spelled Boehme); also a Mr. Herr, a Mr. 
Miley, Benjamin Whitner, Jacob Haines, Jonas 
Yoner, the Rohrers, the Forrers and the 
Kneislys — all of whom settled in the same part 
of Lancaster county, Pa., and all connected by 
ties of consanguinity or marriage with the 
present Binkley family of America. 

From John Binkley, mentioned above, 
descended five children — John, Felix, Chris- 
tian, Henry and Ann. Of these, John, the 
eldest, was killed by a fall from ahorse shortly 
before the day fixed for his marriage; Felix, 
the second son, and great-grandfather of Jesse 
A., built a flouring mill three miles east of 
Lancaster in 1767, which was in operation up 
to a late date. He married a Miss Miley, and 
to him and wife were born three children — 
John, Johnson and Ann. The father died 
many years before the decease of his wife, and 
the son John inherited the mill, with fifty acres 
of land, and Johnson inherited the farm,' em- 
bracing nearly 200 acres. 

Johnson Binkley, son of Felix and grand- 
father of Jesse A., was born May 23, 1766, 
and married Elizabeth Haines, daughter of 
Samuel Haines, who married Mary, the only 
child of Jonas Yoner. It is said that Johnson 
Binkley was named after a Hollander, Richard 
Janson, who was also called Yanson and after- 
ward Johnson, and who married Ann, the only 
daughter of John Binkley, the immigrant, but 
to whom no children were born. Johnson 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



935 



Binkley died suddenly on January 28, 1813, 
at the age of forty-six years, the father of four 
children — Samuel, Felix, Mary and Ann. 

Samuel Binkley, son of Johnson and father 
of Jesse A., married Catherine Beam, to which 
union were born the following children: Eliza- 
beth, Johnson, Jacob, Samuel, Jesse A., Har- 
riet, Mary A., Henry and Catherine. The 
father, Samuel Binkley, was a well-to-do agri- 
culturist in Pennsylvania, and in 1837 brought 
his family to Ohio in a four-horse wagon. 
In 1838 he bought a farm of 100 acres, one 
mile south of Dayton, at $50 per acre — 
mostly cleared and improved with a good brick 
house and other buildings. Here Mr. Binkley 
passed the remainder of his life, dying at the 
age of eighty-three years; his widow survived 
to reach the great age of ninety-seven years, 
the Beam family being particularly noted for 
longevity. The old homestead near Dayton is 
still in the hands of their children, who have 
all been reared in a most exemplary manner. 
Mr. Binkley was a most upright man and ever 
set an example of great excellence for his chil- 
dren, over whom he held a loving control. 

Jesse A. Binkley, son of Samuel and Cath- 
erine (Beam) Binkley, was born near Lancas- 
ter, Pa., December 7, 18 14, and was about 
twenty-two years of age when he came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, with his parents. 
He was the driver of the four-horse team on 
that occasion, and still remembers driving over 
the national road to Springfield and thence to 
Dayton, when the latter city was but a small 
place, with a floating bridge across the canal. 
He lived on the farm at Dayton until nearly 
thirty-two years of age, when he married, No- 
vember 19, 1846, Miss Caroline Whistler, who 
was born in Montgomery county, November 
27, 1823, a daughter of Daniel and Polly (Nible) 
Whistler, both members of pioneer families. 
Daniel was a well-to-do farmer, but died a 
comparatively young man, the father of the 



following children: John, William, Noah, Cath- 
erine, Martha, Jane and Caroline. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Binkley 
were born the following children: Henry, Will- 
iam, Adeline, Newton (of whom a full biogra- 
phy is elsewhere given), Jesse, Caroline, Alice, 
Jacob, Phares, Samuel, Clara (who died when 
two months old), and Ora. 

On their marriage, Mr. Binkley, with his 
wife, settled on a party cleared farm of 160 
acres, four miles north of Brookville, where 
he passed all the really active years of his life, 
and then retired to a small place of twenty-five 
acres at Sonora, Preble county, on which he 
lived about eight years. In 1890, he bought a 
residence in Brookville, where he has since 
lived in quiet retirement. After nearly fifty 
years of happy married life, he lost his beloved 
wife, who died November 29, 1893, a devout 
member of the United Brethren church. Mr. 
Binkley has been a very industrious and thrifty 
man throughout life and still owns his farm 
and residence property in Brookville, beside 
his private residence. In politics he has al- 
ways been a republican and has filled the office 
of township trustee. He has done much in aid 
of the United Brethren church, of which he 
has been a life-long member, and his life has 
been one of high character and useful results 
from the beginning to the present time. 



£~^*AMUEL H. BINKLEY, of Ran- 
*^^^KT dolph township, is a son of Johnson 

P<J and Elizabeth (Binkley) Binkley. 
Johnson Binkley was born in Lan- 
caster county, Pa., February 20, 1808, and 
was a son of Samuel and Catherine (Beam) 
Binkley, for fuller mention of whom the 
reader is referred to the biography of Jesse A. 
Binkley, elsewhere in this volume. 

Johnson Binkley married Miss Mary Nel- 
son, who was born September 30, 1808, and 



936 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



by whom he had one daughter, Catherine E. 
Mrs. Binkley died March 11, 1834, in her 
twenty-sixth year. Mr. Binkley married again, 
his second wife being Elizabeth Binkley, who 
was born September 21, 1804, and by whom 
he had the following children: Mary, born 
December 7, 1835, and died at the age of 
three years, and Samuel H. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Binkley died March 6, 1S74. 

Johnson Binkley was a miller by trade, and 
after his marriage ran a mill in Pennsylvania 
on the Big Conestota, near Safe Harbor. He 
there bought two good farms, and became a 
man of property. In 1848 he removed with 
his family to Montgomery county, settling on 
the farm now occupied by Samuel H. Binkley 
and containing 104 acres. This land he 
greatly improved, converting it into a good 
farm, upon which he lived for about forty-six 
years, until his death in 1892, in his eighty- 
fifth year. In religion he was a member of 
the church of the Brethren in Christ — later in 
life, however, becoming identified with the 
church of the United Brethren. He was a 
much respected man, and well known for his 
sterling honesty of his character. 

Samuel H. Binkley was born September 
20, 1837, near Safe Harbor, Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pa. He received the usual common- 
school education, and when ten years of age 
was brought to Ohio by his father. The 
journey was made by wagon, that being long 
before railroads were introduced. The time 
required to make this journey was nearly three 
weeks. Upon arriving at mature years Mr. 
Binkley married Elizabeth Huddle, who was 
born March 19, 1847, in Fairfield county, 
Ohio, and is a daughter of Daniel and Barbara 
(Berry) Huddle. To Mr. and Mrs. Binkley 
there have been born three children, as fol- 
lows: Daniel; Johnson, who died at the age of 
twelve years, and Rossetta H. Mr. Binkley 
is a member of the United Brethren church, 



and has served as trustee for many years. In 
politics he is a republican. Mr. Binkley has 
always followed farming, and he purchased the 
farm of his father, before mentioned, but has 
traded it for the Arnold farm of eighty acres 
in Clay township. 

Daniel Huddle, father of Mrs. Binkley, 
was born in Rockingham county, Va., and 
came to Ohio when he was a small boy, with 
his parents, they settling in Fairfield county. 
The children of Daniel and Barbara Huddle 
were as follows: Noah, John, Solomon, Sam- 
uel, Daniel, Mary A., who died when two 
months old; Abraham, Elizabeth, Eli, Cath- 
erine, Sarah and Lydia. Mr. Huddle owned 
a farm of 180 acres in Fairfield county, which 
was the old home of the father of Mrs. Hud- 
dle, Abraham Berry, who cleared up the farm 
from the woods. Mr. Huddle died in Fairfield 
county, October 14, 1877, at the age of sixty- 
eight years and four months. He was a mem- 
ber of the church of the Brethren in Christ, 
and an honorable and useful citizen. 



•"V'AMUEL HAINES BINKLEY, M. D., 
*^^WT one of the most eminent archasolo- 

K^^ gists and experienced physicians of 
Ohio, and now residing in Miami 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
in Conestoga, Lancaster county, Pa., October 
22, 1 812, is a son of Samuel and Catherine 
(Beam) Binkley, and is of the fifth generation 
descended from John Binkley, a native of 
Switzerland, who came to America in 1712, 
and settled on Mill creek, near Lancaster, Pa. 
The paternal grandfather of the doctor was 
Johnson Binkley, who was a son of Felix, who, 
in turn, was a son of John, the founder of the 
family in America ; the maternal grandfather 
of Dr. Binkley was Jacob Beam, a son of Mar- 
tin Beam, one of the first bishops of the United 
Brethren church in America, and Martin was a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



937 



son of Jacob Beam, also a native of Switzer- 
land, who came to this country and settled in 
Lancaster county, Pa., in 1712, and became 
the progenitor of the American branch of the 
family which bears his name. 

Samuel and Catherine Binkley, in 1837, 
came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, and settled 
on the farm now occupied by Dr. Binkley, and 
there passed the remainder of their lives. 
They were the parents of nine children, who 
were born in the following order : Elizabeth 
(Mrs. John Miller), Johnson, Jacob, Samuel 
H., Jesse, Harriet (Mrs. Stephen J. Emly), 
Mary A. (Mrs. James McGrew), Henry M. 
and Catherine. 

Samuel H. Binkley, whose name opens this 
memoir, grew to manhood in his native state, 
received a fine classical education, and studied 
medicine under Dr. John M. Keagy. Having 
become proficient in this science, he began 
practice in Middletown, Ohio, in 1835, but a 
year later returned to Lancaster county, Pa., 
practiced there a year, and in 1837 came once 
more to Ohio, and has since then made his 
home on the farm originally settled upon by his 
parents, in Miami township, Montgomery 
county. Aside from his practice as a physician, 
Dr. Binkley has devoted many years to the 
study of geology and archaeology, his knowl- 
edge of which has given his name not only na- 
tional, but international prominence. He col- 
lected probably one of the finest cabinets of 
paleontological specimens ever seen in the 
state of Ohio, and this cabinet he' presented to 
his nephew, J. Franklin McGrew, the renowned 
paleontologist, of Kankakee, 111. The doctor 
also prepared a valuable catalogue of his col- 
lection of 1,066 specimens, filled with minute 
descriptive data, which, also, he presented to 
his nephew, and no doubt it will, in due course 
of time, be made public as an almost indispen- 
sable addition to the scientific archives of the 
world. The doctor has steadily declined ac- 



cepting membership in any geological or arch- 
aeological society, state, national or foreign, 
but his fame is widespread and his name one 
in which the citizens of the state of Ohio may 
well take pride. 







EWTON BINKLEY, one of the prac- 
tical farmers of Montgomery county, 
is a descendant of one of the early 
pioneers. He was born in Clay 
township, January 18, 1852, and is a son of 
Jesse A. and Caroline (Whistler) Binkley. 
Educated in the common schools he was reared 
a farmer's boy, and brought up to perform all 
kinds of farm labor from his youth. He also 
learned the cabinetmaker's trade, and when 
about twenty-four years of age, on October 5, 
1875, married, in Clay township, Martha A. 
Welsh, who was born July 20, 1855, in Ran- 
dolph township, and is a daughter of William 
and Elizabeth (Wenger) Welsh. William S. 
Welsh is a son of James and Margaret (Halm) 
Welsh and was born in Montgomery county. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Binkley 
settled in Miami county, living four years on a 
farm. Afterward they lived two years on a 
farm in Darke county, and then removed to 
the Binkley homestead in Clay county, upon 
which they lived eight years. In 1889 Mr. 
Binkley purchased his present farm of seventy- 
five acres, which he has greatly improved and 
made highly productive. It is in thoroughly 
good condition, and a splendid home for him- 
self and family. Mr. Binkley is one of the 
progressive farmers of his county and a leader 
in agricultural circles. He and his wife had 
the following children; Olive P., Omer L., 
Addie F., and Charles C. , all of whom are 
members of the United Brethren church, of 
which Mr. Binkley is himself a trustee. Polit- 
ically he is a republican, and is in every way a 
worthy citizen of the county. He is a hard- 



938 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



working, industrious and practical farmer. 
His aim is to keep fully up with the times and 
to be known as a good and useful member of 
the community. He is descended from the 
best of stock, and is striving with great success 
to maintain the standing of his family, as es- 
tablished by a long line of honorable ancestry. 



at 



'ALTER A. BLACK, cashier of the 
First National bank, Miamisburg, 
Ohio, was born in Dayton, Febru- 
ary 13, 1867, a son of George A. 
and Mary C. (Hoff) Black, natives of Fred- 
erick, Md., and Miamisburg, Ohio, respect- 
ively. The paternal grandfather, Frederick 
Black, was born in September, 17S3, died 
February 17, 1827, and his wife, Catherine 
Mouse, was born July 2, 1785. 

George Alexander Black, the father, was 
born in Frederick, Md., November 19, 1823, 
and was reared at Alexanderville, this county, 
from five years of age. He began his business 
career as a clerk in a general store at the same 
place, where he later purchased a store, and 
was also engaged in merchandizing at Miamis- 
burg. At the breaking out of the Civil war 
he located in Dayton, where he purchased an 
interest in a clothing and dry-goods business. 
In 1867 he embarked in the wholesale crock- 
ery business in the same city, in which he 
successfully continued until 1895, when he re- 
tired, and died in Dayton April 25, 1896. His 
children, who grew, to maturity, were Walter 
A., Arthur D., Edward O. and Bessie M. 

On the maternal side, Walter A. Black is 
of the fifth generation from John George and 
Justina Margaret (Schnerszel) Hoff, who came 
from Germany to America in the ship Polly, 
in 1765, and settled in Lancaster county. Pa. 
John George Hoff was born in Westerburg, 
Germany, October 22, 1733, and died at Lan- 
caster, Pa., August 18, 1816. Jacob Hoff, his 



son and great-grandfather of our subject, was 
born in Lancaster, Pa., February 4, 1784, 
was a soldier in the war of 1 S 1 2, and by occu- 
pation was a jeweler at Lancaster, Pa. His 
wife, Margaret, was a daughter of David Neiss, 
a native of Germany, who settled in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., in 1773. William Hoff, son of 
Jacob and Margaret (Neiss) Hoff, and mater- 
nal grandfather of subject, was born in Lan- 
caster, Pa., in 1808, began life as a clerk in 
a general store at Lebanon, Pa., working in 
that capacity several years at that place, My- 
erstown and Philadelphia. In 1828 he em- 
barked in business at Myerstown, Pa., as a 
member of the firm of Hoff & Stover, contin- 
uing one year, and then located at Wormels- 
dorf, Berks county, Pa., where, as a member 
of the firm of Hoff & Deckert, he engaged in 
merchandizing until 1838, when the firm dis- 
solved. Mr. Hoff then came to Miamisburg, 
Ohio, where, in 1839, as a member of the firm 
of Hoff & Deckert, he engaged in merchandiz- 
ing, the partnership existing until 1847, when 
they dissolved. Mr. Hoff continued the busi- 
ness alone until 1 S 58, when he erected the 
brick block now occupied by his son, George 
S. Hoff, having taken the latter into partner- 
ship, and the firm being Hoff & Son until the 
death of Mr. Hoff, in 1S76. Mr. Hoff married, 
in 1828, Elizabeth Leis, and reared a family 
of eight children, of whom Mary C. , mother 
of our subject, was the fifth child and third 
daughter. 

Walter A. Black was reared in Dayton, 
where he received his education in the public 
schools and the Deaver preparatory school. 
He began life as a clerk in the Merchants' 
National bank, Dayton, where he remained 
two years. In the spring of 1887 he located 
at Denver, Colo., where he engaged in the 
real-estate business, and remained in that state 
until 1890, when he was appointed receiving 
teller of the Third National bank of Dayton, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



939 



Ohio, and occupied that position up to the 
spring of 1892. He was then elected cashier 
of the First National bank of Miamisburg, 
which position he still retains. Mr. Black was 
married March 6, 1888, to Mary, daughter of 
William I. and Marion C. (Carll) Craddock, 
of Louisville, Ky., and has two daughters — 
Lulu H. and Marion C. Mr. Black is a mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church, of the F. & 
A. M., R. A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of P. and 
I. O. F. ; politically he is a republican. 



a APT. B. F. BOOKWALTER, who for 
many years was president of the firm 
of Bookwalter Bros. & Co., and who is 
now vice-president of the Bookwalter 
Wheel company, of the growing little city of 
Miamisburg, was born in Johnstown, Pa., 
March 31, 1820. He is a son of John and 
Catherine ( Stump ) Bookwalter, who settled 
in Jefferson township, Montgomery county, 
in 1823. 

Benjamin Franklin Bookwalter was reared 
in Montgomery county until sixteen years of 
age, in the meantime receiving as good an 
education as the common schools of that day 
could furnish. In 1836 he located in Win- 
chester, Ohio, where he served an apprentice- 
ship of four years at the carriage and wagon- 
maker's trade. In 1840 he removed to Ger- 
mantown, Montgomery county, and there 
worked at his trade as a journeyman for nearly 
a year. After this he engaged in business for 
himself at Paris, Ohio, and continued there 
three years. In 1848 he established himself 
in the dry-goods business at Winchester, and 
was thus engaged for one year as a member of 
the firm of Halderman & Bookwalter, selling 
out at the end of that time. In 1852 he en- 
gaged in the manufacture of carriages at Seven 
Mile, Butler county, Ohio, and remained there 
in business until 1864. He then removed to 



Miamisburg, and there, in 1865, became a 
member of the firm of Bookwalter Bros. & 
Co., which firm was engaged in the manufac- 
ture of carriages and light wagons. This firm 
in 1868 began the manufacture of carriage 
wheels exclusively, and in 1890 was absorbed 
by the Standard Wheel company, the Book- 
waiter Wheel company being organized in 1 89 1 . 
For a long time Mr. Bookwalter traveled for 
the company, buying stock and selling the 
finished products of the factory. When the 
old company sold out to the Standard Wheel 
company Mr. Bookwalter was its president, 
and upon the re-organization of the company 
under its new name he was made vice-presi- 
dent thereof, a position which he still retains. 

Mr. Bookwalter married Decembers, 1844, 
Miss Abigail Gram, daughter of Conrad and 
Nancy (House) Gram, of Winchester, Ohio. 
To this marriage there have been born three 
children, as follows: Anna E., Winfield S., 
and Charles E. During the late Civil war Mr. 
Bookwalter was active in the organization of 
military companies, and was instrumental in 
filling three regiments for the war, beside 
raising a company for the 100 days' service. 
He also spent considerable time in the south 
on war department business, and performed 
noble work in looking after the sick and dis- 
abled soldiers of his state. He was captain of 
company D, One Hundred and Sixty-ninth 
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and was 
widely known as one of the actively patriotic 
men of Montgomery county. Mr. Bookwalter 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in politics is a republican. Few men in 
the county, if any, stand higher in business, 
social and religious circles than does Mr. Book- 
waiter, he being well and widely known as a 
man of integrity and honor. 

Winfield Scott Bookwalter, M. D., son of 
Benjamin F. , was born in Winchester, Preble 
county, Ohio, August 26, 1849, an d was edu- 



V»40 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



cated in the public schools of that place, of 
Hamilton, and of Miamisburg. He also at- 
tended Antioch college, at Yellow Springs, and 
removed to Miamisburg with his parents in 
1865, there beginning the study of medicine in 
1868, and graduating from Miami Medical col- 
lege, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1871. He immedi- 
ately located at Miamisburg, where, with the 
exception of one year spent in Dayton, he has 
ever since been engaged with success in the 
practice of medicine. Dr. Bookwalter was 
prominent in the organization of the board of 
health of Miamisburg in 1872, was health offi- 
cer for several years, and is now clerk of the 
board. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, of the Montgomery county 
Medical society and of the state Medical asso- 
ciation. Fraternally he is a Mason and in 
politics a republican, and is in all respects a 
highly esteemed citizen of Montgomery county. 
The Bookwalter family is of Swiss origin 
and was founded in this country by Francis 
Bookwalter, great-grandfather of the subject 
of this biography. Francis left his native land 
on account of religious persecution and brought 
his wife to America, a few years prior to 1720, 
it would seem, or in that year. He bought 
land on the Schuylkill river, in Pennsylvania, 
where he passed the remainder of his days. 



<^\ ANIEL BOOKWALTER, deceased, 
I was a prominent and successful man- 
S^^f ufacturer of Miamisburg and founder 
of the Bookwalter Wheel company, 
and was born in Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, January 18, 1824. He 
was a son of John and Catherine (Stump) 
Bookwalter, both natives of Lancaster county. 
Pa., who settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1823. John Bookwalter built the first 
iron works at Johnstown, Pa., which he oper- 
ated for about twenty-seven years, when 



they were totally destroyed by a severe flood 
in Stony creek. Soon afterward Mr. Book- 
waiter packed up his few household goods, 
and with his little family started for the 
west in search of fortune. Traveling down 
the Ohio river he at length reached Cincinnati, 
from which place he and his wife walked to 
Miamisburg, each carrying a child in arms. 
Mr. Bookwalter purchased a farm of 160 acres 
in Jefferson township, where his wife died in 
1824. She was a most devout and religious 
woman, with full belief in the efficacy of 
prayer, and before her death she placed her 
children in religious homes in order that they 
might- be well brought up. 

Mr. Bookwalter, being of a roving disposi- 
tion, after the death of his wife, traveled ex- 
tensively in the southern states and the West 
Indies, and in (828 died at Hallsville, Ross 
county, Ohio. He and his wife had four chil- 
dren, as follows: John, Mary (Mrs. David 
Bowser), Benjamin and Daniel. The Book- 
waiter family trace their origin to Switzerland, 
the original immigrants from that country to 
the United States having been two brothers, 
who left their native land on account of relig- 
ious persecution. One of them settled in 
Philadelphia, the other in Lancaster county, 
Pa., and it is from this latter brother that 
Daniel Bookwalter is descended. 

Daniel Bookwalter and sister were reared in 
the family of Rev. Michael Moyer, a Dunk- 
ard preacher, in Jefferson township, Montgom- 
ery county. Daniel remained with Rev. Mr. 
Moyer until after his marriage. In 1849 he 
began his business career in Miamisburg, first 
as a wagonmaker with Robert McConnell, 
and was thus engaged, in company with Mr. 
McConnell, with others, and alone, until 1869. 
At this time the plant was absorbed by the 
Kauffman Buggy company. In 1862 Mr. Book- 
waiter embarked in the manufacture of 
wheels in Dayton, Ohio, as a member of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



941 



the firm of Zwick & Bookwalter, later as 
.Zwick, Bookwalter & Co., and continued in 
business there until 1864, when he sold his in- 
terest, and erected a wheel factory at Miamis- 
burg, which he operated in connection with 
his carriage business until 1866. In this year 
his plant was destroyed by fire. Subsequently 
he organized the firm of Bookwalter Bros. & 
Co., which engaged exclusively in the manu- 
facture of wheels. This firm was afterward 
absorbed by the Standard Wheel company, in 
1890, and a year later went out of business. 
Knowing that there was a demand for fine 
wheels, Mr. Bookwalter, his brother Benja- 
min, and Lee Mitchell, members of the old 
concern, re-organized the business in 1 891 , 
formed a new stock company and established a 
new plant, one of the finest of the kind in the 
country, its products including all styles and 
grades of buggy and light wagon wheels. As 
president, Mr. Bookwalter was always an im- 
portant factor in the affairs of the corporation 
and also of the manufacturing community, his 
power of organization and his experience in 
business being of especial value. Notwith- 
standing the great demands made upon' his 
time and attention by his private interests, his 
energy was largely exerted in other directions. 
To his efforts and public spirit is due the suc- 
cessful prosecution of many enterprises for the 
benefit of Miamisburg, and, as an instance, it 
is recalled that his influence and financial as- 
sistance gave direct impetus to the movement 
which resulted in the erection of the North 
river bridge in 1859. This bridge was built 
partly by private subscription and partly with 
public money. Since that time he has always 
been prominent in public affairs. His most 
important work of recent years has been the 
promotion of the Enterprise Carriage com- 
pany, and he did much to secure that valuable 
business for Miamisburg. 

Mr. Bookwalter was married September 



12, 1847, to Melinda Weaver, daughter of 
Philip and Magdalena (Gebhart) Weaver, and 
granddaughter of Jacob and Margaret (Geb- 
hart) Weaver, the latter of whom settled in 
Jefferson township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1804. Mr. and Mrs. Bookwalter had seven 
children, as follows: John W.; Emily Fran- 
ces, who died at the age of two years, two 
months and twenty-three days; Charles L. , 
Luella, who died when two years and two 
months old; Daniel H. ; Edward W., who died 
March 21, 1886; and Mary, now Mrs. Albert 
Mueller. Mr. Bookwalter belonged' to the 
Methodist Episcopal church, as does his widow. 
He served as a trustee of his church, and as 
chairman of the board. He was also a mem- 
ber of the boord of health, president of the 
board of trade, and a director of the Miamis- 
burg Building & Loan association. In politics 
he was originally a whig, but after the organ- 
ization of the republican party supported its 
men and measures. Thus it will be seen that 
Mr. Bookwalter was always an active and suc- 
cessful man, standing high in both business 
and religious circles, and a most valuable cit- 
izen of the community in which he lived. He 
met with a serious injury by accident on the 
11th of March, 1896, from which he died on 
the 28th of the same month. 



*>^V AVID BASORE. of the firm of Ba- 
I sore & Schlenker, proprietors of the 
s^^J Florentine hotel, Germantown, Ohio, 
was born in that town on January 3, 
1847, a son of George and Sarah (Monebeck) 
Basore. His father was born in Virginia, and 
was a soldier in the war of 1812, afterthe close 
of which he came to Ohio, and settled in Ger- 
mantown, where he engaged in horse dealing. 
He died in 1867 aged seventy-five years. He 
was reared in the Dunkard faith, and was a 
democrat in politics. He was twice married; 



942 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



by the first wife he had six children, all of 
whom are deceased. In 1846 he married Sarah 
Monebeck, of Germantown, who died in 1896. 
They reared five children; David; Joseph, of 
Germantown; Cyrus, of Dayton; Charles, of 
Dayton, and Clara, now Mrs. William Shaffer, 
of Germantown. 

David Basore was educated in the public 
schools of Germantown and learned the trade 
of a carriage blacksmith, which he followed for 
twelve years. He then engaged in general 
blacksmithing for himself, and so continued for 
some years, and for twenty years dealt exten- 
sively in horses. He served as constable of 
Germantown for twenty years, and as marshal 
of the town for twelve years. In April, 1893, 
he engaged in hotel keeping, in 1894 admitted 
Frederick Schlenker as partner, and in 1895 
purchased the Florentine hotel, their present 
location. He is a democrat in politics and a 
member of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Ba- 
sore was married, in 187 1, to Miss Josephine 
Shertzer, a daughter of George and Lydia 
(Ripley) Shertzer, of Germantown, Ohio, by 
whom he has one child, Eva, now the wife of 
Frederick Schlenker, and who is also the 
mother of one child, David. Mr. Basore and 
family are esteemed members of the German 
Reformed church. 



(D 



AJ. FLAVIUS K. BOWLES, of 
Miamisburg, Ohio, was born in 
West Carrollton, Montgomery coun- 
ty, March 19, 1844, a son of James 
and Cynthia A. (Brown) Bowles, Virginians, 
who were among the early settlers of Miami 
township. Maj. Bowles is of Scotch-Irish 
descent. 

Maj. Flavius Kemper Bowles grew to man- 
hood in Miami township, receiving his educa- 
tion in the common schools and in a select 
school in Miamisburg. Left an orphan at 



fourteen years of age, he was thrown partially 
on his own resources, and worked on a farm 
until he was eighteen years old. On July 30, 
1862, he enlisted in company E, Ninety-third 
Ohio volunteer infantry, and after nearly three 
years of faithful service was honorably dis- 
charged at Nashville, Tenn., June 8, 1865. 
He served in the army of the Cumberland a'nd 
among the principal engagements in which he 
participated were Chickamauga, Atlanta, 
Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain and Nashville. 
He was badly wounded in the right leg at 
Chickamauga, slightly wounded at Kenesaw 
Mountain, was taken prisoner at Lexington, 
Ky., in September, 1862, paroled and ex- 
changed in December of the same year, and 
rejoined his regiment in east Tennessee in 
January, 1863. On his return home he en- 
gaged as agent and buyer for a leaf tobacco 
firm, continuing in that capacity until 1870, 
when he was engaged as clerk in a shoe store 
at Miamisburg for three years. In 1872 Maj. 
Bowles again engaged in buying leaf tobacco, 
continuing until 1877, when he was appointed 
a United States gauger under Col. Robert 
Williams. He served in that capacity until 
1883, when he was promoted to deputy col- 
lector of the Third revenue district of Ohio, 
serving until 1885, when he returned to the 
leaf tobacco trade. In 1886 he represented 
Cotterill, Fenner & Co., of Dayton, as travel- 
ing salesman, and in the fall of 1887 was 
nominated on the republican ticket and elected 
clerk of courts for Montgomery county. Al- 
though the county was strongly democratic 
Maj. Bowles ran ahead of his ticket upwards 
of 1,500 votes. In the fall of 1890 he was 
re-nominated and re-elected to this office, 
again running ahead of his ticket. He served 
as clerk longer than any other incumbent of 
the position, owing to a change in the time of 
taking the office, his service covering a period 
of six years and six months. Since that time 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



943 



he has been more or less engaged in real-estate 
transactions, as well as in other enterprises. 
During the Cincinnati riot of 1884, he com- 
manded the Fourth regiment of militia, having 
been a member of the O. N. G. , for two years 
with the rank of major, and on account of 
services rendered during that exciting period 
was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 
Thirteenth regiment, O. N. G. 

Maj. Bowles has been twice married, his 
first wife having been Josephine Wolf, of Mi- 
amisburg, and his present wife, Charlotte A., 
daughter of James C. and Susannah (Mullen- 
dore) Emley, of Miami township; to this second 
marriage have been born two children: J. 
Edmund and Daisy M. Maj. Bowles is a sup- 
porter of the Methodist Episcopal church, a 
member of the F. & A. M. ; Jr. O. U. A. M., 
and G. A. R., having been the organizer and 
first post commander of Al Mason post, G. A. 
R. , of Miamisburg. He is also a member of 
the Union Veteran Legion, of Dayton; of the 
order of K. of P., and of uniform rank, K. of 
P., and served as deputy grand chancellor of 
Ohio K. of P. under Grand Chancellor Her- 
bert W. Lewis, in 1893. He served as aid 
on Gen. -Wagner's staff, Ohio brigade, from 
1894 to 1896, when he was appointed aid-de- 
camp on the staff of Gen. J. C. Howes, who 
succeeded Gen. Wagner. 

Politically, Maj. Bowles has always been 
an active worker in the interests of the repub- 
lican party. He is at this time a member of 
several charitable committees of the county. 
In his business and official life he has accumu- 
lated a competency, and now occupies one of 
the most beautiful homes in the city, situated 
on East Linden avenue. Maj. Bowles is one 
of the most prominent and influential citizens 
of the community in which he lives, and his 
official career has given him an extensive ac- 
quaintance, not only in his county but 
throughout the state. 



38 



>j*OSEPH BRANDT, one of the most sub- 
m stantial farmers of Madison township, 
/• J Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., October 6, 1842, 
a son of Joseph and Nancy (Bachman) Brandt. 
Joseph Brandt, Sr., also a native of the 
Keystone state and born in Lancaster county, 
was of German descent, and a farmer by occu- 
pation. On attaining manhood he married 
Mrs. Nancy Neisley, whose maiden name was 
Bachman, and who, at the time of her mar- 
riage with Mr. Brandt, was the widow of Mar- 
tin Neisley, to whom she had borne four chil- 
dren — Daniel, Christian, Peter, who died at 
the age of forty-five years, and Anna, who 
died young. After her union with Mr. Brandt 
she became the mother of two children — 
Joseph and Fannie. Joseph Brandt, Sr. , died 
when forty-five years old, a life-long and de- 
voted member of the Mennonite church. 

Joseph Brandt, whose name introduces 
this biographical notice, was reared to the 
business of milling in his native county, where 
he passed his early manhood, working at his 
calling until twenty-five years of age, when he 
came to Ohio and located at Stillwater. Here 
he was employed in a nouring-mill for seven 
years, and then moved to Piatt county, 111., 
where he worked as a miller for two years, 
finally returning to the mill at Stillwater in 
Montgomery county, Ohio. Here, December 
6, 1870, Mr. Brandt married Miss Sarah Kin- 
sey, who was born April 7, 1847, m Randolph 
township, Montgomery county, on the farm 
now owned by Ananias Frantz, this having 
been the old homestead of her parents, Jacob 
and Susan (Boyer) Kinsey. For three years 
after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Brandt lived 
on the old Kinsey homestead, one and a half 
miles south of Salem, and then moved to Mad- 
ison township, and in 1884 bought their pres- 
ent farm of 103 acres, which Mr. Brandt has 
thoroughly improved and placed in a state of 



944 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



high cultivation. The only child born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Brandt was a daughter, Olive, who 
is married to Irvin P. Hire, real-estate dealer 
of Dayton, and is now the mother of one child, 
Mabel Lenore. 

Mr. and Mrs. Brandt are conscientious 
members of the German Baptist church and 
faithfully observe its simple teachings but rigid 
discipline. In politics Mr. Brandt is a repub- 
lican, but has never sought office, preferring 
to devote his time and attention to his pri- 
vate affairs, which have gained him a fair 
competence and in the pursuit of which he has 
won the respect of his neighbors. 



KENRY P. BREHM, a well-known 
and popular citizen of Miamisburg, 
and foreman of David Groby's plan- 
ing mill, was born in Miami town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, February 10, 
1848. He is a son of Henry and Mary (Leis) 
Brehm, natives of Womelsdorf, Berks county, 
Pa., but who came to Ohio in 1837, settling 
in Miami township, Montgomery county, 
where Mr. Brehm engaged in farming. This 
occupation he followed until 1884, when he 
removed to Miamisburg, where he died April 
21, 1895, in his eighty-ninth year. His par- 
ents were Henry and Christiana (Bumgardner) 
Brehm, who were both of German parentage. 
Henry and Mary (Leis) Brehm were the par- 
ents of fourteen children, ten of whom grew 
to mature years, as follows: Elizabeth, wife 
of Jacob Anspach; Rebecca, wife of Henry 
Paff; George; Catherine, wife of Joshua Null; 
Mary, wife of John P. Weaver; Wilhelmina, 
wife of Jacob Baver; Sarah, wife of Henry 
Leis; Margaret, wife of Jacob Miller; Henry 
P., the subject of this sketch, and John \V. 

Henry P. Brehm was reared in Miami 
township and was educated in the common 
schools of the township, and in the public 



schools at Miamisburg. When he was twenty- 
eight years of age he left the farm and has 
since resided in Miamisburg, where he has 
been employed in the planing mill of David 
Groby and has been foreman since 1877. In 
1869 he married Sarah C. Groby, daughter of 
David and Eliza (Warner) Groby, of Miamis- 
burg, and has one son, Howard B. 

Mr. Brehm is a member of the First Re- 
formed church, and has occupied high posi- 
tions in the various fraternal organizations of 
which he is a member. He is past grand of 
Marion lodge, I. O. O. F. , and past chief 
patriarch of the Odd Fellows encampment. 
He is past chancellor of Miamisburg lodge, 
Knights of Pythias, is a member of canton 
Groby, and of the Daughters of Rebekah, and 
is also a thirty-second degree Mason. In poli- 
tics he is a republican, and as such was elected 
to the city council of Miamisburg in 1S94, 
showing himself in the service of the public to 
be greatly and effectively interested in the wel- 
fare of the place. Mr. Brehm has won the 
confidence and esteem of men of all parties by 
his faithful discharge of his official duties. 



>t j OSEPH ALFRED BROWN, M. D., 
■ a successful physician and surgeon of 
A J Germantown, was born in Camden, 
Preble county, Ohio, January 19, 1855, 
a son of William and Mary A. (Beall) Brown, 
and comes of Quaker stock. On the paternal 
side he is of English extraction, his ancestors 
having settled in New Jersey prior to the Rev- 
olution. On the maternal side he is of Scotch- 
Irish decent, his ancestor, the Rev. Gideon 
Beall, a distinguished Covenanter, having left 
Scotland on account of religious persecution, 
and settled near Washington, D. C„ in the 
adjacent suburb of Georgetown, which was 
named in honor of his son, George Beall. 

Dr. Joseph A. Brown was reared and edu- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



945 



cated in his native county, and in 1873 began 
the study of medicine; he was graduated from 
the Medical college of Ohio at Cincinnati, in 
187S, and at once located at Germantown, 
Ohio, where he has attained a large and lucra- 
tive practice. He married March 5, 1878, 
Mary L., daughter of Solomon and Sarah 
(Zitzer) Singer, of Lewisburg, Ohio, and has 
two children, Edna and Helen. 

Dr. Brown is a member of the American 
Medical association, the Ohio state Medical 
society, the Mississippi valley Medical society, 
and the Montgomery county Medical society. 
He was a delegate from the state of Ohio to 
the American Medical association in 1892, is 
a Scottish rite Mason, a member of the I. O. 
O. F. encampment, patriarchs militant, and K. 
of P. Politically, he is a republican. 

The doctor has contributed many papers of 
value to the various medical fraternities to 
which he belongs, and some of his professional 
essays have met with decided approbation for 
their originality and strength. 



ORVON GRAFF BROWN, president 
of Twin Valley college and Miami 
Military institute, Germantown, Ohio, 
was, at the time of his election, the 
youngest college president in the country. He 
was born in Greensburg, Westmoreland coun- 
ty, Penn., July 1, 1863, within sound of the 
cannons at Gettysburg. His father, Rev. W. 
Kennedy Brown, D. D., of Fayette county, 
Penn., is a descendant of the Chester county 
(Penn.) George Brown (Gentleman), of colo- 
nial times. His grandmother Brown is a lineal 
descendant of Adam de Saltsburg, of Bavaria, 
who joined with William the Conqueror at the 
battle of Hastings. His mother, Martha Mc- 
Clellan Brown, LL. D., of Baltimore, Md., is 
a direct descendant of the Scotch Clan Mc- 
Clellan. She founded the National Woman's 



Christian Temperance union at Chautauqua, 
in August, 1874 — a movement of historic in- 
terest and moment. Orvon Graff Brown was 
well taught at an early age, although he was 
not placed in school until nine years old. At 
thirteen he began to evince a decided talent 
for scientific experiment, and to take great in- 
terest in collecting in his own room practical 
appliances in chemistry, physics and electric- 
ity. His parents encouraged his tastes, giv- 
ing him, in succession, the advantages of 
Mount Union college; special school, Pittsburg; 
university of Cincinnati; and Denver univer- 
sity, as well as private instructions under 
specialists in the east. At the age of nineteen 
he was elected professor of science in the 
Cincinnati Wesleyan college, where he made 
a successful record as instructor, and as invent- 
or of apparatus for class experiments. He 
had always taken great interest in the sciences 
of geology and conchology, and made at this 
time a very large and valuable collection of 
specimens. When about twenty-two years of 
age he projected the Twin Valley college (so 
named from its location in the Twin valley, an 
arm of the Miami valley), and on February 4, 
1886, five months after his twenty-third birth- 
day, he was elected its president, which posi- 
tion he still holds. 

In January, 1894, Prof. Brown organized 
the Miami Military institute, as a preparatory 
school of Twin Valley college. This school 
practically demonstrates his theory that indi- 
vidual instruction is essential to the building of 
manhood. Class-work and group instructions 
are necessarily mechanical and inefficient. No 
two students' powers are alike and like results 
should not be sought from diverse powers or 
gifts. He recognizes four sides to every manly 
structure, the moral, physicial, mental and 
social; and erecting these according to their 
original strength, he develops a scientific man- 
hood. Like a scientific work, his method ap- 



946 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



peals to common sense. Hence his experi- 
ment, which has been so successful, is now 
being adopted by other teachers and schools. 
This method, however, cannot be applied in 
very large schools, as in them it is manifestly 
impossible to study each student separately 
and to cultivate him personally — and the ulti- 
mate personality is the measure of his indi- 
vidual manhood. 

Prof. Brown married, April 5, 1887, Miss 
Lulu Reed, of Germantown, Ohio. She is a 
granddaughter of the late Samuel Reed, a 
pioneer of Montgomery county, and through 
her mother (Martha Zeller) she is a lineal de- 
scendant of Capt. John C. Negley, and also of 
Bishop Andrew Zeller (of the United Brethren 
church), both of whom have contributed to 
the history of Montgomery county. The chil- 
dren of Orvon Graff Brown and wife are Reed 
McClellan (born January 28, 1888), Samuel 
Kennedy (born December 2, 1890), and Mil- 
dred (born May 28, 1894). 

Prof. Brown is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and has served as an official 
member and lay delegate to the annual and the 
lay conferences of his denomination ever since 
he has resided in the community. 



lS~\ EV. JESSE K. BRUMBAUGH, a 

I /^ leading minister of the German Bap- 

P tist church, with which he united in 

about 1865, and became a minister 

in 1880, is a native of Randolph township, 

Montgomery county, Ohio, and a grandson of 

one of its original pioneers. 

Jacob Brumbaugh, great-grandfather of 
subject, it is surmised, came from Germany, 
and William Brumbaugh, grandfather of Rev. 
Jesse K. , was a native of Pennsylvania, was a 
farmer, married a Miss Martin, and of his chil- 
dren the names of the following are remem- 
bered: John, William, David, Daniel, Jacob 



and Mrs. Elizabeth Cripe, of Clinton county, 
Ind. He came to Ohio with his family about 
1805, and settled near Amity, Montgomery 
county, being one of the first pioneers and set- 
tlers in this section, where he cleared up a farm 
and passed the remainder of his life in its cul- 
tivation, dying in the faith of the German 
Baptist church. 

Jacob Brumbaugh, father of the Rev. Jesse 
K., was born in Pennsylvania in 1794, being 
eleven years of age when brought to Ohio by 
his father. He was reared on the pioneer 
farm, and developed marked mechanical in- 
genuity, being a good carpenter, blacksmith, 
shoemaker and tailor. He was a most valua- 
ble man in a new settlement, being physically 
very strong, and, at the raising of the log cabins 
of that day, was always placed at the corner, 
as he was able to form a straight joint and a 
true right angle and was very expert with the 
ax, that most indispensable tool of the pioneer. 

Jacob Brumbaugh married Miss Catherine 
Wogaman, who was born in Pennsylvania in 
1794, and after marriage settled on land now 
owned by Rev. Jesse K., but adjoining the 
present residence of the latter on the south. 
This farm contained eighty-six acres, all in for- 
est, and had been entered by John Brumbaugh, 
brother of Jacob. This tract Jacob Brum- 
baugh cleared up thoroughly, improving it at 
first with a log dwelling, and finally converting 
it into a fertile farm, upon which he erected a 
more comfortable residence. The children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Brumbaugh were ten in 
number and were named Elizabeth, John, 
Jacob, Samuel, Mary, David, Noah, Abraham, 
Jesse K. , and Daniel — the last named dying at 
the age of seven years. 

Jacob Brumbaugh was a member of the 
German Baptist church and was possessed of 
strong religious convictions. Highly intelli- 
gent and of an observing and contemplative 
temperament, he won the respect of all with 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



947 



whom he had either personal or business rela- 
tions. His reputation for integrity was with- 
out a blemish, and it was well said of him that 
"his word was as good as his bond." With 
a foresight inherent in his nature, he bought 
at an early day 400 acres of land in Elkhart 
county, Ind. , near Goshen, and this property 
he gave to his sons; he also owned 240. acres 
on the Plymouth road, in the same county, and 
at his death, May 11, 1881, was well able to 
provide for all his children, who remember him 
with a well-deserved affection and regret. 

Rev. Jesse K. Brumbaugh was born August 
26, 1837, on the old Randolphtownship home- 
stead, and has passed all his days on this farm 
and the one adjoining. He was educated in 
the common school of his district and at a 
normal school in Dayton, and began teaching 
school in 1858. He taught in Phillipsburg, 
Montgomery county, for about six years, in his 
own township seven years, and also in Miami 
county, his entire experience in this work cov- 
ering the period of fourteen years. December 
4, 1862, he married Miss Mary K. Hocker, 
who was born two miles east of Salem, Febru- 
ary 18, 1 84 1 , a daughter of Rev. John and 
Catherine (Sterling) Hocker. Her father was 
a native of Dauphin county, Pa., of German 
descent, was a farmer, came to Ohio in 1S39, 
and settled on 230 acres of land in Montgom- 
ery county, and died in 1867, aged over sev- 
enty-nine years, a member and minister of the 
River Brethren church, and greatly respected 
as a pioneer and useful citizen. His children, 
born in the following order, were Adam, 
Anna, Catherine, Christian, John and Mary K. 

After marriage Rev. Jesse K. Brumbaugh 
lived on the old homestead until 1867, when 
he moved to a farm of his own, which he had 
purchased in the previous year. This farm 
then contained sixty acres, to which he added 
twenty-one, also purchasing the interesl of the 
heirs in the old homestead, so that to-day he 



owns and cultivates a farm of 166 acres. 
Thrift and industry have brought to him a gen- 
erous measure of prosperity and success. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Brumbaugh have been 
born ten children: Granville W. , Noah J., 
Emma, Jennie and Alice, all now living, and 
five who died young. Politically Mr. Brum- 
baugh, while not an active partisan, is in 
sympathy with and supports the republican 
party. His children are all well educated: 
Noah J. is a graduate of Harvard university, 
is now at Hiilsboro, Ohio, a teacher; Gran- 
ville W., who is a teacher in Dayton, Ohio, 
district, is a young man of high culture, having 
been graduated from Huntingdon, Pa., col- 
lege, has been superintendent of the Randolph 
schools and principal of the Brookville schools, 
married Lizzie M. Miller, and is the father of 
three children: Glenn M. , Paul N. and Em- 
erson Webster. Miss Jennie Brumbaugh grad- 
uated from the Huntingdon, Pa., college, 
June 18, 1896. 

The grandfather of Mrs. Jesse K. Brum- 
baugh was a farmer of Pennsylvania, lived in 
Harrisburg, and reared a family of six chil- 
dren, named Adam, George, Jacob, Benjamin, 
John and Anna, all of whom reached matur- 
ity and became useful members of society. 



>-j»OHN BUEHNER (deceased), formerly 
■ a well-known contractor and builder of 
f» J Miamisburg, Ohio, was born in Muehl- 
heim, Wurtemberg, Germany, Novem- 
ber 29, 1807, and was one of a family of seven- 
teen children. He passed through the course 
of study of the public schools of his native 
place with honor and credit, and afterward 
served an apprenticeship of several years at the 
stonecutter's and mason's trades in the city 
of Sulz. On May 26, 1832, he emigrated to 
America, having traveled on foot from his old 
home to the seaport of Bremen, where he was 



948 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



detained almost a month waiting to obtain 
passage on board a ship for the new world. 
After a rough voyage of seventy-one days, he 
landed at Baltimore, Md., September 3, where 
he found the Asiatic cholera prevailing to such 
an extent that business was at a standstill, and 
he at once started on foot for Cincinnati, Ohio, 
only to find that the dread disease had made 
its appearance before his arrival. Being un- 
able to obtain a night's lodging on account of 
the unwillingness of the people to receive a 
stranger, he made his way to Germantown, 
Montgomery county, where he secured em- 
ployment, remaining there until the spring of 
1834. He then removed to Miamisburg, where 
he was actively engaged in business as a stone- 
mason, and in brick-laying, contracting and 
building, up to 1870, when he retired, turning 
over his business to his eldest and youngest 
sons, John and Frank. Mr. Buehner was 
also for many years engaged in the manufac- 
ture of brick, and during his business career 
erected nearly all the principal buildings in 
Miamisburg and vicinity. His wife, Louisa, 
was a daughter of Rev. Peter Dechant, a Ger- 
man Reformed minister, and to her he was 
married November rS, 1835 ; she bore him 
eleven children, nine of whom grew to maturity: 
John M., George H., Catherine (Mrs. John 
Pressler), Charles, Peter D., Franklin P., 
Candice (Mrs. George Loesch), Oletta (Mrs. 
Albert Zimmerman), and Anna. In politics 
Mr. Buehner was originally a democrat, but, 
on the breaking out of the late Civil war, 
joined the republican party, with whom he af- 
filiated up to the time of his death. He was 
born and bred in the Lutheran faith, and died 
February 14, 1896, in his eighty-ninth year. 
Charles Buehner, son of John and Louisa 
(Dechant) Buehner, was born in Miamisburg, 
Ohio, January 3, 1847, and here he grew to 
manhood and received a public school educa- 
tion. He served an apprenticeship of two and 



a half years at the machinist's trade with D. 
H. Hoover & Son, and in 1866 went to Cen- 
tralia, 111., where he was employed by the Illi- 
nois Central railroad company for six years. 
In 1872 he returned to Miamisburg and worked 
for Hoover & Gamble, and the Miamisburg 
Cutlery company, up to 1878 ; from 1878 to 
1880 he was with the Woodsdale Paper com- 
pany, Woodsdale, Ohio, having charge of their 
engine and machine department ; in 1880 he 
located at Franklin, where he was employed 
four years by the Franklin Paper company, 
and in 1884 embarked in business for himself 
in general job work as a machinist, in which 
he has since successfully continued. 

He married December 13, 1868, Fannie 
Craig, of Centralia, 111., and has six children 
living : Grace, Minnie, Carl, Edna, Robb, 
and Fannie. Mr. Buehner is a member of the 
Lutheran church, is a R. A. M. , and a mem- 
ber of the A. O. U. W. In politics he is a re- 
publican, and has served one term as a mem- 
ber of the city council of Franklin, and one 
term as a member of the school board. As a 
business man his name stands without a blem- 
ish, and as a citizen he holds the respect of 
the entire community in which he resides. 



? 



ACOB FREDERICK BUEHNER, who 
is a prominent citizen and business man 
of Miamisburg, was born on the Atlan- 
tic ocean, May 20, 1847. He is a son 
cf John Martin and Christiana (Guhl) Buehner, 
who came to the United States in 1847, land- 
ing at New York June 27, from Muehlheim, 
ober amt Sulz, Wurtemberg. They arrived 
in Toledo, Ohio, July 4, having journeyed from 
Albany, N. Y., by railroad and by boat on 
Lake Erie, reaching Miamisburg, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, on July 8, 1847. 

John Martin Buehner was a son of John 
Frederick Buehner and Anna Catherine Zeller, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



949 



his wife. The former came to the United 
States in 1858, located in Miamisburg, and 
died while on a visit to Preble county, Ohio, 
September 2, 1859. He was born May 15, 
1778, and was at his death in his eighty-first 
year. He was the father of seventeen children, 
four of whom came to the United States, viz: 
John (now deceased), in 1832; Mary, deceased 
wife of John Schlotterbeck, who came in 1847; 
John Martin, father of the subject, who, as 
related above, came to this country in 1847, 
and is now deceased; and Annie, now de- 
ceased, who came to the United States in 1858. 
John M. Buehner was a carpenter, and fol- 
lowed that trade and also tobacco raising up 
to the time of his death. His wife was a 
daughter of Jacob and Christiana (Meyer) Guhl, 
of Germany, and bore him eleven children, of 
whom eight grew to mature years, as follows: 
Ann E., wife of Frederick Gunter; Mary M. , 
wife of John Schneider; Jacob F. ; Mary L., 
wife of Henry Betz; Catherine, wife of Henry 
Schneider; Christiana, wife of Charles O. 
Schuster; Amanda M. and Otto. 

Jacob Frederick Buehner was reared in 
Miamisburg, was educated in the public schools 
and began life for himself, on attaining his 
majority, as a molder, learning his trade with 
D. H. Hoover & Son. He served an appren- 
ticeship of two and a half years, and continued 
to follow the trade until December 28, 1874. 
On January 3, 1876, he embarked in the res- 
taurant business, and has ever since then been 
thus successfully engaged. His property is 
one of the finest in Miamisburg. Mr. Buehner 
was one of the incorporators and stockholders 
of the Miamisburg Mowing Machine company, 
and he has been a member of the firm of Mays 
& Buehner, dealers in shoes, in Miamisburg, 
since 1892. 

Mr. Buehner was married August 19, 1869, 
to Catherine Schneider, daughter of Henry 
and Dorothea (Schmerz) Schneider, of the 



province of Hesse-Cassel,. Germany. To this 
marriage there have been born six children, as 
follows: John Henry; John F., deceased; 
Mary M., deceased; Amanda C. ; Katie E., 
deceased; and Otto M. Mr. Buehner is a 
member of the Lutheran church, of the Ger- 
man order of Harugari, of the Knights of 
Pythias, and of the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. He has served as district deputy 
and representative to the grand lodge of the 
state of Ohio of the latter order. Politically 
he is a democrat, and is a citizen of most ex- 
cellent and admirable qualities. 



OTTO BUEHNER, the well-known 
shoe dealer of Miamisburg, Ohio, is a 
native of that place, and was born 
January 12, 1S61, a son of John Mar- 
tin and. Christiana (Guhl) Buehner, whose gen- 
ealogy will be found in the biography of J. F. 
Buehner elsewhere in this volume. 

Mr. Buehner was educated in the public 
schools of Miamisburg, and here served an ap- 
prenticeship of three years at the shoemaker's 
trade, which he has followed since 1876. He 
became manager for Mr. Mays in the shoe 
business in 1892, and in 1894 bought an inter- 
est in the concern, and since that date the 
firm name has been Mays & Buehner. 

Mr. Buehner was united in marriage, De- 
cember 31, 1889, with Miss Charlotte L. 
Wachter, daughter of John C. and Hannah 
(Scheible) Wachter, of Springboro, Warren 
county, Ohio, but formerly of Germany. One 
child, named John F. Buehner. has been born to 
this marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Buehner are de- 
voted members of the Lutheran church. Mr. 
Buehner is a Knight of Pythias and also a 
member of the D. O. H. and A. O. U. W. 
In politics he is a democrat. 

Mr. Buehner has always been an indus- 
trious man and upright in all his dealings; he 



950 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



is a skillful workman and possessed of excellent 
business qualities. . In all the walks of life he 
has been discreet and conservative and has 
thereby won the esteem of his fellow-citizens. 
Although thrifty he is yet liberal in all things, 
and is prompt in his aid to school and church and 
to the fraternities to which he gives adherence, 
as well as to all projects designed to benefit 
the people of his city and township. 

Mrs. Buehner's father, John C. Wachter, 
was born in Rodendorf, Bavaria, Germany, 
April 25, 1 8 17; came to America in 1846, lo- 
cating in New York city, and in May, 1853, 
seitled in Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, 
where he worked at the shoemaker's trade. 
He died there November 26, 1891. His wife 
died March 19, 1893. 



K^\ OBERT W. BURNS, the affable and 
■ /^ energetic secretary of the Friend Pa- 
¥ per & Tablet company, of West Car- 
rollton, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born in Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., 
March 1, 1861, a son of Robert and Angeline 
(Major) Burns. The paternal grandfather, 
Hugh Burns, was of Scotch-Irish descent and 
was a farmer near Lewistown; the maternal 
grandfather, Peacock Major, was a hotel- 
keeper at Lewistown during the Revolutionary 
war, and in the war of 1812 took part in the 
battle of Lake Erie, under Com. Perry. 

Robert W. Burns, whose name opens this 
biography, was reared to manhood in his na- 
tive city and educated in its public schools. 
In 1 88 1 he came to Ohio, and for seven years 
filled the position of correspondent for S. J. 
Patterson, coal dealer at Dayton. In 1888 he 
formed a partnership in West Carrollton with 
Samuel Johnson, under the style of the Amer- 
ican Tablet company, and did a successful 
business until 1894, when the American Tablet 
company was consolidated with the George H. 



Friend Paper cS; Tablet company. Since then 
the concern has maintained a prosperous trade 
under its present title, and in this Mr. Burns, 
as its secretary, has been no small factor. 

Mr. Burns was united in wedlock October 
12, 1886, with Miss Sarah J. Williamson, 
daughter of George and Sarah A. (Jacobs) 
Williamson, well known residents of Fairfield, 
Greene count)', Ohio, and to this union four 
children have been born, namely: James F., 
Angeline, Robert and Elizabeth. Mr. and 
Mrs. Burns are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and are liberal in their con- 
tributions toward its support, as well as to the 
support of all worthy institutions designed for 
the public good. In politics Mr. Burns is a 
republican, but has never been an office 
seeker. Fraternally he is a royal arch Mason, 
and is also a member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows. 

Mr. Burns is quite prominent as a citizen 
of West Carrollton, and is foremost in every 
enterprise promising to advance the prosperity 
of his adopted town, which has become, 
largely through his push and energy, one of 
the prettiest, as well as most thriving, little 
hamlets of Montgomery county. 



HBRAHAM K. BURTNER, a retired 
farmer of Germantown, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born in Mad River 
township, in the same county, June 
8, 1839, a son °f Jacob and Catherine (Kemp) 
Burtner, natives of Pennsylvania and Mary- 
land, respectively. His paternal grandparents, 
George and Catherine (Hoke) Burtner, origi- 
nally of Lancaster county, Pa., settled in Mad 
River township in 1828, and engaged in farm- 
ing. Their children were Henry, George, 
John, Jacob, Joseph, Catherine (Mrs. Joseph 
Peffler) and Fanny (Mrs. Jacob Kumler). 

Jacob Burtner of the above family, and fa- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



951 



ther of Abraham K., was born in Cumberland 
county, Pa., in 1808, and came with his par- 
ents to Mad River township in 1828. He was 
a farmer, and in 1845 removed to Preble 
county, and thence to Germantown in 1868, 
where he died May 7, 1886. His children 
were Julia (Mrs. Matthew Coffman), Lucinda 
(Mrs. William Zehring), Sarah (Mrs. Aaron 
Zehring), Abraham K., Joseph, Jacob, Joshua, 
and Francis. 

Abraham K. Burtner was reared in Preble 
county, Ohio, from eight years of age, was ed- 
ucated in the common schools, and in 1861 
began the work of life as a farmer in Jefferson 
township, Montgomery county, where he lived 
two and one-half years, then removed to Ger- 
man township and engaged in farming until 
1868, since which time he has been a resident 
of Germantown. He married, August 8, 1861, 
Sarah C. , daughter of John and Rebecca 
(Bruner) Zeller, of Germantown, and has five 
children — Emma, Ida (Mrs. Rev. W. C. 
Mickey), Carrie (Mrs. Dr. F. M. Pottinger), Ed- 
ward and Myrta. During the late Civil war 
Mr. Burtner was a member of company F, 
One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and served 100 days, when he was 
honorably discharged. Mr. Burtner and wife 
are members of the United Brethren church. 
Politically Mr. Burtner is a republican. 

Mr. Burtner has prospered in life through 
his own industry and skill, and is well deserv- 
ing of the high esteem in which he is held by 
his neighbors. 



HMOS KENDALL CLAY (deceased), 
a prominent member of the Mont- 
gomery county bar, was born in 
Miamisburg, Ohio, May 9, 1847, a 
son of Adam and Sophia (Dubbs) Clay, natives, 
respectively, of Cumberland and Lehigh coun- 
ties, Pa. His paternal grandfather was one 



of the pioneers of Wayne county, Ohio, in 
which county he lived until his death. After- 
ward his family removed to Saint Mary's, 
Mercer county, Ohio. His maternal grand- 
father, Daniel Dubbs, was a native of Lehigh 
county, Pa., was of Swiss descent, and set- 
tled in Miami township, Montgomery county, 
in 1836. In this county he engaged in farm- 
ing, and here he passed the remainder of 
his life. 

Adam Clay was born in Carlisle, Cumber- 
land county, Pa., November 12, 1819. He 
was a shoemaker by trade, and in 1832 re- 
moved to Ohio, locating in Wooster, with his 
father. In 1839 ne went to Saint Mary's, 
Mercer county, Ohio; in 1841 removed to 
Dayton, and in 1842 to Miamisburg, where he 
carried on the shoe business until 1852, when 
he was admitted to the bar. From this time 
on until 1885 he continued in the active prac- 
tice of his profession, his death occurring 
June 25 in that year. When the state was 
keeping up a militia organization he was cap- 
tain of a company. In 1865 he was admitted 
to practice in the courts of the United States, 
and was a delegate to the constitutional con- 
vention of 1873. By his marriage he was the 
father of the following children: Amos K., 
whose name opens this sketch, and Agnes, 
now Mrs. Frances M. Deardorff. 

Amos K. Clay was reared in his native 
town and received the rudiments of his educa- 
tion there. Afterward he attended Notre 
Dame university at Notre Dame, Ind.; studied 
law with his father, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1868. After that time he was in the 
active practice of his profession in Miamis- 
burg; met with unusual success, took high 
rank at the bar of his native county, and ac- 
quired a handsome competency through his 
known ability and careful attention to the in- 
terests of his clients. On February 10, 1890, 
he married Etta M. Weaver, daughter of 



952 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Henry and Barbara (Kauffman) Weaver, of 
Miamisburg. To this marriage there was born 
one son, Amos W. 

Amos Kendall Clay was a member of the 
Masonic fraternity, in politics a democrat, and 
by appointment served as city attorney of 
Miamisburg for many years. In all his rela- 
tions with his fellow-men he observed the rules 
of propriety and integrity, and as a result was 
thoroughly trusted by all who needed the serv- 
ices of a member of the legal profession. Mr. 
Clay was called from earth in the prime of 
life and in the midst of useluluess. Although 
up to nearly his final hour he was in full en- 
joyment of perfect health and bade fair to 
live out the alotted "three score and ten 
years," on the 14th of June, 1896, he died 
very suddenly. His untimely demise cast a 
gloom over the whole community, and his 
death was mourned by all who knew him. 

In early manhood Mr. Clay had assumed 
an enviable place among the members of his 
calling. As a lawyer and counselor, he was 
recognized as capable, faithful, conscientious 
and reliable. As a man and citizen none stood 
higher in public esteem and honor. He was 
unostentatious, reserved and dignified — a gen- 
tleman in the fullest sense of that term. He 
was exact and thoroughly trustworthy in all his 
business and professional transactions. 

Mr. Clay was baptized in his youth. In 
his religious convictions he was a believer in 
evangelical Christianity and paid his annual 
stipend toward the support of the church of his 
parents. A few years since he placed a memo- 
rial window in the Reformed church in Miam- 
isburg in memory of his father and mother. 

The Montgomery county bar association, 
at his decease, met in the court room at Day- 
ton and held a memorial service at which 
were passed resolutions of commendation and 
condolence. The pall bearers, selected from 
the bar of Montgomery county, were as fol- 



lows: Judge Dennis Dwyer, Judge W. D. 
McKemy, Oscar M. Gottschall and Judge J. 
W. Kreitzer. The chairman of the committee 
on resolutions was Judge Elihu Thompson. 
The Masonic fraternity, through their commit- 
tee, consisting of Brothers L. H. Zehring, N. 
J. Catrow and M. G. Bohn, also submitted 
appropriate resolutions, couched in tender and 
feeling terms indicative of the high esteem in 
which their departed brother was held. 



<>^V EWTON J. CATROW.— The pro- 
M genitor of the Catrow family in Amer- 
r ica was Charles Catrow. He was a 
native of Holland, but of French 
descent, and in early manhood came to this 
country. Settling in Frederick county, Md., 
he there reared a family of eleven children, as 
follows : Charles, George, Jacob, Joseph, 
Michael, Peter, Sallie, Elizabeth, Mary, Han- 
nan and Ann. He lived in that county until 
his death in 1793. 

Peter Catrow, the sixth child, was born 
March 1, 1781, and December 25, 1803, settled 
in Franklin, Warren county, Ohio. Marrying 
in 1805, he, the same year, settled in Madison 
township, Butler county, where he purchased 
160 acres of land in what was then an un- 
broken wilderness. This land he cleared and 
improved and lived upon it until within a few 
years of his death, which occurred at Sunbury, 
Ohio, July 4, 1852. His family consisted of 
five children, as follows : Zephaniah, George 
C, Middleton, Catherine and Nancy. All of 
the brothers and sisters of Peter Catrow were 
pioneers of Butler and Montgomery counties, 
Ohio, and all lived to a ripe old age in the 
two counties mentioned. 

George C. Catrow, second son of Peter and 
Christiania (Loy) Catrow, and their only sur- 
viving child, was born on the old homestead in 
Butler county, Ohio, October 10, 1814, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



953 



there he was reared to manhood and resided 
until 1856, in the meantime teaching school' 
for many years. In the last-named year he 
removed to Dayton, where he was employed 
as clerk in the offices of the county clerk and 
county recorder for several years. In 1886 he 
removed to Miamisburg, where he has since 
resided. He married Mary A. Crider, daugh- 
ter of Philip Crider, of German township, 
Montgomery county, and their children were 
born in the following order: Silas P., de- 
ceased; William R. ; Newton J.; and Sarah, 
wife of John Selby. 

Newton Jason Catrow, third child of George 
C. and Mary A. (Crider) Catrow, was born on 
the old Catrow homestead in Butler county, 
April 24, 1845. He attained to manhood in 
his native county, and was educated in the 
common schools, and afterward in Greer's 
Commercial college, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1866. Locating in Miamisburg in 
1858, he was there employed as clerk in the 
dry-goods store of William Huff & Son for 
seven years. In 1866 he entered the bank of 
H. Groby & Co., and filled the position of 
clerk in that institution until 1882, when he 
purchased a one-third interest in the bank. In 
1886, with H. Groby, he purchased another 
third interest, and the bank was continued 
under the same name until 1888, when the 
First National bank of Miamisburg was organ- 
ized, the bank of H. Groby & Co.' merged into 
it, and Mr. Catrow elected cashier of the new 
bank. This position he held until the death 
of Mr. Groby, April 19, 1891, when he was 
elected president of the bank, which position 
he still occupies. 

In addition to his banking interests, Mr. 
Catrow has an interest in the lumber and coal 
firm of Grove & Catrow, is president of the 
Miamisburg Twine & Cordage company, treas- 
urer of the Miamisburg Paper company, and is 
connected with the Bookwalter Wheel com- 



pany, beside being concerned in various other 
enterprises. 

In 1865 Mr. Catrow was married to Melissa 
Groby, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Beck) 
Groby, of Miamisburg. He has two sons, viz: 
Herbert Groby, a graduate of the Pennsyl- 
vania Military college, and a member of the 
firm of Bartlett & Catrow, of Philadelphia, 
agents for European steamships and directors 
of foreign tours; and Henry, a student of the 
Pennsylvania Military college. Mr. Catrow is 
a member of the order of Odd Fellows, a 
Knight Templar, and a thirty-second degree 
Mason. Politically, he is a republican, and in 
religious affiliation he is a member of the 
Lutheran church. 



EENRY CRAUDER, the well-known 
farmer and tile manufacturer of Ger- 
man township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, is a native of Hamilton county, 
and was born October 15, 1848, of German 
parentage. 

Jacob Crauder, his father, was born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1 8 10, was a blacksmith by trade, 
and came from his native Germany to the 
United States in 1831. For a few years he 
made his home in the eastern states, but later 
came to Ohio and located near Cincinnati, 
where he followed his trade for twenty years, 
and in 1855 came to Montgomery county and 
settled in German township, purchased a farm, 
and here passed the remainder of his life, dy- 
ing April 12, 1 89 1. He had married Miss 
Elizabeth Dubler, also a native of Germany, 
and to this union were born seven children, of 
whom six grew to maturity, viz: Mary, who 
became the wife of John Myers; Sophia, now 
Mrs. Cornelius Michaels; William F., Jacob, 
Rebecca and Henry. 

Henry Crauder was but a boy of some 
seven years of age when brought to Montgom- 



5(54 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ery county, and here, from that age, until the 
present time, he has passed his life. He was 
educated in the public schools of German 
township, and began life as a farmer in Jeffer- 
son township, where he lived for eighteen 
years. He then returned to German town- 
ship, and in 1885 purchased the farm of twen- 
ty-three acres on which he now resides, en- 
gaged in cultivating the soil and in the manu- 
facture of tile. In this latter industry he has 
been quite prosperous, and is equally success- 
ful in his farming operations. 

The marriage of Mr. Crauder took place 
in 1 87 1, with Miss Ada Hunter, daughter of 
Jacob and Matilda (Boyer) Hunter, of Jeffer- 
son township, and to this union have been 
born twelve children, in the order here g'iven : 
Lillie, Theodore, Clifford, Annie, Grigsby, 
Maud, Chester, Dona, Victor, Tillie, Willie 
H. and Claude. The children are reared in 
the faith of the United Brethren church, of 
which the parents have long been members. 

Mr. Crauder, now in the prime of life, has 
had a gratifying business career, and has been 
a useful and industrious citizen. His success 
is of his own making, and his standing in the 
community in which he lives, and which is an 
enviable one, has been reached through his 
own personal qualities and merits. 



(D 



AJ. ELIJAH CULBERT, one of 
the oldest and most respected citi- 
zens of Madison township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, is paternally 
of Scotch descent and maternally springs from 
Pennsylvania-German ancestry. 

Elijah Culbert, father of the major, was a 
native of New York state, but when a young 
man went to Pennsylvania, where he was clerk 
in the Washington furnace, at Laurel Hill, in 
the Alleghany mountains. He married, in 
Somerset county, Miss Eva Hicks, a native 



of the county named, who bore him one child, 
the subject of this biography. Mr. Culbert, 
at the early age of twenty-two years, and when 
his son was but fifteen months old, met with 
an untimely fate, being killed by a falling tim- 
ber in the furnace while superintending some 
repairs. He was a well-educated and scholarly 
man, and his death was deeply deplored, not 
only by his young widow, but by his employers 
and a large circle of friends. 

Maj. Culbert was born in Somerset, Pa., 
March 1, 18 14, and the log house in which he 
was born is still standing. He received a ru- 
dimentary education in the common schools, 
early learned the blacksmith's trade, and in 
1836, when a young man of twenty-three 
years, came to Ohio, settled in Madison town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and voted for Gen. 
William Henry Harrison for the presidency of 
the United States in the famous log cabin and 
hard cider campaign. September 25, 1838, 
he married Miss Mary Olinger, of Jefferson 
township, born August 13, 18 16, a daughter of 
Jacob and Mary Olinger. Mr. Olinger was of 
German descent, was born in Pennsylvania, 
and was one of the original pioneers of Jeffer- 
son township, where he cleared up a farm 
from the forest, on which he ended his days. 
He died a member of the Dunkard church and 
a respected citizen, and there were left, to 
mourn his sad loss, the following children: 
John, Jacob, David, Elizabeth, Barbara, Mary, 
Nancy and Catherine. 

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Culbert lived a 
year with the wife's father, and then, in 1839, 
settled in Poast Town, where Mr. Culbert en- 
gaged in blacksmithing on his own account, 
prospered and erected a fine residence, in 
which he still resides. To Mr. and Mrs. Cul- 
bert were born five children, but two of whom 
are living — William H. and Amanda. Of the 
younger children, Elijah died at the age of 
thirty-nine years; Jacob at ten, and Elizabeth 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



955 



at the age of six; and on January 3, 1884, Mr. 
Culbert lost his beloved wife, she dying a 
devoted member of the German Baptist church. 

As early as i860, Mr. Culbert was enrolled 
in the Second regiment, Ohio state militia, 
and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, but 
this regiment was shortly afterward consoli- 
dated with the One Hundred and Thirty-first 
Ohio national guard, and when mustered into 
the United States service at the opening of 
the Civil war, Col. Culbert was reduced in 
rank to major, in which capacity he served 
100 days, being stationed at Baltimore and 
Washington, and receiving his discharge at 
Camp Chase, August 25, 1861. The major, 
however, had two sons who also served in the 
Civil war — William H. and Elijah. William 
H. was a sergeant in company E, Seventy- 
first volunteer infantry, became a veteran and 
served four years; he was twice wounded, once 
at Lovejoy's station and once at Nashville. 
Elijah was a sergeant in the One Hundred and 
Thirty-first (his father's; regiment, and served 
100 days. William H., who has been on the 
Dayton fire department for about eighteen 
years, married Miss Eliza Shafer, and is the 
father of one child — Clarence. Amanda C, 
the major's eldest daughter, was married to 
David B. Mumma, now deceased, and became 
the mother of two children — Harry C. and 
Willis, the latter of whom died at the age of 
seventeen years. Harry C. Mumma married 
Miss Rosie Arnold, and this union has been 
blessed with one child, Corinne. 

In politics Maj. Culbert is a republican. 
He is at present engaged in the tile business in 
Post Town and probably no man in the town- 
ship or county is more widely known or more 
respected than he. His progressiveness is 
proverbial, and his readiness to assist in the 
promotion of every movement designed for the 
public weal and his liberal contributions to 
such purposes are as household words in the 



community in which he has so long lived and 
the prosperity of which he has so strenuously 
striven to advance. 



>-j»OHN J. DETRICK, one of the well- 
J known farm ers of Randolph township, 
/% 1 and a deacon in the German Baptist 
church, sprang from Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock. John Detrick, his grandfather, 
was the descendant of one of three brothers of 
the name who came at an early day from Ger- 
many, and settled in Pennsylvania. John 
Detrick removed to Rockingham county, Va. , 
and had children as follows: Abraham, John, 
Elizabeth, Mary and Susan — all whose names 
can now now recalled. The above were the 
children of his first wife. After her death Mr. 
Detrick married a Miss Snell, by whom he 
had the following children: Jacob, Daniel, 
Benjamin and Lydia. John Detrick, who 
was an extensive farmer and a most prosper- 
ous man, died in Rockingham county, Va., 
aged about fifty years. 

Abraham Detrick, father of John J., was 
born in Rockingham county, Va. , July 5, 
1818, was reared a farmer's boy, and naturally 
adopted that vocation as his own. In Hardy 
county, Va., he married Mahala Judy, who 
was born in Hardy county, March 1, 1816. 
Mr. Detrick lived in Rockingham county for 
about six years after he was married; then 
removed to Hampshire county, where he lived 
for about twelve years, coming in 1856 to Ohio 
and settling in Montgomery county on a farm 
adjoining that now occupied by his son. After 
residing in Randolph township for about 
twenty years, he lived in Darke, Auglaize and 
Allen counties the remainder of his life, dying 
in the latter county, in 1892, at seventy-eight 
years of age. He was a devout member of 
the German Baptist church, and was an elder 
therein for many years. He was a man in 



956 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



whom all placed the utmost confidence and 
trust, standing high in the estimation of the 
entire community in which he lived. 

John J. Detrick was born September 11, 
1847, in Hampshire county, Va. , and came 
with his parents to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
when he was eleven years old. Here he at- 
tended school in the country, and received a 
good common-school education. Brought up 
as a farmer, he learned the lessons of that 
calling from his father, beginning work on his 
own account when he was twenty-one years of 
age. On February 27, 1873, he married, in 
Madison township, Miss Catherine Smith, who 
was born October 6, 185 1, in the same town- 
ship. His wife is a daughter of Rev. John 
Smith, who was born and reared on his father's 
farm in Madison township, Montgomery 
county. Rev. John Smith was a son of Abra- 
ham Smith, of Pennsylvania, a well-known 
pioneer, whose wife was a Bowman. John 
was the only child of this union, his mother 
dying while yet young. Mr. Smith lived to be 
eighty-four years of age and was a quite pros- 
perous farmer, owning 200 acres of land. In 
religious belief he was a Dunkard, or German 
Baptist, and stood high in the estimation of 
all that knew him. 

Rev. John Smith married for his first wife, 
Susan Wolf, by whom he had the following 
children: Catherine, Andrew, Lucinda, Hattie, 
Oliver, Emma and Elizabeth. He married 
again Margaret Garber. He has been for 
many years a devout member of the German 
Baptist church and an elder of the church, and 
for several years has been an acceptable and 
successful preacher. 

John J. Detrick, the subject of this sketch, 
settled on the Smith homestead and lived 
thereon several years, when he purchased the 
farm on which he now lives, and which con- 
tains 100 acres of land. By careful attention 
to correct methods and by constant industry, 



he has brought this farm up to a high state of 
cultivation, improving it in many ways, and 
has added to it sixteen acres. Mr. Detrick 
has been a devout member of the German 
Baptist church for the past fifteen years, and 
has reared his family in the same faith with 
himself. To him and his good wife there has 
been born one son, Perry Oliver. Mr. Det- 
rick has that quality of thrift and habit of in- 
dustry that made good citizens of his Pennsyl- 
vania ancestry. Ever since he was twenty- 
two years of age he has been identified with 
the church and with religious work. He is 
well known in the community as a man of in- 
tegrity and moral worth. 



eLI DIEHL, of Perry township, is one 
of the prosperous farmers of Mont- 
gomery county, and a descendant of 
one of its oldest pioneer families. His 
ancestry were of the stock for generations 
known as Pennsylvania Dutch. Jacob Diehl, 
his grandfather, was from Huntingdon county, 
Pa., and married a Miss Shipley. To their 
marriage there were born the following chil- 
dren: John, Jacob, Abraham, Nancy and 
Elizabeth. Jabob Diehl settled in Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, in 1806, in Jefferson town- 
ship, two miles west of Liberty, entering land 
which was covered with timber, which he 
cleared, cultivated and made into a productive 
farm. After some years he removed to Perry 
township, one-half mile west of the present 
home of his grandson Eli. He completed the 
clearing of this tract, converted it into a good 
farm, and lived upon it until his death, which 
occurred when he was nearly eighty years of 
age. Jacob Diehl was an industrious man and 
well known for his character and ability. He 
was a member of the German Baptist church. 
John Diehl, the father of Eli Diehl, was 
born in November, 1789, and was somewhat 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



957 



more than seventeen years of age when brought 
by his father to Ohio. The journey was made 
part of the way on horseback; but a wagon was 
occupied by the women of the family and the 
household goods, and was sent down the Ohio 
river to Cincinnati on a flat-boat. Thence the 
family traveled to Miamisburg by wagon, 
going through the woods from the mouth of 
Bear creek to Jefferson township, where they 
lived for some years. John Diehl, like his 
father before him, had the usual pioneer edu- 
cation. When about twenty-three years of 
age, in 1 8 1 1 or 1812, he married, in Jefferson 
township, Miss Susan Miller, who was born in 
Virginia in 1 791 . Moses Miller, her father, 
moved to Jefferson township from his Virginia 
home in 1804. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Diehl 
removed to Perry township and settled on land 
now occupied by their son John, and consist- 
ing of 160 acres. This farm Mr. Diehl cleared 
and brought under a higji state of cultivation 
and productiveness, and in time erected a good 
dwelling house, which is still standing. This 
house succeeded the log cabin which he had 
built upon first settling on his land. He was 
always known as a man of high character, 
industrious, . a good neighbor and a worthy 
citizen. His children were as follows: Aaron, 
Jacob, Samuel, Abraham, Elizabeth, John, 
Eli, Hannah, Noah and Adam. Noah served 
his country as a soldier in the late intestine 
war, as a member of an Ohio regiment. Mr. 
Diehl was a member of the German Baptist 
church, and was held in high estimation in the 
community. He lived to be eighty-five years 
of age, dying in 1874. 

Eli Diehl was born March 16, 1829, in 
Perry township. The schooling he received 
was better than that of his immediate ances- 
tors, the country having become more thickly 
settled, and the people generally having be- 
come more interested in the subject of educa- 



tion. He attended the common schools in the 
winter season until he became of age, and 
then taught school in the country for about 
ten years, mostly in Perry, Madison, Jefferson 
and Jackson townships. Having a vigorous 
mind and a retentive memory, he was more 
than ordinarily successful in the profession of 
teaching, many of his scholars becoming dis- 
tinguished men and women. 

Mr. Diehl married, October 10, 1861, Mary 
Wilson, a daughter of Frederick Wilson, who 
was a native of Maryland, an early settler of 
Montgomery county, and a blacksmith by 
trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Diehl there were 
born two children, both of whom died in in- 
fancy. Mrs. Diehl died in 1864, a member of 
the Lutheran church. Mr. Diehl was again 
married on February 22, 1866, his second wife 
being Mrs. Mary A. Bates, a widow. She is a 
daughter of Johnsey and Nancy Randall. Mr. 
Randall was born in Baltimore county, Md., 
in 1792, and was of Scotch and English an- 
cestry. He was the son of Johnsey and Re- 
becca (Dilworth) Randall. The Dilworth 
family were Philadelphia Ouakers. Mr. Ran- 
dall was well educated, a mechanic by trade, 
and was a soldier at Fort McHenry in the war 
of 1 812. On July 15, 181 5, he married in 
Maryland, and his children were David A., 
William, Elizabeth A., Anna E., John W. , 
Joseph W., Mary A., Thomas B. and Edward 
S. Mr. Randall came to Ohio in 1S42, set- 
tling in Dayton, where he worked at his trade, 
and where he passed the remainder of his days, 
dying January 15, 1880. An excellent citizen, 
he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and in politics a republican. Two of 
his sons were soldiers in the late Civil war — 
Joseph W. and Edward S. Edward S. was a 
sharpshooter, and served in the several battles 
of the Atlanta campaign. Mr. Randall be- 
longed to the same stock as the famous Samuel 
Randall, of Philadelphia, who so honorably 



958 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



distinguished himself as a democratic member 
of congress. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Diehl 
settled on the homestead farm. Their children 
are Edwin R. and Nellie E. Both parents 
are members of the German Reformed church, 
Mr. Diehl having been an elder for many years. 
Politically, he is a republican and as such has 
served as justice of the peace for three years. 
Mr. Diehl is one of the respected citizens of 
Perry township, and is an honored member of 
the order of Odd Fellows, in which he has 
passed all the chairs of his lodge, and has 
served as noble grand. 



aHARLES W. DODDS was born in 
Miamisburg, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, December 15, 1857, a son of 
William and Mary (Dodro) Dodds. 
His great-grandfather, Gen. William Dodds, a 
Revolutionary soldier, settled near Alexander- 
ville, Montgomery county, in 1806, where he 
engaged in farming, and at one time owned 
the land where West Carrollton now stands. 
His wife was a Miss McGrew, and both died 
in Miami township, and are buried in the old 
Presbyterian cemetery in Washington township. 
Their children were Joseph, Margaret (Mrs. 
David Lamme), William, John M., Polly (Mrs. 
Moses Smith), Sarah A. (Mrs. James McLain), 
James, Thomas and Martha (Mrs. John Smith). 
Of these, John M., the grandfather of Charles 
W. , having inherited land from his father's es- 
tate, was for nearly twenty years engaged in 
the milling business, operating a mill on the 
Miami, near the Pinnacles, and another on 
Hole's creek. He was a soldier in the war of 
181 2, and captain of a company of light infan- 
try in the days of militia. In 1840 he removed 
to Washington township, where he died in 
i860. He was twice married: first, to Mary 
Parsons, who bore him four children, all now 



deceased, viz: Auvilla, David L., Mary and 
Kate R. His second wife was Elizabeth, 
daughter of John Himes, a pioneer of Van 
Buren township, who bore him seven children: 
William, John H., Angeline (Mrs. Jerry Ew- 
ing), Thomas, James, Preston C. and Moses 
S. All the sons, except William and James, 
were soldiers in the late war. 

William Dodds, the eldest son of John M. 
and Mary Dodds, and father of Charles W. , 
was born in Miami township, February 7, 
1823. As a boy he worked in his father's mill; 
later boated on the canal, and for twenty-five 
years was a resident of Miamisburg, where he 
was engaged as a contractor on house painting, 
and in other business. His wife, Mary was a 
daughter of Conrad and Mary (Lemon) Dodro, 
formerly of Lancaster county, Pa., and pio- 
neers of Dayton. Conrad Dodro was a fuller 
and carder by trade, also taught school, was 
for many years a resident of Dayton, and died 
while on a visit to his old home in Pennsyl- 
vania. William Dodds was the father of nine 
children, viz: Otto F. , Perry, Lizzie (Mrs. 
Dr. B. F. Mullen), Charles W., Ella (Mrs. 
Lee Silberman), Emma (Mrs. S. F. Evans), 
Clay, Clarence and Lehm. Mr. Dodds died 
in Miamisburg in 1873 and his wife, Mary, 
died in 1881. 

Charles W. Dodds was reared to manhood 
in Miamisburg, where he received his educa- 
tion in the public schools and served an ap- 
prenticeship of two years at cigarmaking, after 
which he worked as a journeyman for several 
years in various cities and towns in the coun- 
try. In 1878 he started a factory of his own 
in Miamisburg on a small scale, also retailing 
cigars and confectionery, and, as his means 
permitted, gradually enlarged his facilities, 
adding a stock of books, papers, notions, etc., 
until the business had grown to considerable 
dimensions. He continued in this occupation 
for fourteen years, and then turned it over to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



959 



his brother Lehm, whom he had reared, and 
in 1892, as a member of the firm of Dodds & 
Mays, embarked in business as buyer and 
packer of leaf tobacco, in which he has since 
successfully continued. 

Mr. Dodds was married in 1881 to Jennie, 
daughter of Samuel B. and Fannie (Northrup) 
Andrews, of West Carrollton, and has three 
children: Willard, Robert and Fannie. He 
is one of the leading business men of Miamis- 
burg, is a member of the German Reformed 
church, and of the I. O. O. F. encampment, 
U. R. , Patriarchs Militant, Daughters of Re- 
bekah, and is a thirty-second degree Mason. 
He has been treasurer of Marion lodge, No. 
18, I. O. O. F., Miamisburg, for ten years, 
and is also treasurer of the incorporation of 
the same body. He is a member of the 
Miamisburg school board and of the board 
of cemetery directors. In politics he is a 
stanch republican. 

In the organization of the board of trade 
of Miamisburg Mr. Dodds was elected one of 
the members of the executive board, and was 
always one of its leading and active members. 
Through his efforts, push and energy the En- 
terprise Carriage Manufacturing company, one 
of the most thriving and valuable industries of 
the town, was located in Miamisburg. 



* w * EHM DODDS, dealer in cigars, news- 
f papers and confectionery, was born 
^^ in Miamisburg, Ohio, December 27, 
1870, a son of William and Mary 
(Dodro) Dodds, whose history will be found in 
the preceding sketch of C. W. Dodds. He 
was reared in Miamisburg and educated in the 
public schools, started in life as a clerk in the 
store of his brother, Charles W., and served 
in that capacity until 1862, when he became a 
member of the firm of Dodds & Andrews, by- 
purchasing the cigar, newspaper and confec- 
39 



tionery business of C. W. Dodds, his brother. 
He continued the partnership up to January 1, 
1896, when he purchased his partner's interest, 
and has since successfully continued the busi- 
ness alone. 

He married, September 25, 1895, Mary 
Edith, daughter of Jacob H. and Martha E. 
(Snoderly) Johnson, of Miamisburg. Mr. and 
Mrs. Dodds are members of the Reformed 
church and have been members of the choir 
for several years. Mr. Dodds is also a mem- 
ber of the O. U. A. M., Wayne council, No. 
90; I. O. O. F. , Marion lodge, No. 18, and 
encampment, and Daughters of Rebekah. In 
politics he is a republican, but has never 
sought or held office. He is one of the most 
popular merchants in Miamisburg, and socially 
he and his wife enjoy the regard of a large cir- 
cle of acquaintances. 



t/\ETER W. EAGLE, a highly-respect- 
1 m ed business man of Miamisburg, Ohio, 
1 and a gallant ex-soldier, was born in 

Miami township, Montgomery county, 
November 15, 1832, and is a son of Peter and 
Mary (Wetzel) Eagle, natives, respectively, of 
Staunton, Va. , and Guilford Court House, N. C. 
Peter Eagle, paternal grandfather of Peter 
W., was a native of Pennsylvania, and settled 
in Miami township in 1809, locating two miles 
east of Miamisburg, where he cleared up and 
improved a farm. He married Miss Anna 
Hanger, the union resulting in the birth of 
the following-named children : Polley (Mrs. 
Daniel Gebhart), Ann (Mrs. John Hoover), 
Sarah (Mrs. John DeRush), Saloma (Mrs. 
Jacob Wise), Henry, Jacob, George, David, 
John and Peter. Of these children, Peter, 
the father of the subject, was reared in Miami 
township from the age of five years. At the 
age of eighteen years he married Miss Mary 
Wetzel, daughter of Tobias and Mary (Gift) 



960 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Wetzel, and second cousin of Lewis Wetzel, 
the noted Indian fighter, who was with Adam 
Poe when the latter killed the celebrated In- 
dian chief, Big Foot. Tobias Wetzel settled 
in Miami township in 1806, two miles west of 
Miamisburg, and resided in the township until 
his death. Peter Eagle reared a family of five 
children, named David, Anna (Mrs. Alexander 
Fox), Catherine (Mrs. Jonathan Reedy), Peter 
W. and Mary, and died, in 1884, at the resi- 
dence of his son, Peter W., in his ninety-first 
year ; his wife died, in 1885, at the age of 
eighty four years. 

Peter W. Eagle reached manhood on the 
home farm in Miami township, followed farm- 
ing until 1856, and then engaged in the leaf to- 
bacco trade, a business he still pursues. In No- 
vember, 1 86 1 , he enlisted in company D, Fourth 
regiment, Ohio volunteer cavalry, and served 
until honorably discharged, on account of dis- 
ability, on surgeon's certificate, in 1863. He 
had been captured by the enemy on the courier 
line between Huntsville, Ala., and Shelby, 
Tenn., in May, 1862, and sent to Macon, Ga. 
In June of the same year he managed to 
successfully escape, but after seventeen days 
of liberty, was recaptured and sent to Savan- 
nah, in the same state, where he was confined 
three months in jail, then sent back to Macon, 
and thence to Annapolis, Md., whence, after 
six months' confinement, he managed to get 
home, and was discharged at Columbus, Ohio. 
Since 1872 he has been a resident of Miamis- 
burg, and engaged in the tobacco trade. 

Mr. Eagle was first married to Miss Eliza- 
beth Fox, daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Link) Fox, of Warren county, Ohio, and, 
after her decease, married Miss Katie, daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Mary (Flaherty) Stanton, 
of Liverpool, England. To this second union 
have been born ten children, of whom six are 
still living, viz: Peter W., Jr., Harry, Thomas, 
Beatrice, Stanley and Genevieve. The family 



are members of the Lutheran church, and in 
politics Mr. Eagle is a democrat. Mr. Eagle 
is a member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic and of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men. He is greatly respected socially, while 
as a business man he enjoys the confidence of 
both the city and farming communities, with 
whom he has had extensive business relations 
for so many years. 



ISAAC EARLY, a retired farmer of much 
prominence, was born in Miami town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 3, 1836, a son of John and 
Magdaline (Byerly) Early, and is of the fourth 
generation of this family in America, his great- 
grandfather having come from Germany and 
settled in Pennsylvania; while the paternal 
grandfather was the first of the family to set- 
tle in Ohio, and made his residence in Preble 
county until his death, his remains being in- 
terred at West Alexandria. The maternal 
grandfather of Isaac Early was Joseph Byerly, 
who was born in Virginia and was also of Ger- 
man descent. 

John Early, father of Isaac, was a native 
of Lancaster county, Pa., but passed forty 
years of his life in the state of Virginia, and in 
1830 came to Ohio; he lived in Preble county 
until 1*836, when he came to Montgomery 
county, settled in Miami township and fol- 
lowed farming until his death, which occurred 
in 1854. His children were born in the fol- 
lowing order: John, David, Lydia (the pres- 
ent wife of John F. Fox), Sarah (the deceased 
wife of John F. Fox), Joseph, Jacob, and Isaac. 

Isaac Early was educated in the common 
schools of Miami township, and was reared to 
farming, which vocation he followed until 1894, 
when he retired to Miamisburg, his present 
home. With the exception of twelve years, 
during which period he lived in Warren coun- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



961 



ty, Ohio, all his life has been spent in Mont- 
gomery county, in Miami and Washington 
townships, in the latter of which he lived for 
thirty-two years. 

In i860 Mr. Early was most happily united 
in matrimony with Miss Mary E. Pence, 
daughter of Joseph Pence, of Warren county, 
Ohio, and this union has been blessed with four 
children, viz: Charles F. , Howard P., Will- 
iam A., and Cora P. Mrs. Early's parents, 
Joseph and Barbara Ann (Null) Pence, were 
natives of Virginia, and pioneers of Warren 
county, Ohio. Mr. Pence was a farmer and 
at one time dealt largely in pork. He was 
prominent in public affairs and served for 
many years as justice of the peace. He and 
his wife passed the last years of their lives near 
Springboro, Warren county, and their remains 
were interred in Springboro cemetery. They 
had a family of nine children, namely: Ed- 
ward H., deceased; George S., a farmer of 
Madison county, 111.; Sarah, deceased; John 
W., who was a prominent and wealthy resi- 
dent of Minneapolis, Minn., where he died a 
few years ago; Harriet, widow of Archibald 
See, living at Lebanon, Ohio; Cynthia Jane, 
deceased; Martha D., living in Springboro; 
Charles N., a retired farmer of Springboro, 
and Mary E., the wife of Isaac Early. Mr. 
Early is a consistent member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church, and in his politics is a 
democrat. He has been a very successful 
farmer, has attained a place of prominence in 
the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and has won 
for himself a name that is honored throughout 
the country. 

@EORGE M. EBLING, the well 
known blacksmith of Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, was born in 
Darke county, Ohio, April 28, 1859, 
and is a son of Michael and Margaret (Gouk) 
Ebling, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany. 



John Ebling, the paternal grandfather of 
George M., with his wife, Mary, and their 
four children, Henry, Christian, George and 
Michael, came to America in 1851, and settled 
in Darke county, Ohio, where John followed 
the vocation of gardener until his decease. 
Michael Ebling, son of John and father of 
George M., was but fourteen years of age 
when brought to Ohio by his father, and grew 
to manhood in Darke county. On attaining 
his majority he engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness in New Madison, where, with the excep- 
tion of four years passed in Dayton, Ohio, he 
has ever since resided, and where he is still in 
the lumber trade. He early married Margaret 
Gouk, daughter of Valentine and Marie Gouk, 
who came from Germany, and settled in Darke 
county, Ohio, in 1852. For twenty-five years 
prior to coming to the United States, Valen- 
tine Gouk had been a member of the police 
force of Hesse Darmstadt, and was a man of 
strong nerve and marked individualism. The 
children born to the marriage of Michael and 
Margaret Ebling were five in number and were 
named in order of birth: George M., Chris- 
tian, Michael C, Adam and Katie, all of 
whom still survive. George M. Ebling was 
reared to manhood in his native county of 
Darke, received an excellent common-school 
education, and served an apprenticeship of 
three years at the blacksmith trade in New 
Madison. For ten years after learning his 
trade he worked as a journeyman in various 
parts of the United States, but finally settled 
in Miamisburg, and in 1891 embarked in busi- 
ness as a member of the firm of Simonton & 
Ebling, which firm had a continuous existence 
of five years, when it was dissolved by the 
mutual consent of the partners, in September, 
1896. Since that date Mr. Ebling has con- 
ducted the business on his sole account, and 
has now one of the best blacksmith shops in 
the city of Miamisburg. 



962 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



The marriage of Mr. Ebling took place 
October 3, 1880, to Miss Laura E. Brown, 
daughter of Isaiah and Christina (Beachler) 
Brown, of New Madison. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ebling are members of the Reformed church 
and in politics Mr. Ebling is a democrat. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of the K. of P., A. O. 
U. W., D. O. H. and Jr. O. U. A. M., and 
few young men have a larger circle of warm 
friends than George M. Ebling. 



<^~\ R- THEODORE P. EBY, one of 

I the leading dentists of Montgomery 
J^^J county and a man of education and 
culture, springs from Pennsylvania 
ancestors, the family having originated from 
one of two brothers that about 200 years ago 
came from either Switzerland or Prussia, set- 
tling in Pennsylvania at that time. The prob- 
ability is, however, that the family comes of 
Swiss extraction. 

Jacob Eby, the grandfatner of Dr. Eby, 
was born at Mannheim, in Lancaster county, 
Pa., and was a maker of the old-fashioned 
English pattern clocks, clockmaking having 
been carried on in the family for several gen- 
erations. Christian Eby, brother of Jacob, 
was a famous clockmaker, clocks of his make 
being still extant and highly valued. His 
clocks were of brass mechanism and so con- 
structed that the face showed the phases of 
the moon. One of Jacob's clocks is now 
owned by Joseph E. Boyer, of Dayton, and 
one of Christian Eby's clocks, now belonging 
to architect C. I. Williams, of Dayton, is still 
keeping good time and bids fair to continue to 
do so for a century. 

Jacob Eby married, in Pennsylvania, Han- 
nah Parkinson, a lady of English ancestry. 
To him and his wife there were born the fol- 
lowing children : George. Jacob, Eliza, Maria, 
Hannah, Peter (who died young), and Rebecca. 



Jacob Eby lived to be about fifty-five years 
old, dying in Mannheim, Pa. 

George Eby, the eldest son of Jacob, was 
born at Mannheim, Pa., in January, 1802, and 
of his father learned the art of making clocks. 
In 1827 he married Dorothy Fritchey, near 
Harrisburg, Pa., and located in that city. His 
wife's parents were John G. and Dorothy 
Fritchey. After some time they removed to 
Mannheim, where they lived until 1846, when 
they removed to Cumberland county, Pa., and 
there Mr. Eby engaged in the mercantile busi- 
ness, continuing therein until 1849. In this 
year he removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
locating in the town of Union and engaging in 
the same business in partnership with D. K. 
Boyer. They remained in this connection for 
many years, and were quite successful. Mr. 
and Mrs. Eby were members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, he serving as church trus- 
tee. In his native town of Mannheim he was 
a member of the town council, and was also 
one of the school directors. He lived to be 
about fifty-six years old, dying in 1858. He 
was a business man of ability and integrity and 
a consistent Christian. In politics he was a 
democrat, and served as postmaster at Mann- 
heim under President Polk's administration. 

By the marriage of George and Dorothy 
(Fritchey) Eby, there were the following chil- 
dren: Theodore P., Christian, Hannah A., 
Mary E., George W., Edwin J. and Thomas 
V. Mr. Eby had two sons in the late Civil 
war, viz: George W. and Thomas V., both in 
an Ohio infantry regiment. 

Dr. Theodore P. Eby was born at Harris- 
burg, Pa., December 28, 1828, and was three 
months old when his parents removed to 
Mannheim. He began his business life with 
his father when quite young, and at the age of 
twenty years came with the rest of the family 
to Ohio, locating in Union, Montgomery coun- 
ty, in 1S49. The journey was made from 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



963 



Harrisburg to Pittsburg by way of the canal, 
down the Ohio river, to Cincinnati by steam- 
boat, and thence to Montgomery county by 
canal, and from Dayton to Union by wagon. 
It was a long and tedious undertaking, because 
of the slow means of travel, a journey which 
would then take two or three weeks being now 
accomplished in a day. Young Eby entered 
the employ of Boyer & Eby, Mr. Boyer being 
his uncle by marriage, and he remained with 
this firm for five years. Then beginning the 
study of dentistry with Dr. Samuel Hawkins, 
he remained thus engaged for two years. On 
April 9, 1856, in Randolph township, he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Hikes, who was born July 
3, 1834, in that township, and is a daughter of 
John and Susan Hikes. John Hikes was born 
in Cumberland county, Pa., and was a son of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Bartlett) Hikes. Jacob 
Hikes emigrated at an early day as a pioneer 
to Montgomery county and settled in or near 
Dayton, and had a distillery on his farm. He 
was a man well known for many miles around 
for his uprightness and manliness of character. 

John Hikes married in Montgomery county, 
and was a miller and distiller by occupation. 
His children were as follows: William, Henry 
C, Alfred, Chailes, Elizabeth, Mary J., Julia 
and Alice. Mr. Hikes was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and in his early 
life was an old-line Whig in politics, later be- 
coming a republican. He removed to Missouri 
and settled at Stewardsville, in De Kalb coun- 
ty, in 1858, and there died. He had three 
sons in the late Civil war, viz: William, 
Henry C. and Alfred. Mr. Hikes was a 
strong Union man, and suffered much in con- 
sequence in Missouri. 

Dr. Eby located in Dayton as a dentist in 
partnership with Dr. Andrew Sheets, the firm 
name being Sheets & Eby. He -remained in 
Dayton two years, at the end of which time he 
returned to Union, in which place he still re- 



sides. Here he has ever since pursued his 
profession with success, and has a large and 
lucrative practice. He has been engaged in 
dentistry since 1857, and is the oldest practi- 
tioner in Montgomery county. He has al- 
ways been an extensive reader of profes- 
sional works, and thus has kept pace with the 
march of progress and has attained a high de- 
gree of skill. Mrs. Eby died in 1886, a woman 
of many virtues and a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. Dr. Eby is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity, of St. John's blue 
lodge, No. 9, of Dayton. Politically he is a 
democrat, has held the position of clerk of his 
township for three years, township trustee 
two terms, and has served as a member of the 
school board. He was township treasurer for 
nine years, and in all public trusts he has given 
full satisfaction to his people. 

By his first wife his children are as follows: 
Mary A., Susan G. and George H. In 1894, 
Dr. Eby married, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mrs. 
Frances M. Hoopes, a widow, whose maiden 
name was Martin. 



^y^ILLIAM S. EBY, a well-known 
M M farmer of German township, Mont- 

mJLvl gomerj county, Ohio, and also a 
successful auctioneer and an ex- 
soldier, was born in this township June 9, 
1838, his parents being John and Elizabeth 
(Shaffer) Eby. 

John Eby was born in Lancaster county, 
Pa., in 1798, was a son of David Eby, of 
German descent, and by occupation was a 
farmer. He came to Ohio in 1836 and settled 
in German township, Montgomery county, 
buying a farm, which he partially cleared and 
improved, and upon which he resided until his 
death, in January, 1855. His wife was a 
daughter of John Shaffer, was also born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., and bore her hus- 



964 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



band eight children, of whom six are still liv- 
ing and are named Washington H., Artenius 
J., William S., Benjamin F., Rebecca (Mrs. 
Peter Pfaff), and Susan E. (Mrs. Jacob Slifer). 
The mother of this family also passed the clos- 
ing years of her life in German township. 

William S. Eby, whose name opens this 
biography, was educated in his native township 
and has here passed all his life, with the ex- 
ception of three years, when he lived in Butler 
county, Ohio, where he was engaged in farm- 
ing the greater part of that time. Farming, 
indeed, has been his life-long occupation, but, 
having a ready command of language and being 
a keen judge of the value of personal property, 
he twenty years ago became an auctioneer, 
and is now one of the most popular of those 
engaged in the vocation in Montgomery coun- 
ty. For eighteen years, also, he has been a 
buyer and seller of tobacco. 

Mr. Eby has been twice married. His first 
union was with Lucinda Gunckel, daughter of 
Jacob C. and Nancy (Catrow) Gunckel, of Ger- 
man township. To this marriage were born 
two children — Leo and Mildred. The second 
marriage of Mr. Eby was with Miss Susie 
Brown, daughter of Jason Brown, of Butler 
county, Ohio, but to this union no children 
have been born. 

The military career of Mr. Eby is as fol- 
lows: August 22, 1861, he enlisted in com- 
pany H, Thirty-fifth regiment Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and served until honorably discharged, 
August 23, 1863. He re-entered the army, 
February 12, 1865, as first sergeant of com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, served until long after the 
war was brought to an end, and was again 
honorably discharged September 25, 1S65. 
He took part in all the marches and engage- 
ments of the army of the Cumberland during 
the two terms of his military service. He is 
now a member of Carlton Bear post, No. 516, 



Grand Army of the Republic, of Germantown, 
and in politics is a silver democrat. Mr. Eby 
has been a prudent and successful worker in 
the affairs of life, and the high standing he en- 
joys in the esteem of the community in which 
he lives is due to his merits as a man, citizen 
and soldier. 



f S~*\ AVID EMERT, a prominent citizen 
I and farmer, was born in Miami town- 
s^^_J ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 1 8, 1826, and is a son of 
Andrew and Catherine ( Schell ) Emert, both 
natives of Pennsylvania. His paternal grand- 
father, Martin Emert, of German descent, was 
a clockmaker by trade, and lived and died in 
Pennsylvania. His maternal grandparents, 
Henry and Margaret ( Lesher ) Schell, both 
natives of Berks county, Pennsylvania, settled 
in Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1820, and his maternal great-grandfather, 
Peter Schell, a native of Germany, and a 
farmer of Berks county, Pa., was a soldier of 
the war of the Revolution. Andrew Emert, 
father of David, was born in 1805, came to 
Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in boyhood, worked at the shoemaker's trade 
a few years, and then returned to Pennsyl- 
vania for a legacy. He soon after removed 
to Miami township, and about 1826 purchrsed 
the farm now owned by Mary E. Emert, 
cleared and improved it and resided there until 
his death, in 1882. His children are David, 
Jonathan, Martin H., Albert and John. 

David Emert was reared on the old home- 
stead and educated in the common schools 
and in Farmer's college, Hamilton, Ohio. He 
has always followed farming as an occupation, 
has lived upon his present farm in Miami 
township since 1861, and is one of the active 
and progressive farmers of his township. 

Mr. Emert married, in 185 1, Miss Cather- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



965 



ine R. (Fleck) Routzong, of Van Buren town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio; she bore him 
seven children, viz: Augustus V., Sarah E. 
(Mrs. Samson P. Strader), Andrew A., Ed- 
ward E., Clara A., Ira A., and Emma. Mr. 
Emert is a member of the Lutheran church 
and is a democrat in his political affiliations. 
His social connection is with the best people 
of Miami township, with whom he stands in 
the most pleasant relations, enjoying to the 
utmost their regard and esteem. 



"^ i* ACOB EBY, a well known farmer of 
m Miami township, Montgomery county, 
/• 1 Ohio, was born in Harrison township, 
in the same county, May 2, 1849, and 
is a son of Adam and Susan (Mullendore) Eby. 
He was reared in Harrison township, received 
a good common-school education, and began 
life for himself as a farmer in Jefferson town- 
ship, where he lived five years. In 1877 he 
purchased a farm in Miami township, com- 
prising 188 acres of land, to which he removed 
in 1878, and upon which he lived until 1893, 
when he removed to a farm of forty acres in 
West Carrollton, where he has since resided. 
Beside this, he owns a farm of 108 acres on 
the Cincinnati turnpike in Miami township, and 
also one of sixty acres in Jefferson township, 
near the soldiers' home. 

On December 8, 1887, he married Alice 
Baker, daughter of Aaron and Nancy (Simp- 
son) Baker, of Jefferson township, and by this 
marriage he has four children, as follows; 
Dollie May, Susie, Owen A. and James. Mr. 
Eby is a member of Marion lodge, I. O. O. F., 
of Miamisburg, and in politics is a populist. 
He has always maintained an excellent reputa- 
tion for honesty and integrity of character, and 
enjoys the confidence and esteem of all to the 
fullest extent. 



Adam Eby, a prominent farmer of Harri- 
son township, Montgomery county, was born 
in Baltimore county, Md., July 10, 1814, and 
is a son of Christian and Susannah (McDaniel) 
Eby. Christian Eby was a native of York 
county, Pa., and was of Swiss descent. He pur- 
chased a farm in Jackson township, Montgom- 
ery, county, Ohio, in 1832, on which he settled 
in 1838. Later he removed to Preble county, 
Ohio, and there died. His children were as 
follows: Elizabeth, wife of Joseph Kohler; 
John; Jane, wife of Amos Markey; Samuel; 
Susan, wife of Jesse Royer; Christian; Nancy, 
wife of Ephraim Engler; Adam, Wilson, James, 
Lavina, wife of John Vail, and Jacob. 

Adam Eby came to Montgomery county 
with his parents in 1838, and lived with them 
three years in Jackson township. In 1841 he 
purchased the farm in Harrison township 
which he now owns and occupies, on which he 
made all the improvements and on which he 
has ever since resided. The home farm com- 
prises 270 acres, and he also owns one of 155 
acres adjoining, and in addition a farm in Jef- 
ferson township of 157 acres. He is, in short, 
one of the most enterprising and successful 
farmers in Montgomery county. 

On October 1, 1840, he married Susan 
Mullendore, daughter of David Mullendore, of 
Preble county, Ohio, and who bore him thir- 
teen children, as follows: Jane, wife of Scott 
Robinson; Elizabeth, wife of William Wogo- 
man; Ephraim; Jacob; Susan, wife of Joseph 
Ulrich; Wilson, Adam, Clement L. V., An- 
drew, Christian, and three that have died. 
Mr. Eby has served as justice of the peace of 
Harrison township for eighteen years, and as 
township trustee for several years. Politically 
he was for many years a democrat, but of late 
years he has been an advocate of populism. . 
He is a man of high character, always sustain- 
ing what he believes to be correct principles in 
morals, politics and religion. 



%6 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



a APT. AUGUSTUS J. EMINGER 
was born near Mechanicsburg, Cum- 
berland county, Pa., July 23, 1836, 
is a son of David and Magdalena 
(Miller) Eminger, and comes of German an- 
cestry. His paternal grandfather, Andrew 
Eminger, was a son of Isaac Eminger, the 
progenitor of the family in America, a native 
of Berlin, Germany, who was among the 
pioneers of what is now Cumberland county, 
Pa., settling there about 1740. All the an- 
cestors of Capt. Eminger in America were 
farmers, including his father, who died in 
Pennsylvania, in 1854. Andrew Eminger, the 
grandfather, was a first lieutenant in the Rev- 
olutionary war, and was also a soldier in the 
war of 1 812. 

Augustus J. Eminger spent the first seven- 
teen years of his life on the home farm. He 
was educated in the common schools and in 
the Cumberland Valley institute, Mechanics- 
burg, Pa. In April, 1855, he came to Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, and in the winter of 1855-6 at- 
tended the Bacon Commercial college, Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, during which time and up to 
1858, he was connected with what is now the 
R. G. Dun Commercial agency. In the fall 
of 1858 he located in Miamisburg, where he 
was employed as clerk in a dry-goods store 
until 1862. 

On July 30, 1862, he enlisted in company 
E, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, went 
to the front as first lieutenant, and participa- 
ted in the campaign of the armies of the Ohio 
and Cumberland, in Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Georgia and Alabama. He was promoted to 
the captaincy of the company January 24, 
1864, and was mustered out of the service at 
Nashville, Tenn., January 8, 1865. He at 
once returned to Miamisburg, where he en- 
tered the employ of D. H. Hoover & Co., 
later Hoover & Gamble, and on the incorpor- 
ation of the Hoover & Gamble Co., in 1892, 



was made secretary of the company, a posi- 
tion which he still occupies. 

Capt. Eminger was married, March 4, 1858, 
to Miss Maria S., daughter of Silas and Maria 
(South) Hall, of Miamisburg, and has five chil- 
dren: Mary (Mrs. J. F. Vogel), William F., 
Charles F. , Robert L. , and Clara H. (Mrs. 
Fred. C. Cotterman). Capt. Eminger is 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
of the Ohio commandery, military order of 
the Loyal Legion, Al Mason post, G. A. R., 
and of the subordinate lodge, encampment 
and patrirachs militant, I. O. O. F. He 
has held the office of mayor of Miamis- 
burg for two successive terms, has served 
as member of the city council, and was a 
member and clerk of the board of educa- 
tion from 1868 to 1S90. Politically, he is 
a stanch republican. To all public move- 
ments for the advancement of Miamisburg, 
Capt. Eminger has always been foremost in 
giving his time and work. His spirit of pro- 
gressiveness has assisted much in the upbuild- 
ing of the town, and his high character has 
brought to him the universal esteem of the 
community in which he resides. 



aHARLES FRANCIS EMINGER, an 
active business man of Miamisburg, 
was born in this city July 16, 1865. 
He is a son of Augustus J. and Maria 
(Hall) Eminger, and was reared in his native 
city, where he received his education, gradu- 
ating from the high school in 1883, and where 
he has always resided. After reaching his 
eleventh year he was engaged several summers 
as a clerk in a grocery store, passing his school 
vacations in this way, and in 1884 he em- 
barked in the grocery business at Miamisburg 
as a member of the firm of Forbes & Eminger, 
in which business and connection he continued 
two years. Since 1886 he has been in the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



967 



flour business in connection with Uriah Engle- 
man, and has been practically manager of the 
entire sale and disposition of the products of 
the Engleman mill. 

Mr. Eminger was married April 8, 1886, to 
Edna M. Engleman, daughter of Uriah and 
Sally (Marshall) Engleman, of Miamisburg. 
He has one daughter, Ethel L. Mr. Eminger 
is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight 
Templar, a member of the Mystic Shrine, an 
Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a member 
of the camp of Sons of Veterans and of the 
military order of the Loyal Legion. In 1895 
Mr. Eminger was one of five candidates for 
county auditor, but was defeated through his 
not being a resident of Dayton. He has al- 
ways taken an active interest in politics, and 
is at the present time a leader in the younger 
element of republicanism in the southern part 
of Montgomery county. Though still a young 
man, Mr. Eminger has made an impression in 
the business and in the political and social 
world that bids fair to be both lasting and 
creditable. 



ar 



'ILLIAM EWRY, carriage and 
wagon manufacturer and black- 
smith, of Beavertown, was born 
in Van Buren township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, July 31, 1839. He is a son 
of Bazil and Magdalene (Swigart) Ewry, both 
of whom were natives of Van Buren town- 
ship. They were the parents of two children, 
William and David. Bazil Ewry was a farmer 
by occupation, and one of the best in the en- 
tire county. Both he and his wife, the latter 
of whom died in 1842, were members of the 
German Reformed church, in which he served 
most of his lifetime as ah elder and a deacon. 
He was a popular and prominent man in the 
community, and led an honorable and useful 
life. For his second wife he married Eliza- 



beth Swigart, by whom he had seven sons and 
one daughter, as follows: John, Benjamin, 
Albert, Oliver, Henry, Wilson and Mary, all 
still living, and one child, named Charles, who 
died in infancy. 

Bazil Ewry's father, John Ewry, was a na- 
tive of Maryland and came to Ohio at a very 
early day, settling in Van Buren township, and 
buying land one mile east of the present site 
of Beavertown. Toward the erection of the 
first church he was one of the earliest to move, 
donating toward it for a site two acres of land, 
upon which is also located the cemetery. He 
reared a large family and lived to be very old. 
The maternal grandfather of William Ewry 
was Michael Swigart, a native of Maryland, 
who came to Ohio with eighty dollars in 
money and began the life of a farmer, in 
which he prospered greatly. Like many other 
pioneers, Mr. Swigart himself made the chairs 
and bedsteads with which he began house- 
keeping. His home was in Greene county, 
where he lived to the great age of ninety years. 

William Ewry was reared on the farm and 
received his rudimentary education in the com- 
mon schools. He began driving a team when 
eleven years old. At the age of eighteen he 
began to learn the wagonmaker's trade, and 
has followed this occupation ever since, having 
made wagons and carriages almost innumera- 
ble for his neighbors and other residents of 
Montgomery county. His business has grown 
and prospered, until at the present time he 
employs six men. He manufactures fine car- 
riages, phaetons, and all kinds of wagons, and 
sends out from his shops some very handsome 
work. In all these years Mr. Ewry has built 
up character and reputation as well as busi- 
ness, and is well known throughout the sur- 
rounding country as a thoroughly honorable, 
reliable workman. 

On November 17, 1868, Mr. Ewry married 
Miss Amelia Harper, by whom he had one 



«.M!S 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



daughter, Maud. Mrs. Ewry died September 
6, 1880. She was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, but after her marriage and 
removal to Beavertown, there being no Meth- 
odist church there, she identified herself with 
the United Brethren church. In March, 1884, 
Mr. Ewry married Miss Katie Fitzpatrick, 
daughter of William and Martha Fitzpatrick, 
and to this second marriage there have been 
born three children: Mattie, Charles and Mary. 
Mr. Ewry had two brothers, David and John, 
in the late Civil war, who served from the first 
call of President Lincoln for three months' 
men until the close, and were in twenty-eight 
battles. Mr. Ewry is a member of Montgom- 
ery lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F. , and in politics 
is a republican. He has a beautiful home 
adjoining his place of business in Beavertown, 
and has been a resident of Van Buren town- 
ship for fifty-seven years. Mr. Ewry's high 
standing as a citizen and his success in busi- 
ness are the best evidence of what may be ac- 
complished in life through energy, industry 
and sound judgment. 



m 



ATHEW FABING, harness and 
trunk dealer of Miamisburg, was 
born near Trenton, Butler county, 
Ohio, July 10, 1859, a son of Michael 
and Anna M. (Fabing) Fabing, both natives 
of Alsace-Lorraine. His maternal grandpar- 
ents were Nicholas and Elizabeth (Bath) Fa- 
bing, who, with Michael Fabing, father of 
Mathew, came to America in 1857 and settled 
in Butler county, Ohio, where the latter en- 
gaged in farming, in which he continued until 
his death, December 24, 1879. 

Prior to coming to this country Michael 
Fabing was a soldier in the French army, was 
honorably discharged in 1856, and was also a 
soldier in the Union army during the late Civil 
war, as a member of company F, Fourth Ohio 



cavalry. He enlisted October 3, 1864, and 
was honorably discharged July 15, 1865. His 
children were two — Mathew and John M.— 
the latter a telegraph operator now residing at 
Valparaiso, Ind. 

Mathew Fabing was reared in his native 
county, where he received a common-school 
education, and served an apprenticeship of 
three and one-half years at harness-making in 
Middletown, Ohio. September 30, 1878, he 
came to Miamisburg and worked at his trade 
for fourteen months as a journeyman, and De- 
cember 20, 1879, embarked in business for 
himself, which he has since successfully con- 
tinued, his uninterrupted prosperity being a 
strong illustration of the truth, that honesty, 
industry and economy form the basis of success 
in this life. 

Mr. Fabing was married October 26, 1883, 
to Amanda, daughter of Isaac and Catherine 
(Gebhart) Dissinger, of Miamisburg; this union 
has been blessed with four children — May, 
Clara, Annie, and an infant son. Mr. Fabing 
is a member of the Lutheran church and is a R. 
A. M.; he is a member of the I. O. O. F. en- 
campment, -also of the K. of P., the Harugari, 
and the Sons of Veterans, and politically is a 
republican. He has been remarkably success- 
ful as a business man, and enjoys that respect 
in his community which personal worth and 
business ability invariably bring. 



V--» EVI FALKNER, farmer of Randolph 
i township, and a son of one of the 

\ pioneers of Montgomery county, 
sprang from good Pennsylvania 
Dutch stock. Levi Falkner, Sr., his father, 
was born in Bedford county, Pa., was reared 
a farmer, and learned the carpenter's trade. 
While living in Bedford county, he married 
Margaret Nicodemus, daughter of Frederick 
Nicodemus, and almost immediately afterward 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



969 



they started for Ohio, each on horseback, hav- 
ing no baggage or other property except what 
they could carry in saddle bags. This was 
about 1813, and when they passed through 
Dayton, there were but a few log houses with- 
in the present limits of the place. Mr. and 
Mrs. Falkner went to the home of John 
Becker, where Henry Becker, son of John 
Becker, now lives. After about a year Mr. 
Falkner purchased of Henry Brumbaugh about 
forty acres of land in Randolph township, 
which was then in the thick woods. The first 
work performed by Mr. Falkner on his new 
farm, new in more senses than one, was to 
erect a rude log cabin, and to fit it with a 
puncheon floor, using a quilt for a door. His 
next work was to build a barn on Wolf creek 
for Henry Bouser, leaving his wife alone in 
the cabin in the woods during the day. Mr. 
Falkner cleared up his farm and soon after- 
ward bought forty acres adjoining, making a 
farm of eighty acres, still later adding another 
eighty. acre tract. He continued to prosper, 
until his death, which occurred when he was 
fifty-three years of age. Mr. Falkner's life 
was an example of the industry and solid 
virtues required in a successful pioneer farmer. 
In politics he was an old-line democrat. 

Levi Falkner, his son, was born September 
22, 1822, in a log cabin in Randolph town- 
ship, and 'received but a meager education. 
Early in life he began to work on the home 
farm, and has always followed farming for a 
living. When twenty-two years of age he 
married, November 8, 1844, Miss Nancy Herr, 
who was born in 1822, and is a daughterof Sam- 
uel and Frances (Long) Herr. Samuel Herr 
was an old settler of Randolph township, and 
became a substantial farmer, owning some 300 
acres of land. His children were as follows: 
Mary, Abraham, Nancy, Frances, Samuel, 
Christian, Hettie, Lizzie, Sarah and John. 
He was a member of the River Brethren church 



and a good citizen. He died on his farm at 
the age of seventy-three. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Falkner 
settled on the Falkner homestead in Randolph 
township, and after two years removed to the 
Herr homestead, where he lived one year, 
buying eighty acres of land in Clay township, 
and after some time added thereto eighty 
acres, lived there twenty-nine years and then 
purchased his present farm. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Carris; Angeline, 
who died when six years old; David C, 
Frances, Lorin, Mary A., Theodore and 
Jerome. Mrs. Falkner died in November, 
1879, a woman of many virtues and a member 
of the Brethren church. Politically, Mr. Falk- 
ner is a democrat, but is in no sense an office 
seeker. He is content to cultivate and man- 
age his farm, to thrive by his own industry, 
and to be an independent man. 




HEODORE S. FOX, superintendent 
of schools of Germantown, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born in Brook- 
ville, Clay township, in the same 
county, June 12, 1862, and is a son of Levi 
and Barbara (Studebaker) Fox, both natives 
of Johnstown, Pa., and of German descent. 

John Fox, his paternal grandfather, and 
also a native of Johnstown, Pa., early came 
to Ohio and settled on a farm in Clay town- 
ship, Montgomery county, where he reared a 
family of nine children and passed there the 
remainder of his life. John Studebaker, the 
maternal grandfather, was also a pioneer 
farmer of Clay township. 

Levi Fox, father of Theodore S. , was a 
brickmaker by trade, and for many years en- 
gaged in business in Brookville, where he still 
has his residence, but is now retired. He has 
brought up a family of nine children, who were 
named, in order of birth, Martha (Mrs. Lee 



970 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Heck), Sarah J. (Mrs. A. F. Roller), Herman 
S., Silas B. (deceased), Theodore S., Libbie 
(Mrs. Perry Spitler), Albert, Charles, and 
Joseph (deceased). 

Theodore S. Fox reached manhood in 
Brookville, Ohio, and received his preliminary 
education in the common schools. This edu- 
cation was supplemented by an attendance at 
the Ohio Wesleyan university, and later by an 
attendance at the National Normal university 
at Ada, Ohio. From the latter he was gradu- 
ated in 1885, and at once entered upon the 
profession of teaching, and for two or three 
years filled positions in rural districts. From 
1888 until 1890 he was superintendent of the 
Brookville public schools; from 1891 to 1893, 
inclusive, was superintendent of the Washing- 
ton township schools, and since 1894 has been 
the efficient superintendent of the schools of 
Germantown. 

The marriage of Prof. Fox was celebrated 
April 8, 1887, with Miss Althea F. Arnold, 
daughter of John and Minnie (Bolt) Arnold, 
of Brookville, Ohio, and three children have 
been born to this marriage and named, in 
order of birth, Arnold, Helen, and Mildred. 
The parents are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In politics, Prof. Fox is a 
democrat. In his fraternal relations he is an 
Odd Fellow of high degree, being a member 
of the encampment in that order, and he is 
also a Knight of Pythias. Both socially and 
professionally he holds a high position in the 
community which has entrusted to him the 
important work of directing the education of 
the children. 



t/A ANIEL C. FOX, Jr., a prominent 

I farmer, was born in Miami township, 

/^^J Montgomery county, Ohio, January 

14, 1830, and is a son of Frederick 

C. and Hannah (Kauffman) Fox, natives of 



Montgomery county, Ohio, and Rockingham 
county, Va., respectively — the former born in 
Miami township February 25, 1809. 

His paternal grandfather, Daniel B. Fox, 
born in Virginia June 6, 1783 was a son of 
Frederick Fox, a native of Germany (Hesse- 
Cassel), who came to America in 1768 and 
located in Virginia, on what is now known as 
the battle field of Antietam, where he engaged 
in the hotel business, and entertained such 
celebrities as George Washington. In 1807 he 
settled in Franklin, Ohio, where he resided for 
many years. In later life he located in Miami 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, and died 
there. His first wife was Catherine Booker, 
and his second wife a widow, Mrs. Young. 
Daniel B. Fox settled in Miami township in 
1808, and resided there until his death. His 
wife was Susan Crissman and bore him ten 
children, viz: Elizabeth (Mrs. William Phil- 
lips), Theresa (Mrs. Andrew King), Frederick 
C, Susan (Mrs. Jacob Mason), Mahala (Mrs. 
William Reed), Catherine (Mrs. James Boyd), 
Christina (Mrs. William Hendrickson), Me- 
linda (Mrs. Pearson Etress), Mary (Mrs. Daniel 
Brininger) and Daniel C. Of these Frederick 
C. was reared, lived and died in Miami town- 
ship, was a farmer by occupation, and cleared 
and improved the farm now owned by Mays & 
Zehring. His wife, Hannah, was a daughter 
of John and Rachel (Shoemaker) Kauffman, 
and his children were Daniel C, Jr., Fred C, 
Jr., Susan (Mrs. Daniel Weidner), Hannah 
(deceased), Catherine (Mrs. Franklin Petti- 
crew), Caroline (Mrs. Enoch Stansell) and 
Delilah (Mrs. Okey McCabe). 

Daniel C. Fox, Jr., is one of the fourth 
generation from Frederick Fox (first), the pro- 
genitor of the family in America. He was 
reared to manhood on the old homestead in 
Miami township, and received his education in 
the log school-house of his day. He began life 
as a farmer, which has been his principal voca- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



971 



tion, but, being a mechanic by natural bent, has 
been identified with other projects in that direc- 
tion. In 1 8 54 he married Elizabeth, daughter of 
Jonathan and Elizabeth (Benner) Gebhart, of 
Miami township, who has borne him four chil- 
dren — Ellis (deceased), Harold, Mary E. (Mrs. 
Francis Yetter) and Daniel G. During the 
late Civil war Mr. Fox was a member of com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and was honorably dis- 
charged after ioo days' service. He is a mem- 
ber of the G. A. R. , in politics is a republican, 
and is one of the most widely-esteemed citi- 
zens of Miami township. 



HDAM FRANK, mayor of Germantown, 
Ohio, and an attorney at law, was 
born in Germantown July 2, 1831, a 
son of Mathew and Barbara (Loy) 
Frank, natives of New York and Montgomery 
county, Ohio, respectively. His paternal 
grandfather, Lawrence Frank, was a farmer 
of New York state, and his maternal grand- 
father, George P. Loy, was a native of Mary- 
land and a pioneer of German township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, where he cleared and 
improved a farm; in later life he retired to 
Germantown, and died there. Mathew Frank 
was a pioneer shoemaker of Germantown, fol- 
lowed that vocation all his life, and died at 
Germantown in 1869, in his seventieth year. 
His children were Mary (Mrs. Daniel Bussard), 
George, Adam, John C, William H. and Nancy 
J. (Mrs. Holcomb Snyder). 

Adam Frank passed his youth in his native 
town and was graduated from the Germantown 
academy. During his minority he learned the 
shoemaker's trade, which he followed for 
twenty-five years, and during that period 
studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 
the early 'seventies, and has since been in the 
active practice of his profession at German- 



town, where he has been prominent in the 
settlement of estates. Mr. Frank has been 
twice married; his first wife was Nancy, daugh- 
ter of Israel and Catherine (Catrow) Lucas, of 
Wapakoneta, Ohio; to this union was born 
one daughter — Mary C. , now deceased. His 
second wife was Mrs. Vandalena L. (Hinkle) 
Stirewalt, of Germantown. 

Mr. Frank, in his fraternal relations, is a 
thirty-second degree Mason, and is also past 
grand high priest of the grand encampment of 
Odd Fellows. He has been secretary of 
Friendship lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 21, of 
Germantown, since December, 1857, a period 
of thirty-nine consecutive years, and has filled 
all its various offices. He is a charter mem- 
ber of canton Frank, of Germantown, named 
in his honor, and organized March 28, 1888. 
He organized the first beautiful Rebekahwork, 
put on the floor February 23, 1883, by Grace 
Rebekah lodge, No. 39, Germantown, and 
which has since developed in various forms 
throughout the United States. He has been 
representative to the grand lodge of Ohio for 
ten years, and of the grand encampment for 
about the same period; also district deputy 
grand master and district deputy grand patri- 
arch for several years. In the Masonic fra- 
ternity he has been master of the Germantown 
lodge, No. 257, for twenty-seven years. He 
has served as justice of the peace of German 
township for thirty-seven years; mayor of Ger- 
mantown, at intervals, for twenty-six years; 
clerk of the school board for twenty-five years; 
notary public for twenty-five years; secretary 
of the Germantown cemetery; and president 
of the Germantown Fire company for over 
thirty years. In politics Mr. Frank is a re- 
publican. In his societary connections, few 
men have attained positions so high in the 
various orders to which he belongs as has Mr. 
Frank, and this fact alone shows not only the 
caliber and strength of his mentality, but also 



972 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the high respect in which he is held by his 
fellow-men. In his profession he stands in 
the foremost rank, and in all the relations of 
life has proved his worth as an individual and 
his value to society. 



lS^\ EV - JACOB GARBER, minister of 
I /^ the German Baptist church, and a 
P substantial farmer of Madison town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born March 8, 1821, in the Shenandoah valley 
of Virginia, and was about fifteen years of age 
when brought to Ohio by his parents. 

John Garber, his paternal grandfather, 
was probably born in Pennsylvania, of German 
parentage, and moved from that state to Mary- 
land and thence to the Shenandoah valley of 
Virginia. He was a farmer by vocation, and, 
like his ancestors, was a German Baptist in re- 
ligion. He reared, a family of five children, 
named John, Samuel, Solomon, Catherine and 
Rebecca, and lived to the patriarchal age of 
eighty-eight years. John Garber, father of the 
Rev. Jacob Garber, was born in Frederick 
county, Md., on Pike creek, about the year 
17S5, and went to the Shenandoah valley with 
his parents. After his marriage to Nancy Er- 
baugh, he located on a farm in Rockingham 
county, Va., on which he lived until the fall 
of 1835, when he brought his family to Ohio 
and settled on 160 acres in Madison township, 
Montgomery county — making the journey by 
wagon. Mr. Garber first occupied a log house 
on his new farm — for it had been partially im- 
proved — then fully redeemed his place from 
the woods, built a brick dwelling, and made 
for himself and family a comfortable home. 
His children were named Hettie, Jonathan. 
Sarah, Samuel, Jacob, John, Susan, Nancy, 
and Daniel, all of whom were born in the Shenan- 
doah valley, and came to Ohio with their par- 
ents. The family were members of the German 



Baptist church, of which two of the sons, 
Samuel and Jacob, became ministers. Mr. Gar- 
ber was called from earth in 1858, in the sev- 
enty-third year of his age, honored by all his 
neighbors for the uprightness which had char- 
acterized a long and useful life. 

Rev. Jacob Garber in his youth received the 
customary district school education and passed 
his earlier manhood on the home farm. No- 
vember 3, 1842, he was united in wedlock, in 
Madison township, with Miss Catherine Vani- 
man, who was born November 10, 1820, in the 
same township, her parents being Jacob and 
Mary (Bowman) Vaniman. 

The father, Jacob Vaniman, was a native 
of Bedford county, Pa., and at the age of four- 
teen years was brought to Ohio by his parents, 
John and Catherine (Mortonj Vaniman, who 
settled in Montgomery county in 1802, cutting 
the way through the woods from Dayton to 
Madison township. John Vaniman, who was 
noted for his great size and strength, entered a 
full section of land in Madison township for a 
homestead, together with other tracts in Perry 
and Randolph townships, all lying in the un- 
broken forest. Indians were numerous in the 
neighborhood, having a camp on a hill upon 
Mr. Vaniman's homestead, but were neighborly 
and well disposed toward the white settlers. 
Mr. Vaniman erected a large stone house, the 
first in the township, cleared up a large farm, 
and died in his sixtieth year, one of the most 
honored of pioneers. His children were John, 
Kate, Betsie, Jacob, Polly, Hannah, Samuel, 
and others who died young. 

Jacob Vaniman, the father of Mrs. Garber, 
after his marriage with Miss Mary Bowman, 
located on 160 acres of the old Vaniman home- 
stead, cleared the tract from the wilderness 
and erected an excellent brick dwelling, im- 
proving the place with everything requisite to 
equip a model farm, and there passed his years, 
respected and happy, until death called him 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



973 



away in his sixty-fifth year. His children, in 
order of birth, were named Catherine, John, 
Elizabeth, David, Jacob, George, Daniel, Mary 
and Barbara. 

After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Garber 
they located on a farm of 157J acres in Madi- 
son township, which Mr. Garber had bought 
and parti} - cleared, and upon which he resided 
for eighteen years, when he removed, in 1868, 
to his present farm of 269 acres, which is now 
in an excellent state of cultivation and modern 
improvement. Mrs. Garber died July 3 1, 1853. 
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Garber was blessed 
with six children, named Mary, Nancy, Lizzie, 
Susanna, Amanda, and Catherine (who died 
when young). Mr. Garber next married Miss 
Elizabeth Yaniman, and their children are 
Sarah, Barbara, Martha, Hettie, Harriet, Albert 
and Ezra. Mr. Garber united with the German 
Baptist church at the age of twenty-two years, 
and for the past thirty-five years has given 
faithful and untiring service in the ministry. 



>T , OHN GEIGER, a prosperous young 
■ farmer of Miami township, Montgomery 
(% J county, was born in Shelby county, 
Ohio, June 24, 1857, a son of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Lanehart) Geiger, natives of 
Germany. 

Jacob Geiger came to America about the 
year 1850, and for a short time worked on a 
farm near Buffalo, N. Y. , at $4 per month; 
he then came to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
worked in the same capacity near Miamisburg 
for awhile, and later was for several years in 
the employ of Perry Pease, of West Carroll- 
ton, same county. In 1856 he married Miss 
Elizabeth Lanehart and moved to Shelby 
county, farmed there for five years, and then 
returned to Miami township and rented a farm. 
In 1872 he purchased the farm at West Car- 
rollton on which his widow still resides; in 



1 88 1 he bought the tract in Miami township 
now occupied by his son, John Geiger, the 
subject of this memoir, and in 1892 purchased 
the farm on which his son-in-law, Charles 
Loesch, now lives. His fortune he accumu- 
lated solely by his business astuteness, and was 
a man of considerable wealth at the time of 
his death, which took place on his West Car- 
rollton farm, December 15, 1895, at the age of 
sixty-two years, after a useful and honorable 
life. His children were five in number and 
were named, in order of birth, John, Henry, 
Frank, Carrie (Mrs. Charles Loesch), and 
George. 

John Geiger, whose name opens this bio- 
graphy, was reared from early childhood to 
manhood in Miami township, and was educated 
in the common schools. His life occupation 
has been that of a farmer, and he has resided 
on his present place since 1882. In October, 
1882, Mr. Geiger married Miss Catherine, 
daughter of Henry Loesch, of Miami township, 
and this union has been followed by the birth 
of four children, viz: Edith, Robert, Henry 
and Lester. In religion Mr. Geiger is a 
Lutheran, and in politics is a democrat. He 
has been very successful in his calling and his 
industry and upright conduct have deservedly 
gained him the esteem of all his neighbors. 



^■VOHN MARTIN GEPHART, a prosper- 
s ous farmer of Miami township, Mont- 
rt> J gomery county, Ohio, is a native here 
and was born July 17, 1844, a son of 
Peter P. and Sarah (Shupert) Gephart, both 
natives of Miami township and of old pioneer 
families. 

John Gephart, the paternal grandfather of 
John M., whose wife was Julia Brosius, came 
from Berks county, Pa., and John Shupert, the 
maternal grandfather, was also from the Key- 
stone state. Both were pioneer farmers of 



974 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Miami township, and were of German descent. 
Peter P. Gephart was reared to farming and 
this was his life-long and successful vocation. 
While still actively engaged in this calling, he 
died on his farm in 1856. To his marriage 
with Miss Sarah Shupert there were born four 
sons to perpetuate the family name in Mont- 
gomery county, these being, in order of birth, 
John M., Christopher, Mortimer and Nelson. 
John Martin Gephart was reared to agri- 
cultural pursuits, on the parental farm, and he 
has found it to be to his interest never to re- 
linquish this noble and useful calling, which 
students of political economy name as the 
prime source of the wealth of any nation. 
Mr. Gephart received the ordinary education 
vouchsafed to farm lads in the public schools 
■of his township, and was no inapt scholar. 
The learning he there acquired has been suf- 
ficient for all the ordinary purposes of rural 
life, and he has subsequently augmented it by 
careful reading of the current literature of the 
present day and much of that of times past. 
In 1872 he began farming on his individual 
account, and since 1878 has occupied his pres- 
ent premises, which will compare most favor- 
ably, as to tillage, neatness and general im- 
provements, with any farm of like dimensions 
in Miami township. 

Mr. Gephart was most happily united in 
marriage, March 26, 1872, with Miss Barbara 
A. E. Baver, daughter of Conrad and Mary 
(Gebhart) Baver, of Miami township, and to 
them have been born two children — Mary E. 
(Mrs. Kerr Routzang) and Earl Wellington, 
who married Inez R. Girrard. Mr. Gephart 
is a member of the Lutheran church, in poli- 
tics is a democrat, and fraternally is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. encampment, D. O. H., 
A. O. U. W., and O. U. A. M. He enjoys 
the sincere regard of his neighbors and friends, 
and well sustains the honorable name be- 
queathed him by his ancestors. 



e MANUEL A. GEBHART, a promi- 
nent farmer of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born September 24, 1849, 
in Miami township, where he still re- 
sides, a son of John and Elizabeth (Kreitzer) 
Gebhart. His paternal grandfather, Henry 
Gebhart, came to Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, from Pennsylvania in 
1827, cleared and improved a farm, a portion 
of which is still owned by his heirs, and upon 
which he died at the age of eighty-four years, 
his remains being buried in Ellerton cemetery. 
His children were Hettie ( Mrs. John Billman ), 
Hannah (Mrs. John Rider), Lucy (Mrs. Sol- 
omon Kreitzer), Rebecca (Mrs. John Kreitzer), 
John, and Sarah (Mrs. John Shuder ) — all 
natives of Pennsylvania. John, the only son, 
was born in 1 8 1 8, was reared in Jefferson town- 
ship, Montgomery county, from his ninth year, 
and in early manhood purchased a farm in 
Miami township, on which he resided until his 
death, in June, 1884. His wife was a daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Sarah ( Gebhart ) Kreitzer, 
of Jefferson township, and his children were 
nine, of whom five grew to maturity : Jacob A. 
(now deceased), Emanuel A., John A., Mi- 
nerva ( Mrs. Charles Kline ), and Mary ( Mrs. 
Morris Kline ). 

Emanuel A. Gebhart was reared in Miami 
township, was educated in the common schools 
and lived on the homestead until twenty-four 
years of ' age. He then lived seven years in 
Jefferson township, and, since 1882, has re- 
sided on the farm he now occupies in Miami 
township. 

September 27, 1870, Mr. Gebhart married 
Miss Jennie, daughter of David and Julia A. 
( Walburn ) Bolander, of Miami township, and 
has five children, viz : Luie, Elsie ( Mrs. 
Charles Rice ), Daisy M. ( Mrs. Howard Bloss), 
Emma and Harry. David Bolander, father of 
Mrs. Gebhart, was born in Pennsylvania in 
1802 and came to Miami township, Montgom- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



975 



ery county, Ohio, in 1817, where he farmed 
until his death in January, 1887. 

Julia A. Walburn, wife of David Bolander, 
was also born in Pennsylvania, and came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, when a girl. She 
has, since her husband's death, resided in the 
family of her son-in-law, Mr. Gebhart. 

Emanuel A. Gebhart is a progressive farmer, 
a member of the Reformed church and has 
served eleven years as school director of Miami 
township ; he is one of the directors of the 
Montgomery county Mutual Fire association, 
and, politically, is a democrat. He is one of 
the thoroughgoing business men of his town- 
ship, is public spirited, and ever ready, with 
his time and means, to assist in any enterprise 
designed for the benefit of the community. He 
is a true citizen, and, as such, holds the confi- 
dence, good will and respect of all his fellow- 
citizens of Miami township. 



QAHLON O. GEBHART, a prosper- 
ous farmer of German township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born in Miami township, in that 
county, February 27, 1852. His parents, 
George S. and Magdelena (Gebhart) Gebhart, 
were also born in Miami township. George 
Gebhart, his paternal grandfather, and his 
maternal grandfather, John Gebhart, were 
both natives of Pennsylvania and both pio- 
neers of Miami township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, whither they came in the early days of 
the settlement of this section, and where they 
passed the remainder of their lives. 

George S. Gebhart, the father of Mahlon 
O. , was reared on the homestead farm in 
Miami township, but, some years after his 
marriage came to German township and set- 
tled on the farm now occupied by his son, 
Mahlon O. , and after a prosperous and honor- 
able life, died here October 8, 188S, leaving a 

40 



widow and ten surviving children. The fam- 
ily of children born to George S. Gebhart num- 
bered fifteen, of whom, however, but eleven 
reached the age of maturity, viz: Urias, Cor- 
nelius, Henry, Mahlon O., Julia (Mrs. Jacob 
Gebhart), Magdalene (now deceased), Sarah 
(Mrs. James Small), Susan (Mrs. Frank 
Gable), Hannah. (Mrs. Andrew Organbright), 
Agnes (Mrs. Samuel McClain), and Emma 
(Mrs. Joseph Koeppel). 

Mahlon O. Gebhart, the fourth named of 
the children of George S. Gebhart who grew 
to adult years, was reared a farmer and passed 
the days of youth and early manhood in Miami 
and German townships. He has devoted 
much of his time to tobacco culture, and for 
six years of his life lived in Tennessee, in order 
to perfect his knowledge in the cultivation of 
this staple product. Excepting this absence, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, has always been 
his home. 

The marriage of Mahlon O. Gebhart took 
place March 18, 1881, to Lydia Lease, 
daughter of Daniel and Mary Lease, of Ger- 
man township. Mr. and Mrs. Gebhart are 
consistent members of the Lutheran church, 
and in politics Mr. Gebhart is a free-silver 
democrat. 

Mr. Gebhart bears a good name in the 
community in which he lives, and, while still 
a young man, he deserves much credit for the 
active part he has taken in the material ad- 
vancement of German township. 



*w ■ * ENRY B. GRAF, manager of the 

l^\ Miamisburg Brewing company, was 

^F born in Peru, Ind., January 26, 1863, 

a son of Henry and Ernestine (Krauss) 

Graf, both natives of Germany. His father, a 

wood carver by trade, came to America with 

his parents in 1847, and has been a resident of 

Peru, Ind., since 1863. Henry B. Graf was 



976 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



reared in his native city, was educated in the 
public schools, and, at the age of seventeen 
years, started out in the world for himself, lo- 
cating at Hamilton, Ohio, in 1880, where he 
served an apprenticeship of five years at the 
molder's trade, and then took charge of a 
foundry as superintendent, serving in that ca- 
pacity for two years. In 1887 he resumed his 
trade, which he followed until 1891, when he 
engaged in the flour-mill machinery business 
at Hamilton, in which he continued up to Oc- 
tober 1, 1895. He then removed to Miamis- 
burg, where he was employed by the Miamis- 
burg Star Bottling works until January 1, 1896, 
when he was appointed manager of the 
works, and on February 18, following, was ap- 
pointed manager of the Miamisburg Brewing 
company, and is still holding that position, as 
well as being secretary and treasurer of the 
company. 

Mr. Graf was married September 17, 1885, 
to Miss Ella S., daughter of Henry P. and 
Ellen (Ball) Deuscher, of Hamilton, Ohio, and 
now the mother of his two children — Frank 
H. and Fred E. Mr. Graf in religious belief 
is a Lutheran and in politics a democrat. He 
takes no especially active part in the affairs of 
his party, being simply content to exercise his 
franchise at the polls. He is public-spirited, 
however, and always ready to aid in promot- 
ing the good of the community as opportunity 
may offer, and through his hearty liberality 
has won many warm friends since he has been 
a resident of Montgomery county. 



^y^V AVID GROBY, a prominent citizen 
I of Miamisburg, proprietor of a plan- 
J^^J ing mill and an extensive contractor, 
was born in Stouchsburg, Berks 
county, Pa., May 25, 1825, and is a son of 
Henry and Catherine (Beck) Groby. The fa- 
ther, Henry Groby, a native of Germany, 



came to America in boyhood, and was 100 
days in crossing the Atlantic ocean in a sailing 
vessel. He settled in Berks county, Pa., and 
was there engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
1854, when he came to Miamisburg, Ohio, 
and here passed the remainder of his life, dy- 
ing in 1858, an honored citizen. 

David Groby was reared to manhood in his 
native county, and received a fair education in 
the common schools, served an apprenticeship 
of two years at the carpenter's trade, and re- 
ceived the sum of $50 for his services, in addi- 
tion to the instruction given to him. He 
learned the trade thoroughly, however, and in 
1844 came to Miamisburg, Ohio, and here 
worked as a journeyman for two years, when 
he made a trip to Illinois, where he passed 
eleven months, returning in 1847 t0 Miamis- 
burg, where he again worked at his trade as a 
journeyman for five years ; he then engaged in 
contracting. He built the bridge between 
Germantown and Carlisle in 1867, rebuilt the 
lower bridge at Miamisburg in 1868, and con- 
structed the bridge over the Miami river at 
Miller's Fork in 1868-69. In 1871 he estab- 
lished his present planing-mill, which he has 
operated ever since with entire success. In 
1895 he purchased the farm of 100 acres set- 
tled by his present wife's father in 18 10, and 
which is now included within the corporate 
limits of Miamisburg, and also owns a fine 
farm of 140 acres one mile south of Miamis- 
burg, purchased in 1865. 

Mr. Groby has twice been married. His 
first union was with Miss Eliza, daughter of 
Jacob and Saloma (Weitzel) Warner, of Miami 
township, which marriage was blessed with 
five children, of whom three grew to maturity, 
viz: Sarah, the wife of Henry P. Brehm ; 
Amanda, married to W. Henry Benner, and 
Jacob B. The present wife of Mr. Groby was 
a widow — Mrs. Catherine (Weiss) Eagle. Mr. 
and Mrs. Groby are consistent members of the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



977 



Lutheran church, and fraternally Mr. Groby is 
a thirty-second degree Mason, and also an act- 
ive member of the Knights Templar encamp- 
ment ; he has been an Odd Fellow for over 
fifty years, and is likewise a member of the 
D. O. H. In politics Mr. Groby is a repub- 
lican through conviction, and not a partisan 
through a desire for public office. As a busi- 
ness man he has risen to eminence through 
his industry and strict integrity in all transac- 
tions, and his name as such stands without a 
blemish, while as a citizen he is prominent 
and progressive. 



K w ■ * ENRY GROBY, the well-known con- 

I^\ tractor and builder of Miamisburg, 

W Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 

in Stouchsburg, Berks county, Pa., 

February 13, 1853, a son of Samuel and Lydia 

(Rabold) Groby, both also natives of Berks 

county. His paternal grandparents were 

Henry and Catherine (Beck) Groby, the 

former of whom was a native of Germany and 

came to America when a boy, being 100 days 

on the passage. He was reared to manhood 

in Berks county, Pa., came to Miamisburg in 

1854, and here died in 1858. 

Samuel and Lydia Groby, parents of Henry 
Groby, came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 
1859, and for four years Samuel Groby was 
engaged in the manufacture of cigars in Miamis- 
burg, and then engaged in farming in Miami 
township — his present occupation. His chil- 
dren are three in number and are named 
Henry, Jacob, and Mary — the daughter being 
the wife of Martin Apple. 

Henry Groby grew to manhood in Mont- 
gomery county from the age of six years, 
attended the public schools, and when of suffi- 
cient age served an apprenticeship of two years 
at the carpenter's trade with his uncle, David 
Groby, by whom he was afterward employed 



for eighteen years as a journeyman. In 1892 
he embarked, on his own account, in the lum- 
ber, door, sash and blind business, and also in 
contracting and building, and has been so 
steadily successful that he now stands at the 
head of that line of industry in this city. 

The marriage of Mr. Groby took place in 
1876 with Miss Lena, daughter of Joseph and 
Magdalena (Krout) Yordy, of West Carrollton, 
the union resulting in the birth of two chil- 
dren — Bessie (Mrs. David Dunn), and C. 
Howard. 

Mr. Groby is a member of the Reformed 
church and of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows; is a charter member of and a director 
in the Miamisburg Building & Loan associa- 
tion, and in politics is a republican. He has 
won a well-established reputation as a master 
of his calling, his integrity and ability being 
widely recognized, and he and his family oc- 
cupy a prominent place in the social circles 
of Miamisburg. 



EON. GEORGE A. GROVE, one of 
the prominent citizens of Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, and one who has been 
often honored with official position 
because of his eminent fitness for the places 
he has held, was born in Millersburg, Berks 
county, Pa., August 25, 1817. He is a son 
of Andrew and Eva (Holstein) Grove, and was 
reared by them in Berks county, Pa. In May, 
1836, he removed to Miamisburg, where he 
served three years as clerk in a store, and was 
subsequently occupied in farming for ten years, 
residing on the Kercher farm until 1850. This 
farm many years ago became a portion of 
Miamisburg, and on it many of the finest resi- 
dences in the place now stand. From 1850 
to 1855 Mr. Grove prosecuted the grain and 
lumber business with Simon Huiet, owning a 
number of canal boats and engaging in trade 



978 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



along the Miami & Erie canal from Toledo to 
Cincinnati. In 1855 the firm of H. Groby & 
Co. was formed by H. Groby, Emanuel Shultz 
and Mr. Grove, for the purpose of entering 
the lumber trade, and in 1866 the well known 
banking establishment of H. Groby & Co. was 
founded by the same firm. This banking firm 
continued in business until 1879, when Mr. 
Grove withdrew. 

Mr. Grove has been twice married; first to 
Christiana Kercher, daughter of Jacob Kercher, 
the founder of Miamisburg. To this marriage 
there were born two children, viz: John H., 
and Lucetta L. , wife of Christian Weber. The 
second wife of Mr. Grove was Sallie Gebhart, 
daughter of Peter M. and Hannah (Ulrich) 
Gebhart, of Miamisburg. To this marriage 
also there have been born two children, Eva 
L. and Grace L. 

In politics Mr. Grove has always been a 
democrat, and in 1865 was elected county 
commissioner, being the only candidate on his 
ticket that was elected, and the only demo- 
cratic county officer at that time in the county. 
In 1868 he was re-elected by a largely in- 
creased majority, and in 1875 was elected 
representative of the county in the lower 
house of the general assembly. In 1877 he 
was elected to the state senate over his friend 
and partner in business, Hon. Emanuel Shultz. 
In 1880 he was elected a member of the state 
board of equalization, and as a member of this 
board rendered his county valuable service, 
succeeding in having the county valuation re- 
duced nearly $4,000,000. Mr. Grove has 
filled many minor positions of honor and trust, 
always with fidelity and efficiency, and has 
taken a prominent part for many years in all 
public enterprises and undertakings calculated 
to advance the material, moral and religious 
interests of Miamisburg. To his energy and 
perseverance is largely due the establishment 
of the Miamisburg hydraulic, and he was also 



instrumental in securing the city park, and has 
been a member of the board of park commis- 
sioners since its organization in 1889. For 
more than sixty years Mr. Grove has been a 
member of the Miamisburg Lutheran church, 
and is universally regarded one of the best and 
most useful citizens of the place. In 1896 
Mr. Grove was reappointed one of the com- 
missioners of the soldiers' relief committee, 
this being his third term of three years and 
closing in 1899. 



HDAM GRUVER, blacksmith of Mi- 
amisburg, Ohio, was born in Stouch- 
burg, Berks county, Pa., February 
12, 1843. He is a son of Isaac and 
Elizabeth (Groby) Gruver, and his father hav- 
ing died and his mother married again, he re- 
moved with her, then Mrs. William Stupp, to 
Miamisburg in 1853, and here he grew to man- 
hood, receiving a good education in the public 
schools. Afterward he served an apprentice- 
ship of two and a half years in the blacksmith 
shop of Daniel Bookwalter, a biographical 
sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this 
volume. Having completed his trade he was 
engaged in general blacksmithing in various 
parts of the country up to 1865. He then re- 
turned to Miami township and engaged in 
farming for two years, at the end of which 
time he entered the employ of Hoover & 
Gamble, in January, 1869, and remained with 
this firm until September, 1879, during the 
last five years of which period he was foreman 
of the blacksmithing department. In 1879 he 
established himself in business on his own ac- 
count as a general blacksmith, and has thus 
been engaged ever since, meeting with well de- 
served success, and now conducting the busiest 
shop of its kind in Miamisburg. 

Mr. Gruver was married October 19, 1865, 
to Sarah Gebhart, daughter of Andrew and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



979 



Eliza (Eagle) Gebhart, of Miami township, 
and by this marriage he has seven children, 
viz: Sarah J., wife of Frank Hart; Anna E., 
wife of Charles M. Lambert; Charlie E., who 
married Anna Kimmerling; Edith M. , wife of 
Howard Brehm; Henry, Mary E., and Lester. 
Mr. Gruver has been a member of the Lu- 
theran church since his boyhood days, is a 
royal arch Mason, a Knight of Pythias, an 
Odd Fellow (encampment and canton), and 
a Knight of Honor. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, and as such he has served as a member 
of the city council of Miamisburg, meeting the 
general approbation of the people, and reflect- 
ing on himself the utmost credit for the ability 
he manifested in the transaction of the public 
business and the readiness with which he di- 
vested himself of all traces of partisanship 
while in his office. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gru- 
ver are people of excellent character and hon- 
orable impulses, and have many friends around 
them; they are ever ready to lend a helping 
hand to the needy, and equally ready to aid in 
any project to advance the public welfare. 



BREDERICK GWINNER, a 
well-known citizen of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and one of the lead- 
ing insurance men of Miamisburg, 
was born in Eneskerchen, near Cologne, on 
the Rhine, in Germany, May 12, 1832. He 
is a son of Jacob F. and Christiana (Neuman) 
Gwinner. He was reared and educated in 
Germany, and there learned the locksmith's 
trade, and in 185 1, when eighteen years of 
age, emigrated to the United States, locating 
in Philadelphia, where he was employed for 
seven years in a chandelier factory. In the 
spring of 1858 he settled in Miamisburg, Ohio, 
where for two years he was engaged in grape 
growing and in the raising of tobacco. In 
1859 he purchased the Washington hotel prop- 



erty, remodeled and improved the building 
and successfully conducted the hotel for twen- 
ty-three years. In 1882, having acquired a 
competency through his prosperous business 
career, by frugality and strict attention to de- 
tails, he retired from the hotel business, and 
for five years afterward was engaged in the 
buying of tobacco for a Detroit house. Since 
then he has given his attention mostly to the 
business of fire insurance, and to the manage- 
ment of his property. In 1878 he purchased 
the handsome brick block which stands on the 
corner of Main street and Central avenue, 
and which bears his name. 

Mr. Gwinner was married in 1859 to Han- 
nah Salomon, daughter of Joseph and Rose 
Salomon, of Germany, by which marriage he 
has four children: Rose, now Mrs. Samuel 
H. Mays; Jennie, now Mrs. John W. Burns; 
Arnold F., and Hannah, now Mrs. William 
Stroop. Mr. Gwinner has always taken great 
interest in the advancement of Miamisburg, 
and for a number of years was a member of 
the city council, leaving a record as one of 
the best men for the place that ever held 
the office. He is interested in a number 
of leading stock companies, and for years 
has been a stockholder and director in the 
Teutonia Insurance company of Dayton. He 
is a director in the First National bank of 
Miamisburg, and a member of the Lutheran 
church. For more than forty years he has 
been an Odd Fellow, and for thirty years a 
member of the Harugari. He has been a 
member of the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men for seventeen years, and is also an active 
member of the Knights of Pythias. In 1890 
he was elected decennial land appraiser tor 
Miami township. Politically, Mr. Gwinner is 
a democrat. He is a highly respected citizen 
of Montgomery county, being well known to 
all its people as a most useful and honorable 
member of the community. 



'.ISO 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



^■j'OHN A. HALL, carriage painter, was 
■ born in Miamisburg, Ohio, his present 
m J place of residence, December 26, 1846, 
and is a son of Jeremiah and Anna M. 
(Thompson) Hall, both natives of the Buckeye 
state and of German and English (Quaker) de- 
scent, respectively. His paternal grandfather, 
William Hall, was a pioneer of Ohio and was 
for many years a blacksmith in Miamisburg, 
where he passed his latter days. The mater- 
nal grandfather of John A. Hall was a farmer 
of Butler county, Ohio. 

Jeremiah Hall, father of John A., was a 
machinist by trade and was reared in Miamis- 
burg. During the late Civil war he served as 
a member of company E, Thirty-ninth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, going out as corporal, and 
for meritorious conduct and bravery in the face 
of the enemy was promoted successively to be 
sergeant, lieutenant and captain. After serv- 
ing four years and six months he was honora- 
bly discharged and returned to Miamisburg, 
where he resumed his trade and followed it 
until 1894, when he retired to the soldiers' 
home, near Dayton, Ohio, where he is quietly 
passing his declining years. 

John A. Hall, the only child born to Jere- 
miah, was reared in Cincinnati and was there 
educated in the public schools and also at Dela- 
ware college. He, too, became a soldier, en- 
listing in June, 1861, in company E, Thirty- 
ninth Ohio volunteer infantry (his father's com- 
pany), and serving two and a half years as 
drum-major; he was then honorably discharged, 
and in 1864 enlisted in company D, One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, 
serving three months as a private, and again 
received an honorable discharge. 

After returning from the army, John A. 
Hall served an apprenticeship of three years 
at the painter's trade in Cincinnati with C. W. 
Miller. He worked for eight years at this vo- 
cation in the railroad shops at Zaleski, Vinton 



county, Ohio, and then for two years with the 
Bookwalter company, of Miamisburg. He 
next located at Columbus, Ohio, where he 
passed ten years, of which time two years and 
a half were spent as a guard at the state prison 
and the remainder of the time in working at 
his trade for the Columbus Buggy company. 
Since 1895, he has lived in Miamisburg in the 
employ of the Enterprise Carriage Manufactur- 
ing company. 

Mr. Hall has been twice married. His 
first wife was Ada, daughter of Charles and 
Matilda Gist, of Zaleski, Ohio, and to this 
union were born tour children — Charles J., 
Jeremiah C, Alice M. (Mrs. Milton Dutcher), 
and John B. His second marriage was with 
Miss M. ElenoraScothorn, a daughter of Will- 
iam J. and Lydia (Long) Scothorn, of Jackson 
county, Ohio, and this union has been followed 
by the birth of five children, viz: Arthur, New- 
ton, Edward, Mabel and Raymond. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hall are faithful members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church, and fraternally Mr. Hall 
is a member of the F. & A. M., I. O. O. F., 
K. of P. and the G. A. R. In politics he is a 
republican and socially stands high in the es- 
teem of the inhabitants of his native city of 
Miamisburg, having, beside, many warm friends 
in the various other towns in which he has 
passed so many years of his useful life. 



^-t*ACOB HAMMEL, an experienced and 
m well-known farmer of Miami township, 
/• I Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
near Chambersburg, Franklin county, 
Pa., March 17, 1S20, a son of Conrad and 
Christiania (Bittinger) Harnmel, both natives 
of the Keystone state and of Swedish descent. 
The father was a blacksmith by trade and died 
in his native state at the age of eighty-four 
years — his wife dying when eighty-three years 
of age. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



981 



Jacob Hammel was reared to manhood in 
his native county, working on a farm during 
the summer months after he had become of 
suitable age for the performance of that class 
of labor. For five years after reaching his 
majority he drove a six-horse team, hauling 
freight from Chambersburg, Pa., to Baltimore, 
Md., and from the latter city to Pittsburg, Pa., 
there being no railroads in operation in those 
localities in that early day. In 1845 he was 
employed seven months in a boiler shop in 
New Orleans, La., and in the spring of 1846 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, and was 
employed one season in a brickyard in Alex- 
andersville ; the following year he was employed 
as a teamster, and in 1848 he purchased a 
canal boat, trafficked on the canal for three 
months, and then engaged in the manufacture 
of brick on his own account, following this in- 
dustry five years. Since then Mr. Hammel 
has devoted his attention to farming in Miami 
township, making a specialty of tobacco, to 
the cultivation of which he has set aside twen- 
ty-five acres and has averaged as high as eighty- 
six and one-half cases of the product, of 400 
pounds to the case — a success but seldom 
achieved in this latitude by the growers of this 
staple commodity. 

Mr. Hammel has been thrice married, his 
first union having taken place in December, 
1850, with Miss Elizabeth Leighty, who died 
in 1852; his second marriage, January 3, 1856, 
was with Miss Catherine Mease, of Miami 
township, and this union was blessed with five 
children, viz: Annie, William, Mary C. (Mrs. 
Marion Recher), Nancy and Nora (Mrs. Ro- 
land Bradford); the mother of this family died 
May 8, 1878; his third matrimonial alliance 
was with Mrs. Louis Riggs — the present Mrs. 
Hammel — and occurred September 24, 1887. 
The family are members of the Reformed 
church, and in politics Mr. Hammel is a dem- 
ocrat. No farmer in Miami township stands 



higher in the esteem of his neighbors than Mr. 
Hammel, and but few have been more success- 
ful in their particular lines of industry. 



HBRAHAM HARLEY, one of the most 
highly respected citizens of Randolph 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and a successful and substantial 
farmer, is descended from Rudolph Harley, 
the originator of the Ohio family, who came 
to America from the German empire in the 
autumn of 1719. 

While there has been some question as to 
the original nationality of the Harley family, 
which is a very ancient one, the preponder- 
ance of evidence points to Germany as the 
country of its origin, where it can be traced 
back as far, at least, as to the fifteenth cen- 
tury. It is true that the name appears in 
England, but chiefly after the date of the' revo- 
cation of the edit of Nantes, 1685, through 
which over 4,000 of the best citizens of Ger- 
many fled the country in preference to becom- 
ing Catholics. In England, many of the Harley 
family became quite prominent, some even 
becoming members of parliament, and one, 
Robert Harley, became librarian to King 
George I. It is evident, too, that some of the 
family had gone to England prior to the revo- 
cation of the edict mentioned, probably under 
religious persecution, as one member, Thomas 
Harley, purchased from William Penn a tract 
of 5,000 acres of land in Pennsylvania, most 
of it in Montgomery county, the title to which 
is dated July 4, 1682. But it is not from him 
that Abraham Harley descends, as will be 
seen by the following record: 

Rudolph Harley and his wife, great-great- 
grandparents of Abraham Harley, came from 
Germany to America in 17 19, having had a 
long and tedious voyage, during which a son, 
Rudolph, Jr., was born to them July 14, 1719, 



982 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the vessel not reaching America until autumn. 
For a while Mr. and Mrs. Harley made their 
home in Pennsylvania, where a daughter, 
whose name is not now remembered, was born. 

Going to Hunterdon county, N. J., Mr. 
Harley lived there a few years, and then re- 
turned to Pennsylvania and bought a large tract 
of land in Franconia township, Montgomery 
county, about two miles from the present town 
of Harleysville. 

Rudolph Harley, Jr., great-grandfather of 
Abraham, married Mary Becker, daughter of 
Peter Becker, of Germantown, who was the 
first elder of the Brethren church in America. 
To this union were born thirteen children, viz: 
Rudolph ; Johanna, born April 21, 1743, and 
married to Honoly Stauffer ; Lena, who died 
young ; Maria, born March 12, 1747, was first 
married to a Mr. Landis, then to Frederick 
Deal, and was the mother of nine children ; 
Rudolph, born February 7, 1749, first married 
Barbara Bach, and next a Miss Bombarger, 
and was the father of a large family ; Eliza- 
beth, born September 9, 1750, was married to 
Christian Dettery, and had a large family ; 
Jacob was born June 8, 1752, never married, 
but lived to a good old age ; Heinrich was born 
July 1, 1754, married Elizabeth Keely, and 
had a family of fifteen or sixteen children ; 
Sarah was born June 20, 1756, was married to 
Elder George Price, of Coventry, Chester coun- 
ty, father of John Price and grandfather of Isaac 
Price, both eminent preachers in the Brethren 
church ; Samuel was born March 6, 1758, mar- 
ried Catherine Sauer, and had twelve children ; 
Joseph was born March 14, 1760, married, at 
the age of fifty years, Catherine Price, daughter 
of Jacob Reiff and widow of William Price ; 
Maria Margaretta, was born September 13, 
1762, was married to Jacob Detwiler and also 
had a large family; Abraham, grandfather of 
our subject, was born June 14, 1765, and mar- 
ried Christiana Giesby, who was a very amiable 



and worthy woman and reared a large family 
of children, of whom three became ministers of 
the gospel — Abraham, Samuel and Benjamin. 
Abraham Harley, whose son's name opens 
this sketch, was a direct descendant of Rudolph 
Harley, the immigrant, and was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Pa., in 1790. He received a 
limited education in German, and attended 
English schools for about six weeks. Reared 
a farmer, he also learned the shoemaker's 
trade, and, beside these two callings, car- 
ried on milling. He married Miss Catherine 
Reiff, who was born in Montgomery county. 
Pa. To them were born seven sons, as fol- 
lows : Elias, Isaiah, Abraham, John, Lewis, 
Jacob and Aaron. Mr. Harley lived in Mont- 
gomery county. Pa., until 18 19, and then re- 
moved his family, by means of teams and 
wagons, to Chester county, Pa., where he built 
a flouring mill. This mill he ran for several 
years, and in 1S25 removed to Lancaster 
county, Pa., where he rented a mill in com- 
pany with his brother. One year later he 
located within seven miles of Lancaster, Pa., 
and there rented a large flouring mill, still 
house and sawmill, which he operated for two 
years. In 1829 he came to Ohio, settling in 
Tuscarawas county, where he rented a mill. 
Remaining there one year he then ran a mill 
in Stark county, Ohio, which a year or two 
later burned to the ground. Mr. Harley was 
again obliged to seek a new location, this time 
within four miles of Wellsville, near the Ohio 
river. After carrying on the milling business 
here for a short time, he came, in the spring 
of 1832, to Montgomery county, where he again 
rented a mill, six miles north of Dayton, on the 
Stillwater, and one year later bought a small 
piece of land near where Henry Becker now 
lives. To this small tract he added until he 
had 143 acres, and lived upon it seven years, 
when, in the spring of 1840, he removed to 
McLean county, 111., where his wife died in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



983 



1856, and he married again, in Illinois. He 
was a man of extremely vigorous constitution, 
and died in 1880 at the age of ninety years. 
In his younger days he was a member of the 
German Baptist church, of which he became a 
minister, and later was connected with the 
River Brethren church. He was known every- 
where as a man of strict integrity, of high 
christian character, and of great kindness of 
heart. Physically, he was strong and hardy, 
with an iron constitution, as is sufficiently indi- 
cated by the life he led, as narrated above. 

Abraham Harley, the subject of this sketch, 
was born March 25, 1818, in Montgomery 
county, Pa., was reared a farmer and given a 
good common-school education. With his 
father's family he came to Ohio about 1829, 
when he was about ten years old. Until his 
twenty-third year he remained at home, work- 
ing with his father, going with him to Illinois 
in 1840. Returning to Ohio in the fall of 1842 
he worked a farm in Randolph township, Mont- 
gomery county. On March 24, 1842, he 
married Anna Becker, on the Becker home- 
stead, she having been born there September 
29, 1820, and being a daughter of John and 
Rebecca (Hart) Becker. For fuller mention 
of the Becker family the reader is referred to 
the biography of Henry Becker, to be found 
elsewhere in these pages. 

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Harley re- 
sided in Randolph township four years, and 
then, removing to Miami county, lived there 
ten years, when they returned to the old 
Becker homestead. On the death of Mr. 
Becker, Mr. Harley purchased the interest of 
the heirs and now owns the property, consist- 
ing of 102 acres of good farming land. Be- 
side this he owns eighteen acres of the farm 
formerly owned by John Becker, the original 
pioneer of the Becker family. In i860 Mr. 
Harley built a fine, three-story brick residence 
and has made many other substantial improve- 



ments, adding to the comfort and value of his 
home. His brothers, John and Lewis, were 
soldiers in the late Civil war; John died in the 
hospital at Nashville, Tenn. ; Lewis served 
three years in an Illinois regiment of infantry, 
and both were good soldiers. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Harley there have been 
born six children, as follows: Jacob, who 
died when ten months old; Samuel, who died 
at the age of three years; John W., who died 
when ten years old; Reuben, Laban and Ernst. 
Mrs. Harley, who died in 1893, aged seventy- 
two years, was a woman of many excellent 
traits of character. Mr. Harley has always 
been a republican in politics. His character is 
one of probity, and his life-long habits of indus- 
try and correct living have won him respect 
and confidence. 



<y*\ AVID HECKMAN, one of the thrifty 
I farmers of Randolph township, and 
/^^J the head of an excellent family, is a 
son of one of the original pioneers. 
He sprang from sturdy German stock, his im- 
mediate ancestors being residents of Virginia. 
David Heckman, his grandfather, was a farmer 
by occupation, and married Mary Ann Snuffer, 
by whom he had the following children: Will- 
iam, Catherine, Sarah, Rebecca, Mary, John, 
Henry, Aaron and Samuel. David Heckman 
and his family were members of the German 
Baptist church. In 181 1 he removed to 
Clarke county, Ohio, settled in the woods and 
erected a log cabin. Clearing up 160 of land 
he began the life of a successful and prosper- 
ous farmer. He entered land in Clay town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and in other places, 
and also bought land for his children in Kossuth 
and Whitley counties, Ind., giving each of them 
a farm. He was a man of sterling character 
and lived an upright and honorable life, dying 
at the ripe age of eighty years. 



984 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



William Heckman, father of David, was 
born December 25, 1804, in Franklin county, 
Ya. , and was about seven years of age when 
brought to Ohio by his parents. By reason of 
the scarcity and the poor quality of schools in 
that day, he received but a limited education. 
On July 5, 1827, he was married in Clarke 
county to Miss Mary A. Brandenburg, who 
was born in Warren county, Ohio, April 28, 
1808, and was a daughter of Samuel and Jo- 
hannah Brandenburg, they being of German an- 
cestry and old settlers of Maryland. William 
Heckman settled in Clay township, Montgom- 
ery county, on eighty acres which he had en- 
tered from the government, cleared it of its 
timber, and built a log cabin before a stick of 
timber had been cut for a like purpose any- 
where in the vicinity. His was the only house 
for many miles around, and he continued for 
many years to live upon the spot upon which 
he thus erected the first home for his family. 
Through industry and perseverance he not 
only improved his original farm but added to 
it 100 acres of land, and erected thereon a 
brick dwelling. Mr. Heckman was a member 
of the German Baptist church and a deacon 
therein for many years. His children, all of 
whom were born in Clay township, were as 
follows: Jacob, born September 21, 1828; 
David, born May 15, 1830; Elizabeth, born 
October 6, 1832; Samuel, born March 25, 
1835; Nancy, born September I, 1837; Ezra, 
born December 6, 1840; Tabitha, born Feb- 
ruary 11, 1843; and Mary, born January 11, 
1847. Mr. Heckman died on his farm in 1872, 
aged sixty-seven years and one month, hav- 
ing led the life of a pioneer and achieved a de- 
served measure of success. Mrs. Heckman 
died September 10, 1855. 

David Heckman, the subject of this sketch, 
was born May 5, 1830, on his father's farm in 
Clay township, received a good, common- 
school education, and became a farmer. He 



married, February 1, 1855, Hannah Brum- 
baugh, of Randolph township, born in 1834, 
and a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Rine- 
hart) Brumbaugh. For fuller mention of the 
Brumbaugh family the reader is referred to the 
biography of John R. Brumbaugh, elsewhere 
in this volume. 

Mr. Heckman settled on his present farm 
of 100 acres of land given to Mrs. Heckman, to 
which he has added, by industry and thrift, 
twenty acres more. In i860 Mr. Heckman 
built a substantial brick house, and later a 
good barn, as well as other improvements nec- 
essary on a properly conducted farm. He has 
lately added eighty acres to his land, and now 
enjoys the cultivation of 200 acres, constitut- 
ing one of the best among the many fine farms 
of this section. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Heckman there have 
been born the following children: Amanda, 
Marietta, Elizabeth, Sarah, Ellen, and Sam- 
uel. He and his family are members of the 
German Baptist church, and stand high in the 
estimation of the community. Mr. Heckman 
is well known throughout the. county as a man 
of worth and integrity. 



« y ■ * ENRY M. HERMAN, D. D., pastor 
^"\ of the First Reformed church of Mi- 
F amisburg, Ohio, was born in Pequea, 
Lancaster county, Pa., March 20, 
1834, a son of Samuel and Susan (Sorber) 
Herman, natives of Chester county, Pa. His 
paternal great-grandfather, Henry Herman, was 
a native of Germany, and an early pioneer of 
Chester county. Pa., whose wife bore the 
maiden name of Ruth Ann Howard, and was 
a native of Lancashire, England. Henry Her- 
man, Jr., the only son of Henry, Sr., and the 
grandfather of Henry M., was born in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., married Elizabeth Miller, a na- 
tive of England, and also became a farmer of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



985 



Chester county, Pa. John Sorber, the ma- 
ternal grandfather of Henry M. Herman, was 
of German descent and a merchant of Lancas- 
ter county, Pa. Samuel Herman, his father, 
was a carpenter by trade and passed all his life 
in the county of his nativity — Lancaster, Pa. 

Rev. Henry M. Herman was reared to 
manhood in the county of his birth, received 
his elementary education in the common 
schools and passed to the high school of the 
city of Lancaster, and after graduating there- 
from entered Franklin & Marshall college, of 
the same city, whence he was graduated in 
i860 with the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He 
next attended the Theological seminary at Mer- 
cersburg, Franklin county. Pa., from which 
he graduated in 1862. (His degree of D. D. 
was conferred by the Heidelberg university, of 
Tiffin, Ohio, in 1883.) For twenty years, 
from 1862 until 1881, Mr. Herman was pastor 
of the Reformed church at West Alexandria, 
Ohio, and from 1881 until the present time 
has been the pastor of the First Reformed 
church of Miamisburg. During all these long 
years Mr. Herman has been ardent, faithful 
and self-sacrificing in his holy calling, and his 
labors have been abundantly rewarded by ad- 
ditions to his church membership. Gifted 
with a power of eloquence peculiarly adapted 
to the pulpit, his sermons have always been 
attractive and instructive, and being, more- 
over, scholarly in his attainments and profound 
in theology, his discourses are naturally quite 
convincing. 

Rev. Mr. Herman was united in the bonds 
of matrimony, May 10, 1862, with Miss Bella 
D. Orr, daughter of Hunter and Margaret L. 
(Lawson) Orr, of Lawsonham, Pa., and this 
union has been crowned by the birth of six 
children, in the following order: Susan (Mrs. 
Charles E. Weaver), Fannie, Margaret (Mrs. 
Daniel Bookwalter), Howard H., Mary and 
Maurice. Mr. Herman is a thirty-second de- 



gree Mason and a Knight Templar, and is also 
a member of the I. O. O. F. He is a mem- 
ber of the board of regents of Heidelberg uni- 
versity, and has made himself useful and 
prominent in many charitable movements on 
the part of the church. In politics he is a 
republican. 



81 



ILLIAM H. HOFFMAN, superin- 
tendent of the Louis Newburgh To- 
bacco Packing company, of Ger- 
mantown, Ohio, and the largest 
concern of the kind in the United States, was 
born in German township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, September 30, 1853, and is a son of 
John and Elizabeth (Fink) Hoffman, natives, 
respectively, of Pennsylvania and Germany. 

John Hoffman, by occupation a farmer, 
passed the greater part of his life in German 
township, and had born to his marriage eleven 
children, of whom nine grew to maturity, viz: 
Mary, now Mrs. Levi Kissinger; John, who 
served as a soldier in the late Civil war; Levi; 
Michael; Elizabeth, the- wife of Peter Heller; 
Leah, married to John Limbaugh; Susan, now 
Mrs. Levi Medler; William H., and Julia, who 
is the wife of Harvey King. 

William H. Hoffman came to manhood in 
his native township, received his primary edu- 
cation in the district schools, and later passed 
through a course of instruction in Holbrook's 
college, in Lebanon, Ohio. He begun his 
business life as a clerk in a grocery in German- 
town, but a year later embarked in tobacco 
growing; since 1878, however, he has been in 
the employ of the Louis Newburgh Tobacco 
Packing company — first as foreman for four- 
teen years; and next as superintendent of the 
business, which position he has most satisfac- 
torily filled since 1892. 

Mr. Hoffman was united in marriage, Sep- 
tember 30, 1875, with Flora Miller, daughter 



986 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of Jacob and Rebecca (Welsh) Miller, of Ger- 
man township. Mrs. Hoffman died, in the 
faith of the Lutheran church, June 6, 1895. 
Mr. Hoffman, in his societary relations, is a 
master Mason, and is also a member of canton 
Frank, I. O. O. F. , encampment of German- 
town. In his political affiliations he is a 
democrat. 



lS~\ EV. SAMUEL L. HERR, one of the 
I /^T prominent ministers of Montgomery 
w county and a thriving farmer of Ran- 
dolph township, springs from Penn- 
sylvania ancestors. His remote ancestors came 
from Switzerland on account of religious per- 
secution and settled in Pennsylvania under the 
protection of William Penn. They were Men- 
nonites in religion, or followers of Menno 
Simons, who founded the modern school of 
Anapabtists in Holland, about 1 540. In after 
years some of these religionists settled on 
the Susquehanna river, in Pennsylvania, and 
were collected together by John and Jacob 
Engle, who formed them into a new denomi- 
nation and called them Brethren in Christ. 
Menno Simons died in 1561, a man of gentle, 
earnest, modest and spiritual nature, and with- 
out any of the characteristics of a fanatic. 

The grandfather of the subject was a farmer 
of Lebanon county, Pa., a member of the 
River Brethren denomination, and, it is be- 
lieved, a minister. Of his children who are 
remembered, the following may be named: 
Abraham, Henry, Randolph, and Samuel, all 
of whom were reared on the old home farm at 
Lebanon, Pa. 

Samuel Herr, the father of Samuel L. , was 
born in Lebanon county, Pa., in 1796; became 
a prosperous farmer, and married, in that 
county, Elizabeth Long, daughter of Abraham 
Long. Mr. Herr became a minister in the 
church of the River Brethren and preached 



therein many years. Selling his farm in Leba- 
non county, Pa., he removed to Ohio in 1832, 
settling on the farm on which his son now 
lives. At first he purchased 260 acres, to 
which, by prudence and energy, he added 
other tracts until at length he owned 400 
acres, becoming one of the most successful 
farmers in the county. Much of this land he 
cleared and improved, erecting good buildings 
and making a good home for his family. He 
was one of the first ministers of his church in 
this part of the country. In company with 
Rev. John Wenger, whose biography is else- 
where printed in this volume, he aided to found 
the first church organization of the kind in the 
county, and also aided in the erection of its 
first house of worship. 

He and his wife were the parents of the 
following children: Abraham, Mary, Nancy, 
Fannie, Samuel L. , Christian, Hettie, Eliza- 
beth, Sarah, and John. Rev. Mr. Herr lived 
to the great age of seventy-two years, dying 
on his farm, a man of wide experience and 
knowledge, and of great generosity and use- 
fulness. He was noted everywhere for his 
high christian character. 

Rev. Samuel L. Herr, who was born April 
6, 1828, was about four years old when brought 
to Ohio by his parents, and well remembers 
many incidents of that journey, which was 
made by means of teams and wagons. He 
received the common-school education of the 
days of his youth, and became a farmer. On 
January 20, 1853, when he was twenty-three 
years of age, he married, in Dayton, Ohio, 
Miss Catherine Hocker, who was born Octo- 
ber 21, 1832, and is a daughter of John and 
Catherine (Sterling) Hocker. For fuller men- 
tion of the Hockers the reader is referred to 
the biography of Jesse K. Brumbaugh, else- 
where published in this volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Herr 
settled on a part of the Herr homestead, farm- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



987 



ing some 210 acres. Of this he gave his son 
a farm, retaining for himself 126 acres, which 
he has improved in many ways. Mr. Herr was 
ordained a minister in the church more than 
thirty years ago, and has ever since been en- 
gaged in preaching the gospel. He has always 
been liberal in his support of the church, and 
is widely known for his good works. To him 
and his wife there have been born the follow- 
ing children: Edna, David, Lavina, Levi, 
Omer, who died wheh twenty years of age; 
Martha, who died when three years old; and 
Mary, who died when two years old. Rev. 
Mr. Herr has been a life-long and earnest 
Christian, descending from a family of religious 
people. His personal character and his devo- 
tion to the cause of the church have won him 
the affection and esteem of a host of friends. 



< w * ENRY HERR, farmer of Randolph 
I^^V township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
r and an old resident of the county, 
sprang from Pennsylvania Dutch an- 
cestry. His grandfather, Daniel Herr, was a 
cabinetmaker and miller by trade, and married 
Elizabeth Miller. John Herr, the original an- 
cestor of the family in this country, came 
from Switzerland, and was one of the earliest 
settlers of Pennsylvania. Daniel Herr was a 
citizen of Lancaster county, Pa., and there 
died at the age of about sixty-five years. He 
and his wife had the following children : 
Samuel, Martha, Rachael, Christiana, Mary, 
Joseph and Benjamin, and one that died when 
quite young. Daniel Herr was one of the 
solid men of his day, and fairly representative 
of the Pennsylvania stock, so many of whose 
descendants are to-day valued citizens of the 
Miami valley. 

Samuel Herr, father of Henry, was born 
in Lancaster county, Pa., in 1805. Reared as 
a farmer, he also became a carpenter and con- 



tractor. He married Mary Bowman, in Penn- 
sylvania, daughter of Henry and Esther Bow- 
man. Mr. Herr removed to Clarke county, 
Ohio, in 1850, where he remained for one 
year, coming in 1851 to Montgomery county, 
Ohio. Here he purchased 214 acres of land, 
which had been partly cleared. The remain- 
der he cleared and converted the whole into 
an excellent farm, improving it in many ways, 
but especially by the erection of good build- 
ings. Mr. Herr was a practical and pro- 
gressive farmer, and one of the most success- 
ful of his day. His children were as follows : 
Susan, now deceased ; Henry, and Levi, the 
latter of whom died when about twenty-six 
years old. Politically Mr. Herr was a repub- 
lican, and was a man of high character and 
strong convictions. 

Henry Herr was born July 30, 1857, in 
Lancaster county, Pa. , on a farm, and with 
his parents came to Montgomery county, Ohio. 
His father was a firm believer in the value of 
educating the young, and gave to each of his 
children the best education practicable for him 
to give. Young Herr being brought up on a 
farm became a farmer, and has always fol- 
lowed that occupation. Receiving 120 acres 
of his father's estate, he still retains it and 
has brought it up to a high state of cultiva- 
tion. He is one of the progressive and suc- 
cessful farmers of his county. Politically Mr. 
Herr is a republican, standing high in his 
party's esteem, and is respected for the fine 
qualities of his character and disposition. 



"^j*OHN HERSHEY, a progressive farmer 
M of Randolph township, is of sterling 
/• J Swiss ancestry. His remote ancestor 
came to Pennsylvania in early colonial 
times, a member of William Penn's colony, 
and was thus among the earliest settlers of 
that commonwealth, locating in Lancaster 



988 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



county. This colony fled from religious perse- 
cution in Europe, and its members became 
most excellent citizens of Pennsylvania. Jacob 
Hershey, the grandfather of John, was a 
farmer of Lancaster county. Pa., living five 
miles west of the present city of Lancaster, at 
what was then called "The Manor." He 
there owned a large farm and a stone flouring 
mill, having built what is still known as the 
Hershey mill. 

Jacob Hershey married Barbara Heistand, 
by whom he had the following children: John, 
Jacob, Henry, Andrew, Benjamin, Elizabeth 
and Annie. Jacob Hershey was in religion a 
Mennonite, as was his father before him. He 
lived to be nearly seventy years old and died 
on his farm, a man of property and much 
respected. Jacob Hershey, his son and father 
of John, was born on the old Hershey home- 
stead, which had been in the family for gener- 
ations. He received the usual common-school 
education of the times of his youth, and was 
well informed, considering the opportunities 
afforded him. Brought up a farmer, he also 
acquired the milling trade, taking charge of his 
father's mill. He married Miss Mary Hertz- 
ler, who was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
and was a daughter of John and Barbara 
(Weldy) Hertzler. John Hertzler and wife 
were the parents of the following children: 
John, Elizabeth, Daniel, Mary, Jacob, Ben- 
jamin, Ann and Lavina. 

Jacob Hershey ran the old mill until 1835, 
and then came to Ohio, locating in Clarke 
county, where he bought a farm. This he 
afterward sold and bought the Speaker estate, 
owning at one time 800 acres of land. He 
was a most substantial man of affairs, and car- 
ried on a large business with decided ability 
and success. He lived to the venerable age of 
eighty years, dying in Clarke county, Ohio, 
esteemed for his personal character and re- 
membered for his virtues as a citizen. Polit- 



ically he was an old line whig, and later in life 
a republican and a strong Union man. One of 
his sons, Benjamin, was in the late Civil war, 
in an Indiana regiment of infantry, and was 
with Sherman on his march to the sea. 

John Hershey, the subject of this sketch, 
was born September 20, 18 14, in Lancaster 
county, Pa., on the homestead of his grand- 
father, in a stone house built in 1772. While 
receiving the common-school education of 
those days he also learned farming and mill- 
ing, and came with his father to Ohio in 1835', 
and in Clarke county managed the mill. 
Afterward for some years he operated a mill 
near Dayton, Ohio, then traveled through 
Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, and on October 
20, 1852, married in Randolph township, Miss 
Christian Hocker, who was a daughter of John 
and Catherine (Sterling) Hocker. For fuller 
mention of these people the reader is referred 
to the biography of Jesse K. Brumbaugh, else- 
where published in this volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hershey 
settled in Clarke county, where he followed 
farming for about two years, when he removed 
his family to Preble county, Ohio, and there 
was engaged for two years in milling. Then 
removing to Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, he followed farming for nine years, at 
the end of which period he purchased his pres- 
ent farm. This was in 1866. The farm con- 
tained 175 acres, and was only partially im- 
proved. However, since it was bought by 
Mr. Hershey, he has added much to its con- 
venience and value, by the erection of a com- 
modious brick residence, and of other good 
buildings. The children of Mr. and Mrs. 
Hershey are as follows: Benjamin Franklin, 
who lives in Dayton and is a successful lawyer; 
Rev. Henry; Jacob; Mary C, who died when 
twenty years of age; Albert J., who died when 
twenty-three years of age; Ira; Martha E. ; 
Anna; Ida; Esta; and Edna. Mr. and Mrs. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



989 



Hershey are members of the River Brethren 
church, and in politics Mr. Hershey is a re- 
publican. Mr. Hershey is a man of excellent 
character, and one in whom all who know 
him have the utmost confidence. 



>-j*ACOB W. HOLDERMAN, of New 
J Lebanon, Perry township, one of the 
A J veteran soldiers of the late Civil war, 
was born in Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, December 19, 1840, and 
is a son of John and Eliza (Repp) Holderman. 
Educated in the common schools, he enlisted 
in company G, Eleventh Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, in April, 1861, under the first call of 
President Lincoln, for 75,000 three months' 
troops. Having served out his term of enlist- 
ment he was honorably discharged at Camp 
Dennison, Ohio. Returning to Montgomery 
county he re-enlisted in Dayton in October, 
1862, in company G, Sixty-ninth Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, for three years, or during the 
war, and served until discharged on surgeon's 
certificate of disability from hospital at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., August 4, 1863. He was in the 
battles of Stone River, Chattanooga, Missionary 
Ridge, and several skirmishes, and was at Gal- 
latin after John Morgan's men. He was twice 
captured during his term of service and was in 
Libby prison forty days, when he was ex- 
changed and rejoined his regiment. He was 
permanently disabled through sleeping on the 
ground, and lay in hospital at Nashville, Tenn., 
from April 28 to August 4, 1863. He has 
ever since been a sufferer from the effects of 
his exposures during the war. 

On December 17, 1S65, Mr. Holderman 
was married to Sarah J. Terhune, who was 
born at Peru, Ind., and who died in the fol- 
lowing October, leaving no children. Mr. 
Holderman again married in July, 1872, his 
second wife being Matilda Gorman, the daugh- 



ter of Patrick Gorman. The children by this 
marriage are Chauncey and Harry. Mrs. 
Holderman died October 2, 1877, and Mr. 
Holderman married for his third wife Rebecca 
J. Lewis, who was born near New Albany, 
Ind., and is a daughter of Richard and Re- 
becca (Fishburn) Lewis. To this marriage 
there have been born the following children: 
Louis E., Izette M., Jasper E., Ray, Jesse 
A., Grace I., and Charles J. 

After the termination of the war Mr. Hol- 
derman went to Indiana, and later lived two 
years in the soldiers' home in Dayton, Ohio. 
In 1883 he located in New Lebanon, Ohio, 
where he has been variously engaged. For 
two years he was marshal of the piace, and is 
now in the hack business in New Lebanon. 
Notwithstanding his disability Mr. Holderman 
has been persistently industrious. Politically 
he has always been a republican, and he is a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
Al Mason post, No. 598, of Miamisburg, Ohio. 
He was a good soldier, active and efficient, in 
the performance of every duty until disabled, 
and until that time was in all the battles, 
marches and campaigns in which his regiment 
was engaged. 

John G. Holderman, father of Jacob W. , 
was born in Jefferson township, where the 
soldiers' home now stands. He is a son of 
Jacob Holderman and his wife, Sarah J. 
(Caylor) Holderman. Jacob Holderman was 
a farmer and also ran a still, as. was the case 
with many of the early settlers. For thirteen 
years he was superintendent of the Montgom- 
ery county infirmary, and died at the age of 
sixty-four. His children were as follows: 
Henry, John C. , Jacob, David, Joseph, Daniel, 
Christopher, George, Absalom, Melinda, Mary 
A. and Julia A. Jacob Holderman was born 
near Lancaster, Pa., and came of Dutch an- 
cestors. His great grandfather came from 
Germany and lived to be 100 years and three 



990 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



months old. John C. Holderman was born 
December 16, 1819, and reared the following 
children: Jacob W., Daniel R., Elizabeth, 
Philip J., Amanda, Julia A., Ella, Maggie and 
Nettie, all of whom are now living. Mr. Hol- 
derman served his country during the late 
Civil war in the Sixty-ninth regiment, Ohio 
volunteer infantry, as wagon master. After 
the war he returned to his farm in Jefferson 
township, upon which he lived until his death 
in 1884. Politically he was always a repub- 
lican, and as a citizen was of sterling charac- 
ter and excellent social and business qualities. 
The Holderman family is one of the best in 
the county, patriotic and honorable and highly 
esteemed. Daniel R. Holderman, brother of 
Jacob W., also served his country in the war 
as a member of the Sixty-ninth regiment Ohio 
volunteer infantry, being in the service four 
years. Five of his uncles were soldiers in the 
late war, viz: John C. , Jacob, David, Joseph 
and Daniel, thus making seven of the family 
who fought for the preservation of the Union. 



@EORGE W. HOUS, M. D., the 
leading physician and surgeon of 
Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a native of this 
county and of German origin. 

George Hous, grandfather of the doctor, 
came from Virginia, was a pioneer of Preble 
county, Ohio, there cleared up a farm from 
the wilderness, and reared a large family of 
children, of whom the names of the following 
are remembered: Adam, Simeon, John, Polly, 
Permelia, Sallie, Ella and Andrew. He lived 
to be eighty-four years of age and died in the 
faith of the Lutheran church. 

Andrew Hous, son of George and the 
father of Dr. Hous, was born in Preble county, 
November 29, 1820, came to Montgomery 
county when a young man, and here married 



Mary Reichard, a native of this county and 
daughter of Joseph and Mary Reichard. Jo- 
seph was a native of Lancaster county, Pa., of 
German descent, and a pioneer of Perry town- 
ship, Montgomery county. He had been a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and, after coming 
to Perry township, cleared a large farm, and 
for eighteen years served as a township trustee. 
He reared a family of four children — Elizabeth, 
William, Joseph and Mary, and died at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-nine years, a member of 
the Lutheran church. 

Andrew Hous and wife located in Perry 
township on a farm of 110 acres, all, with the 
exception of thirteen acres, being in the forest. 
Mr. Hous cleared and improved the entire 
tract, building a substantial residence; and 
here he passed the remainder of the active 
years of his life until his retirement to Brook- 
ville, where his death took place May 25, 
1895, at the age of seventy-five years. In re- 
ligion he was a New School Lutheran, and in 
politics a democrat. His widow is still living 
in Brookville and has reached the age of sev- 
enty-three years, and their children, living, 
are as follows: Joseph, Elizabeth, George W. 
and Sarah M. 

Dr. George W. Hous was born July 5, 
1849, in his father's original log cabin on the 
farm in Perry township, and received his early 
education in the district school at Pyrmont; 
this was supplemented by attending the school 
at Brookville and the normal school at Leb- 
anon; he then entered the Medical college of 
Ohio at Cincinnati, where he received his di- 
ploma in 1877. He also studied medicine un- 
der Dr. Levi Spitler, of Dayton, and began 
practice at Pyrmont in the same year, 1877; 
and in October, 1878, removed to Salem, 
where he has since remained, enjoying a lucra- 
tive practice. In 1883 Dr. Hous attended the 
Polyclinic institute in New York city and the 
Long Island Hospital college at Brooklyn, N.Y., 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



991 



thus adding mat eriallyto his medical knowledge 
and skill. He is a member of the Montgom- 
ery county Medical society, the Ohio state 
Medical association, and the American Med- 
ical association, and is a patron and reader of 
the best medical journals of the day, his library 
being filled with the most approved works on 
medicine and surgery extant, and all the time 
that can be spared from his practice, which 
now embraces a large territory in and around 
Salem, is devoted to the study of the latest 
methods and advances in medicine. 

Dr. Hous was married at Salem October 2 1 , 
1884, to Miss Nannie Irene Carl, who was born 
in Greenville, December 29, 1858, the only 
child of Jacob and Amanda J. (Schaeffen Carl. 
Her father, Jacob Carl, a miller, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, when a young man, and married 
Amanda J. Schaeffer, a native and resident of 
Germantown, born July 4, 1837, a daughter of 
David and Susannah (Ketro) Schaeffer. David 
Schaeffer, a farmer, was born in Adams county, 
Pa. , and for sometime after coming to German- 
town, Ohio, followed the trade of carpenter. 
His children were named Arthur A. M., Rebec- 
ca, Wilkerson, Mary A., Amanda J., Matilda, 
Charles and David. The father of these chil- 
dren died in Salem at an advanced age, a 
member of the United Brethren church. Jacob 
Carl followed milling for a number of years in 
Germantown, and then bought a farm in But- 
ler township, where he passed the remainder 
of his life, dying at the early age of forty years. 

To the marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Hous have 
been born four children — Nellie C, Everett 
B. , Mary A., who died at the age of three 
years, and Lincoln Rome. The parents are 
members of the United Brethren church ; in 
politics the doctor is a republican, and has 
served as treasurer of Randolph township. 
Fraternally, he is a member of Randolph lodge, 
No. 98, I. O. O. F. 

41 



^"^EORGE W. HUBLER, of Miamis- 
■ G\ burg, Ohio, traveling salesman and 
\^J collector for the McCormick Harvest- 
ing Machine company, of Chicago, 
was born in Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, February 22, 1848, a son of 
George W. and Salome (Lesher) Hubler, and 
grandson of Michael and Margaret (Gebhart) 
Hubler, natives of Pennsylvania and pioneers 
of Miami township. 

Michael Hubler was a native of Berks 
county, Pa., a son of Michael Hubler, and 
settled in Miami township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, about 1808, where he engaged in 
farming, and lived to be over ninety-two years 
of age. His wife was a daughter of Michael 
and Margaret Gebhart, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania, who settled in Miami township in 1806, 
cleared and improved the farm now owned and 
occupied by A. J. Hubler and died there. She 
bore him six children — Elizabeth (Mrs. John 
Wrights), George W. , Andrew J., Margaret, 
Perry and Louisa (Mrs. Samuel Bechtolt). 

George W. Hubler, father of subject, was 
born in Miami township in 18 10; after attain- 
ing his majority, he engaged in farming in 
Jefferson township until i860, when he re- 
moved to Miamisburg and conducted a cloth- 
ing and tailoring establishment up to 1870, 
when he retired from business on account of 
ill health. During the late Civil war he served 
100 days as a member of company D, One 
Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, received an honorable discharge at the 
expiration of service, and died in 1872. His 
wife was a daughter of Jacob Lesher; a pio- 
neer of Miami township. She bore him three 
children — Christiana (Mrs. John Weaver), 
George W. and John H. 

George W. Hubler, the subject, was reared 
in Montgomery county, educated in the public 
schools, and began life for himself as a tele- 
graph operator, which calling he followed for 



' »'.'!' 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



two years — 1 868-69. He then served an ap- 
prenticeship of four years at the carpenter's 
trade, and in 1873 went west, and was em- 
ployed as engineer on the Atchison, Topeka cS; 
Santa Fe, and Denver cS: Rio Grande railroads 
until 1879, when he returned to Miamisburg, 
and entered the machinery department of the 
Hoover & Gamble works, where he remained 
until 1888 — a part of the time being on the 
road as traveling agent. In 1889 he was 
traveling salesman for the Champion Reaper 
& Mower company of Springfield, Ohio, and 
in June, 1890, entered into a contract with 
the McCormick company of Chicago, with 
whom he has since been engaged as salesman 
and collector. 

Mr. Hubler was married November 12, 
1867, to Sally, daughter of David and Mar- 
garet (Neiblei Hetzel, of Miami township, and 
has two sons — Herbert H. and Robert L. 
He is a royal arch Mason, a member of the 
I. O. O. F. encampment, canton Groby, and 
a K. of P. ; in politics he is a republican, and 
in his business relations is energetic, pains- 
taking and faithful to every duty entrusted to 
his care. 



SENRY C. HUNT, one of the best 
known citizens and business men of 
Miamisburg, Montgomery county, 
was born in Wayne township, Butler 
county, Ohio, August 30, 1827, a son of Ed- 
ward and Rachael (Sheafor) Hunt. 

Edward Hunt was a native of New Jersey 
and a son of Edward and Susannah (Pearson) 
Hunt, of English descent. He settled in 
Wayne township, Butler county, Ohio, in 
1818, and, being a tanner by trade, engaged 
in tanning, shoemaking and farming, and car- 
ried on a successful business until his death, in 
1835. His wife was a daughter of Peter 
Sheafor, also a native of New Jersey, of 



German descent, who was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and who, after living a 
few years in Kentucky, settled in Lemon town- 
ship, Butler county, Ohio, in 1803, where he 
cleared up and improved a farm, on which he 
passed the remainder of his life. 

Henry C. Hunt received a very good edu- 
cation in the common and select schools of 
his native township, and began his business 
life as a clerk in a dry-goods store in Hamil- 
ton, Ohio, in 1845, in which position he re- 
mained two years. He then, in 1847, em - 
barked in the dry-goods trade on his own 
account in Miltonville, Butler county, in which 
he continued eight years, after which he 
farmed in Madison township until 1862. He 
then removed to Seven Mile, Butler county, 
and engaged in the grain business until 1868, 
when he came to Miamisburg and engaged in 
the manufacture of carriage wheels as a mem- 
ber of the firm of Bookwalter Bros. & Co., 
with whom he was associated as secretary and 
treasurer until the concern was merged into 
the American Wheel company in 1890. Since 
that time, Mr. Hunt has done no more 
active work than properly guarding the in- 
vestment of his capital. He has been presi- 
dent of the Miamisburg Building cS: Loan as- 
sociation since its organization in April, 1893, 
has been a stockholder in the First National 
bank, and is also interested in the Western 
Linoleum company, manufacturers of oil- 
cloth, etc., at Akron, Ohio. 

The marriage of Mr. Hunt was solemnized 
June 3, 1856, with Miss Catherine K. Kumler, 
daughter of Jacob and Hannah (Flickinger) 
Kumler, of Butler county, and residents of 
Ohio, since 1819. Mrs. Hunt is a niece of 
Bishop D. K. Flickinger, of the United Breth- 
ren church, and a granddaughter of Bishop 
Henry Kumler, of the same organization, 
The latter came from Lancaster county. Pa. , 
and settled in Butler countv, Ohio, in 18 19. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



993 



To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt have 
been born four children, viz: Charles E., H. 
Jennie (deceased), Rachel L. (Mrs. W. D. 
Hoover), and William F. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hunt have long been consistent members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, Mr. Hunt 
also having been superintendent of the Sab- 
bath-school for seven years. He is a master 
Mason, in politics is a republican, and for nine 
years was a member of the school board. He 
is one of Miamisburg's most public-spirited 
citizens and has done much to increase the 
city's prosperity by the erection of business 
houses and other structures when needed, and 
has never failed to aid in promoting enter- 
prises designed for the good of the general 
public. No man in the community stands 
higher in its esteem than does Henry C. Hunt. 



/~"N* AMUEL JUDY, a retired farmer, now 
*y^KT residing in Germantown, Ohio, was 

hs^_y born on the old Judy homestead, in 
German township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, June 28, 1821, and is a son of Jacob 
and Catherine (Hitzler) Judy. 

Christian Judy, his grandfather, was a son 
of Swiss parents, who came to America about 
1760 and settled in Lancaster county, Pa. He 
married, in that state, a Miss Cooper, who 
bore to him six children, named John, Jacob, 
Elizabeth (Mrs. John Keller), Catherine (Mrs. 
Samuel Hitzler), Mary (Mrs. John Smith), 
still living in Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
Michael. From Dauphin county, Pa., Chris- 
tian Judy brought his family to Ohio in 1805, 
and settled in German township, Montgomery 
county, on the farm now occupied by his grand- 
son, Jacob, a brother of Samuel Judy. While 
clearing and improving this land he at times 
also worked at shoemaking, perhaps for a 
number of years, his sons in the meanwhile 
doing the work. On this farm the old pioneer 



died in 1850, at the ripe old age of seventy- 
two years. 

Jacob Judy, the father of Samuel, was born 
in Pennsylvania and came to Ohio with his 
father; he was reared on the original Judy 
farm in German township, which he assisted 
in clearing in his early manhood. He married 
Miss Catherine Hitzler, daughter of George 
and Catherine (Ream) Hitzler, pioneers of 
German township. This union was blessed 
with seven children, born in the following 
order: John, Mary (Mrs. John Foutz), Sam- 
uel, Catherine (Mrs. Dr. James Comstock), 
Susan (Mrs. William Kemp), Jacob (now oc- 
cupying the old farm), and Elizabeth (Mrs. Dr. 
Daniel Eckert). After a long and useful life, 
the father of this family, Jacob Judy, died on 
the homestead in German township at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-three years. 

Samuel Judy was reared to farming and 
received the common-school education usually 
given the children of our pioneer farmers, his 
school attendance being limited to two months 
in the year. On attaining his majority, Mr. 
Judy, in 1842, sold his interest in his patri- 
mony and removed to Preble county, Ohio, 
where he purchased a farm of 500 acres, of 
which he still owns 324 acres, and there he 
remained until November, 1886, when he re- 
turned to his native township, where he has 
since lived in contented retirement. 

Samuel Judy was united in marriage Octo- 
ber 28, 1 84 1, with Mary M. Ream, daughter 
of Martin and Catherine iWisler) Ream, who 
were among the earlier settlers of German 
township. Of the nine children born to Sam- 
uel Judy and wife, seven reached maturity, 
viz: Jacob, who died of wounds received at 
the battle of Arkansas Post, in the late Civil 
war; Martin, who was the second born; Cath- 
erine, now the wife of George W. Hanger; 
Abraham, who resides in Butler county, Ohio; 
Mary, who is the wife of Henry H. Flickenger; 



994 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Charlie, who lives in Kansas; Lettie, now Mrs. 
George I. Coleman, of Butler county. Mrs. 
Mary M. Judy, a most estimable woman, was 
called away by death, and Mr. Judy married 
Mrs. Elizabeth (Francis) Williams, daughter 
of Samuel and Eda (Ford) Francis, of German 
township, but formerly of Lancaster county, 
Pa. George Francis, the paternal grandfather 
of the present Mrs. Judy, was a gallant soldier 
in the war of the Revolution, and was one of 
the foremost pioneers of Butler county, Ohio, 
deriving his warrant for his land from the 
United States government as a reward for his 
faithful services throughout the war for Amer- 
ican independence. To the second marriage 
of Mr. Judy no children have been born. Mr. 
and Mrs. Judy are members of the United 
Brethren church, and in politics Mr. Judy is a 
republican. 



^t^ACOB KAUFFMAN, manufacturer of 
M carriages, Miamisburg, Ohio, was born 
m J in Annville township, Lebanon county, 
Pa., October 24, 1830. He is a son of 
Jacob and Sarah ( Schirk ) Kauffman, and of 
Swiss descent. His paternal grandfather, Abra- 
ham Kauffman, was a son of Abraham Kauff- 
man. and he a son of Frederick Kauffman, who 
was born in Switzerland in if 09, and in 1734 
immigrated to America, settling in Annville 
township, Lebanon county, Pa. He was a 
Mennonite bishop, and died in 1789, aged 
eighty years. From this original Kauffman 
the father of the subject indirectly received 
the original Kauffman homestead in Lebanon 
county, Pa. Upon this old homestead stands 
the Kauffman meeting house, which was orig- 
inally a church of the Mennonite denomination, 
but which has later been re-built and is now 
known as the Kauffman meeting house, and 
owned by the United Brethren church. This 
farm remained in possession of the Kauffman 



family until 1839, and even now goes by the 
name of the Kauffman farm, as the church 
does by that of the Kauffman meeting house. 
It stands five miles west of Lebanon and one 
and a half miles north of Annville. 

Jacob Kauffman, whose name opens this 
sketch, was reared in his native county, re- 
ceived a common-school education, and in 1846 
was apprenticed to the carriagemaker's trade, 
serving four years. For two years afterward 
he worked at his trade as a journeyman, and 
in 1853 embarked in business for himself at 
Jonestown, Lebanon county. Pa., where he 
remained in business until April 4, 1865. He 
then went to Meadville, Pa., where he worked 
as a journeyman for some time, and in 1867 
started a carriage factory at Troy, Ohio, which 
he operated until January I, 1869. Coming 
to Miamisburg, he founded the Kauffman & 
Co. Carriage works, which in 1880 became 
Kauffman & Sons ; and in 1883 the name was 
changed to the Kauffman Buggy company, 
under which style it is now operated. In the 
manufacture of first-class carriages, the firm is 
known from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean 
as one whose work is always up to the high- 
est standard. 

Mr. Kauffman was married in November, 
1 85 1, to Marian Leasher, daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Elizabeth ( Selzer ) Leasher, of 
Jonestown, Pa. To this marriage there have 
been born six children, as follows : Thomas J., 
William J., Harry L., Ann E. (Mrs. H. L 
Kincaid), James A. and Richard B. Mr. 
Kauffman and his family are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. Fraternally, Mr. 
Kauffman is a member of the A. O. U. W. and 
of the Knights of Honor, and politically he is a 
sound republican. In nearly thirty years of 
residence in Miamisburg, he has achieved a 
fine reputation as a business man and has taken 
a prominent place as one of the most useful 
and excellent citizens of that community. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



995 




• HOMAS JOSEPH KAUFFMAN, one 
of the best known young business 
men and popular citizens of Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, was born in Annville, 
Lebanon county, Pa., January 13, 1853, a son 
of Jacob and Marian (Leasher) Kauffman, of 
the fifth generation from Frederick Kauffman, 
the founder of the family in America. 

Frederick Kauffman was born in Switzer- 
land in 1709, came to America in 1734, and 
settled at Annville, Pa., where he erected 
what is still known as the Kauffman Mennonite 
church, of which denomination he was a 
bishop. His son, Abraham, became the father 
of a son, also named Abraham, who also had 
a son named Abraham, whose son, Jacob, is 
the father of our subject. All these descend- 
ants of the original immigrant were tillers of 
the soil with the exception of Jacob, who was 
early apprenticed to carriagemaking and is 
now the president of the Kauffman Buggy 
company of Miamisburg, Ohio. 

' Benjamin Leasher, the maternal grand- 
father of Thomas J. Kauffman, was a citizen 
of Lebanon county. Pa., a major in the United 
States volunteer service in the war of 181 2, 
and after the close of that war served as major 
in the Eleventh battalion, Pennsylvania militia, 
for many years. 

Thomas Joseph Kauffman was reared and 
educated in the Keystone state until 1867, when 
he came to Ohio with his parents, who settled 
in Miamisburg. Here young Kauffman at once 
began to learn the trade of carriagemaking 
with his father, and was fully instructed in 
every detail of the business. Upon complet- 
ing his apprenticeship he became a member of 
the firm of Kauffman & Son, and upon the in- 
corporation of the Kauffman Buggy company, 
in 1883, he was made its secretary, which po- 
sition he filled with marked ability until 1885, 
when he became general traveling agent. In 
this capacity he developed a very large wholesale 



demand for the company's productions, which 
now have not only a national, but an inter- 
national, reputation fot their excellence and 
have been awarded numerous medals and di- 
plomas for their superiority by all the leading 
expositions throughout this and other countries. 
Mr. Kauffman was most happily married, 
June 20, 1876, to Miss Cora Allen, daughter 
of Firman and Louisa (Piatt) Allen, of Miamis- 
burg, three children being the result of the 
union, .viz: Allen, Cora and Thomas J., Jr. 
The family worship at the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and in politics Mr. Kauffman is a 
republican, under the auspices of which party 
he is now serving his fourth term as treasurer 
of Miamisburg. Fraternally, he is a member 
of the A. F. & A. M., Jr. O. U. A. M., and 
K. of P.; he is also colonel of the Fourth regi- 
ment, uniform rank, K. of P., and in this 
position, as well as in all others that he has 
held, has won the well-merited approbation 
of his associates. 



BELIX KERSTING, a prominent and 
successful merchant tailor of Miamis- 
burg and a leading citizen of the place, 
was born in Wunnenberg, Germany, 
June 7, 1850. He is a son of Anthony and 
Mary C. (Doeren) Kersting. In his native 
country he received a good education in the 
common schools, and when thirteen years of 
age was apprenticed to the tailor's trade, serv- 
ing an apprenticeship of three years. After- 
ward he worked as a journeyman for three 
years, and in 1869, when he was nineteen 
years of age, he emigrated to the United 
States. Upon arriving in this country he 
located in Quincy, 111., and there worked at 
his trade for three years, removing to Cincin- 
nati in 1872. In Cincinnati he remained nine 
years in the leading tailoring establishment in 
the city, and during this period he perfected 



996 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



himself in the art of cutting. In January, 
1 88 1, he removed to Miamisburg and em- 
barked in the merchant tailoring business on 
his own account. After two years he formed 
a partnership with Henry Heitmann, and the 
business was then carried on for eight years 
under the firm name of Heitmann & Kersting. 
This partnership was dissolved in 1891, and 
since then Mr. Kersting has been conducting 
the business alone. In 1895 he erected the 
fine brick building on Main street which he 
now occupies as a store and residence. Soon 
after locating in Miamisburg, Mr. Kersting 
established a reputation for excellent work- 
manship, and, being gifted with good taste 
and judgment and thoroughly skilled in his 
vocation, he has steadily increased the large 
trade that he early secured, and now has a 
flourishing business. 

Mr. Kersting was married, February 15, 
1 88 1, to Emma Glaser, daughter of Xavier 
and Caroline (Kessler) Glaser, of Miamisburg. 
To this marriage there have been born five 
children, who are still living, as follows: David, 
Albin, Clara, Marie, and Raymond. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kersting have also an adopted daughter, 
Katie. Mr. Kersting is an adherent of the 
Catholic faith, and takes great interest in the 
work of his church. He is also a member of 
the Catholic Knights of Ohio, maintaining an 
excellent standing in the order, and, in poli- 
tics, is a democrat, though he has never been 
a seeker after office. 



ta 



'ILLIAM J. KAUFFMAN, of Mont- 
gomery county, president and super- 
intendent of the Enterprise Carriage 
Manufacturing company, Miamis- 
burg, was born in Jonestown, Lebanon county, 
Pa., January 4, 1855. He is a son of Jacob 
and Marian (Leasher) Kauffman, who were of 
-s descent, and who came to Miamisburg 



in 1869. For his fuller genealogy, reference 
is made to the biographies of Jacob and T. J. 
Kauffman, elsewhere in this volume. 

William J. Kauffman was educated in the 
public schools of Meadville, Pa., of Troy and 
of Miamisburg, Ohio. At the age of sixteen 
he began an apprenticeship at the carriage- 
maker's trade, in his father's shop in Miamis- 
burg, serving four years. The year 1873 he 
spent in Cincinnati, in the employ of Crane, 
Breed & Co., hearse and burial case manufac- 
turers, and during the summer of 1875 he was 
employed in the carriage works of J. Alewine 
& Sons, of Philadelphia, Pa. In the fall of 
the same year he was appointed foreman of 
the blacksmith department in the shops of 
Kauffman & Co., at Miamisburg, which firm 
was afterward changed to Kauffman & Sons. 
Of this concern he was a member, and served 
in the capacity last mentioned, until 1890, 
when he became identified with the Enterprise 
Carriage company, whose extensive plant in 
Miamisburg was planned by Mr. Kauffman and 
was built entirely under his supervision. He 
has been vice-president and superintendent of 
the company ever since it began operations in 
1890, and he has ever since furnished all the 
designs for the vehicles manufactured by the 
company. Mr. Kauffman's skill as a designer 
amounts well nigh to genius, and guided by 
his long experience and thorough knowledge of 
all departments of the business, he is indis- 
pensable to its success. The reputation of the 
company for artistic vehicles, brought to it by 
Mr. Kauffman, is second to that of no other 
establisnment of the kind in the United States, 
or perhaps in the world Mr. Kauffman is 
the inventor of several patented devices and 
appliances to vehicles manufactured by the 
company, and which are used exclusively by 
them, among which may be mentioned a pat- 
ent step, a fender attachment, spring brackets, 
and others of equal value. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



997 



Mr. Kauffman was married in October, 
1877, to Fannie L., daughter of Dr. Joseph 
and Fannie (Swar) Weaver, of Miamisburg, 
and to this marriage there have been born 
three children: Mary, Fannie and William. 
Mr. Kauffman is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and in politics is a republican, as 
such serving two years as councilman of Miam- 
isburg, with credit to himself and to the gen- 
eral satisfaction of the people of the place. 



aHARLES EDWARD KINDER, post- 
master of Miamisburg, Ohio, and edi- 
tor and proprietor of the Miamisburg 
News, was born in this place October 
30, 1859. His parents, John E. and Elizabeth 
(Clark) Kinder, were natives respectively of 
Franklin and Miamisburg, Ohio, and his pa- 
ternal grandfather, George Kinder, was born 
in Fayette county, Pa. George Kinder came 
to Ohio, settling in Franklin with his parents, 
in 1802. Here in after years he was a promi- 
nent contractor, building six miles of the Miami 
canal, also a portion of the Cincinnati & Day- 
ton turnpike, and for many years ran a line of 
boats on the Miami canal. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Elizabeth Schnorf, was born 
near Lebanon, Ohio, in 1802. 

John E. Kinder, father of Charles E., was 
reared in Franklin, where he learned the trade 
of harnessmaker, and was postmaster of that 
village for several years. About 1857 he re- 
moved to Miamisburg, where he was for some 
years engaged in milling. During the late Civil 
war he was a member of company E, One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, 
and was honorably discharged at the expiration 
of his term of service. His wife, Elizabeth 
Clark, was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, in 1832, 
and was a daughter of Nelson and Sarah (Tap- 
scott) Clark, who settled in Miamisburg in 
1825. Nelson Clark was a gun manufacturer 



of note, a natural botanist, a practical chemist, 
an inventor and musician, and died in 1859. 
Joseph Tapscott, father of Sarah Tapscott, 
came from New Jersey, and was the founder 
of what is known as the " Jersey settlement." 
His wife, Anna Schenck, was also of a promi- 
nent New Jersey family. John E. Kinder 
reared a family of five children, as follows: 
Anna E., Charles E., Mary E., Sallie, wife of 
Herman F. Cellarius, and Bertha E. 

Charles E. Kinder was educated in Miamis- 
burg, graduating from the high school in 1874. 
After his graduation he spent five years in the 
printing office of his uncle, George D. Kinder, 
at Ottawa, Ohio. In 1880 he started the Mi- 
amisburg News, and of this paper he has ever 
since been the editor and publisher. In 1885. 
he was elected mayor of Miamisburg, an office 
which he resigned in 1886 in order to become 
postmaster of that town, retaining his latter 
position until 1889. In February, 1892, he 
was again elected mayor of Miamisburg, and 
in 1894 again resigned to become postmaster 
of the place. This office he still holds, and is 
giving satisfaction to the people in his adminis- 
tration of its duties. Fraternally, Mr. Kinder 
is a royal arch Mason, and a Knight of Pyth- 
ias, and in politics is a democrat. He is one 
of the best citizens of the community in which 
he lives, and that he possesses the confidence 
of all is sufficiently evident from the trusts he 
has held by election and by appointment. 



BRANKLIN KLEPINGER, a farmer 
of Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and a grandson of one 
of the original pioneers, sprang from 
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. His grandfather, 
John Klepinger, was born in Pennsylvania, 
January 31, 1774, and on December 31, 1799, 
married Elizabeth Benkard, who was born 
September 27, 1778. John and Elizabeth 



998 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Klepinger were the parents of the following 
children : George, born October 19, 1800 ; 
John, born May 26, 1802 ; Jacob, born April 
■9, 1804; Henry, born June 8, 1806; Anna 
Maria, born May 23, 1808 ; Isaac, born July 
iio. 1S10; William, born October 13, 1812; 
Sarah, born October 28, 1814; David, born 
May 14, 1 8 1 7 ; and Samuel, born August I, 
3819. John Klepinger and his wife moved to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, about 1807, settling 
in Madison township. Later they removed to 



Indiana, locating near La Fayette, on 



the 



Tippecanoe battle ground. He and his wife 
were members of the German Baptist church 
and brought up their large family to be good 
and respected members of society. Mr. Klep- 
inger died October 20, 1830, at the age of 
fifty-six years, eight months and twenty days. 
John Klepinger, father of Franklin, was 
about five years old when he came to Ohio 
with his parents. He was reared a farmer 
boy, brought up to all kinds of pioneer experi- 
ences, and on April 22, 1830, married Eliza- 
beth Boyer, who was born near Harper's Ferry, 
Md., July 20, 1808. Her father, Samuel 
Boyer, came to Ohio, settling at an early day 
in Randolph township, Montgomery county, 
and was a successful farmer and honored pio- 
neer citizen. John Klepinger and his wife, 
Elizabeth, were the parents of the following 
children: Amos, born January 15, 183 1; Frank- 
lin, born August 23, 1832 ; Newton, born Feb- 
ruary 20, 1834; Matilda, born October 14, 
1835 ; Harriet Ann, born April 27, 1837 ; 
Samuel, born June 7, 1839 ; Harvey, born 
February 22, 1842 ; John, born September 5, 
1846; and Oliver, born November 29, 1854. 
Mr. and Mrs. Klepinger, after their marriage, 
settled in Randolph township, about one mile 
south of the farm upon which their son Frank- 
lin now lives. John Klepinger purchased a 
farm of 161 acres, upon which he lived for 
many years. He greatly improved this farm 



in many ways, but especially by the erection 
of good buildings, including a substantial brick 
house. He was a man well known to all for 
many miles around as a straightforward and 
honorable citizen. He was a carpenter by 
trade and erected many houses in the county 
in which he lived. Politically, he was a re- 
publican, and he and his wife were members 
of the German Baptist church. Two of his 
sons, Harvey and Samuel, were soldiers in the 
late Civil war. Samuel served three years in 
the Sixty-third Ohio volunteer infantry and 
participated in many battles. Harvey was in 
the three months' service. Mr. Klepinger was 
a thoroughly practical farmer and a prosperous 
man, and enjoyed the high regard of the entire 
community. 

Franklin Klepinger was born August 23, 
1832, as above stated, on his father's home- 
stead. Like most of the farmers' boys of that 
day, he received only the limited education of 
the district school, and began very early to 
learn the sterner lessons of an active farm life. 
He put in many a day mowing grass with the 
old fashioned scythe and in cradling grain with 
the old fashioned cradle. Beside farming he 
learned the carpenter's trade, and was unusu- 
ally skillful in the use of all kinds of tools. 

On May 5, 1861, he was married to Miss 
Anne Hisey, daughter of Martin and Elizabeth 
(Engle) Hisey. To this marriage there were 
born three children, as follows: Martha, who 
died at the age of ten years; David, who died 
at the age of twenty-one years, and William, 
who died at the age of three months. Mrs. 
Klepinger died May 5, 1866, and on February 
4, 1868, Mr. Klepinger married Mrs. Annie D. 
Syler, a widow who was born November 29, 
1836, in Miami county, and is a daughter of 
John and Elizabeth (Long) Dohner. John 
Dohner, father of Mrs. Klepinger, was a son of 
Joseph Dohner, who came from Germany, 
settling in Lebanon county, Pa. His children 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



999 



were as follows: Christ, Moses, Jacob and 
John. The father of these children was a sub- 
stantial farmer in Pennsylvania, in which state 
he died, a member of the Mission church. 

John Dohner, the father of Mrs. Klepinger, 
was born November 5, 1794, in Pennsylvania, 
and was, on March 5, 1S16, married to Eliza- 
beth Long, in Lebanon county, Pa. They 
were the parents of the following children: 
Susannah, born December 16, 1816; Joseph, 
born March 25, 1818; John, born December 
18, 1 819; Christian, born December 24, 1821; 
Moses, born November 22, 1823; Elizabeth, 
born February 10, 1826; Nancy, born March 
22, 1828; Frances, born November 22, 1829; 
Lydia, born June 14, 1833; Jacob, born Feb- 
ruary 10, 1835, and Annie D., born November 

29, 1836. John Dohner came to Ohio, locat- 
ing in Miami county, in May, 1835, settling on 
160 acres of land, which he cleared of its tim- 
ber, and added thereto another 160 acres. 
This land he distributed among his boys, giving 
his daughters money instead of land. In 
religious belief he was a member of the church 
of the River Brethren, a good and upright 
man, a minister in the church for many years, 
and he brought up his children in the way that 
they should go. His character was beyond 
reproach, and when he died at the age of sixty- 
three years he was mourned by the entire 
community. 

Annie D. Dohner was first married Septem- 
ber 6, 1857, to John G. Syler, a farmer of 
Miami county. Her children by this marriage 
were as follows: Frances, who died at the 
age of fourteen years; Emma, who died when 
ten months old; and Harvey, who died at the 
age of three years. Mr. Syler died May 7, 
1866, a member of the "New Light," or Dis- 
ciple church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Klepinger have had the fol- 
lowing children: Harriet Ellen, born October 

30, 1868, and died June 9, 1869; Ida Jane, 



born March 25, 1870, and died March 9, 
1894, a married woman; Aaron Webster, born 
July 23, 1872; John Allen, born December 9, 
1874; and Warren Perry, born September 17, 
1877. Mr. Klepinger is a member of the 
German Baptist church and Mrs. Klepinger a 
member of the church of the River Brethren. 
Politically Mr. Klepinger is a republican, but 
is not an office seeker in any sense of the term. 
Beside his home farm of iooacres in Randolph 
township, he owns a farm of 197 acres in Clay 
township, upon which there are a good brick 
house and other valuable improvements. He 
is well known for his honesty and straight- 
forward character, and is held in much esteem 
as a neighbor and a citizen. Aided by his 
faithful wife, he has reared an excellent family 
of children, bringing them up to ways of in- 
dustry and right living. 



>Y*OHN B. KOEPPEL, a well-known 
■ business man of Germantown, Ohio, 
(9 J was born in Baden-Baden, Germany, 
June 25, 1838, a son of John B. and 
Elizabeth (Kutz) Koeppel. His father was an 
agriculturist, and our subject was reared on a 
farm until fourteen years of age, receiving a 
common-school education. At the age men- 
tioned he was apprenticed to the baker's trade, 
served one and a half years, and afterward 
worked as a journeyman in the principal cities 
of Baden until i860, when he sailed for the 
United States. He located at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and there, and in that vicinity, worked 
as journeyman until 1863, when he entered the 
employ of the government as a baker. He 
worked at Camp Dennison, at Cumberland 
Gap, Tenn., Stevenson, and Huntsville, Ala., 
and continued in the government service until 
Lee's surrender at Appomattox, in 1865. He 
then returned to Cincinnati, remained there 
until July 15, 1866, when he located at Ger- 



IHOtl 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mantown, where he embarked in business for 
himself, in which he has met with marked suc- 
cess. In 1880 Mr. Koeppel erected a tine 
double brick business block, which was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1886, but was rebuilt by him 
at once. He occupies both stores in his busi- 
ness, one as a bakery, grocery and confection- 
ery, and the other as a cafe and billiard parlor. 
In May, 1864, Mr. Koeppel was married to 
Anna M. Coyne, of Ireland, and has six chil- 
dren living — Elizabeth (Mrs. James B. Kelly), 
Robert, Joseph, Oliver T., Ada, and John B., 
Jr. Mr. Koeppel and his wife are members 
of the Catholic church, and in politics he is a 
democrat. His life has been characterized by 
persistent industry, with shrewdness and sound 
judgment, and his present prosperity is the re- 
sult of his own unaided exertions. He is a 
public-spirited citizen and always ready to as- 
sist any enterprise calculated to benefit the 
city of his adoption. 



«-w-» EONARD S. KRAUSS, M. D., the 
C well-known young physician and sur- 
I J geon of West Carrollton, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born in Cecil 
county, Md., February 5, 1852, and is a son 
of John H. and Margaret Abigail (Harlan) 
Krauss, who were respectively of German and 
Irish descent. 

Leonard Krauss, paternal great-grandfa- 
ther of the doctor, was a soldier in the Revo- 
lutionary war and captain of a company in the 
war of 1 8 1 2 . For several years he was a resi- 
dent of Lancaster county, Pa. , whence he 
moved to Cecil county, Md., where he was en- 
gaged in the mercantile business, and where 
he died in the ninety-ninth year of his age. 
The paternal grandfather of Dr. Krauss, who 
was also named Leonard, was a native of Ce- 
cil county, Md., and the maternal grandfather, 



Solomon Harlan, was born in Chester county, 
Pennsjlvania. 

Leonard S. Krauss, whose name opens this 
biography, was educated academically at 
Mount Pleasant academy and at the Friends' 
Normal institute, both in Cecil county, Md. 
In 1873 he began the study of medicine, and 
in 1877 was graduated from Washington uni- 
versity, Baltimore, Md. ; in the latter year, 
also, he began the practice of medicine in his 
native county, and for three years met with a 
flattering success. In 1880 he came to Ohio 
and located in Germantown, Montgomery 
county, where he was associated for two years 
with Dr. V. B. Stevens in the practice of den- 
tistry. In 1883 he removed to West Carroll- 
ton, where he has since resided, engaged in 
the active and successful practice of medicine. 
In 1895 he took an ad eundem course and was 
awarded the degree of doctor of medicine by 
the Ohio Medical university at Columbus. 

The marriage of Dr. Krauss took place in 
July, 1882, with Miss Irene A., daughter of 
Henry and Elizabeth 1 Banker) Kercher, of 
Germantown, Ohio. The father of Mrs. 
Krauss was a cooper by trade, was a resident 
of Germantown for many years, and there died 
in 1862; the maternal grandparents of Mrs. 
Krauss, Solomon and Mary Ann (Coon) 
Banker, were natives of Maryland and Ken- 
tucky respectively, and were pioneers of But- 
ler county, Ohio. To Dr. Krauss and wife 
have been born four children, in the following 
order: Harlan, Henry, Leonard and Louella. 
The doctor is a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and fraternally is a member of the 
K. of P., I. O. O. F. and the A. O. U. W. ; 
he is also a member of the Montgomery county 
Medical society and of the Ohio state Medical 
association. In politics he is a democrat. 
He and his family stand very high socially, 
and as a physician he stands in the front rank 
of the profession in Montgomery county. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1001 



aHARLES S. KURTZ, blacksmith, of 
Sunbury, German township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
this village May 16, 1863, and is a 
son of Lemuel S. and Catherine (Grimes) 
Kurtz, both natives of the same township. 

Peter Kurtz, his paternal grandfather, was 
a native of Maryland, but was a pioneer cooper 
of Sunbury, Ohio, and here carried on his 
trade for many years prior to his death. To 
him and his wife, Sarah (Keister) Kurtz, there 
were born three children, named respectively, 
in order of birth, Lemuel S. ; Barbara, who 
was married to William Boore, and David. 

Lemuel S. Kurtz, father of Charles S. 
Kurtz, was born in Sunbury about the year 
1840, was here reared to manhood and here 
learned the coopering trade under his father. 
His wife, Catherine (Grimes) Kurtz, is a 
daughter of Cornelius and Sarah (Gunckel) 
Grimes, well-known and respected people of 
German township. To Lemuel S. and Cath- 
erine Kurtz have been born three children: 
Charles S., Leroy and Sarah — the last named 
being now deceased. 

Charles S. Kurtz was educated in the com- 
mon schools of Sunbury, and here served an 
apprenticeship of three years at the trade of 
blacksmithing with the Swartzle Bros., and 
after having served his apprenticeship was, for 
three years, in business with that firm. Being 
thoroughly a master of his trade, Mr. Kurtz, 
in 1888, established a shop of his own in his 
native village, and soon secured a patronage 
that justified him in employing two assistants. 
He has enjoyed a constantly increasing busi- 
ness ever since its inception. 

Mr. Kurtz was married, in 1887, to Ida 
Emrick, daughter of Daniel and Josephine 
(Long) Emrick, of well-known families of Sun- 
bury. Mr. and Mrs. Kurtz are consistent 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Fraternally, Mr. Kurtz is a member of the 



Independent Order of Odd Fellows and of the 
Knights of Pythias; in politics he is a demo- 
crat, but has never sought public office. He 
is respected as mechanic, man and citizen, and 
is well deserving of the esteem in which he is 
universally held. 



v/^~) ENJAMIN KRUG, a well-known 
\(*^l farmer of Montgomery county, and 
JK^J the head of a respected family, sprang 
from sturdy Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. 
His grandfather was Frederick Krug, who came 
from Germany to America shortly after the war 
of the Revolution, being at that time about 
nineteen years of age and single. Marrying in 
Pennsylvania, he settled on a farm in Lancas- 
ter count}', where were born the following chil- 
dren: Henry, Daniel, Samuel, Frederick, 
John, Elizabeth, Mary and Barbara. In ad- 
dition to cultivating his farm, Mr. Krug was a 
tailor and followed that trade. He lived all 
his remaining days in Lancaster county, Pa., 
his farm being about nine miles south of the 
present city of Lancaster. He was a member 
of the Mennonite church, a man of good char- 
acter and correct and useful life. 

Henry Krug, father of Benjamin, was born 
in Lancaster county, Pa., married in that 
county, and had four children by his first wife, 
two of whom died young, those surviving be- 
ing Susan and Elizabeth. The mother of 
these children having died, Mr. Krug married 
Miss Elizabeth Huber. By this marriage he 
had the following children: John, Benjamin, 
Mary, Frances, and Esther. Mr. Krug was a 
member of the Mennonite church, an honest 
and hard-working man, and of a kindly dispo- 
sition which won him many friends. His death 
occurred when he was about fifty-five years 
of age. 

Benjamin Krug was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., December 4, 1829. Schools not 



100'-' 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



then being very numerous or very good he re- 
ceived but little education, and was early ap- 
prenticed to the wagonmaker's trade, serving 
in this relation three years. Afterward he 
worked one year at Martinsville and two years 
at Conestoga Center, and then for some time at 
journeyman's work at Leesburg, Pa., coming 
to Ohio in 1852 or 1853. Locating in Ran- 
dolph township, Montgomery county, he 
worked for some time at farming. On March 
31, 1859, he married Susannah Herr, born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., and daughter of Sam- 
uel and Mary (Bowman) Herr, for fuller men- 
tion of whom the reader is referred to the bi- 
ography of Henry Herr, elsewhere in this 
volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Krug 
settled on the Herr homestead, soon afterward 
purchasing the Warner homestead, and living 
on the latter place for thirteen years. This 
farm Mr. Krug still owns, having greatly im- 
proved it by careful cultivation and by erecting 
good buildings of various kinds. At the expi- 
ration of the period named he removed to the 
old Herr homstead, consistingof about ninety- 
four acres, and which was received by Mrs. 
Krug from her parents. This farm, also, Mr. 
Krug has managed judiciously, erecting there- 
on, as one of the many improvements made 
by him, a substantial brick house. Mr. Krug 
is a member of the Mennonite church, as was 
his wife, who died January 2, 1884, an excel- 
lent woman in every way and a devoted worker 
in the church. She was a woman of many 
virtues, a good wife and mother, and was 
greatly lamented by Mr. Krug and the children. 
These were as follows: Leander J., Ann J., 
Jennie A., Charles F. , Minnie I., and Leroy 
B. Three others were born and died young, 
one of them, Emma F., dying when nine 
years of age. 

Mr. Krug has led a life of active industry, 
beginning without possessions and with but 



limited education. All his life he has followed 
the path of rectitude and honesty and has al- 
ways striven to exercise a wholesome influence, 
not only at home upon his own children, but 
also as far as possible upon those with whom 
he came in contact. 



HBRAHAM M. LANDIS, one of the 
substantial and progressive farmers 
of Montgomery county, whose farm 
lies in Randolph township, is a son of 
one of the original pioneers of Madison town- 
ship. His father, whose name was also Abra- 
ham, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., and 
was of Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry. He was 
a descendant of one of the original German 
Baptist settlers, who came in very early times 
from Germany. He was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and married, in Pennsylvania, Mary Miller, 
by whom he had the following children: Sallie, 
who died when young; Jacob, Samuel, Eliza- 
beth, Daniel, Polly, Catherine, Nancy, Leah, 
Susannah, Abraham M., John, Lydia, and 
Michael. Thus it will be seen there were 
fourteen children in all, an old-fashioned pio- 
neer family. 

After the birth of his son Daniel, Mr. Lan- 
dis moved to Ohio, settling near Canton, in 
1 8 1 8. After remaining there a few years he 
came (in 1821) to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
locating in Madison township, and buying 
land for $4 per acre. Afterward he bought 
more land, until he became the owner of 
ninety-five acres. This land he himself cleared 
up from the woods, and made it into a good 
farm and home for his family. Upon this 
little farm he passed the remainder of his 
days, dying when seventy-seven years of age. 
In his religious views he agreed with the Ger- 
man Baptists. He was a hard-working man, 
honest and industrious, and brought up his 
boys to believe that hard work is honorable. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1003 



He was a man of strong character, and left to 
his children the heritage of a good name. 

Abraham M. Landis, with whose name this 
sketch opens, was born in Madison township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, August 22, 1829. 
Reared a farmer, he received the common- 
school education of those primitive days, and 
learned the lessons of labor from his early 
boyhood. When twenty-four years of age he 
married, in Randolph township, August 26, 
1854, Lydia Overholtz, who was born on her 
father's farm in that township. She is a 
daughter of Jacob and Catherine Overholtz. 
Jacob Overholtz was born in Pennsylvania, of 
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, his father being 
one of the pioneers of that state. Jacob Over- 
holtz settled on the farm now occupied by Mr. 
Landis, which then contained 151 acres of 
land. He was a member of the German Bap- 
tist church, and an upright and respected citi- 
zen. His children were as follows: Mary, 
Susannah, Rosie, Catharine, Lydia, Sallie, 
Rebecca, John, and Lila, the last two dying 
young. Mr. Overholtz lived on his farm until 
his death, at seventy-seven years of age. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Landis 
settled first near Trotwood on twenty acres of 
land, which he purchased. Four years later 
they removed to the Overholtz homestead, 
upon which they have since lived, with the ex- 
ception of one year, during which they lived 
in Miami county, Ohio, returning to the Over- 
holtz farm on the death of Mr. Overholtz, in 
1866 or 1867. Mr. Landis purchased this 
farm, and has since then greatly improved it 
by judicious cultivation, as well as by the erec- 
tion of substantial farm buildings. He has 
been a careful and economical manager, and, 
in addition to the Overholtz farm, has pur- 
chased 104 acres in Randolph township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Landis are members of the German 
Baptist church. He gave one acre of land on 
which to erect the church of his denomination, 



and has always been liberal in its support. 
At the time of its erection there were but four- 
teen members, while now there are about sixty. 
Mr. Landis also aided to build the old Salem 
district church, being a member of the build- 
ing committee. He has been a deacon of his 
church for twenty-five years, and is a sincere 
christian gentleman, who has earned the es- 
teem of his neighbors by a consistent and use- 
ful life. His children are as follows: Sarah, 
Alice, Austin, Harvey, Ella (who died at the 
age of twenty years), and Jesse. 



>t j OHN MARTIN LEFEVRE, a well- 
J known farmer of Van Buren township, 
#• 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Washington county, Md. , August 21, 
1834. He is a son of Isaac and Ann (Martin) 
Lefevre, the former a native of Maryland, and 
the latter of Virginia. Isaac and Ann Lefevre 
were the parents of nine children, four sons 
and five daughters, five of whom are still liv- 
ing, as follows: Mary Elizabeth, wife of 
Joseph Bigger; John Martin; William H., 
whose biographical sketch appears on page 
1004, this volume; Isaac M., a farmer of Wash- 
ington township, and Augusta, wife of George 
Van Doren. 

When a young man Isaac Lefevre learned 
the tanner's trade, but always followed farm- 
ing for a livelihood. In 1836 he came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, lived in Dayton 
one year, atid then bought a farm of ninety- 
seven acres in Washington township, upon 
which he lived fourteen years. Afterward he 
purchased a farm of 200 acres in sections 34 
and 35, upon which latter farm he lived until 
his death, which occurred in January, 1895, 
in his eighty-ninth year. His wife had died 
in 1888 at seventy-five years of age. Both 
were members of the Reformed church. Mr. 



1004 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Lefevre was a trustee of his township for sev- 
eral terms. 

Isaac Lefevre's father, John Lefevre, was 
a native of Maryland, and died in that state 
when in middle life. He had a family of seven 
children. The father of Ann i Martin) Lefevre, 
George Martin, was also a native of Maryland, 
of English ancestry, a farmer by occupation, 
and died in Maryland at middle age. 

John Martin Lefevre was not quite two 
years old when his parents brought him to 
Ohio, and has ever since lived in Montgomery 
county. He was reared a farmer's boy, and 
received his early education in the district 
schools. Later he became a student in Wit- 
tenberg college, Springfield, Ohio, and there 
acquitted himself in a most creditable manner, 
although he did not graduate. When the boys 
attained their majority they together bought a 
farm of fifty-five acres, a portion of the Himes 
farm, which they jointly worked for one year. 
They then bought what is known as the George 
Lefevre farm, containing sixty-three acres, 
and also had active charge of their father's 
farm, all working in partnership until they were 
married. 

October 14, 1875, Mr. Lefevre married 
Miss Millie Whipp, daughter of Jonathan and 
Catherine (Shank) Whipp. To this marriage 
there have been born four children, two sons 
and two daughters, as follows: John, who 
died in infancy; Charles M., Stella and Marie. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lefevre are members of the 
David's Reformed church, and of this church 
Mr. Lefevre is one of the deacons. Politically 
he is a democrat, and as such held the office 
of township assessor for twelve years. In 
1890 he was assessor and land appraiser. He 
is now serving his second term as township 
trustee. His farm, containing 144 acres of 
land, is finely improved, and lies about four 
miles from Dayton. 

Mr. Lefevre has lived in Montgomery coun- 



ty for sixty years, having occupied his present 
farm since the time when it was almost wholly 
covered with heavy timber. To the growth 
and development of the county which have 
taken place during that time, Mr. Lefevre has 
been not only an eye-witness, but also a valu- 
able contributor. He carries on general farm- 
ing, is industrious and thrifty, and has one of the 
best farms in the county — clean, well improved 
and productive. His buildings are among the 
most substantial anywhere to be found, and 
everything about the place has a neat and at- 
tractive appearance. Mr. Lefevre is a man of 
progressive ideas and tendencies, is genial, 
hospitable, and one of the best of neighbors, 
and a most affable gentleman. He is one of 
those whose religion is an everyday affair, 
carried without ostentation into his life and 
into all his associations with his fellow-men. 



ar 



ILLIAM H. LEFEVRE, a promi- 
nent farmer of Van Buren town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
whose farm lies in section 35, was 
born in Washington township, same county, 
May 14, 1837. He is a son of Isaac and Ann 
(Martin) Lefevre, the former of whom was a 
native of Maryland, and the latter of Virginia. 
Isaac and Ann Lefevre were the parents of nine 
children, four sons and five daughters, five of 
whom are still living, as follows: Mary E., 
wife of Joseph A. Bigger, of Dayton; John M., 
of Van Buren township; William H. ; Isaac 
M., of Washington township, and E. Augusta, 
wife of George Van Doren, of West Carrollton. 
Isaac Lefevre was a tanner in his youth, 
but in after life became a farmer. In 1836 he 
removed to Ohio from his native state, locat- 
ing in Dayton, and in 1837 removed to Wash- 
ington township, where he purchased a farm 
upon which he lived until 1850, when he sold 
it and bought the farm upon which his son, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1005 



William H. , now resides. Upon this farm he 
lived until his death, which occurred in Jan- 
uary, 1895, when he was upward of eighty- 
eight years of age. His wife, who died in 1888, 
was seventy-five years of age. Both were 
members of the Reformed church, and Mr. 
Lefevre was frequently honored by his fellow- 
citizens with election to local offices, in which 
he rendered faithful and intelligent service. 

John Lefevre, the father of Isaac Lefevre, 
was a native of Maryland, having been born in 
Washington county, that state, though his an- 
cestry originally came from France. By occu- 
pation he was a farmer, and he served his 
country as a soldier in the war of 18 12. He 
died in Maryland when about forty-five years 
of age. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Christina Household, survived him many years, 
and died at the age of eighty-five, during the 
progress of the late Civil war. They were the 
parents of eight children, four sons and four 
daughters. His earliest ancestors in this coun- 
try emigrated from France in 1667, and were 
of Huguenot extraction. 

The maternal grandfather of William H. 
was John Martin, who was a native of Eng- 
land, and came to this country when quite a 
small boy with his father, who settled in Vir- 
ginia, and followed farming in Berkeley coun- 
ty, that state. There John died in middle life. 
He, too, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and 
reared a family of six children, two sons and 
four daughters. 

William H. Lefevre has all his life lived in 
Montgomery county, the first thirteen years 
having been spent in Washington township, 
the rest in Van Buren township. His educa- 
tion was received in the district schools of these 
two townships, and afterward he attended 
school in Dayton. He remained at home on 
his father's farm until he was thirty years of 
age. When the children became of age they 
managed the farm together, and shared in the 



profits. In 1868 William H. sold his interest 
in the business and began traveling for the 
agricultural implement company of Warder, 
Mitchell & Co. , with whom he remained in 
this capacity for eight years, having charge of 
their exhibit at the centennial exposition in 
Philadelphia in 1876. After this he became 
traveling salesman for the Farmers' Friend 
Manufacturing company, of Dayton, soon buy- 
ing an interest in the business, and remaining 
with that company for twelve years, at the end 
of which time the concern sold out to the Stod- 
dard Manufacturing company. After his father 
died Mr. Lefevre purchased the old homestead 
and is now again occupying it at his home. It 
contains 194 acres of land, and is highly im- 
proved. Mr. Lefevre has never married. He 
has seen the development of the county and of 
the city of Dayton, and has contributed largely 
to the growth of both. He is a member of 
the Reformed church, and in politics a demo- 
crat. He has served as treasurer of Van Bu- 
ren township, and in the spring of 1896 was 
elected justice of the peace without any effort 
or solicitation on his part. 

Mr. Lefevre has had large experience in 
the business world as a traveling salesman and 
is a good judge of human nature. He is of a 
genial and happy disposition, unusually popu- 
lar with all who know him, and is a worthy 
representative of one of the oldest and best 
families of Montgomery county. 



^~V*AMUEL LINDERMUTH, farmer, of 
•O^^KT German township, Montgomery coun- 

K^y ty, Ohio, was born in this township 
December 30, 1833, a son of Thomas 
and Maria (Tobias) Lindermuth, natives of 
Berks county, Pa. Both his grandfathers, 
Jacob Lindermuth and John Tobias, were of 
German descent, and natives and farmers of 
Berks county, Pa., where they lived and died. 



1006 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Thomas Lindermuth, who was born April 
12, 1791, came to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1824, and soon afterward purchased 136 
acres of land in German township, cleared and 
improved it, and resided there until his death, 
January 13, 1870. His children were Mary 
(Mrs. Samuel Bussard), Joseph, Margaret 
(Mrs. Samuel Snavely), Elizabeth (Mrs. Jo- 
seph Linebaugh), Michael, Catherine (Mrs. 
Isaac Fox), Samuel, Caroline (Mrs. Charles 
Denius), and Rachel. 

Samuel Lindermuth was reared on the 
homestead, where he was born, and resided 
there until 1866; he received a common-school 
education, and began life as a farmer, which 
vocation he followed up to 1888, when he 
practically retired from active business. He 
has occupied the farm where he now resides, 
one mile west of Germantown, since 1866, and 
made all the improvements thereon. He mar- 
ried September 3, 1857, Maria, daughter of 
John and Christina (Emrick) Stiver, and grand- 
daughter of Michael Emrick, who settled in 
German township in 1804. Mr. Lindermuth 
and wife are members of the Lutheran church. 
Mr. Lindermuth has been a director of the 
Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance association 
since 1889. In politics he is a democrat. 




IOBIAS KUHNLE, a very pros- 
perous farmer of German township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
in Wurtemberg, Germany, February 
2, 1840, and is a son of Philip A. and Marga- 
ret (Schuster) Kuhnle, who came to America 
in 1854 and settled near Germantown, Ohio.- 
Philip A. Kuhnle was born in 1806, and on 
coming to Montgomery county, Ohio, en- 
gaged in farming until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1893. To himself and his wife Mar- 
garet, were born the following-named children: 
Frederick, Tobias, Gottleib, Philip, John, 



Christina (Mrs. John Penrod), Elizabeth (Mrs. 
John Van Horn), Susan (Mrs. Ira Clark), and 
Catherine (Mrs. Henry Van Horn). 

Tobias Kuhnle, up to the age of fourteen 
years, had been educated in the excellent com- 
mon schools of his native country, and on 
reaching America continued his studies in the 
public schools of Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and to the knowledge here acquired he has 
added largely by self-application. He was 
reared to farming on the homestead which his 
father had purchased on coming to this coun- 
ty, and from his early manhood devoted his 
attention to general agriculture, making a spe- 
cialty, however, of the culture of tobacco. 
In February, 1865, he enlisted in company D, 
One Hundred and Eighty-fourth Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, in which he served until honor- 
ably discharged in September of that year. 

The marriage of Tobias Kuhnle took place, 
in 1864, to Miss Lydia J. Knouse, daughter of 
Joseph and Lydia (Oswald) Knouse, of Ger- 
man township. To this marriage have been 
born three children, Elmer E., Frank and 
Flora — the last named being the wife of E. 
A. Poe. The family are of the Lutheran 
faith in religion. In his societary relations Mr. 
Kuhnle is a member of the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows, and is also a member of the 
Grand Army of the Republic. In politics, he 
is a democrat, has held several of the minor 
offices of his township, and in 1896 was elected 
a trustee. He has always held the confidence 
of his fellow-citizens of German township, 
and is esteemed as one of the substantial men 
of Montgomery county. 



' ILLIAM LEIS was born in Miami 
township, Montgomery county , Ohio, 



\\M November 20, 1838, a son of ( leorge 
and Salome (Leis) Leis. His pa- 
ternal grandfather, John Peter Leis, a native 




(^V^-zV^f y/^Y^^/^C^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1< i<>9 



of Pennsylvania, lived and died in Berks county, 
that state, and after his death his widow, form- 
erly Catherine Reiser, came to Miami township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and died here. The 
maternal grandfather of William Leis, also 
named John Peter Leis, a native of Berks 
county, Pa. , settled in Miami township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, in 1836, and engaged in 
farming — the parents of William coming the 
same year and engaging in the same vocation. 
The children of George Leis were named 
John A., William, Rebecca, Peter and Ella 
(Mrs. George Long). 

William Leis was reared in Miami town- 
ship, where he has always resided. He was 
educated in the common schools, and has fol- 
lowed farming as an occupation. He married, 
December 23, 1862, Rachel, daughter of Henry 
P. and Sarah ( Eagle) Treon, of Miami town- 
ship, and has five children, who are named 
Edward C. , Agnes A. (Mrs. Joseph Rehrle), 
William A., Ida J. (Mrs. Henry Gunter ) and 
George A. Mr. Leis is a member of the Re- 
formed church, while his family are Lutherans. 
He is secretary of the Miami township Vigilant 
society, member of the Miami township Mutual 
Fire Insurance company, has been a trustee of 
Miami township since 1883, and in politics is 
a democrat. He is an industrious and pro- 
gressive farmer, has made a success of his 
calling, and has attained a high position in the 
esteem and friendship of his neighbors. He 
never hesitates to lend a helping hand to all 
worthy undertakings, and is charitable in his 
disposition, as well as liberal in his aid to the 
support of churches and schools. 



B 



in Westphalia 

42 



RANR LIESENHOFF, a representa- 
tive citizen of Miamisburg, and a suc- 
cessful merchant, and member of the 
firm of E. Liesenhoff & Co. , was born 
Prussia, March 6, 1833. He 



is a son of Franz and Regina (Lug) Liesenhoff, 
and was educated in his native country. There 
he served a three years' apprenticeship to the 
tailor's trade, at which as a journeyman he 
worked from 1849 to 1856, in which latter 
year he embarked- in business for himself at 
Hoerdt. There he remained in business for five 
years, and in 1862 sailed for the United States, 
landing in Portland, Me., where he was en- 
gaged with his friend, William Koehling, for 
two years in the merchant tailoring business. 
In 1864 he came to Ohio, and in July of that 
year located in Miamisburg. where he has 
since resided. Here he at once engaged in 
the merchant tailoring and men's furnishing 
business, in which he continued alone until 
1892, when he admitted his son, Edward, into 
partnership, and since that time the business 
has been conducted under the firm name of E. 
Liesenhoff & Co. 

Mr. Liesenhoff was married, in 1857, to 
Lizetta Meinholt, of Germany, who bore him 
three children — Edward, Carl G., and Lena, 
who died in childhood, and soon after the birth 
of the last child, Mrs. Liesenhoff died. His 
second wife was Sophia Linkersdorfer, of Cin- 
cinnati, by whom he has one daughter, Emma, 
now the wife of Clayton O. Shupert. Mr. 
Liesenhoff is a Mason, and in politics is a 
democrat. 

Edward Liesenhoff, son of the above, was 
born in Hoerdt, Germany, November 5, 1857. 
In 1865 he located in Miamisburg, and here 
grew to manhood, receiving his education in 
the Miamisburg public schools, and in the 
commercial college at Dayton, Ohio. After 
serving a four years' apprenticeship at the cut- 
ter's trade he located, in 1879, at Franklin, 
Ohio, where he conducted a merchant tailor- 
ing business for three years. Thence he re- 
moved to Middleton, and there remained nine 
years engaged in the same business. Since 
January, 1892, he has been a member of the 



1010 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



firm of E. Liesenhoff & Co., merchant tailors, 
clothiers, and dealers in men's furnishings in 
Miamisburg. 

Edward Liesenhoff was married August 31, 
1 88 1, to Anna May Brigham, daughter of 
William and Tilly (Thompson) Brigham, of 
Carlisle, Ohio. By this marriage he has three 
children, viz: Frank, Elsie and Hazel. Mr. 
Liesenhoff is a member of the Lutheran 
church, and is a Free & Accepted Mason. 
His business establishment is one of the most 
successful of its kind in the country, and Mr. 
Liesenhoff ranks among the reliable and valued 
citizens of Miamisburg. 




'HOMASVENARD LYONS, Sr., 
M. D. , deceased, of Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, was born in 
Clear Creek tonwship, near Spring- 
boro, Warren county, Onio, January 20, 1829. 
of Irish parentage. Thrown upon his own 
resources when but eight years of age, he 
worked upon a farm from that time until 
he was nineteen, receiving his education in 
the public school, as well as under a private 
tutor, Thomas Dixon, a prominent Scotch 
instructor in his day. In 1849 Mr. Lyons 
began the study of medicine with Dr. Jacob 
Smizer, of Waynesville, Ohio, and was grad- 
uated from the Eclectic Medical institute, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1851. On March 4, of 
the same year, he located in Miamisburg, where 
he began the active practice of medicine and 
thus continued with unusual success until 1 891 , 
a period of forty years, when he retired from 
active and regular practice, except for the ac- 
commodation of his friends and old patrons 
in office business. He died October 6, 1896. 
During his residence in Miamisburg he was 
prominent, and even foremost, in any enter- 
prise calculated to promote the best interests 
of the town, dealt largely in real estate in the 



town and vicinity, and was the owner of sev- 
eral farms and also twenty-five tenement houses 
in Miamisburg, beside his fine residence, which 
stands on East Linden avenue. Dr. Lyons 
was one of the organizers of the Ohio Paper 
company, of Miamisburg, in 1879, and was 
interested in it for several years, serving for 
some time as its president. He was one of the 
organizers of, and a stockholder in, the Miamis- 
burg Binder Twine & Cordage company, and 
was its president during its existence. He was 
also a stockholder in the Enterprise Carriage 
Manufacturing company, of Miamisburg, and 
one of the founders of the Citizens National 
bank, of which he served as vice-president 
from its incorporation, in 1893, up to his death. 

Dr. Lyons was twice married, his first wife 
having been Elizabeth A. Null, daughter of 
Henry and Mary (Gebhart) Null, of Warren 
county, Ohio. By this wife he had four chil- 
dren, of whom one, Howard B., M. D., sur- 
vives. His second marriage was with Amanda 
R. Mays, daughter of Col. Samuel and Caro- 
line i Richardson) Mays, of Miamisburg, by 
whom he had one child, Thomas V. Lyons, 
Jr., cashier of the Citizens' National bank, of 
Miamisburg. During the late Civil war Dr. 
Lyons was appointed captain of a company 
raised in Miamisburg for the service of the 
government, but at the earnest solicitation of 
friends and of the people, who thought that, 
by reason of his medical experience and skill, 
he was more needed at home than at the front, 
he resigned his commission and remained at 
home, patriotically treating the families of the 
Union soldiers free of charge until the close of 
the war. 

Dr. Lyons was a member of the First Re- 
formed church of Miamisburg; of Marion lodge 
No. iS, I. O. O. F.,of Miamisburg; of the 
Odd Fellows encampment and the Daughters 
of Rebekah, and was a charter member of the 
Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 44, and of Ruth 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1011 



Temple, No. 10, Rathbone (Pythian) Sisters, 
of Miamisburg. For many years prior to his 
retirement from active practice he was a mem- 
ber of the Miami valley Eclectic Medical asso- 
ciation, was its president for several years, and 
he was also a member of the Ohio state Ec- 
lectic Medical association. Politically Dr. 
Lyons was always a republican, and served as 
mayor of Miamisburg four years, as a member 
of the city council eighteen years, and as a 
member of the board of education nine years. 
He stood high in the esteem of the people of 
the county and was one of its worthy repre- 
sentative citizens. 



BORACE BENTLEY LYONS, M. D., 
was born in Miamisburg, Ohio, June 
13, 1856, a son of Dr. Thomas V. 
and Elizabeth A. (Null) Lyons. He 
was graduated from the Miamisburg highschool 
in 1874, began the study of medicine with his 
father in 1875, and was graduated from the 
Eclectic Medical college, Cincinnati, in 1877. 
He at once formed a partnership with his 
father, with whom he practiced his profession 
in Miamisburg for nineteen years. Dr. Lyons 
is identified with many of the leading indus- 
tries of Miamisburg, is a director in the Kauff- 
man Buggy company, a director in the Miamis- 
burg Twine & Cordage company, a stock- 
holder in the First National and Citizens' Na- 
tional banks of Miamisbnrg, a director and 
stockholder in the Miamisburg Electric com- 
pany, and is also interested in other enterprises. 
The doctor was married October 23, 1884, 
to Miss Hattie, daughter of William D. and 
Letitia (Thirkield) Schenck, of Miamisburg. 
Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias and in 
politics is a republican, although he has never 
been a partisan in the office-seeking sense of 
the word. In his business relations his name 



stands without a flaw, and he is regarded in 
social life with the same respect that is ac- 
corded him in business and professional circles. 




HOMAS VENARD LYONS, Jr., 
cashier of the Citizens' National bank, 
of Miamisburg, was born in the Gem 
City, August 9, 1869. He is a son 
of Dr. Thomas V. and Amanda R. (Mays) 
Lyons, the former of whom was a prominent 
and enterprising citizen of Miamisburg and 
also a successful physician, of whom full men- 
tion is made in a preceding biographical notice. 
Mr. Lyons was reared to manhood in his na- 
tive city, was educated in its public and high 
schools, and graduated from the latter in 1887. 
In 1890 he began his business career as book- 
keeper for the Miamisburg Binder Twine & 
Cordage company, continuing in that position 
for one year, and afterward, until 1893, looked 
after his father's varied business interests. He 
was then appointed messenger for the Citizens' 
National bank, from which position he was 
promoted, through his own merits, to the 
place of bookkeeper, and later to that of 
cashier, which position he still holds. He is 
a stockholder and a director in the bank, and 
also in the First National bank of Miamisburg, 
and a stockholder in the Miamisburg Twine & 
Cordage company. 

Mr. Lyons was married November 14, 
1895, to Ida M. Gamble, daughter of William 
and Samantha (Hoover) Gamble, of Miamis- 
burg. He is in religion a member of the 
First Reformed church, and [fraternally, is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias, is quarter- 
master of the Fourth regiment, and holds the 
rank of captain of the uniform rank of Knights 
of Pythias of the state of Ohio. Politically, 
he is a republican, and in business and social 
circles maintains a high standing for integrity 
and honorable dealing with his fellow-men. 



1012 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



His business ability is of a high order, and 
through the possession of this admirable 
quality has risen to a position which few 
men of his years have been able to attain. 



WOHN J. McCARTER, one of the old 
■ soldiers of the late Civil war, who has 
(• 1 suffered many years from the affliction 
of total blindness from the effects of 
his service in the army of the Union, sprang 
from sterling Scotch-Irish ancestry. His pro- 
genitors settled in the Keystone state in early 
colonial times. 

John McCarter, his father, was born in 
Cumberland county, Pa., and was a bricklayer 
and stonemason. At Carlisle, Pa., he married 
his second wife Sarah Cart, who was born in 
Carlisle, and was a daughter of Jacob Cart, 
of Scotch-Irish descent on the maternal side of 
the family. John McCarter moved to Ohio 
about 1840, and settled in Montgomery county, 
living a short time at Little York, and after- 
ward at Vandalia, where he passed his remain- 
ing days. His first wife died in Carlisle, Pa., 
and their children were as follows: Alexander, 
James, George, Sarah A., Maria, and Cecilia. 
The children by his second wife, Sarah Cart, 
were as follows: John J., Eliza, William and 
Benjamin. Mr. McCarter was a local preacher 
in the Methodist Episcopal church for many 
years. In politics he was a republican, and 
had three sons in the late Civil war, viz: 
James, Benjamin and John J. Benjamin was 
in the Sixty-third Ohio volunteer infantry and 
participated in many battles, being badly- 
wounded in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. 
James was a sergeant in company E, Seventy- 
fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, was in the 
service about three years and was discharged 
after the battle of Stone River on account of 
physical disability. Mr. McCarter was a very 
strong Union man and lived to the great age 



of seventy years, when he died. He was 
greatly esteemed as an honorable man and a 
valuable citizen. 

John J. McCarter was born at Carlisle, 
Pa., October 9, 1832, and received a common- 
school education in both Pennsylvania and 
Ohio, having come to Ohio with his parents 
when he was but eight years old. When yet 
a young man he engaged in the butcher busi- 
ness at Vandalia, continuing in this line at 
that place until October 21, 1S61, when he en- 
listed in company F, Seventy-fourth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, to serve three years or during 
the war. He veteranized at Chattanooga, 
Tenn., December 13, 1863, re-enlisting then 
for three years or during the war in the same 
organization. He served until he was honor- 
ably discharged January 6, 1865, at Savannah, 
Ga., having served his country faithfully dur- 
ing four years. He was in the battles of 
Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Mackinoe Cove, 
Chickarnauga, Missionary Ridge, most of those 
of the famous Atlanta campaign, including Buz- 
zard Roost Mountain, Resaca, and the twenty- 
one days of fighting and skirmishing along 
Pumpkin Vine creek. During this latter 
period, when rain fell every day, the sufferings 
and discomforts of our soldier and his com- 
rades were beyond expression. He was in the 
great battle of Kenesaw Mountain, the battle 
of Atlanta and the battle of Jonesboro, this 
being the last engagement in which he fought. 
He was badly wounded in the battle of Stone 
River by the explosion of a shell, which struck 
the ground near him and threw the powder 
and dirt in his eyes, completely blinding him. 
He was taken to the rear by his comrades, and 
while being taken to the field hospital, the 
comrade who was leading him was shot dead, 
and Mr. McCarter lay down by his side, as he 
was totallv blind and did not know which way 
to go. Soon, however, a soldier came along 
and led him to the creek to wash his face and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1013 



eyes, but the washing did his sight no good, 
for it was gone. He was then taken to the 
field hospital, where he remained one night, 
and was then taken to the hospital at Nash- 
ville, where, after remaing about two days, he 
began to recover a little use of his right eye, 
and rejoined his regiment. He was under 
treatment for about three months by the regi- 
mental surgeon, and regained his sight to such 
an extent that he served out his term. Through 
the entire war, except when thus temporarily 
disabled, he was an active soldier, always 
prompt and cheerful in the discharge of his 
duties, and was in all the battles and .skir- 
mishes of his regiment, except as prevented by 
his wounds. 

After the termination of the war, Mr. Mc- 
Carter returned to Vandalia and resumed the 
butcher business. On June u, 1865, he mar- 
ried Harriet A. Hoffman, who was born Feb- 
ruary 16, 1848, at Vandalia, Ohio, and is a 
daughter of William and Maria (Camp) Hoff- 
man. William Hoffman was born in Penn- 
sylvania, March 10, 1816, of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch ancestors. He came to Ohio a young 
man, and married, in Clarke county, Maria 
Camp, who was born May 17, 1820, in New 
Jersey, of English ancestors. Mr. Hoffman 
moved to Vandalia and there passed his re- 
maining days. He was an old-time constable 
of Butler township, and a republican in politics. 
He had one son, William, in the late Civil 
war, who was a soldier in company E, Seventy- 
fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, serving for three 
years, and was in practically the same battles 
and had experiences very much the same as 
those of Mr. McCarter. 

Mr. Hoffman, the father of Mrs. McCarter, 
died in 1857, in his forty-fourth year. Mrs. 
Hoffman died May 17, 1894, aged seventy-five 
years, dying on her birthday. She was a 
superior woman in many ways, and possessed 
of manv virtues. The children she bore her 



husband were as follows: John, Mary, Joseph, 
William, Harriet, George, Lucretia, Elizabeth 
and Emma. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. McCar- 
ter settled in Vandalia, he following his busi- 
ness there for some years. Then he was engaged 
in huckstering for about ten years, until he 
became totally blind from his old injury, and 
was thus obliged to give up all work. About 
twenty years ago he located in Union, buying 
a fine residence, and has since resided in this 
village. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
McCarter are as follows: Orrin L. and Min- 
nie M. Orrin L., who married Miss Estella 
Davis, is a huckster residing in Union. Min- 
nie M. married James Folker, a farmer of 
Randolph township, and has one son, John L. 
Mr. and Mrs. McCarter are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, of which he has 
for many years been a trustee. Politically, he 
is a prohibitionist, and is a man of unblemished 
character and is respected as a soldier who 
served his country faithfully during her darkest 
days, standing by her to the end. 



* w * ENRY LOESCH, now one of the old- 
l'^"\ est and most respected agriculturists 
F of West Carroll ton, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a native of Bavaria, 
Germany, and was born August 17, 18 16. He 
is a son of John and Barbara (Stett) Loesch, 
also natives of the kingdom of Bavaria, and 
was reared to manhood under the parental 
roof. He was educated in the common 
schools and later served an apprenticeship of 
two years at the cooper's trade, after which he 
worked as a journeyman for five years in his 
native land. When about twenty-four years 
of age, or in 1840, he came to America and 
immediately made his way to Ohio; he located 
in West Carrollton and for twelve years worked 
at his trade of cooper in that village, made 



1014 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and saved money, and then purchased the 
farm on which he still resides. As a farmer 
he has met with abundant success and has ac- 
cumulated considerable wealth, while his farm 
is considered one of the best tilled and most 
productive in the county. His prosperity is due 
largely to his own industry and close observa- 
tion of the laws of cause and effect, and to a 
happy faculty of adopting means to the de- 
sired end, a faculty, which, though indeed 
valuable, is not always possessed by the tiller 
of the soil. 

January 3, 1847, Mr. Loesch was united 
in marriage with Phebe Zimmer, daughter 
of George and Phebe (dinger) Zimmer, of 
Miami township, and this congenial union has 
resulted in the birth of four children, still 
living, and named, in the order of their birth: 
George, Charles, Kittie (Mrs. John Geiger) 
and Edward. Mr. Loesch is in religion a 
Lutheran, and has reared his family in the 
faith of that church; politically he is a demo- 
crat but has never sought office. Fraternally 
Mr. Loesch is a member of the order of Haru- 
gari, and socially he enjoys the respect and 
substantial esteem of a large circle of neigh- 
bors and acquaintances. 



ORVILLE McCRAY, M. D., of West 
Carrollton, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
is a native of the Buckeye state and 
was born in Clarksville, Clinton coun- 
ty, April 3, 1868, a son of Samuel and Saman- 
tha (Wright) McCray, and, paternally, is of 
Scotch descent. Armstrong McCray, his 
grandfather, was a native of Maryland, but 
with his wife, Jane, came from Virginia to 
Ohio, and settled in Warren county, where 
Armstrong became a farmer among the pio- 
neers and attained great prominence in local 
affairs. The maternal grandfather of the doc- 
tor, Mitchell Wright, was a Virginian by birth 



and a pioneer farmer of Clinton county, Ohio. 
Samuel McCray, father of the doctor, is a na- 
tive of Ohio, and is now the proprietor of a 
flouring mill in Clarksville, which ranks among 
the most important industries of that thriving 
little city. 

Orville McCray, the subject proper of this 
memoir, received his elementary education in 
his native city of Clarksville through attending 
the common schools in his earlier boyhood 
days, and the rudimentary information thus ac- 
quired was supplemented by his attendance at 
the National normal university at Lebanon, 
Warren county. In 1889 he began the study 
of medicine, and March 13, 1893, wasgraduat- 
ed from the medical department of the univer- 
sity of Louisville, Ky. , and at once entered 
upon the practice of his profession in Clarks- 
ville, Ohio. But that field was too contracted 
or too much occupied by practitioners of the 
science he had chosen as his life pursuit, and, 
although his success was very flattering, he 
availed himself, in September, 1893, of a wider 
opening in West Carrollton, Montgomery 
county, where his skill was at once recognized 
and where he has built up, within the short 
interval between then and now, a lucrative and 
satisfactory practice. He is now surgeon to 
the Friend Paper & Tablet company, and also 
medical examiner for several life insurance 
companies. 

Dr. McCray was united in marriage, May 
6, 1894, with Marietta Flack, daughter of 
Adam and Nancy (McCray) Flack, of Warren 
county, and to this union has been given one 
child — Beulah. In his fraternal affiliations 
the doctor is a Freemason and an Odd Fellow, 
while his political association is with the re- 
publican party. His social connection is of a 
most pleasant character, and as a citizen, as 
well as physician and surgeon, he is respected 
by the entire community of West Carrollton 
and Miami township. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1015 




• HE MAYS FAMILY, one of the most 
prominent and widely known of Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, sprang from 
John Nicholas Mays, who was born 
in Lachen, Switzerland, November 24, 1741. 
He was a son of John George and Anna M. L. 
(Diopelin) Mays, and emigrated to America at 
an early age, settling near Shaefferstown, 
Lebanon county, Pa. , as a farmer. Entering 
the Revolutionary army as a private soldier, 
he fought in the cause of the colonists against 
King George III, and was one of the patriotic 
founders of the republic. His family consisted 
of one daughter, Elizabeth, and five sons, 
viz: Valentine, Philip, Benjamin, Henry, 
and Jacob. 

Samuel Mays was a son of Valentine Mays, 
and a grandson of John Nicholas Mays, the 
founder of the family in America. Valentine 
Mays married Sabina Heilman, and their son, 
Samuel, was born in Heidelberg, Lebanon 
county, Pa., April 25, 1805. Samuel assisted 
his father on the farm until he was eighteen 
years of age, and was then apprenticed to a 
carpenter and builder, afterward following that 
trade for more than thirty years. From 1854 
to 1856 he was superintendent of the south 
division of the Miami canal, and afterward for 
several years was engaged in the manufacture 
of wine, owning a vineyard of several acres 
near Miamisburg. Still later he was engaged 
as a buyer of tobacco for several years for a 
New York firm, and, in 1869, as a member of 
the firm of Stevenson & Mays, he embarked in 
the shoe business, the partnership continuing 
one year, when he carried on the business 
alone up to 1878. In this latter year he formed 
a partnership with his son, Samuel H. Mays, 
under the firm name of S. & S. H. Mays, 
which continued in existence until his death, 
which occurred June 29, 1891. 

Samuel Mays married Caroline Richardson, 
daughter of John Richardson, of Miamisburg, 



and by this marriage he had eight children, of 
whom four still survive, as follows: Amanda 
R., wife of Dr. T. V. Lyons; William A.; 
George D. , and Samuel H. Like all his an- 
cestors, Samuel Mays was an active member 
and worker in the German Reformed church 
from his boyhood up, and took great interest 
in everything pertaining to the church and its 
institutions, as is indicated by the fact that he 
superintended the building of the church in 
Miamisburg. During the early days he served 
as colonel of a militia regiment, and the title 
of "colonel " adhered to him until his death. 
Personally he was a true friend, and he was a 
worthy and honored citizen. He was a royal 
arch Mason, and in politics a Jacksonian 
democrat. 

William A. Mays, a prominent and widely 
known citizen of Montgomery county, was born 
in Miamisburg, June 7, 1842, and is a son of 
Samuel and Caroline (Richardson) Mays. He 
was reared to manhood in his native city, and 
received his preliminary education in the public 
schools thereof. Later he attended the Cum- 
berland Valley institute at Mechanicsburg, Pa. , 
and in i860 began his business career as clerk 
in a general store, following that vocation for 
nine years, in Miamisburg, Dayton, Cincinnati, 
and Chicago. In 1869 he returned to Dayton, 
where he served for two years as clerk in the 
office of the county treasurer, and afterward 
he was bookkeeper for Harshman & Bros.' 
bank. In 1S73 he was elected auditor of 
Montgomery county, and was re-elected in 
1875, his second term expiring in November, 
1877. He was one of the most popular offi- 
cials Montgomery county ever had. 

Mr. Mays was engaged in the tobacco busi- 
ness for two years, and in 1879, in connection 
with others, organized the Ohio Paper com- 
pany, of which he has ever since been secre- 
tary and treasurer. He has also been promi- 
nently identified with other manufacturing in- 



1016 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



terests of Miamisburg, and at the present time 
he is a director of the Dayton Traction com- 
pany, and one of the projectors of the electric 
railroad that connects Dayton and Miamisburg. 

During the late Civil war Mr. Mays was a 
member of company D, One Hundred and 
Thirty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, and was 
honorably discharged at the expiration of his 
term of service. Politically, he has always been 
a democrat, and he has always been a patriotic 
and honorable citizen. 

Samuel H. Mays, son of Samuel and Caro- 
line (Richardson) Mays, was born in Miamis- 
burg, January 21, 1852. In Miamisburg he 
grew to manhood, and has always resided 
there, receiving his education in the public 
schools of that place. In 1869 he entered the 
shoe store of his father as clerk, retaining the 
position until 1878, when he became a partner 
in the firm, the business being then conducted 
under the firm name of S. & S. H. Mays, until 
the death of the former in 1891, S. H. Mays 
still retaining his interest in the firm. Since 
1892 he has been engaged in the tobacco busi- 
ness, as a member of the firm of Dodds & Mays. 

Mr. Mays was married April 15, 1884, to 
Rose Gwinner, daughter of Frederick and 
Hannah (Solomon) Gwinner, of Miamisburg. 
By this marriage he is the father of two chil- 
dren, Jeannette and Samuel F. Mr. Mays is 
a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Tem- 
plar, a Knight of Pythias, and a democrat. 
In every way he is maintaining the honorable 
name of his family at its high standard, and is 
everywhere regarded as a useful and upright 
man and citizen. 



HRNOLD MEIENBERG, restaurant 
keeper of Miamisburg, was born in 
Bremgarten, canton Aargau, Switz- 
erland, January 20, 1842, and is a 
son of Alois and Mena ( Wiederkehr) Meienberg, 



the father a merchant of that ancient little city 
in the valley of the Reuso river. Arnold was 
reared to manhood in his native canton, re- 
ceived a very good common-school education 
and also served an apprenticeship of three 
years at harnessmaking. After learning his 
trade, he traveled for six years through various 
parts of Switzerland, Germany, Russia and 
France, following his calling as he journeyed, 
and in 1866 came to America. He first made 
his way to Cincinnati, where he worked at his 
trade for nearly two years, after which he 
crossed the Ohio river and worked at harness- 
making at Newport, Ky. , until the latter part 
of 1868, when he came to Miamisburg, Ohio, 
which city he has since made his home. Here 
he worked at his trade as journeyman for six 
years, and in 1875 embarked in the harness 
business on his own account and successfully 
carried it on until 1886, when he engaged in 
restaurant keeping, and for the period of ten 
years, has carried on a successful and prosper- 
ous trade, having made hosts of warm friends 
and, by his close attention to the needs and 
tastes of his patrons, won to himself the good 
will of the public in general. 

The marriage of Mr. Meienberg took place 
January 4, 1870, to Miss Frederica Buehner, 
a daughter of John Frederick and Anna 
(Schuettenhelm) Buehner and granddaughter 
of John Frederick and Anna C. (Zeller) Bueh- 
ner, of Muehlheim, Wurtemburg, Germany. 
This union has resulted in the birth of nine 
children, four living and here named in order 
of birth: Clara who is married to Jacob 
Farrell; Rose, who is the wife of Jacob Benner; 
Albert and Mena, who are still under the 
parental roof. Mr. Meienberg is a supporter 
of the Lutheran church, with which his family 
affiliate, and fraternally he is a member of the 
D. O. H., and of the A. O. U. W. He is a 
democrat in politics, and is recognized as a 
liberal and useful citizen. 





J 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1019 



*^r-» EVI W. MEASE, formerly a well- 
j known and successful farmer, now 
^ retired, was born in Miami township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, January I, 
1824, and is a son of Lewis and Mary (Zehr- 
ing) Mease, both natives of Lebanon county, 
Pa. Lewis Mease was a wheelwright by trade, 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1816, 
and worked one season in Germantown. The 
same year he purchased a tract of land in 
Miami township, leased it for a period of three 
years, and at once returned to Pennsylvania, 
where he married Mary Zehring in 18 19. To- 
gether with his- wife, her father and three 
brothers, he came overland to Ohio, being six 
weeks in making the journey, and immediately 
on reaching Montgomery county settled on 
the tract of land he had purchased in 1816. 
This land he cleared and improved, made it 
a good farm, and resided upon it until his 
death in 1856. Mrs. Mease was a daughter 
of Christian and Elizabeth Zehring, of Miami 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, but 
formerly of Lebanon county, Pa. She bore 
him six children, three of whom grew to ma- 
ture years, as follows: Lewis, now deceased; 
Levi W., and Rev. Samuel, the latter a min- 
ister of the Reformed church, and editor of 
the Christian World for twelve years, but now 
deceased. 

Levi \V. Mease was reared on the old 
homestead, received a good education, and 
lived on the farm until 1878, when he retired 
from farm life and removed to Miamisburg, 
where he has since resided. From the time 
he was seventeen years of age until he was 
twenty-one, he was a clerk in a general store 
at Miamisburg, and from that time until 1878 
he was engaged in farming on the old home- 
stead, which contains 185 acres of land, and 
which he still owns. On December 8, 1878, 
he married Elizabeth A. Fox, daughter of 
John and Catherine (Fox) Fox, pioneers of 



Warren county, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Mease 
are members of the Reformed church, are 
both active in the performance of religious 
and social duties, and excellent people in every 
way. Mr. Mease is in politics a democrat, 
but has never sought political preferment in 
any form. 



HRNOLD MACY, of Randolph town- 
ship, Montgomery county, whose 
post-office address is Little York, and 
who was a soldier of the late Civil 
war, comes of English ancestors, who first set- 
tled in this country on Nantucket Island, off 
the coast of Massachusetts. 

Thomas Macy was .a farmer near Jones- 
boro, East Tennessee. His children were as 
follows: John, Thomas, Paul, Aaron, Jona- 
than, Nancy, Phcebe and Rebecca. About 
1809 Thomas Macy came to Ohio, settled in 
Fredericksburg, and cleared up a farm, upon 
which he died at ninety years of age. In re- 
ligion he was a Quaker. Paul Macy, his son, 
and father of Arnold, was born in East Ten- 
nessee about 1798, ana came to Ohio with his 
parents in 1809. Receiving but a limited edu- 
cation, he was brought up on the farm and 
married Mary Yount, who was born in North 
Carolina in 1799. Paul Macy and his wife 
were the parents of the following children: 
Sallie, Eli, Davis, Rosanna, Enos, George, 
Arnold, Mary J., Ellen, Annie and Jonathan. 
Shortly after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Macy settled on 160 acres in the woods near 
Fredericksburg, cleared up the land and made 
of it a good farm. Selling this farm he pur- 
chased another, three-fourths of a mile from 
Fredericksburg, this farm also containing 160 
acres, and here Mr. Macy became a substantial 
farmer. This farm he at length sold and 
bought still another, containing also 160 acres, 
five miles north of Dayton, and lived thereon 



1020 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until 1859, when he removed to Phillipsburg. 
He died November 27, 1892, at the great age 
of ninety-three years and eight months, at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Sallie Mart.ndale. 
He was a member of the Christian church, and 
in politics a republican. He had five sons in 
the late Civil war, each of whom was six feet 
in height. These sons were as follows: Eli, 
David, Enos, Arnold and Jonathan. Jonathan 
was in the One Hundred and Thirty-second 
Ohio volunteer infantry, or, as it was called, 
the Ohio national guard. Paul Macy was a 
sturdy pioneer, well known as a straightfor- 
ward, honorable man, and possessed of a vig- 
orous and healthy mind. His memory was 
much more than ordinarily retentive, and he 
was a man of considerable importance for 
many years in Miami and Montgomery coun- 
ties. He was a strong republican, a careful 
and extensive reader and observer, and kept 
abreast of current events, in which he took a 
keen interest. As a husband he was faithful, 
and as a father was kind and helpful. He and 
his wife, Mary Yount, were the parents of 
twelve children. At the time of his death he 
had thirty-seven grandchildren, fourteen great- 
grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchil- 
dren, making in all sixty-five direct descend- 
ants. Thus there were living at one time five 
generations of Macys. 

Arnold Macy, the subject of this sketch, 
was born March 8, 1834, in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, received his education in the common 
schools, and was brought up on the farm. He 
enlisted at Dayton, Ohio, in company K, One 
Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio national guard, 
for 100 days, and served at Baltimore, Md., 
being stationed in the provost marshal's office, 
and was honorably discharged at Camp Chase, 
Columbus, Ohio, in September, 1864. On 
February 22, 1865, he re-enlisted, this time in 
company H, One Hundred and Ninety-sixth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve one year, but, 



the war coming to an end, he was discharged 
at Baltimore, Md., September 11, 1865. Dur- 
ing the period of enlistment he saw service in 
the Shenandoah valley, Virginia. While he 
was sick in camp for two months, yet he was 
not in the hospital, and, excepting during this 
sickness, he was always prompt and active in 
the performance of his duties as a soldier. 

On December 28, 1865, he was married 
in Dayton, Ohio, to Miss Elizabeth Frees, who 
was born December 21, 1843, and is a daugh- 
ter of Jacob and Rebecca ( Alloway ) Frees. 
Jacob Frees was a native of Pennsylvania, 
coming to Ohio in the early days and settling 
in Montgomery county on a farm in Clay town- 
ship. He was a well-educated man, and was 
county surveyor for many years and also justice 
of the peace. In his earlier life he was a school 
teacher for years. He was married in Penn- 
sylvania, and his children were as follows : 
Peter, Rebecca, Catherine, David, Samuel, 
Mary, George and Elizabeth. He was a good 
farmer and improved his already excellent farm, 
making it one of the very best in the county. 
He lived to be sixty-eight years of age and was 
a member of the Lutheran church. Politically, 
he was a democrat, and was a man of high 
character and standing in the community. He 
had two sons in the late Civil war, viz : Sam- 
uel, who served three years in the Eighteenth 
U. S. regular infantry, and participated in the 
battles of Pittsburg Landing and Stone River; 
and George, who served one year in the One 
Hundred and Eighty-seventh Ohio volunteer 
infantry. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Macy 
settled on eighty acres of land in Darke county, 
Ohio, and lived there for three years, when 
they removed to Phillipsburg. Here they lived 
one year and then went to Kansas, in 1871, 
settling on 160 acres of land in Greenwood 
county. Here they lived twenty-four years, 
improving and cultivating their land, and then 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY CO¥NTY. 



1021 



returned to Montgomery county, Ohio, having 
bought their present farm in 1S93. Both are 
members of the Christian church, and in politics 
Mr. Macy is a republican. He is a man of great 
strength and independence of character and 
maintains the principles in which he believes 
with much force of reason and sound judgment. 
Few men, if any, in this county, are looked 
upon with more favor and respect than is the 
subject of this sketch. 



/^EORGE W. MELLINGER, of 
■ ^\ Brookville, Ohio, sprang from Penn- 
\^^f sylvania-Dutch ancestry. He was 
born near Carlisle, Cumberland coun- 
ty, Pa., April 5, 1844, and is a son of Joseph 
and Lydia (Kissinger) Mellinger. When he 
was nine months old he was brought by his 
parents to Ohio, where they first settled in 
Crawford county, living there until 1856, when 
they removed with their family to Montgomery 
county, and settled in Salem. In these two 
counties their son George was educated, at- 
tending the common school until he was sev- 
enteen years old, and in November, 1S61, he 
enlisted at Troy, Ohio, in company E, Sev- 
enty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, for three 
years or during the war. He veteranized as a 
member of this same company January 14, 
1864, at Gallatin, Tenn., was discharged at 
San Antonio, Tex., and was mustered out at 
Columbus, Ohio, January 9, 1865. He was 
in the battle of Shiloh, and was captured at 
Bowling Green, Ky., in August, 1862. Be- 
ing immediately paroled, he was sent to 
Camp Chase, Columbus, Ohio, where he was 
exchanged, and in January, 1863, returned to 
his regiment at Fort Henry, Tenn. He was 
in the latter part of the Atlanta campaign, and 
participated in the battle at Lovejoy Station, 
after which he was in the march to Nashville, 
Tenn., having a skirmish with the rebels at 



Pulaski, Tenn., and a battle at Franklin, 
Tenn., on the way to Nashville. In the 
battle of Nashville he was wounded by a 
glancing shot in the left leg, from the effects 
of which he was compelled to lie in hospital 
at Nashville and at Jeffersonville, Ind., for six 
weeks. Rejoining his regiment at Huntsville, 
Ala. , he went with it to Texas and served there 
during the remainder of his term of enlistment. 
Mr. Mellinger regards as his hardest march 
that from Atlanta to Nashville, another trying 
experience being a march in Texas, on which 
the troops suffered exceedingly from want of 
water. He was a participant in all the active 
service of his regiment, and was promoted to 
corporal for meritorious conduct. 

The war having ended, he returned to 
Montgomery county, and on May 26, 1868, 
married Malinda Spitler, who was born Octo- 
ber 20, 1846, in Perry township. She is a 
daughter of David and Nancy L. (McCormick) 
Spitler, the former of whom was a native of 
Pennsylvania and a son of Jacob and Cather- 
ine (Houk) Spitler. David Spitler was one of 
the original pioneers of Perry township, set- 
tling on the farm now owned by Jesse Wago- 
man. Jacob Spitler was also one of the orig- 
inal settlers of Perry township, clearing up a 
farm from the woods. 

David Spitler was twice married, his chil- 
dren by his first wife being: Grizzann, Will- 
iam, Catherine, Mary and Daniel, the latter of 
whom died at the age of twenty-three. By 
his second wife David Spitler had the follow- 
ing children: Malinda, Abner, Jacob, Martha 
Jane and David. He was a man of high char- 
acter, a member of the Lutheran church, to 
which most of his children also belonged, and 
was a substantial and successful farmer. He 
served as township trustee, and lived to be 
sixty-five years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mellinger have lived in Perry 
township ever since their marriage. Their 



1022 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



children are as follows: Ambrose; Edna; 
Irene, who died March II, 1893; Flora B., 
Cleora V. and Lottie F. Mr. and Mrs. Mel- 
linger are members of the Lutheran church, 
as was the daughter who died. Politically, 
Mr. Mellinger is a democrat. He is a mem- 
ber of Foster-Marshall post, No. 5 87, G. A. R., 
of which he has been officer of the day and 
also guard. 



aHRISTIAN MEYER, a successful 
farmer, of Perry township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born June 7, 
1840, in Wuldungen, village of Klin- 
nen, Prussia, and is a son of Christian and 
Catherine (Toegen) Meyer, the former of 
whom was a farmer, owning 100 acres of land 
which had belonged to his father, Frederick 
Meyer, who, in his turn, had inherited it from 
his forefathers. It had been in the family for 
many generations. Christian Meyer and wife 
were the parents of the following children : 
Conrad, Jacob, Henry, Christian, Dorothy, 
Elizabeth and Catherine. Mr. Meyer was a 
member of the Lutheran church, was well-to- 
do, was an honored and valued citizen, and died 
at the age of seventy-three. 

Christian Meyer, the subject of this sketch, 
received a good common-school education in 
Prussia, and there learned the carpenter's 
trade. He came to the United States when 
nineteen years of age, sailing from Bremen, 
Germany, May 12, 1858, in an old-fashioned 
sailing vessel, and was some seven weeks on 
the sea, landing in New York in July, and 
reaching Chicago on July 4. Here he followed 
his trade for a month and then went to Day- 
ton, Ohio, where he had friends, and where he 
worked at his trade, and also in a sash factory. 
Like many other foreigners, he entered the 
volunteer army of the Union, enlisting August 
1 6, 1 86 1, at Dayton, Ohio, becoming a mem- 



ber of company B, First regiment Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, to serve for three years or dur- 
ing the war. Lewis Coleman was his captain. 
Having served his full term he was honorably 
discharged at Louisville, Ky., August 16, 1864. 
He was in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, 
Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, and 
in the entire Atlanta campaign, during which 
his regiment was under fire almost without 
cessation for four months. During this cam- 
paign he was in the battles of Buzzard's Roost 
Mountain, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach 
Tree Creek, and Atlanta, in which last engage- 
ment Gen. McPhersonwas killed. Mr. Meyer 
was discharged at White's Station and mus- 
tered out at Louisville, Ky. He was always 
an active soldier, and being in company B, a 
flanking company, was in many skirmishes and 
in other positions of unusual danger. He was 
in all the battles and skirmishes in which his 
regiment was engaged, and was slightly wound- 
ed at Stone River by a musket ball, but did 
not go to the hospital. 

Returning to Dayton, Ohio, from the war, 
he worked for some time at his trade and then 
went to Nashville for the government in 1864, 
remaining about a year. He was married in 
Dayton, Ohio, in 186S, to Miss Frederika 
Pfeiffer, who was born August 18, 1847, m tne 
village in Prussia which was her husband's 
birthplace. She was a daughter of Carl and 
Henrietta (Bruno) Pfeiffer, who were the par- 
ents of the following children : Elizabeth, 
Henrietta, Frederika and Augusta. Mr. Pfeiffer 
was well educated, a member of the Lutheran 
church and died in Prussia at the ripe age of 
seventy-one years. 

Christian Meyer, after his marriage, settled 
in Dayton, where he worked at his trade for 
several years. In 1878 he removed to Perry 
township, where he purchased a farm of sixty- 
two acres, upon which he has since lived and 
which he has improved and developed in many 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1023 



directions. He and his .wife have the follow- 
ing children : Charles, Louis, Catherine, Will- 
iam, Henry, Sadie and Elizabeth. Mr. and 
Mrs. Meyer are members of the Lutheran 
church, as are also their children. Mr. Meyer 
is a republican in politics. 



^j*OSHUA V. MILLS, a prominent citi- 
■ zen of Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
m 1 born August 31, 1839, in Perry town- 
ship. His parents were William and 
Jane (Campbell) Mills, the former of whom 
was the son of Joshua and Lucy Mills. Joshua 
Mills was a New Jersey farmer, and was mar- 
ried in that state. He and his wife, Lucy, 
were the parents of the following children: 
Nancy, Jane, John, Rebecca, William, Sallie, 
Grace and Mary. Joshua Mills moved from 
New Jersey to Ohio in 1818, and entered a 
tract of 160 acres of land near Pyrmont, set- 
tling thereon when it and most of the sur- 
rounding country was covered with timber. 
He was a well-known pioneer and citizen of 
the early days, was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and died in 1852, at the age 
of seventy-seven years. 

William Mills, father of Joshua V. Mills, 
was born in 1806, and came with his father, 
Joshua, to Ohio, when he was little more than 
twelve years of age. He received the usual 
education and training of the district school, 
and grew up on the farm. He married Jane 
Campbell, daughter of John and Naomi (Gus- 
tin) Campbell, the family of the latter being 
early settlers of Perry township. John Camp- 
bell was a farmer of Scotch ancestry. 

Immediately after their marriage William 
and Jane Mills settled one and a half miles 
south of Pyrmont, on sixty-one acres of land, 
from which they added from time to time until 
their farm contained 180 acres, all under cul- 
tivation, and nearly all of which they had 



cleared from the woods. They were people of 
excellent character, highly esteemed by their 
neighbors, and reared a family of seven chil- 
dren, as follows: Bethany, John, Lucy, Sam- 
uel, Naomi, Joshua V. and William. Mrs. 
Mills died in 1848, and Mr. Mills then married 
Miss Jane Clemmer, by whom he had five 
children: George, Edgar, Eliza J., Joseph 
and Hiram. William Mills died in 1885, at 
the age of seventy-nine years. 

Joshua V. Mills was brought up to the life 
of a farmer. On October 2S, 1 861, he enlisted 
in company B, Seventy-first Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, under Capt. McConnell, for three years 
or during the war. Having served his time he 
veteranized, January 13, 1864, at Gallatin, 
Tenn., in the same organization, and continued 
in active service until mustered out January 3, 
1865, at San Antonio, Tex. He was promoted 
first to corporal, and in February, 1863, to 
sergeant. He was in some of the most impor- 
tant battles of the war, among them those of 
Shiloh and Fort Donelson, and most of those 
of the Atlanta campaign, including Jonesboro 
and Lovejoy Station. Returning after this 
campaign to Nashville by way of Columbia, 
Tenn., and Spring Hill, he was in the battle 
of Franklin and also in that of Nashville, when 
Gen. Hood was so overwhelmingly defeated 
by Gen. Thomas. Afterward his regiment 
went to Greenville, east Tennessee. Return- 
ing to Nashville, Mr. Mills went with his regi- 
ment to New Orleans, arriving there June 28, 
and on the 5th of July went down to the gulf 
of Mexico and to Texas, remaining until De- 
cember. In Texas the regiment marched from 
Indianola to San Antonio and on to Matagorda 
Bay. Companies B and E of this regiment 
were engaged from July, 1863, to August, 1864, 
in fighting guerrillas in Tennessee, Alabama 
and Kentucky, and were in many skirmishes. 

Mr. Mills was always an active soldier, and 
was wounded in the battle of Nashville, a bullet 



1024 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



striking him in the right shoulder. He walked 
five miles before having any attention given to 
his wound, when the ball was extracted and 
the wound dressed. Next morning at daylight 
he rejoined his regiment. He was in all the 
battles, marches and skirmishes in which his 
regiment was engaged, and was a good and 
faithful soldier throughout the war. 

After returning from the army he was mar- 
ried, November i, 1865, in Perry township, 
Montgomery county, to Miss Anna Myers, 
who. was born in that township March 19, 1846, 
and who is a daughter of Jacob and Catherine 
(Hilton) Myers. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Mills settled on eighty acres of land, 
upon which they still live and which he has 
greatly improved. Mr. and Mrs. Mills are the 
parents of ten children, as follows: Emma, 
Flora, John, Mattie, Cora, Eva, Ada, William, 
Orlando and Earl. Mr. Mills is a trustee in 
the United Brethren church, of which both he 
and his wife are members. In politics, he is 
a republican. The children have received a 
good education, and one of them, Mattie, is 
now a school-teacher, having been prepared 
in the Ada Normal school. 

Jacob Myers, father of Mrs. Mills, was 
born August 17, 1818, in Lancaster county, 
Pa., and is a son of Samuel and Barbara 
(Harnish) Myers. In 1843 he was married in 
Lancaster county, to Catherine Hiller, a na- 
tive of that county, and a daughter of John 
and Annie (Resh) Hiller. In 1845 Mr. and 
Mrs. Myers settled in Perry township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, on 160 acres of land, 
mostly covered with woods, which Mr. Myers 
converted into a most excellent farm. He 
and his wife reared the following children: 
Annie, John, Jacob, Allen, Mary E., Emma, 
Amanda, and Idella. Mr. Myers was a trus- 
tee in the United Brethren church, of which 
his wife was also a member, and in politics, 
he was a republican, as such holding the office 



of township trustee for several years. His 
death occurred July 22, 1891, when he was 
seventy-three years of age. He is remem- 
bered as a man of integrity and high charac- 
ter. His son John wasamember of company 
B, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
served his country well, though only sixteen 
years old when he enlisted. 



* w * EE MITCHELL, secretary, treasurer 
j and general manager of the Book- 
^ waiter Wheel company, and a promi- 
nent citizen of Montgomery county, 
was born in Camden, Preble county, Ohio, June 
6, 1846. He is a son of Samuel and Maria 
(Walters) Mitchell, both natives of Ohio. 
Samuel Mitchell, a cabinetmaker by trade, 
was for many years engaged as a farmer in Illi- 
nois. In 1865 he removed to Dayton, Ohio, 
where he lived until his death, which occurred 
July 5, 1890, in his eighty-third year. He 
and his wife were the parents of two children: 
Ebenezer, a soldier in the late Civil war, who 
died in 1864, of disease contracted in the serv- 
ice, and Lee, the subject of this sketch. 

Lee Mitchell was reared in Ohio and Illi- 
nois, received a good common-school educa- 
tion, and came to Dayton with his parents in 
1865. Here in company with his father he 
went into the grocery business, under the firm 
name of Mitchell & Son, and continued thus 
engaged for four years. In 1870 he located in 
Miamisburg, and went to work as a shop hand 
for Bookwalter, Bro. & Co., of which firm his 
father was a stockholder, young Lee also rep- 
resenting his father's interests in the concern. 
The intention was that he should learn the 
business thoroughly and then be given an offi- 
cial position in the company, which intention 
was carried out. After several years of active 
service in the shops he was made bookkeeper 
for the firm, which position he held until 1889, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1025 



when he was made general manager. At 
length, in 1890, the Standard Wheel company 
absorbed Bookwalter, Bro. & Co., and Mr. 
Mitchell held the same position with the new 
company until it closed down. He then be- 
came secretary, treasurer and general manager 
of the Bookwalter Wheel company, which he 
assisted in organizing in 1S91; this position he 
still holds, having therein full charge of the 
business. His special qualifications for the 
business have made him unusually successful, 
and to his business ability and energy the 
company owes much of its present success and 
prosperity. 

Mr. Mitchell has been twice married. His 
first wife was Helen Reel, daughter of Abram 
Reel, of Dayton, Ohio, and by her he had one 
child, Charles L. Mitchell, a graduate of the 
university of Michigan and now a successful 
dentist. His second wife was Hannah Zehring, 
of Miamisburg, by whom he has four children, 
as follows: S. Wilbur, Edith M., Helen and 
Howard L. Mr. Mitchell is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church 'and a Knight of 
Pythias. He is a stockholder and director in 
the Citizens' National bank, and a stockholder 
in the Miamisburg Twine & Cordage company. 
In politics he is a republican, and in all re- 
spects he is a much esteemed citizen of the 
county in which he lives, enjoying the confi- 
dence of the community to an unusual degree. 



>-VOHN F. MOIST, an active farmer of 
a Randolph township, springs from stal- 
/• ■ wart Pennsylvania stock, his ancestors 
having come originally from Switzer- 
land. Henry Moist, his grandfather, owned a 
farm in Juniata county, Pa., and was the father 
of the following children: Henry, David, 
Abraham, Michael, John, Solomon, Daniel, 
who died when quite young; Sallie, Jacob and 



Betsey. Henry Moist, the father of these 
children, died in Juniata county. 

Jacob Moist, the father of John F., was 
born in Juniata county, Pa., in 1S20, and came 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1845. The 
next year he married Miss Annie Hocker, who 
was born in Dauphin county, Pa., October 
15, 1824, and was a daughter of John and 
Catherine (Sterling) Hocker. John Hocker 
was born in Dauphin county, Pa., removed to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1837, and settled 
on the farm of 240 acres now occupied by his 
son, Adam Hocker. His wife, Catherine 
Sterling, was born in Germany on the river 
Neckar, and lived to the great age of ninety- 
eight years, dying in 1890 or 1891. 

Jacob Moist, soon after his marriage, set- 
tled on a farm near Harrisburg, and lived there 
one year, when, in 1848, he bought the farm 
on which his son now lives, and which con- 
tained sixty-two acres. He partially cleared 
it of its timber and converted it into a produc- 
tive farm. He was well known for many 
miles around as a man of high character and 
upright living, and was in every way trustwor- 
thy. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Jacob Moist were as follows: John F. , Al- 
mira J., Frances C. , and three that died in in- 
fancy. Mr. and Mrs. Moist were members of 
the church of the Brethren in Christ, or River 
Brethren. Mrs. Moist died January 21, 1879. 

John F. Moist was born January 16, 1847, 
in Randolph township, Montgomery county, 
was reared on the farm and received a good 
education in the district school. He after- 
ward attended the National normal institute, 
at Lebanon, Ohio, for three winters, in order 
to fit himself for teaching school. After this 
he taught school for five years in Randolph, 
Clay and Madison townships, being a success- 
ful teacher. He resided on the farm, and 
combined farming with teaching. When he 
was thirty years of age he married Sarah E. 



1026 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Ralston, the ceremony being performed April 
17, 1877. She was a daughter of James and 
Hettie (Moist) Ralston, and was born October 
24, 1856. James Ralston, her father, was a 
son of Samuel and Rachael (Henderson) Ral- 
ston, the former of whom was born in Eng- 
land and came to America when he was twenty- 
one years of age, leaving in England two 
brothers and a sister. For some time he lived 
in Philadelphia, and then moved to Lancaster 
county, Pa., married and had the following 
children: Samuel, Alfred, David, Dayton, 
Elizabeth, Frances and James. Samuel Ral- 
ston was a farmer, and died in Lancaster 
county, Pa. 

James H. Ralston, the father of Mrs. 
Moist, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
November 4, 1827, and received a common- 
school education. He lost his father when he 
was ten years old, and the support of his 
mother and the younger children thereupon 
devolved largely on him for a number of years. 
Upon arriving at mature years he married Het- 
tie Moist, who was born in Juniata county, 
Pa., February 7, 1833, and was a daughter of 
Jacob and Mary (Runk) Moist. James H. 
Ralston settled in Center county, Pa., and in 
1862 removed to Ohio, locating in Miami 
county, a short distance west of Troy, and in 
1870 settled three miles east of Troy, still in 
Miami county. In 1885 he went to Kansas, 
settling in Nemaha county, where he died Jan- 
uary 21, 1S91. His children were as follows: 
Sarah E., George, Philip, James W., Jacob, 
Alfred, Samuel, David, Dora. Mrs. Ralston 
died in 1875, aged forty-two years. She was 
a woman of excellent qualities, and a member 
of the church of the River Brethren. Mr. 
Ralston was a practical farmer and a most ex- 
cellent man in every way, reliable, truthful 
and successful. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Moist 
settled on the old Moist farm, and he has re- 



sided on the farm ever since his birth, and in 
1887 he purchased the farm. He ranks among 
the most advanced and intelligent members of 
the community. To Mr. and Mrs. Moist there 
have been born the following children ; Ianthe 
M. , Harvey C. , Jacob F. , Albert R. , Arthur G. , 
and Annie M. The parents are members of the 
River Brethren church. Politically, Mr. Moist is 
a republican, and is much interested in public 
affairs. He has served as a member cf the 
school board for thirteen years, and his chil- 
dren have been well educated. Ianthe M. grad- 
uated in the township high school in 1895, ar *d 
holds a teacher's certificate. Mr. and Mrs. 
Moist are among the best people in the county, 
taking great interest in educational and relig- 
ious work, and exerting a wide influence for 
good in their vicinity. 



BRANK S. NELSON, secretary and 
treasurer of the Enterprise Carriage 
Manufacturing company, and a prom- 
inent citizen of Montgomery county, 
was born in Newport, Ky., January 25, 1863. 
He is a son of Robert and Mary F. (Hender- 
son) Nelson and is of Scotch-Irish descent. 
He was reared in Cincinnati, and was educat- 
ed first in the public schools, and afterward in 
Oberlin college, one of the most famous insti- 
tutions of learning in the country. In 1882 
he began his business career as bookkeeper for 
a Cincinnati house, which position he retained 
until 1 89 1, when he removed to Miamisburg 
with the Enterprise Carriage Manufacturing 
company, which had been established in Cin- 
cinnati in 1879. Its plant in Miamisburg is 
one of the largest in the world for the manu- 
facture of popular priced vehicles of all de- 
scriptions. Much of its machinery was built 
after special designs and for the exclusive use 
of the factory in Miamisburg, which is without 
doubt the most perfectly equipped establish- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1027 



ment of the kind in the country. The prod- 
ucts of this manufactory have a world-wide 
reputation, and it has been kept working to 
the limit of its capacity almost constantly since 
its establishment in Miamisburg. Mr. Nelson 
is a large stockholder, and has held the posi- 
tions of secretary and treasurer since its estab- 
lishment in Miamisburg. The success and 
present standing of the enterprise is largely 
due to his intelligent and tactful management. 
Mr. Nelson was married, November 20, 
1895, to Miss Erne, daughter of Eden and 
Alice Engleman, of Maryland. He is one of 
the most enterprising and progressive citizens 
of Miamisburg, is a thirty-second degree 
Mason, a member of the Mystic Shrine, and in 
politics is a democrat. Few men, if any, in 
the county, stand higher in the estimation of 
the business, social and religious world than 
does Mr. Nelson. 



Vj-* OUIS NEWBURGH, president of the 
r Louis Newburgh company, packers of 
J\ leaf tobacco, with their Montgomery 
county, Ohio, office and warehouse in 
Germantown, and an office and salesroom at 
No. 232 East Fourth street, Cincinnati, Ohio, 
was born January 22, 1839, at Pottsville, Lan- 
caster county. Pa. Shortly after his birth his 
parents moved to New York, and in the spring 
of 1842 they moved to Chicago. In 1855 they 
went back to New York, and in 1859 their son 
Louis entered the tobacco business as a clerk. 
In the year i860 he moved to Cincinnati, en- 
tered into the cigar-leaf jobbing business, and 
in 1876 purchased a warehouse in German- 
town, Montgomery county, and began packing 
tobacco. In January, 1893, he formed the 
corporation known as the Louis Newburgh 
company, and admitted his son (S. M. New- 
burgh), his son-in-law (Alexander Pappen- 
43 



heimer), and brother (Henry Newburgh) to 
the firm. 

About the year 1880, Louis Newburgh con- 
cluded from his experience that the tobacco- 
raised in Ohio had so deteriorated in quality 
that it could no longer compete with cigar- 
leaf raised in other states. He conceived the 
idea of introducing seed that would be an im- 
provement, and, with this end in view, pro- 
cured from the island of Cuba a quantity of 
seed which he distributed among the growers 
of Montgomery and Warren counties. The 
hot and dry summer of 1881, however, was 
detrimental to the germination of the seed, and 
the growers became discouraged and refused 
to make another attempt at propagation. 

Mr. Zimmer, of Miamisburg, knowing that 
the Ohio seed had degenerated, and that some- 
thing was required to improve the tobacco 
product, continued the propagation of this 
seed until he produced seed that was accli- 
mated, and from that time a filler tobacco has 
been grown that is unsurpassed throughout the 
United States, and Mr. Zimmer has received 
due credit by its being named Zimmer's Span- 
ish tobacco. The quantity at first produced 
was very small— some 300 boxes; this has 
since increased, so that there are now pro- 
duced from 35,000 to 45,000 boxes annually. 
The Louis Newburgh company purchased and 
packed of this variety last season over 12,000 
boxes, and are now recognized as the largest 
packers in Ohio, if not in the United States. 

Louis Newburgh began his career as a 
packer with the determination to put up his 
goods in an honest and careful manner, and 
to acquire a reputation for his house; and to 
this policy, faithfully carried out, is due the 
high standing of the company throughout the 
country. The officers of the company are: 
Louis Newburgh, president; S. M. Newburgh, 
vice-president; Alexander Pappenheimer, sec- 
retary; and Henry Newburgh, treasurer. 



1028 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 




^ LIVER PERRY NISWONGER, a 

traveling salesman of Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, was born in 
West Senora, Preble county, Ohio, 
November 21, 1853, and is a son of John D. 
and Mary (Ruse) Niswonger, both natives of 
Montgomery county. His paternal grand- 
father, Samuel, and great-grandfather, John 
Niswonger — both from Fincastle, Ya., and of 
Swiss descent — were among the pioneer farm- 
ers of Montgomery county, Clay township, 
where they lived and died, and are buried in 
the cemetery at Salem, Ohio. The wife of 
Samuel was a Miss Dillon, of Irish birth, and 
their children were Polly (Mrs. Louis Kimmel), 
Betsey (Mrs. John Overhulser), John D., 
James, Sally (Mrs. Slengsby Barnes), Samuel, 
Catherine iMrs. Andrew Faulkner), Eliza (Mrs. 
Ruel Vorhees), Prudence (Mrs. Andrew SpitlerJ, 
and Levi. Of these the father of Oliver P. 
was born in Clay township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, April 13, 181 1, where he grew to manhood. 
His business has been farming, buying and 
shipping stock and dealing in grain, and he 
has been a resident of Preble county, Ohio, 
for upwards of fifty years. His wife was a 
daughter of John and Mary 1 Heckathorn) Ruse 
of Madison township, Montgomery county, 
who bore him eight children — Horace, Maggie, 
Ann, Eva (deceased), Samuel (deceased), Levi, 
Oliver P. and James B. 

Oliver P. Niswonger was reared in Preble 
county, was educated in the common schools, 
and began life for himself in 1876 as a travel- 
ing salesman for agricultural implements, 
which business he has followed up to this 
time. He has been a resident of Miamisburg 
since 1882. He married, September 2, 1876, 
America, a daughter of Henry and Delilah 
(Harsh) Frazer, of West -Senora, Ohio, and 
has three children, Charles H., Myrtle and 
Dorman D. Mr. and Mrs. Niswonger are con- 
sistent members of the German Reformed 



church, and in politics Mr. Niswonger is a re- 
publican. Socially the family stands very 
high in the community, and Mr. Niswonger's 
genial qualities have not only made him pop- 
ular on the road, but have won for him hosts 
of friends at and near his immediate home. 
In his business career, Mr. Niswonger has been 
in the employ only of firms of national repu- 
tation, such as W. N. Whiteley, of Springfield, 
the McCormick company, of Chicago, and the 
Warder, Bushnell & Glessner company, of 
Springfield, Ohio. 



K^\ ERNARD J. PANSING, a prosper- 
1^*^ ous business man of Miamisburg, 
JK^_J Ohio, was born in this place May 20, 
1847. He is a son of John Henry 
and Johanna Lucie (Borcherring) Pansing, the 
former of whom was born in Diepholz, Han- 
over, Germany, December 13, 1803, and was 
there reared to manhood. 

John Henry Pansing learned the cabinet- 
maker's trade, and served twelve years in the 
German army. In 1836 he came to the United 
States, located in Cincinnati, and there worked 
at his trade a year and a half, removing to 
Miamisburg in 1838. In Miamisburg he es- 
tablished himself in business as an undertaker, 
cabinetmaker and dealer in furniture, erect- 
ing the building on Main street now occupied 
by David Clark for business and residence 
purposes. He continued in that business up 
to the time of his death, but in connection 
therewith, on account of ill health and the 
consequent need of out-door occupation and 
exercise, he carried on truck farming near 
Miamisburg for several years. 

On January 3, 1837, he married Johanna 
Lucie Borcherring, then of Germantown, Ohio, 
but formerly of Hanover, Germany. By this 
marriage he had nine children, six of whom 
grew to adult years, as follows: Wilhelmina, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1029 



now deceased; Louis F., deceased; Bernard 
J.; William H. ; Melinda M., wife of Jacob 
Swartz, and Martha M., wife of Joseph Rockey. 
Mr. Pansing and his family were, and those 
still living are, members of the Evangelical 
Lutheran church, and in politics he was a 
democrat. His death occurred March 4, 1879, 
and that of his wife, November 13, 18S0. 

Bernard J. Pansing came to man's estate in 
Miamisburg, and received his preliminary edu- 
cation in the public schools. His business 
education was received in the Miami Com- 
mercial college of Dayton, Ohio. His business 
career was begun with the Hunter Cutlery 
company, which company was engaged in the 
manufacture of cutlery in Miamisburg, and 
which he assisted to organize in 1872. After 
remaining connected with this company until 
1876, he and his brother, William H., formed 
a co-partnership which, under the firm name 
of Pansing Bros., engaged in the general 
grocery and hardware business. In 1893, he 
and others organized the Citizens' National 
bank of Miamisburg, of which he is a stock- 
holder, and in which he served for two years 
as a director. He erected, or more accurately, 
remodeled the building now occupied by Pan- 
sing Bros., for business purposes, and has in 
all his business career and connections been 
recognized as a straightforward and honorable 
gentleman. 

Mr. Pansing was first married to Miss 
Chrissie A. Schuster, daughter of Christian 
and Mary (Kline) Schuster, of Miamisburg. 
By this wife he had two children, viz: Ida N., 
and Mary L. His second wife was, before her 
marriage, Emma Dill, daughter of Lewis and 
Louisa (Shaffer) Dill, of Germantown, and by 
her he has had three children, viz: Wilbur, 
Bernice and Dill, the latter deceased. Mr. 
Pansing is an Odd Fellow, a member of the 
encampment, and of the Daughters of Re- 
bekah. He has passed all the chairs and is 



now adjutant of the Second regiment, P. M., 
I. O. O. F. He has been a member of the 
Miamisburg board of education for three years, 
of the board of health for six years, and in 
politics he is a democrat. Mr. Pansing and 
wife are members of the Evangelical church, 
and are earnest workers in the cause of relig- 
ion. Both are fervent believers in the value 
of education, and are doing what they can to 
prepare their children for a successful and 
rational career. In 1883 Mr. Pansing erected 
a fine residence on East Linden street, in 
which he and his family now live, and are sur- 
rounded by a large circle of admiring friends. 



eMORY C. OBLINGER, cashier of 
the First National bank, of German- 
town, was born in Germantown, Ohio, 
June 5, 1865, a son of David L. and 
Mary A. (Clark) Oblinger, both natives of 
Montgomery county. 

Gabriel Oblinger, paternal grandfather of 
Emory C. , was a native of Pennsylvania and 
among the pioneers of Germantown, Ohio, 
where he first engaged in merchandizing, in 
1825, in which he continued for many years, 
residing in that town until his death in 1874. 
His children were David L. , Ellen (Mrs. Dr. 
J. J. Antrim), Orion, Daniel, Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Noah W. Kumber), Clayton and Catherine 
(Mrs. Charles Rohrer). 

David L. Oblinger, father of Emory C, 
was born in Germantown in 1839. On attain- 
ing his majority he engaged in business with 
his father, and later embarked in the dry- 
goods trade, under the firm name of D. L. 
Oblinger & Co., in which he continued up to 
his death. His wife was a daughter of Levi 
L. and Mary L. (Gunckel) Clark, pioneers of 
Germantown, and granddaughter of Thomas 
and Catherine (Lehrnen) Clark, of Lebanon 
county, Pa., on the paternal side, and on the 



1030 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



maternal side of John D. Gunckel, a pioneer 
of Montgomery county, Ohio. The issue of 
this union was one son, Emory C. 

Emory C. Oblinger was reared in his na- 
tive town, was educated in the public schools, 
and at the age of nineteen embarked in the 
grocery business in Germantown, in which he 
continued for five years. In 1889 he was ap- 
pointed assistant cashier of the First National 
bank of Germantown, and was promoted to 
cashier in 1890, a position he has since held 
with credit to himself and to the management 
of the bank. In September, 1888, Mr. Oblin- 
ger married Pearl, daughter of George and 
Maria (Emrick) Schafer, of Sunsbury, Ohio, 
and to this marriage has been born one son — 
David L. Mr. Oblinger is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and of the I. O. 
O. F. , and politically is a republican. It will 
be seen from the above that Mr. Oblinger de- 
scends from two of the oldest pioneer families 
of German township. Emory C. Oblinger has 
well maintained the good name of his ances- 
tors, and is now looked upon as one of the 
brightest young business men of Germantown. 



IRA S. OWENS, one of the veteran sol- 
diers of the late Civil war, sprang from 
sturdy Welsh stock. William Owens, 
the founder of the family in America, 
was a settler in Virginia during colonial days. 
His son William was born in Brunswick county, 
Ya., March 9, 1779. became a farmer, and 
married Lucy Wright, who was born in the 
same county, June 19, 1773. Their children 
were Samuel Thomas and George B. William 
Owens emigrated to Greene county, Ohio, in 
181 1, and cleared up a farm of fifty acres, 
two and and a half miles south of Xenia. Here 
he remained until his death, which occurred in 
his eighty-fourth year, December 26, 1862, at 
the residence of his son, Capt. Samuel Thomas 



Owens, of Xenia, Ohio. He was a typical 
pioneer, a man of high character and a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 
which faith he brought up his sons. In poli- 
tics he was in early life an old-line whig and 
later a republican. 

Rev. George B. Owens, father of Ira S., 
was born July 14. 1809, in Brunswick county, 
Va., and was about two years old when brought 
to this state by his parents. He received a 
common-school education and afterward en- 
gaged in teaching school, continuing in this 
vocation for many years. He became a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church when 
twelve years of age, and was for a long time a 
minister in that church, riding on horseback to 
his different appointments through the country 
for many miles. He was licensed as a local 
preacher in 1842, and in 1850 was employed 
as a supply on Concord circuit by Dr. Elliott, 
presiding elder. In 1851 he was employed on 
Franklin circuit and in 1852 on Camden cir- 
cuit. In 1853 he was admitted into the Cin- 
cinnati conference and filled the following ap- 
pointments : Venice circuit, two years ; Cum- 
minsville circuit, 1856 and 1857 ; Monroe cir- 
cuit, 1858-59; Laurel circuit, i860; Enon, 
1861 ; Rayville, 1862 ; and Bethany, 1863. 

Rev. Mr. Owens was a man of more than 
ordinary talents, was a sweet singer, a power- 
ful preacher, and often witnessed great revivals 
of religion among his people. In 1829 he 
married Miss Eleanor Brewington, who was 
born of English parents in Maryland. To this 
marriage there were born the following chil- 
dren : Ira S. ; William R. ; Thomas L. , who 
died when eight months old ; and John F. 
Rev. Mr. Owens died November 23, 1862, at 
residence of his son Ira, two and a half miles 
south of Xenia, in his fifty-fourth year. 

Ira S. Owens, the subject of this sketch, 
was born March 1, 1830, on the homestead of 
his grandfather in Greene county, Ohio. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1031 



Reared a farmer, he received a good common- 
school education. On December 15, 1856, 
when he was twenty-six years old, he married 
in Greene county, Miss Malinda Middleton, 
who was born June 14,1831, in Greene county, 
Ohio, and a daughter of John and Susan (Mus- 
setter) Middleton. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Owens settled on her father's farm, living 
there one year, and then moved to the Owens 
homestead, wherethey remained until his enlist- 
ment in the army. This occurred at Xenia, 
Ohio, October 7, 1861, in company B, Sev- 
enty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve 
three years or during the war. His captain 
was Stephen A. Bassford. Later he was 
transferred to company C, under Capt. Sam- 
uel T. Owens, his uncle. He served faith- 
fully until January 26, 1864, when he veteran- 
ized at Nashville, Tenn., in the' same organi- 
zation, re-enlisting for three years or during 
the war. He was honorably discharged, on ac- 
count of the termination of the war, June 10, 
1865. He was in the battles of Stone River 
and on the famous Atlanta campaign, partici- 
pating during that great campaign in the bat- 
tles of Buzzard Roost Mountain, Resaca, Dal- 
las, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, 
Chattahoochie, and in the general engagement 
at Atlanta, in which Gen. McPherson was 
killed. He was also in the battle of Jones- 
boro. He then went on the march to the sea 
with Sherman, marched on to Goldsboro, was 
in the Carolina campaign, and went on to 
Washington, D. C, where he participated in 
the grand review. At the' battle of Stone 
River, December 31, 1862, he was wounded, 
being shot through the left thigh, and was taken 
to the field hospital, but one week later rejoined 
his regiment. He was taken sick on the 
march from Murfreesboro to Chattanooga, and 
was in the hospital on this account one week 
at Manchester. He was then in hospital at 
Nashville eight weeks, where he was made 



ward master of ward 3, remaining in this ca- 
pacity about six months. During the entire 
period of his service, with the exceptions 
noted, he was an active soldier, and always 
with his regiment on the march and in battle 
when it was thus engaged. He was, however, 
not in the battle of Chickamauga, being in the 
hospital at that time. But he rendered good 
service to the wounded in that battle. After 
the battle of Stone River Mr. Owens was de- 
tailed as head clerk of the mustering officer of 
Gen. Negley's headquarters, and served in this 
capacity for three weeks. He was promoted 
to corporal in 1862, and served as such officer 
to the end of the war. After the war he re- 
turned to the old homestead, the same year 
going to Putnam county, Ind., where he bought 
a farm of eighty acres, and where he taught 
school two winters. His wife died October 
24, 1869, and he then moved to Yellow 
Springs, Greene county, Ohio, where he lived 
with his mother for two years. His children 
by his first wife were John W. , James Allison, 
Lura E. and Alice. At Yellow Springs he 
again married, on March 21, 1872, his second 
wife being Catherine Real, by whom he had 
no children. She died in 1890. 

Mr. Owens followed farming in Greene 
county until he removed to Beavertown in 
1 89 1. Afterward he removed to Byron, 
Greene county, and was there made postmas- 
ter under President Harrison's administration, 
serving about one year. He then removed to 
Union in 1893, and was appointed notary pub- 
lic by Gov. McKinley, May 9, 1894. His 
second wife having died, as stated above, he 
married on May 7, 1891, at Beavertown, Miss 
Elizabeth Real, a sister of his second wife. 
Mr. and Mrs. Owens are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and he is a steward of 
the church. In politics he is a republican, and 
is a man of undoubted honor and integrity, 
taking great pride, as he is justified in doing, 



1032 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in his record as a soldier. He is a member 
of Yellow Springs lodge, No. 420, F. &A. M., 
is a man of excellent literary attainments, and 
has written a volume on Greene's County's 
Soldiers in the Civil War. He is a member 
of Austin Macy post, No. 671, G. A. R., and 
is a poet of no mean ability. He has written 
many war poems and was a newspaper corre- 
spondent during the war. Mr. Owens is thus 
shown to be a man of excellent parts and 
talents, and he is everywhere recognized as an 
honorable citizen and an upright man. Mr. 
Owens is at the present time correspondent 
for the Dayton Herald. 



at 



ILLIAM H. PANSING, a well- 
known business man of Miamis- 
burg, Ohio, and a member of the 
firm of Pansing Bros., was born in 
this place December 26, 1849. He is a son 
of John H. and Johanna Lucie (Borcherring) 
Pansing, mention of whom is made in the 
biographical sketch of Bernard J. Pansing. 
William H. Pansing came to manhood in Mi- 
amisburg, and was educated in its public 
schools, and also at the Miami Commercial 
college at Dayton. After completing his edu- 
cation he began life for himself as a farmer 
and continued t o follow farming until 1875. 
On March 1, 1876, he engaged in the general 
grocery, hardware, iron and steel business in 
connection with his brother, Bernard J. Pan- 
sing, under the firm name of Pansing Bros., 
and has continued a member of the firm ever 
since. His straightforward dealings with all 
persons with whom he comes in contact are 
calculated to build up the strength of the firm, 
largely adding to its trade and reputation. 

Mr. Pansing was married October 14, 1875, 
to Amelia R. Shupert, daughter of George 
and Mary M. (Troxell) Shupert, of Miamis- 
burg. To this marriage there have been born 



four children, as follows: Charles H. ; How- 
ard, deceased; Mary M. and Ruth. Mr. Pan- 
sing has always taken great interest in religious 
and Sunday-school matters. He has been a 
member of the Lutheran church since he was 
fifteen years of age, and for the past twenty- 
two years has been a member of the choir. 
For seven years he has led the Sunday-school 
in singing, and in all ways has been a very 
active and useful member of both church and 
Sunday-school. 

In 1884 he erected the business block now 
occupied by Mr. Clark, on Main street, and 
he owns and occupies a fine residence on Park 
avenue. Mr. Pansing is an Odd Fellow and 
a Patriarch Militant, uniform rank. Politic- 
ally, he has always been a democrat, and as 
such served two years in the city council of 
Miamisburg, with entire credit to himself and 
with satisfaction to his constituents. He and 
his brother, Bernard J., have contributed 
largely to the erection of the present Lu- 
theran church building, as did also their father, 
and the brothers are doing their full share to- 
ward its support. 



@AMALIEL PEASE, one of the exten- 
sive tobacco growers and general farm- 
ers of Miami township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a native here and 
was born May 31, 1837, a son of George and 
Ellen (Wheatley) Pease. 

George Pease, his father, was born in Suf- 
field, Conn., November 25, 1798, and in his 
early manhood followed the profession of school- 
teaching. In 1825 he came west, crossing the 
mountains by stage to Pittsburg, Pa., where 
he and a companion purchased a canoe and 
floated down the Ohio river to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where he passed the winter. In the 
spring of 1826, he came to Miami township, 
Montgomery county, and until 1828 stopped 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1033 



with his brother Perry, who was proprietor of 
a distillery at Lamme's Mills, and for a short 
time had charge of the distillery. He then 
moved to Carrollton, where he had charge of 
the mill office for his brothers, Horace and 
Perry, until 1848, when he purchased a home 
and engaged in miscellaneous activities. He 
was for a number of years treasurer and gen- 
eral manager of the Great Miami Turnpike 
company, but in 1868 retired from active busi- 
ness life. 

The first marriage of George Pease took 
place August23, 1831, with Miss Ellen Wheat- 
ley, daughter of Richard and Hannah (Dunbar) 
Wheatley, of Washington township, to which 
union were born four children, viz: Mary and 
Mindwell, both now deceased; Gamaliel, and 
Ellen W., now Mrs. H. B. Ulm. Mrs. Pease 
died November 16, 1839, and the second mar- 
riage of Mr. Pease occurred April 6, 1841, with 
Miss Mary A. Lamme, daughter of David 
Lamme, one of the pioneers of the Miami val- 
ley. To this marriage were born three children 
— Horace L. , David W. and Harriet (Mrs. 
George W. Hayes). Mr. Pease died February 
23, 1880. He was made a Mason, in 1822, 
in Apollo lodge, at Suffield, Conn., and at the 
time of his death was an honored member of 
Minerva lodge, No. 98, at Miamisburg. He 
was also one of the organizers of the Presby- 
terian church at Carrollton. In politics he 
was first a whig and later a republican, and al- 
though active as a party man never sought po- 
litical preference. In business he was a man 
of the most scrupulous integrity, and his death 
was sincerely mourned by the entire commu- 
nity in which he had passed so large a portion 
of his useful life. 

Gamaliel Pease, the subject of this memoir, 
was educated in the common schools of Miami 
township and in the Miami Valley institute. 
In 1850 he went from Carrollton to Dayton 
and learned the molder's trade in the Buckeye 



foundry, and worked at this trade until 1857. 
In 1859 he returned to Carrollton, farmed for 
one year, and was then employed for a year in 
the distillery of his uncle, Perry Pease. De- 
cember 14, 1 86 1, he enlisted in company G, 
Sixty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and took 
part in the battles of Gallatin, Murfreesboro 
(or Stone River), Chickamaugaand Missionary 
Ridge. February 14, 1864, he was trans- 
ferred from Chattanooga, Tenn. , to Columbus, 
Ohio, where he was employed in the recruit- 
ing service until honorably discharged, Febru- 
ary 20, 1865. After the war, he was engaged 
for five years in bridge building. 

Mr. Pease was united in marriage, March 
18, 1869, with Miss Mary Leisz, daughter of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Wagner) Leisz, of Car- 
rollton, and to this union have been born five 
children, viz: Oscar M. , Jennie Gertrude 
(Mrs. Harry C. Weaver), George, Calvin and 
Myrtle. Since about the time of his marriage 
Mr. Pease has been engaged in general farm- 
ing and tobacco raising, in which he has been 
eminently successful. Mr. Pease is a member 
of Al Mason post, No. 598, G. A. R. , and is 
a republican. He and his family are among 
the foremost in the community, and he is a 
man who has faithfully filled all the stations of 
life, either as civilian or soldier. 



WOHN B. PIATT, an ex-soldier of the 
£ Civil war, and an old resident of Trot- 
/% 1 wood, Montgomery county, Ohio, is a 
native of the county and was born Sep- 
tember 17, 1836, a son of James and Barbara 
(dinger ) Piatt. The father of James, who was 
a native of Rockingham county, Va. , was of 
French-Huguenot descent, and the father of 
the following named children: Isaac, Jacob, 
Abraham, Solomon, David, John, James, Jane 
and Polly. Don Piatt, the poet, was also of 
the same ancestry. 



1034 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



James Piatt, the father of John B., was 
born in 1806, in Rockingham county, Va., and 
when a boy came to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and here married Barbara dinger, a 
daughter of Jacob Olinger, who came from 
Pennsylvania and was a pioneer of this county. 
To James and Barbara Piatt were born the fol- 
lowing children: Rebecca, Jacob and John B. 
The death of Mrs. Barbara Piatt took place in 
1838, and for his second wife, Mr. Piatt mar- 
ried Eliza McWhiney, of Scotch-Irish extrac- 
tion, and to this union were born William, 
David, James and Eliza. The five sons of 
James Piatt all served as soldiers in the Civil 
war. Their father died in 1857. 

The mother of John B. Piatt died when he 
was but two years old and he was reared by 
Maj. Elijah Culbert, who sent him to school 
and taught him blacksmithing at Post Town, 
where the major owned a shop and foundry. 
April 29, 1 86 1, Mr. Piatt married Miss Ro- 
sanna Steckly, a native of Wittenberg, Ger- 
many, born November 16, 1843, a daughter of 
Matthew and Margaret Steckly, whose chil- 
dren were named Regina, Rosanna, and Cath- 
erine. Mrs. Steckly having died about the 
year 1847, Mr. Steckly embarked for America 
and landed in New York, where he remained 
three months and then came to Ohio, locating 
first at Dayton, and then upon a farm pur- 
chased by him in Madison township, Montgom- 
ery county, where he passed the remainder of 
his life, a member of the Lutheran church. 

Leaving his young wife and babes at Poast 
Town, Mr. Piatt enlisted, in March, 1864, at 
Dayton, in company E, Seventy-first Ohio 
volunteer infantry, under Capt. Samuel Mc- 
Connell, to serve three years unless earlier dis- 
charged because of the close of the war. He 
was in the battle of Jonesboro, Ga. , fought 
Hood's troops in a skirmish at Franklin, and 
was in the two-day fight at Nashville, Decem- 
ber 15 and 16, but was wounded the first day, 



a rifle ball striking his left side. The ball, 
however, was flattened by striking his car- 
tridge box, belt and haversack, before reaching 
his body, otherwise he would have been shot 
through. As it was, he was partly paralyzed 
in the left side, which caused his confinement 
in hospital until honorably discharged at Camp 
Dennison, Ohio, through general orders, in 
1865, after a service of about sixteen months. 
On his return to Post Town he resumed his 
trade as soon as possible, although his phys- 
ical disability compelled him to employ an as- 
sistant in his work. 

In 1867, Mr. Piatt opened a shop in Trot- 
wood, has prospered, and has erected a com- 
fortable residence. His children were eight in 
number, and were named Lizzie A. (who died 
at the age of twenty-five years), Ella G., Reu- 
ben S., Laura B. (who died aged fifteen), 
Clyde, Glenn, Pearl (who died at eleven 
months), and another son who died in infancy. 
Mr. and Mrs. Piatt are members of the Chris- 
tian church, and in politics Mr. Piatt is a re- 
publican. He is a member of the Old Guard 
post, No. 23, G. A. R., of Dayton; of Trot- 
wood lodge, No. 754, I. O. O. F., which was 
organized in 1886, during which time Mr. 
Piatt has missed but few meetings, in which 
he has passed all the chairs, and was formerly 
noble grand of the lodge at New Lebanon. 
He has given his children excellent school ad- 
vantages, his daughter, Ella G. , having been a 
teacher for seven years, and he and his family 
are held in the highest esteem not only by the 
residents of Madison and adjacent townships, 
but throughout the entire county. 



>-j*OHN PLOCHER, the well-known con- 

■ tracting carpenter and builder of Miam- 

(% 1 isburg, Ohio, is a native of Germany 

and was born at Muehlheim, Wurtem- 

berg, October 27, 1847, a son of John and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1035 



Mary (Zeller) Plocher. His paternal grand- 
parents were Andrew and Katrina (Schlatter- 
bach) Plocher, the former being a farmer of 
Muehlheim; the maternal grandfather, Michael 
Zeller, was also a farmer of the same district, 
and served as a soldier in the German-Russian 
war of 1809. John Plocher, the father of our 
subject, was a grain dealer, and died at Muehl- 
heim in 1866, at the age of forty-nine years. 

John Plocher, the subject of this biography, 
lived in his native town until about twenty 
years old. He was educated in the common 
schools of Muehlheim, and there also served 
an apprenticeship of two years at the carpen- 
ter's trade, and worked one year as a journey- 
man. In 1867 he came to America, passed 
seven weeks in Cincinnati, Ohio, working at 
his trade, and July 26, of the same year, set- 
tled in Miamisburg. Here he followed his 
trade as a journeyman until 1880, when he 
engaged in contracting on his own account, in 
which he has made a thorough success, having 
constructed many of the residences of the city 
and done the woodwork on a number of busi- 
ness houses. Since 1886 he has been favored 
with contracts for the erection of most of the 
factories built in Miamisburg, including three 
twine factories and the Enterprise Carriage 
works, and has, beside, built several of the 
finest homes erected in the city since that date. 

Mr. Plocher was united in marriage June 
7, 1870, with Miss Mary Voegele, daughter of 
Martin and Barbara (Smith) Voegele, of Miam- 
isburg, and this happy marriage has been fol- 
lowed by the birth of two children — Robert A. 
and Anna B. The family are members of the 
Lutheran church, on the board of trustees of 
which Mr. Plocher has served sixteen years. 
In his fraternal affiliations he is a member of 
the D. O. H. and of the A. O. U. W. ; in 1883 
he served as grosse barde of the state lodge of 
the D. O. H., and has been treasurer of his 
local lodge for seven years. In politics Mr. 



Plocher is a member of the democratic party, 
and under its auspices has served as a member 
of the city council of Miamisburg. He has 
proven himself worthy of all the trusts that 
have been reposed in him, having filled his re- 
sponsible duties in every position with faith- 
fulness and with strict integrity, and has won 
for himself the esteem of the entire community. 




HOMAS LUTHER PRUGH, of Van 
Buren township, Montgomery county, 
was born on the farm upon which he 
now resides November 27, 1835. He 
is a son of John and Catherine (Haynes) Prugh, 
both of whom were natives of Maryland. They 
were the parents of ten children, eight of whom 
grew to manhood and womanhood, and four 
of them are still living, as follows: Rev. Dr. 
P. C. Prugh, of Butler, Pa., born September 
13, 1822; Jacob V., born August 3, 1831, now 
a farmer of Van Buren township; Mrs. Cath- 
erine A. Fauver, born January 22, 1834, now 
the widow of Samuel Fauver; and Thomas L. , 
with whom this sketch deals. The other chil- 
dren, now deceased, were as follows: Jessie, 
born August 28, 181 7; David H., born No- 
vember 27, 1 8 1 8, and died August 5, 1872; 
John W., born November 7, 1820, and died 
June 16, 1 851; Henry, born May 25, 1824, 
died July 24, 1828; Nathan, born July 28, 
1827, died August 7, 1828; Gideon G., born 
July 20, 1829. 

John Prugh, the father, was by occupation 
a farmer. He came to Ohio in 181 3, locating 
in Van Buren township and purchasing 160 
acres of land, paying therefor $13 per acre. 
In the spring of 1820 he moved upon the farm 
where Thomas L. now lives. He was always 
a hard-working, industrious man, honest in his 
dealings with others and successful in his own 
affairs. He was the youngest son in a family 
of sixteen children; was born November 25, 



1036 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1794, near Westminster, Frederick county, 
Md., and lost his father when he was but ten 
years of age. His wife, Catherine Haynes, to 
whom he was married November 26, 1816, 
was born May 27, 1791, also in Frederick 
county, Md. She died in 1876, and he died 
on his farm two years later, at the age of 
eighty-five. Originally they were both mem- 
bers of the Evangelical Lutheran church, but 
later they identified themselves with the Re- 
formed church, and were unusually zealous 
christian people. When the British made an 
attempt to invade the city of Baltimore during 
the war 181 2, John Prugh was called out as a 
soldier in her defense. He always took an 
active interest in politics, being early in life 
a whig, and afterward a republican until his 
death. 

John Prugh's father, Conrad Prugh, was of 
German descent, and, as stated above, was 
the father of sixteen children, one of whom, 
Abner Prugh, died in 1891, at the age of 100 
years and some months. Conrad Prugh was 
a farmer during his entire life, and died in 
Maryland. The father of Catherine Haynes 
was also a native of Maryland, and died there 
at an advanced age. 

Thomas L. Prugh received his education in 
the district school, and after his marriage con- 
tinued to live on the farm on which he was 
born. Until his parents became too old to 
take care of themselves, he and his father car- 
ried on the farm work together, the other chil- 
dren having all been well started in life. Still 
later Mr. Prugh purchased the farm, and owns 
it at the present time. On December 15, 
1857, he married Miss Catherine Mason, 
daughter of Philip and Melinda (Conover) Ma- 
son. To this marriage there have been born 
three children: J. Mason, Nettie and Frances 
Pearl. J. Mason married Anne Kemp, of Ger- 
mantown, and has two children — Thomas K., 
and Catherine. Nettie married James P. 



White, of Washington township, and has one 
son, James Prugh White. Frances Pearl is 
now attending Monmouth college, 111. 

Mr. and Mrs. Prugh are members of the 
United Presbyterian church, and are people in 
excellent standing, both in church and in so- 
ciety. Mr. Prugh and his son own about 285 
acres of land, all of which is finely improved. 
His life has been marked by untiring industry 
and habits of thrift, and his property has been 
accumulated by his own good management. 

Mr. Prugh is a republican, and while he 
has never aspired to office, yet he was recently 
elected to the office of township trustee, and 
holds the position at the present time. Dur- 
ing the late Civil war he belonged to the 100 
days' service, but owing to the old age of his 
parents he sent a substitute to the front, re- 
maining at home to care for them. He has 
taken an active interest in educational matters, 
and has been a member of the township school 
board for fifteen years. All who know him 
place in him the most implicit confidence, and 
all highly esteem him for his great worth as a 
citizen and neighbor. 



EON. WILLIAM A. REITER, attor- 
ney at law, was born in Miamisburg, 
Ohio, January 6, i860. He is a son 
of Rev. Dr. Isaac H. and Margaret 
J. (Heilman) Reiter, fuller mention of his father 
being made in the memoir which follows this 
brief biographical notice. 

William A. Reiter was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Miamisburg and at Heidelberg 
university, from which latter institution he was 
graduated in 1880. For two years afterward 
he studied law in the office of Capt. Adam 
Clay, of Miamisburg, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1882, since which time he has been de- 
voted to the earnest practice of his profession. 
Though never actively engaged in politics, he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1037 



has several times been honored by his demo- 
cratic fellow-citizens with political preferment. 
In the spring of 1888 he was elected mayor of 
Miamisburg, and while holding that office was, 
in 1889, elected to represent Montgomery 
county in the state legislature, serving his con- 
stituency with such ability and credit that he 
was re-elected to that office in 1891. In 1893 
he was elected to the board of education of 
Miamisburg, and is now president of that body. 
Mr. Reiter is a member of the Reformed 
church, a knight templar Mason, and a Knight 
of Pythias. He is a public-spirited citizen, 
and enjoys the respect of all, without distinc- 
tion of party or creed, while, as a lawyer, few 
men of Mr. Reiter's years have attained a more 
enviable position at the bar of this county. 



<>^\ EV. DR. ISAAC H. REITER, for 

I /^ many years a distinguished citizen and 
_ W minister of the gospel, of Miamisburg, 
was born in Berks county, Pa., Feb- 
ruary 4, 1819, and in 1831 removed with his 
parents to Wooster, Ohio. His earlier years 
were spent under religious influences and train- 
ing, and he united with the Reformed church 
in 1842. Being well educated in his youth, he 
taught school for several terms, and while en- 
gaged in Bible distribution and railroad clerking 
he privately prosecuted his studies. From 185 1 
to 1854 he was a student in the theological 
seminary at Heidelberg university, graduating 
from the seminary in June of the latter year. 
In November following he was ordained a min- 
ister of the gospel, and was pastor of the Mi- 
amisburg Reformed church from 1854 to 
1874, a period of twenty years. From 1874 
to 1895 Dr. Reiter was engaged in general 
church work, preaching only occasionally. 
From 1873 to 1882 he was editor of the 
literary department of the Heidelberg Teacher 
& Instructor, and from 1880 to 1882 was 



editor of the Christian World. He also sup- 
plied considerable matter for the Lives of the 
Fathers, published in six volumes, and at 
the same time performed other literary and 
statistical work. 

Dr. Reiter served as stated clerk of the 
general synod of the Reformed church for thir- 
ty-five years, and of the Ohio synod for twen- 
ty-five years. He was long officially identified 
with the educational institutions of the Re- 
formed church at Tiffin, Ohio, and for thirty- 
five years was an active member of the board 
of regents of Heidelburg university. For 
twenty-seven years he was a member of the 
board of trustees of Heidelberg Theological 
seminary, and received the honorary degree of 
master of arts from Heidelberg university in 
June, 1866, and from Ursinus college the de- 
gree of doctor of divinity in June, 1874. 

He was a member of the board of educa- 
tion of Miamisburg twenty-four years and of 
the board of examiners six years. He wrote a 
history of the public schools of Miamisburg, 
which was published in the Miamisburg Bulle- 
tin, beginning January 5, 18S3, and continu- 
ing through nine numbers. No one was ever 
more closely identified with the moral, educa- 
tional and religious interests of Miamisburg 
than was Dr. Reiter, and at his death, which 
occurred November 8, 1895, the entire com- 
munity felt that it had suffered a loss that 
could not be repaired. 



BLEMING RICE, a retired farmer, 
living in Van Buren township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Frederick county, Md., September 
26, 1822. He is a son of James and Rebecca 
(Drill) Rice, both natives of the last named 
county and state. They were parents of six 
children, five sons and one daughter, five of 
the six still surviving, as follows: Fleming, 



1038 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



James A. ; Louisa, wife of John Waltz, of Mus- 
catine, Iowa; John W., and Milton. 

James Rice, the father of these children, 
was a miller in his early manhood. About 
1826, he came to Ohio and located in Lancas- 
ter, removing thence to Chillicothe in a few 
years. He then moved to a point about four 
miles north of Dayton, and about five years 
afterward removed south of Dayton to Day- 
ton township, now Van Buren township. The 
family was then too poor to purchase land, so 
rented a farm. There James Rice died in 
September, 1842, at the age of fifty-five years, 
his wife having died about five years before. 
Both were members of the Protestant Episco- 
pal church, and though poor, were upright, 
honest and reliable people. 

The paternal grandfather of Fleming Rice 
lived in Maryland until his death, which oc- 
curred in middle age. He and his wife reared 
a family of two sons and five daughters. The 
maternal grandfather also died in Maryland. 

Fleming Rice was ten years old when 
brought by his parents to Montgomery county. 
Here he grew to manhood, receiving his edu- 
cation in the district schools. When his par- 
ents died he and his next younger brother took 
care of the other members of the family, 
giving them the best education the country 
then afforded. In 1843 Fleming married Miss 
Catherine Fenstmacher, by whom he had four 
children, as follows: Hester Jane, John W. , 
Mary and Franklin. Hester Jane married 
Daniel Peters, of Preble county; John W. , 
married Clara Bellman, and has three chil- 
dren. Mary married Jacob Sheets, and has 
one child. She and her husband live two 
miles south of the soldiers' home, on the Ger- 
mantown pike. Franklin, who married Victo- 
ria Dryden, has three children, and resides 
in Dayion. 

Mrs. Catherine Rice died in January, 1864, 
a member of the German Reformed church. 



Mr. Rice married, in 1867, Miss Mary E. 
Miller, daughter of John and Mary E. Miller, 
To this marriage there were born three chil- 
dren: Annie E., Charles D., and Olive 
Leora. Annie E. married Sherebiah Brad- 
ford, and has one child. Charles D. married 
Elsie Gebhart, and Olive Leora lives at home. 
Mrs. Rice is a member of the German Re- 
formed church. Politically Mr. Rice is a dem- 
ocrat, and as such has held several township 
offices. He has been quite successful in the 
accumulation of property, having four fine 
farms, one containing 160 acres; another 105 
acres; one north of Dayton, 122 acres, and the 
home farm, 103 acres. His home farm lies 
between three and four miles south of Dayton. 
Having lived in Montgomery county sixty-four 
years he has seen much of the wonderful de- 
velopment of this rich valley. He is well 
known throughout the county as one of its 
most substantial, reliable and progressive 
farmers. He has always worked hard, and, 
beginning with nothing but his hands and a 
determination to accomplish something, has 
become independent, and now enjoys the re- 
spect of all both for what he has done and for 
what he is still capable of doing. Kind- 
hearted, hospitable and generous, Mr. Rice 
has many friends among all classes of people. 
He is one of the public-spirited men of the 
county, always ready to aid worthy enterprises, 
modest in his bearing, and genial in disposition. 



' ILSON RICE, a well-known educa- 
tor of Montgomery county, Ohio, was 



(U 

\JLM born in Van Buren township, May 
24, 1861, a son of James A. and 
Hannah ( Opdyke ) Rice. His paternal grand- 
parents were natives of Maryland, but settled 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1835, an ^ n ' s 
maternal grandparents, Albert and Rebecca 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1039 



( Ruder ) Opdyke, were old residents of Van 
Buren township. 

Wilson Rice was reared in Jefferson town- 
ship, was educated in the common schools, 
spent two years at the Northwestern Ohio 
Normal school, Ada, Ohio, and later took a 
commercial course at A. D. Wilt's college, 
Dayton, Ohio. In 18S2 he began his career 
as a teacher in the common schools, in which 
vocation he has successfully continued, and 
since 1889 has been a resident of Germantown. 

Mr. Rice has been twice married. His 
first wife was Miss Amanda E., daughter of 
W. S. and Elizabeth ( Shroyer ) O'Neill, of 
Van Buren township ; his second wife was Miss 
Rilla, daughter of David and Elizabeth (Spring) 
Huber, of Germantown, by whom he has two 
children — David L. and Olive M. Mr. Rice is 
a member of the Reformed church, of the F. & 
A. M., I. O. O. F., K. of P., and of the For- 
esters. He is a democrat and served as post- 
master of Whitfield, Montgomery county, from 
September, 1S90, to January, 1895. In 1895 
he was elected trustee of German township 
and has served his constituents faithfully in 
both capacities. As an educator he has won 
golden opinions from the people of German- 
town, and as a citizen he stands high in the 
esteem of the community. 



^^OHN RISON, bridge builder and con- 
M tractor of Miamisburg, was born in 
A 1 Perry county, Ohio, July 25, 1832. 
He is a son of Peter and Elizabeth 
(Wood) Rison, who were natives respectively 
of Virginia and Pennsylvania. His paternal 
grandfather, Peter Rison, was a farmer of the 
state of Virginia. Peter Rison, father of 
John, settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1838, locating near Dayton, and later 
removed to Butler township, and engaged in 
farming, which occupation he followed until 



the time of his death, which occurred in 1849. 
Six of his children grew to maturity, as fol- 
lows: Thomas, who died while serving his 
country as a soldier during the late Civil war; 
John; Peter, now deceased; Henry, deceased; 
Emanuel, deceased; and David C. , of Van 
Wert, Ohio. 

John Rison was reared in Montgomery 
county, from the time he was six years of age, 
and was educated in the common schools. At 
the age of eleven he was thrown upon his 
own resources, and for the first six years there- 
after worked on a farm. Arriving at the age 
of seventeen he engaged in bridge building on 
the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, 
and this line of work he followed for six years. 
Afterward he became superintendent of bridge 
building for other parties, continuing thus en- 
gaged for several years, and about 1870 em- 
barked for himself in the same business, that 
of bridge building and contracting, which he 
has continuously and successfully followed ever 
since. He has been a resident of Miamisburg 
since 1852. 

During the late Civil war he was a mem- 
ber of company D, One Hundred and Thirty- 
first Ohio volunteer infantry, beginning his 
service as captain of his company, and retain- 
ing that position throughout. He was ap- 
pointed judge advocate at Annapolis, Md., 
but declined the office, and was honorably 
discharged with his company at the expiration 
of his term of service. He was married Jan- 
uary 10, 1S57, to Elizabeth Dininger, of Ger- 
mantown, Montgomery county, by whom he 
has four children, of whom only one survives, 
Annetta. Capt. Rison is a royal arch Mason, 
a Knight Templar, an Odd Fellow, belonging 
both to the encampment and canton, is a 
member of the Daughters of Rebekah, and of 
the Grand Army of the Republic. He served as 
a member of the city council of Miamisburg for 
fourteen years as a republican, having belonged 



1040 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



to that party ever since attaining his majority. 
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and an excellent member of both 
church and general society. Mrs. Rison died 
April 2, 1893. She was a lifelong member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and her esti- 
mable character and excellent qualities en- 
deared her to all who knew her. 



>-j-' ESSE J. ROGERS, of Randolph town- 
M ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
/• 1 born in Clinton county, August 8, 1846, 
and is a son of Reuben and Deborah 
(Jeffery) Rogers. He was but fourteen years 
of age when he came to Montgomery county, 
and resided here about two years, receiving 
his education in the common schools, and then 
went to Moscow, Clermont county. There he 
enlisted, August 15, 1862, and was mustered 
into the three years' service, at Cincinnati, in 
the First independent Ohio battery, under 
Capt. George P. Kirtland. He was soon pro- 
moted to be corporal, served until the close of 
the war, 'and was honorably discharged June 
26, 1865. He took an active part in the bat- 
tles of South Mountain, Fisher's Hill, several 
severe engagements in West Virginia, Fay- 
ettsville, Stevenson Depot, Lynchburg, New 
River and Bunker Hill, Va. The young sol- 
dier endured many hardships beside through 
severe and continued marching, and was seized 
with rheumatism, for which he was treated in 
camp, as he declined going to hospital. He 
was tenacious in the performance of his duty, 
and was in all the marches, skirmishes and 
engagements in which his regiment took any 
active part. 

After the close of the war Mr. Rogers re- 
turned to Montgomery county, and here mar- 
ried, October 20, 1866, Miss Sarah D. Landis, 
who was born in Randolph township, Novem- 
ber 28, 1.847, a daughter of John and Sarah 



(Dougherty) Landis. To this union there 
have been sent nine children: William, Ed- 
ward, Sarah, Charles, Bertha, Herbert, Web- 
ster, May and Harley — all born within the 
limits of Montgomery count}'. 

Mr. Rogers first located, after marriage, in 
Salem, where he was employed in the still- 
house of H. M. Turner for two years; lived in 
Baltimore, Montgomery county, for about 
three years, and in 1874 bought a farm in Ran- 
dolph township, which then comprised but 
forty-eight acres, but which he has, through 
his diligence and economy, increased to fifty- 
four acres, improving it with substantial build- 
ings, orchard, etc., and lived upon it until 
March 1, 1897, when he moved to Perry town- 
ship. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are members of 
the Christian church, in which he is a class- 
leader and superintendent of the Sunday- 
school. In politics Mr. Rogers is a republican, 
with a strong leaning toward the prohibition 
party, and is a member of Marshall post, 
Grand Army of the Republic, at Brookville. 

Reuben Rogers, father of Jesse J. Rogers, 
was born in New Jersey, of English descent. 
He was a sailor in early life, and after his 
marriage with Miss Jeffery came to Ohio and 
bought a farm of 160 acres in Clinton county, 
but shortly afterward sold this farm, moving 
to Highland county, where he purchased 
another farm, and there passed away in the 
Methodist faith at the age of eighty-four years. 
His children were, in order of birth, William 
H., Elizabeth, Alice, Lydia, Jesse J. and 
Sarah. Of these, William H. was a soldier 
for three years in the Fifty-ninth Ohio volun- 
teer infantry. 

Jesse Rogers, father of Reuben and grand- 
father of Jesse J., was a shipowner and sea- 
captain of Ocean county, N. J. 

John Landis, the father of Mrs. Sarah D. 
Rogers, was a substantial farmer, owning 1 10 
acres of land, was a member of the Dunkard 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1041 



church, and lived to be seventy years of age, 
leaving a family of eight children, viz: Israel, 
Mary, Anna. Kate, John, David, Sarah and 
William. 

The Jeffery family were of old colonial 
descent, and tradition has it that they were 
related to the historical John Rolfe, who mar- 
ried the Indian princess, Pocahontas, the 
daughter of Chief Powhatan. 



aHRISTIAN ROHRER, deceased, for 
many years a prominent citizen of 
German township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born in Lancaster coun- 
ty. Pa., December 2, 1804, a son of Christian 
and Anna Maria (Forrer) Rohrer, both natives 
of the Keystone state. His father and grand- 
father, the latter also named Christian, as well 
as himself, were born on the same farm in 
Lancaster county. Pa. This land was deeded 
by one of William Penn's agents to a member 
of one of the earlier Rohrer families, and was 
in their possession over 1 50 years — this own- 
ership ending in 1878, at the death of the last 
surviving brother, in Pennsylvania, at the age 
of eighty-six years. 

Christian Rohrer, our subject, was reared 
to manhood in his native state, receiving a 
good education, and on attaining his majority 
inherited from his father's estate a farm and 
sawmill property. About 1828 he came to 
Ohio and Indiana on a prospecting tour, and 
on returning to Pennsylvania disposed of his 
property, and in 1831 settled in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio. Here he pur- 
chased a rlouring-mill one mile west of German- 
town, which he operated until 1847. He then 
purchased the Risinger mill property, including 
seventy-five acres of land^ rebuilt the distillery 
which was on the farm, and which he had op- 
erated since 1835, and embarked in the man- 
ufacture of high wines and liquors, making the 



first Bourbon whiskey distilled in Montgomery 
county. He continued in the business until 
1861, when he retired. 

November 29, 1832, Christian Rohrer mar- 
ried Margaret, daughter of Christopher and 
Catherine (Kern) Emerick, who had settled in 
German township in 1804; she bore him five 
children, viz: Anna M. (Mrs. Thomas Grubb), 
David, Elizabeth (Mrs. Samuel Kaucher), Jo- 
sephine (Mrs. Henry H. Byers), and John H. 
Mr. Rohrer was one of the solid and success- 
ful business men of the Miami valley, was one 
of the charter members of the First National 
bank of Germantown, one of the original stock- 
holders of the C. , H. & D. Railroad Co., and 
always took a deep interest in worthy public 
enterprises, as well as in the progress, growth 
and development of the valley. He died July 
30, 1883, and his wife, who was born March 
8, 1 81 3, departed this life August 16, 1889. 

John H. Rohrer, a business man of Ger- 
mantown, was born in German township, July 
21, 1858, a son of Christian and Margaret (Eme- 
rick) Rohrer, mentioned above. He passed 
his youth in his native township, was educated 
in the public schools, and in 1879 began his 
business career by purchasing a half interest in 
the Diamond Flour mills at Gratis, Ohio, with 
which he was connected for one year, after 
which he spent four years in Kansas and the 
Indian territory, looking after real estate and 
cattle interests. In 1886 he embarked in the 
tobacco business at Germantown, Ohio, with 
J. C. Schaeffer, and, in 1890, also engaged 
with Mr. Schaeffer in the grain, coal and lum- 
ber business, which, as J. H. Rohrer & Co., 
has successfully continued since. He married, 
December 16, 1886, Julia A., daughter of 
George C. and Mary (Bachman) Banker, of 
Germantown, and has had born to him four 
children: Margaret E., Mary, Robert (de- 
ceased) and Eugene. Mr. Rohrer is a thirty- 
second degree Mason, and a member of the I. 



1042 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



O. O. F. , Friendship lodge, No. 21, of Ger- 
mantown, and also of the encampment. In 
politics he is a republican. 



(/\ AVID ROHRER, a prominent citizen 
I and well known distiller of German- 
S^^J town, was born in German township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, Novem- 
ber 10, 1835, a son of Christian and Margaret 
(Emerick) Rohrer, whose biography appears 
above. He was reared in his native township 
and educated in the public schools, and at the age 
of twenty-two years entered his father's distil- 
lery. In 1857 he became a partner, and, as C. 
Rohrer & Son, the business continued up to 
1 86 1. Christian Rohrer retiring, David then 
continued the business alone up to 1868. Dur- 
ing this period, in 1863, he erected a new dis- 
tillery, with a capacity of ten barrels of Bour- 
bon whisky per day. In 1868 Charles Hofer, 
of Cincinnati, was admitted as a partner, the 
firm becoming D. Rohrer & Co., and the part- 
nership existing until 1883, when Mr. Rohrer 
purchased Mr. Hofer's interest. He has since 
successfully conducted the business alone and 
has added to the capacity of his distillery, the 
output being now forty barrels per day. Mr. 
Rohrer was married, February 1, 1865, to 
Ada V., daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Schultz) Rohrer, natives of Maryland, who 
settled in Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1826. 
To this union were born five children: Josie 
(Mrs. F. N. Emerick), Albert, Ada V., Euge- 
nia and Frank C. 

Mr. Rohrer is one of the progressive busi- 
ness men of Montgomery county, whose suc- 
cess has been achieved by upright dealing in 
all the affairs of life. He is a member of the 
I. O. O. F. , and in religious belief is an advo- 
cate of the Universalist doctrine. In politics 
he is a republican. 



>-j*OHN S. ROBERTSON, M. D., a prom- 

m inent physician of Germantown, was 
/• 1 born in Hanover, Columbiana county, 
Ohio, July 25, 1843, and is a son of John 
and Margaret E. (Vallandigham) Robertson, 
natives of Prince Edward's Island and Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, respectively. 

Rev. James Robertson, his paternal grand- 
father, was a native of Perth, Scotland, a 
graduate of the university of Glasgow, and a 
Presbyterian clergyman. He was a member 
of the Scotch colony which first emigrated to 
Prince Edward's Island, and thence to the 
Scotch settlement in Columbiana county, Ohio, 
where he resided until his death, having had 
charge of the Presbyterian congregation in 
Hanover for several years. His wife was Janet 
Stuart. The maternal grandfather of John 
S. Robertson was the Rev. Clement Vallan- 
digham, a native of Washington county, Pa., 
of Scotch-Irish descent, also a Presbyterian 
minister; and he and Rev. James Robertson 
above mentioned, were the first two Presby- 
terian clergymen in Columbiana county, Ohio, 
and formed nearly all the churches of that de- 
nomination in that county. His wife was Re- 
becca Laird. 

John Robertson, father of John S., was for 
many years engaged in the drug and dry-goods 
business at New Lisbon, Ohio, was the first 
postmaster of New Lisbon under Abraham 
Lincoln, and died there in 1871. 

John S. Robertson was educated at the 
New Lisbon high school, and subsequently 
taught school several years, at the same time 
giving his attention and spare moments to the 
study of medicine. He attended medical lec- 
tures at the university of Ann Arbor, Mich., 
and was graduated at the Ohio Medical college 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1883. He had begun 
the practice of his profession in Columbiana 
county, Ohio, in 1868, and in April, 1869, 
located at Germantown, Montgomery county, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1043 



where, with the exception of six years, during 
which he was clerk of the courts, he has since 
been in the active practice of his profession. 
Dr. Robertson was married June 19, 1872, to 
Elizabeth M. , daughter of Daniel and Eliza- 
beth (Gunckel) Rowe, of Germantown, and has 
three children living: Fredonia, Robert L. 
and Jessie E. Dr. Robertson was a member 
of the Germantown school board for nine 
years, during which period he was instrumental 
in placing the Germantown public library on 
its present permanent and substantial basis, it 
having now a collection of 3,000 volumes. He 
is a member of the I. O. O. F., K. of P., 
A. O. U. W., and the G. A. R. During the 
late Civil war he was a member of company 
K, One Hundred and Forty-third Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, and was honorably discharged 
at the expiration of service. He served two 
terms, 1876-82, as clerk of the courts of 
Montgomery county, being politically a demo- 
crat. In 1893 he was appointed pension ex- 
aminer upon the home board. In his profes- 
sion Dr. Robertson is experienced and reliable, 
and has the full confidence of the residents of 
Germantown and vicinity, while as a citizen 
he holds a firm place in the esteem of the 
community at large. 



m 



OSES B. SCHAEFFER, dealer in 
agricultural implements at Miamis- 
burg, was born in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
December II, 1855, a son of John H. and 
Maggie (Baum) Schaeffer, both natives of this 
county. 

His paternal grandfather, John Schaeffer, 
a native of Frederick, Md., settled in German 
township at an early day, and cleared and im- 
proved the farm now owned by his grandson, 
Moses B. , where he died in 1S64. His wife, 
Eva Kemp, also a native of Maryland, died in 

44 



1865. Their children were Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Jones Monbeck), Louise (Mrs. Daniel H. Fahl), 
Rebecca (Mrs. Eli Faust), Harriet, Charlotte 
A. (Mrs. George Kemp), Maria, John H. and 1 
Jacob. The great-grandfather of Moses B. 
Schaeffer also became a resident of this county, 
where he died many years ago. 

John H., father of Moses B. Schaeffer, was 
born on the old homestead in 1829, and there 
always resided, with the exception of the last 
year of his life, which was spent in Miamisburg, 
where he died September 13, 1894. His wife 
was a daughter of Jacob Baum, a pioneer of 
Miami township. She bore him one son, Moses 
B., who was also reared on the homestead, 
was educated at Oberlin college, and spent one 
year at the Cincinnati Law school. From 
early manhood he was engaged in farming, 
which he followed until 1893, when he removed 
to Miamisburg, where he has since resided. 
He was employed for one year as engineer of 
the Miamisburg Electric Light plant, and was 
for two years associated with M. T. Apple, as 
foreman of his planing-mill. January 1, 1896, 
he embarked in business as a dealer in farm 
implements and farm machinery of every de- 
scription, in which he is still engaged. 

The marriage of Mr. Schaeffer took place 
October 9, 1879, with Ella W. , daughter of 
James C. and Mary (Wheeler) Anderson, of 
Carlisle, Ohio; they have five children, named 
Mary A., May, Bertha P., Fannie and Pearl. 
Mr. Schaeffer is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and of the I. O. O. F., in 
which he is a past grand, and past patriarch of 
Miamisburg encampment, No. 82. Politically 
he is a republican. Mr. Schaeffer's success 
through life may be attributed solely to his own 
industry and the skillful manipulation of the 
means he had under his control when he started 
in his business career, and he well deserves the 
high esteem in which he is held by the residents 
of Miamisburg and of Montgomery county. 



1044 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



>Y*OHN C. SCHAEFFER, a prosperous 
k business man of Germantown, Mont- 
/• 1 gomery county, Ohio, was born in that 
town January 27, 1 860 — a son of Will- 
iam H. and Catherine (Negley) Schaeffer. 
His paternal grandfather, George C. Schaeffer, 
formerly of Center county, Pa., came to Ger- 
mantown, Ohio, about 1820. John C. Negley, 
maternal grandfather of John C. Schaeffer, was 
born near Carlisle, Pa., and in 1S08 settled in 
German township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
In 181 1 he married Mary Shuey, daughter of 
Martin Shuey, a native of Lebanon county, Pa., 
who settled in German township in 1805. In 
18 12 Mr. Negley entered the service of the 
U. S. government as second lieutenant in the 
regiment commanded by Col. Pierce, and at 
the close of the war was chosen captain of a 
company of militia, and from this time until 
his death went by the name of Capt. Neg- 
ley. He died March 16, 1863, in his eighty- 
fifth year. 

William H. Schaeffer, father of John C, 
was born in Germantown, Ohio, February II, 
1837, a son of George C. and Frances A. (Mc- 
Clure) Schaeffer, both natives of Pennsylvania. 
His paternal grandfather, Michael Schaeffer, 
was a native of Pennsylvania and of German 
descent. George C. Schaeffer came, as abovr- 
stated, from Center county. Pa., to German- 
town, Ohio, about 1820, where he followed 
his trade of cabinetmaker for some years, and 
from 1833 to 1 8 58 was proprietor of the 
Schaeffer House, which, during that period, 
was the leading hotel of the place. He reared 
a family of six children: Maria (Mrs. Capt. 
George Wightman), George, William H., Cath- 
erine (Mrs Josiah Catrow), Ariadne (Mrs. 
Capt. W. H. Buzzard) and Josephine (Mrs. 
William Pauley). Mr. Schaeffer died in 185S, 
at the age of fifty-one years. William H. 
Schaeffer was reared and educated in German- 
town and began life for himself in the distillery 



business, operating a distillery from 1855 to 
1859. He later engaged in farming in Ger- 
man township and also spent two years in 
Toledo in the livery business. In 1867 he re- 
turned to Germantown, and embarked in busi- 
ness as a buyer and packer of leaf tobacco, in 
which he is still engaged. In 1858, he mar- 
ried Catherine, daughter of Capt. John and 
Mary (Shuey) Negley, pioneers of German- 
town, and has four children: John O, William 
N., Mary F. and George C. 

John C. Schaeffer was reared and educated 
in Germantown, and in 1878 located at Day- 
ton, Ohio, where he spent four years as clerk 
in the office of the Pan Handle railroad com- 
pany and two years as entry clerk in a large 
wholesale grocery. In 1884 he returned to 
Germantown, where he embarked in the leaf 
tobacco business, in which he still continues, 
having been associated since 1886 with J. H. 
Rohrer, and since 1S90 as a member of the 
firm of J. H. Rohrer & Co., grain, coal and 
lumber dealers. On April 6, 1889, he mar- 
ried Laura B., daughter of George C. and 
Mary (Bachman) Banker, of Germantown, and 
has three children, George, Catherine and 
Negley. 

George C. Banker, father of Mrs. John C. 
Schaeffer, was born in Poast Town, Butler 
county, Ohio, January 12, 1830, a son of Sol- 
omon and Mary A. (Coon) Banker, natives of 
Maryland and Kentucky, respectively. 

Solomon Banker was born in 1797, and 
came to Ohio in 1 8 1 7, settling in Butler county, 
where for several years he engaged in milling 
at Poast Town. Later he engaged in farming, 
and in 1836 removed to Warren county, where 
he died in 1861.' His wife was a daughter of 
John and Susannah Coon, who settled in War- 
ren county, Ohio, in 1S01. George C. Banker 
was reared in Butler and Warren counties, was 
educated in the common schools, and began 
life as a farmer in Warren county, where he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1045 



resided until 1866, when he removed to Ger- 
mantown, where he has since followed the 
same vocation. He was married in 1857 to 
Miss Mary A., daughter of Nathan and Julia 
A. (Bruner) Bachman, of Germantown, and 
has five children — Julia (Mrs. John H. Roh- 
rer), John, Laura B. (Mrs. John C. Schaeffer), 
G. Edward and Harry E. In politics Mr. 
Banker is a republican. 

In 1887 Mr. Schaeffer organized the Ger- 
mantown Building & Savings association, of 
which he has since been secretary, and has 
made it one of the successful institutions of the 
town. Mr. Schaeffer is a member of the I. O. 
O. F., and of the Foresters. He has been 
clerk of the corporation of Germantown since 
1886, and served on the school board three 
years. In politics he is a republican. 



HNDREW CASS SCHELL, an ac- 
countant of Miamisburg, Ohio, is a 
native of this city, born November 
22, 1847, and is a son of John and 
Catherine (Gebhart) Schell, natives of Berks 
county, Pa. 

Henry and Margaret (Leasher) Schell, his 
paternal grandparents, came from Pennsyl- 
vania to Ohio in 1820, and settled in Miamis- 
burg, where the grandfather followed his call- 
ing of cooper, although he devoted much time 
to farming, and later in life became a manu- 
facturer of plow points. The children born 
to Henry and Margaret Schell were named 
John, David, Catherine (Mrs. Andrew Emert), 
Jonathan, Molly (Mrs. Frederick Yaukey), and 
Martha (Mrs. Joseph Kutz). The paternal 
great-grandfather of Andrew C. Schell was a 
native of German)', who came to America be- 
fore the Revolution, in which heroic struggle 
he served with the rank of captain, and was 
also a farmer of Berks county, Pa. The other 
paternal great-grandfather, John Leasher, a 



native of Germany and a farmer of Berks 
county, Pa., likewise served as a captain in 
the Revolutionary war, and participated in the 
battles of the Brandywine, of Bunker Hill, 
and in several others of less note. Jacob Geb- 
hart, the maternal grandfather of Andrew C. 
Schell, was also a Pennsylvanian, and lost his 
life by accident while crossing the mountains 
on his way to Ohio in pioneer days. 

John Schell, father of Andrew C, was a 
shoemaker and the pioneer in that business in 
Miamisburg, and continued the leading dealer 
until he retired from the business, in 1S61. 
His first wife was a daughter of Jacob and 
Margaret (Gebhart) Kercher, of Miamisburg, 
and bore him two children: Matilda (Mrs. 
Samuel Witmyer), and Harriet (Mrs. Eli Rum- 
berger). His second marriage was with Miss 
Catherine Gebhart, and this union was blessed 
with four children, viz: John H., Emma 
(Mrs. Dr. Henry Schoenfeld), Margaret E. 
(deceased), and Andrew C, the subject of this 
biography. John Schell was recognized as an 
honorable and industrious citizen, and passed 
away in 1866. 

Andrew Cass Schell was educated in the 
public schools of Miamisburg and began his 
business life as a painter, a trade which he fol- 
lowed for twenty years. In 1872 he took a 
course of instruction at the Miami Commercial 
college, of Dayton, and for two years was em- 
ployed as bookkeeper by the Miami Valley 
Paper company. April 13, 1873, he married 
Miss Phebe, daughter of Louis and Louisa 
(Best) Machenheimer, of Miamisburg, to which 
union have been born three children — Carl, 
Louisa, and Emma. Since 1892 Mr. Schell 
has been employed as bookkeeper by the Kauff- 
man Buggy company, and is universally ac- 
knowledged to be an adept in his profession. 
He is a member of the Lutheran church. In 
his societary affiliations Mr. Schell is a Free- 
mason, and has been secretary in both lodge 



1046 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and chapter since 1880; he is also a Knight of 
Pythias, and since 1876 has been a member of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In 
his politics he is a democrat, has filled the 
position of village clerk for twelve years, and 
has just completed his sixth year as a member 
of the Miamisburg school board, of which for 
five years he served as clerk. He is honored 
in ali the walks of life and is, indeed, a good 
and useful citizen. 



BON. HENRY SCHOENFELD, M. 
D., was born in the city of Geln- 
hausen, in the province of Hesse- 
Nassau, Germany, November 26, 
1829. He is a son of Dr. Henry and Margaret 
(Kohler) Schoenfeld, who, in 1844, came to 
the United States, and located in Lancaster, 
Pa. Receiving his early education in the 
province of Hesse-Nassau, after coming to this 
country he spent some time in the study of 
medicine with his father at Lancaster, and also 
under a private tutor, Dr. Jacob Cooper, a 
graduate of Bellevue Hospital Medical college 
of New York city, and under the instruction of 
Dr. Ignatz Hoefle, a graduate of a medical 
college in Paris. 

Dr. Schoenfeld has always been of a 
venturesome disposition. In 1846 he spent a 
year in Cincinnati, as a prescription clerk in a 
drug store, and during the Mexican war he en- 
listed in Cincinnati, and went to Mexico, but 
on account of being under age was sent home 
on a requisition, much against his will. 

In 1848, during the excitement throughout 
the country caused by the discovery of gold in 
the west, he went to California, going round 
Cape Horn in a sailing vessel. In California 
and in travel down the Pacific coast as far 
south as Chile, he spent three years. While 
in California he was engaged in prospecting 



for gold, working in the mines, fighting Indians 
as a member of a volunteer company, and had 
many adventures in the unsettled country as 
one of the historic " forty-niners," or modern 
Argonauts. Returning in 1851 to Pennsyl- 
vania, via the isthmus of Panama, he entered 
the medical department of the university of 
Pennsylvania, and afterward spent one year in 
practice at Penningtonville, Pa., locating in 
1853 at Miamisburg, Ohio, where he has ever 
since been engaged in the active pursuit of his 
profession. Since 1877 he has done an ex- 
clusively office practice. 

During the Civil war Dr. Schoenfeld was 
colonel of the First regiment of Home Guards 
of Montgomery county, the guards being held 
as a reserve force, ready to be called on at any 
time. In 1865 he visited Germany and was 
there forcibly detained for military duty. 
Spending the first two weeks in a military 
prison, he was then detailed as a member of 
the king's body guard. Refusing to take the 
oath of allegiance, he was unable to secure 
relief or assistance from the United States 
minister, and after six months' litigation was 
released on an order of the supreme court, 
which acknowledged that Germany had no 
claim upon him. Dr. Schoenfeld is a demo- 
crat, and in 1859 was elected to represent 
Montgomery county in the state legislature, 
and was re-elected in 1871. During the ad- 
ministration of Gov. Bishop he was a trustee 
of the Dayton asylum for the insane. He 
served fourteen years in the Miamisburg city 
council, at last declining to accept another 
term. He also served as president of the Mi- 
amisburg board of health. Dr. Schoenfeld 
has been a member of the order of Odd Fel- 
lows and of the Harugari for nearly forty 
years, and was a charter member of the A. O. 
U. W. lodge and the Knights of Pythias lodge 
in Miamisburg. In the Harugari lodge he has 
been the ober grosse barde, chief officer of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1047 



the United States, and for two terms has 
served as grosse barde of the state of Ohio. 
September 7, 1857, Dr. Schoenfeld mar- 
ried Emma Schell, daughter of John and 
Catherine (Gebhart) Schell, of Miamisburg. 
To this marriage there have been born three 
sons, viz: Henry, M. D. ; John and Charles. 
Dr. Schoenfeld is a true patriot, a good neigh- 
bor and a warm-hearted friend, worthy of all 
honor as a man and a citizen, and stands de- 
servedly high in his profession, as also in 
social circles. 



BOUTS SCHELLHAAS, baker and 
confectioner of Miamisburg, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Rhinefalz, Germany, November 11, 
1859, a son of John and Catherine (Kurtz) 
Schellhaas. He received his education in the 
public schools of his native city, and there 
also learned his trade. At the age of twenty 
years he entered the German army in which 
he served three years; he next worked at his 
calling as a journeyman in his native land un- 
til 1884, when he came to the United States 
and located in Miamisburg, where he worked 
at his trade for nearly a year, and afterward in 
Dayton for six months. In November, 1885, 
he returned to Miamisburg and embarked in 
his present business, in which he has since 
met with uninterrupted success. 

November 26, 1885, Mr. Schellhaas was 
united in marriage with Mary, daughter of 
Jacob and Barbara Leicht, of Miamisburg, and 
they have two children — Harry and Elsie. 

Mr. Schellhaas is a member of the Lutheran 
church, and is active in the secret brother- 
hoods of the Harugari and the Ancient Order of 
United Workmen; in politics he is a democrat, 
and his social relations are of a most pleasant 
nature, as he is highly esteemed both as a busi- 
ness man and as a citizen. 



v/\ETER SCHREIBER, baker, of Mi- 
I m amisburg, Ohio, was born in Alsace- 
Lorraine, September 15, 1857, a son 
of Peter and Catherine ( Eberle ) 
Schreiber. The father was for fifteen years a 
captain in the French army, and for twenty- 
three years city sealer of Strasbourg, where 
his death took place in 1894. 

Peter Schreiber, the subject of this biog- 
raphy, at the age of fifteen years graduated 
from the Strasbourg high school, and in 1872 
came to America, first locating in Cincinnati, 
where he learned the baker's trade, which he 
followed for six years in that city. He then 
served as street-car conductor for five years, 
after which he again worked at his trade 
in the city and vicinity until 1888, when he 
located permanently in Miamisburg. In Octo- 
ber, 1893, he embarked in business on his own 
account, became very popular and successful, 
and November 1, 1895, he founded a branch 
establishment at West Carrollton, where he is 
enjoying a flourishing trade. 

February 28, 1877, Mr. Schreiber married 
Miss Mary C. Kluever, daughter of William 
Kluever, of Cincinnati, which marriage has 
been blessed by the the birth of six children, 
viz : Catherine, William, Peter, Dora, Fred 
and Carl. In his religion he worships at the 
Lutheran church, and his political connection 
is with the republican party ; fraternally, he is 
a Knight of Pythias, and a member of the 
Ancient Order of United Workmen, as well as 
of the Harugari, and is highly respected by the 
members of all of these fraternities, as well as 
by the public in general. 



>-j J ACOB SCHNEIDER, proprietor of 

■ Star City Arcade, Miamisburg, Ohio, 

(% 1 was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, 

May 6, 1854, a son of Jacob and Anna 

(Wenzler) Schneider. His father came to 



1048 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



America in January, 1854, and stopped one 
year in Cincinnati; then for two years in Frank- 
lin, where he was employed in various capaci- 
ties, and in 1857 located at Miamisburg, where 
he lived until 1859, and then went back to 
Germany. In March, 1861, he returned to 
Miamisburg, where he raised tobacco during 
the summers and worked about a hotel dur- 
ing the winters for several years, when he 
visited his home again, and on the death of his 
wife, in 1 871, he brought his family of two 
sons — Joseph and Jacob — to Miamisburg. He 
visited Germany again in 1876, remaining six 
months, and, returning, died in Miamisburg in 
August, 1879. 

Jacob Schneider, the subject, was reared 
in his native country until seventeen years of 
age, where he received a common-school edu- 
cation. In 1 87 1 he came to Miamisburg, 
where he learned the cabinetmaker's trade 
with Benjamin Brough, and was in his employ 
for thirteen years. March 17, 1S84, he em- 
barked in the furniture and undertaking busi- 
ness, in which he continued eight years, and 
in the meantime, April t, 1891, purchased the 
Star City Arcade cafe and billiard parlors, 
which he has since successfully conducted. 
He married, October 31, 1876, Catherine, 
daughter of Joseph and Frances Gates, of 
Miamisburg, and has five children — Anna, 
Robert, Nora, Edward and Lawrence. Mr. 
Schneider is a member of the Catholic church, 
and of D. O. H., No., 38, of Miamisburg. He 
is a democrat in politics, and is a respected 
citizen of the community. 



EENRY CHRISTIAN SCHUBERTH, 
tobacco dealer of Miamisburg, was 
born at Wandsbek, near Hamburg, 
Germany, June7, 184S. He is a 
son of William and Christina (Kahler) Schu- 



berth, who emigrated to the United States 
in 1852, and in Pennsylvania the former 
followed his trade, that of a carpenter, for 
two years, removing to Cincinnati in 1854, 
and there established himeslf in business at 
the corner of Fifth and Elm streets. There 
he remained in business until 1870, when 
he returned to Pennsylvania, locating at 
Unionville, near Pittsburg, where he now 
resides. His children grew to maturity, and 
were six in number, as follows: William; 
Henry Christian; August C. ; Charles; Emma, 
wife of Albert Burns; and Mary, the wife of 
John C. Snyder. 

Henry C. Schuberth came to the United 
States with his parents in 1852. He here re- 
ceived a common-school education, and after 
clerking four years in Allegheny City, Pa., 
and in Cincinnati, Ohio, removed to Miamis- 
burg in 1865, and had since resided in this 
city. In 1865, upon arriving in Miamisburg, 
he entered the employ of C. H. Spitzner, who 
was engaged in the tobacco business, and in 
1873 succeeded Mr. Spitzner in that industry, 
and at the same time acting as the representa- 
tive of Bunzel & Dormitzer, of New York. 
Mr. Schuberth is the oldest tobacco dealer in 
the Miami valley, when continuous and actual 
service are taken into account. 

Mr. Schuberth was married September 29, 
1870, to Sarah A. Shultz, of Miamisburg, and 
has three children, as follows: Clifford M., 
Mary A. and Harry C. He is a thirty-second 
degree Mason, a Knight Templar, an Odd 
Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, and in politics, 
a republican, in all of which relations, frater- 
nal and political, he maintains a high and cor- 
rect standing. In religious faith, he and his 
wife are members of the Lutheran church, 
and are active in the performance of their re- 
ligious duties. Few people, if any, in Miamis- 
burg or Montgomery county, stand higher in 
the public esteem for honorable character, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1049 



charitable deeds and sympathy with the af- 
flicted and the poor, than do Mr. and Mrs. 
Schuberth. 



>^OSEPH W. SHANK, president of the 

■ First National bank, of Germantown, 

A J Montgomery county, Ohio, is a native 

of Maryland and he first saw the light 

October 8, 1816. 

Adam Shank, his father, was also a native 
of Maryland, born in 1778, was a blacksmith 
by trade, and shortly after reaching his ma- 
jority married Miss Catherine Doup, by whom 
he became the father of a family of children, 
numbering twelve, of which family the follow- 
ing named grew to maturity: Samuel, Joseph 
W. , Joshua, Lydia (wife of Ezra Kemp), John, 
Elias and Mary (Mrs. Noah Myers). While 
Adam Shank was a blacksmith by trade, he 
drifted into farming, and for a few years fol- 
lowed that vocation in his native state. In 
1836 he came to Ohio and settled in Madison 
township, Montgomery county, where he pur- 
chased a farm of 240 acres, on which he re- 
sided, prospering year by year, until he was 
enabled, in 1850, to retire to Germantown, 
where he ended his days in 1856, honored by 
all who knew him. 

Joseph W. Shank was reared and educated 
in his native state until twenty years of age, 
when he came witn his parents to Ohio. His 
start in life, on his individual account, was at 
the age of twenty years, when he began work 
as a carpenter, and traveled through the coun- 
try, working at this trade and finding employ- 
ment in various other lines of business, twice 
visiting California. From 1841 to 1871 he 
engaged in farming in German township, where 
he owned at one time a farm of 400 acres. 
But in the meantime, being a man of natural 
executive ability, and ripened by travel and ex- 
perience, he assisted in organizing the First 



National bank, of Germantown, in 1863, and 
is now the only survivor of the original stock- 
holders in that financial enterprise, and has 
been its president since 1881. 

The marriage of Joseph W. Shank took 
place, in 1841, with Maria Brunner, daughter 
of John and Catherine (Harp) Brunner, of 
Jackson township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
to which union ten children have been born, of 
whom seven are still living, viz: John A., Sea- 
bury F., Mary (Mrs. George Bechtold), Ida 
(Mrs. Charles Cosier), Emma (Mrs. George 
Francis), Jabez and Maria. The family are 
members of the United Brethren church, of 
which Mr. Shank has himself, for the past 
forty-five years, been a communicant. In poli- 
tics he is a republican, but he has never had a 
desire for public office. His long life has been 
one of probity and industry, and is well worthy 
of emulation. 

John A. Shank, son of Joseph W. and 
Maria (Brunner) Shank, was born in Madison 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 26, 1846. He was, however, reared in 
German township and educated in its common 
schools. Brought up a farmer, he now owns 
and occupies the old Shank homestead, and is 
one of the well-to-do and prosperous farmers 
of the neighborhood. He was married. Feb- 
ruary 2, 1 87 1, to Miss Martha J. Eby, a daugh- 
ter of Adam S. and Elizabeth (Bertels) Eby, 
of Madison township, and is now the happy 
father of three sons, v'z: Orion L. , Arthur 
M. and Herbert A. Mr. Shank and his family 
are members of the United Brethren church, 
and in politics he is a republican. 



*w ■ * ENRY SHANK, of Perry township, 

J^k Montgomery county, Ohio, is one of 

P the most prosperous and substantial 

farmers of the county. Jacob Shank, 

his father, was born in 1782 or 1784 and lived 



1050 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



for some years in Fauquier count}', \ a. When 
twenty-four years of age he emigrated to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, together with his father, 
Henry, and his father's family. Here he mar- 
ried Elizabeth Noffsinger, who was a native of 
Pennsylvania and of Dutch ancestry. Jacob 
and Elizabeth Shank were the parents of the 
following children: Daniel, Mary, John, Sam- 
uel, Susannah, George, Jacob, Henry, Julia 
A., who died at the age of four years, Eliza, 
Catherine and Elizabeth. Mr. Shank settled 
on the farm now owned by his son, Henry, 
then containing eighty-four acres. This farm 
he cleared of its timber and added thereto by 
purchase eighty acres more in Perry township. 
By his industry and good management he be- 
came one of the most substantial farmers of his 
day. Both he and his wife were members of 
the United Brethren church, the first edifice 
for which body they assisted to build. Polit- 
ically, hewas a republican. He died in 1882. 

Henry Shank was born January 15, 1827, 
in Perry township, on his father's farm. 
Reared a farmer's boy he received the educa- 
tion of the times in which he lived, attending 
school in the primitive log school-house. At 
the age of thirty-five, in the year 1862, he 
married Susan Mundhenk, a daughter of 
Augustus and Susan (Knipe) Mundhenk, and a 
native of Perry township. Her father was the 
son of the old pioneer Mundhenk, of Perry 
township, whom every one well remembers. 
The children of Augustus Mendhenk, beside 
Mrs. Susan Shank, were as follows: Daniel, 
August, Henry, William, Sarah and Mary. 
Augustus Mundhenk lived to be seventy-six 
years of age, and was a miller by trade and 
occupation, as well as a farmer. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Shank 
settled on the old homestead, which they have 
since greatly improved, and which now con- 
tains 108 acres of land. Mr. Shank is one of 
the best farmers of his county, an excellent 



citizen, a member of the United Brethren 
church, and a republican. He is a trustee of 
his church and has served as trustee of his 
township. He and his wife are the parents of 
the following-named children: Ardella, Lizzie 
and Charles. 



lS~\ OAH SHANK, of Perry township, 
M Montgomery county, Ohio, is of Vir- 
r ginia and Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. 
Henry Shank, his grandfather, was 
born in Virginia, and married in that state, 
Catherine Rasor, by whom he had the follow- 
ing children: Jacob, who lived to be nearly 
if not quite 100 years old; Henry, John, Philip, 
George, Michael, who lived to be 108 years of 
age; Barbara, Mary, Elizabeth and two that 
died in infancy. Mr. Shank came to Ohio in 
1 S 1 9, settled in Perry township, cleared up a 
farm of 160 acres from the woods and made a 
good pioneer home. He was an excellent 
citizen, a member of the United Brethren 
church and died on his farm in Perry township. 

John Shank, his son and the father of 
Noah, was born in 1812 in .Virginia, and came 
with his father to Ohio in 18 19. Being reared 
among the pioneers and brought up to the life 
of a farmer, he himself naturally adopted that 
calling. He married Catherine Heiter, a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Se- 
bastian and Catherine Heiter, who came from 
Pennsylvania to Ohio and settled in Montgom- 
ery county at an early day. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shank located first in Mad- 
ison township, where they lived for some time, 
then moved into Perry township, and lived on 
Beaver creek. Mr. Shank at first had ninety- 
one acres of land, most of which he cleared 
from the woods. To this he added 1 50 acres, 
all of which he converted into an excellent 
farm, and became a most substantial farmer. 
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Shank were: 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1051 



Elizabeth, Noah, John, Daniel, Ephraim, Cath- 
erine, Joseph, Mary and Martha. Their father 
was a member of the United Brethren church, 
and the mother of the Lutheran church. Mr. 
Shank lived to be seventy-six years old, while 
Mrs. Shank lived to the age of eighty-four. 
Mr. Shank was a hard-working and industrious 
pioneer and an honored citizen. 

Noah Shank was born January 24, 1829, 
in Perry township. Receiving only the usual 
common-school education of that period, he 
was early inured to the laborious life of the 
farm. One of his duties, when a boy, was to 
ride the horse at threshing wheat on the barn 
floor. When he could, he went to school, at- 
tending an old log school-house which had 
slabs for seats, and boasted of the puncheon 
floor. When twenty-one years of age, on 
February 29, 1850, he married, in Madison 
township, Jemima Weaver, who was born in 
1828, in that township, and who is a daughter 
of Martin and Susan (Jordan) Weaver. Mar- 
tin Weaver was of German ancestry and came 
early from Virginia to Ohio, settling in Madi- 
son township, and making an excellent farm 
of 160 acres of land. His children were as 
follows: George, Mary A., Eliza, William, 
David, Martin, John, Susan, Adeline, Sarah 
and Kate. There were several other children 
who died young. Mr. Weaver was one of the 
early blacksmiths of Madison township, a 
member of the German Reformed church, and 
one of the prominent citizens of his day. 

Mr. and Mrs. Shank, after their marriage, 
settled on the Shank homestead, where they 
lived one year, and then rented a farm in Perry 
township, upon which they lived for three 
years. Mr. Shank then bought a farm of 137 
acres, partly cleared, upon which he erected a 
fine residence and added other improvements, 
such as are needed on a well-ordered and reg- 
ulated farm. Mr. Shank is a member of the 
Lutheran church and has held the office of 



deacon for many years. In fact, he was one 
of those who established the Lutheran church 
and erected its first church edifice in Perry 
township. As a democrat he served as health 
officer of the township for eight years, and as 
township trustee for seven years. He is a 
man well known for his strong convictions, 
and is well-informed and influential in his 
community. 



BRANK SHUEY, a successful machinist 
of Miamisburg, Ohio, was born in 
Dayton, February S, 1855, and is a 
son of Jacob and Phebe Jane (Mc- 
Cann) Shuey, natives of Montgomery county, 
and of the sixth generation from Daniel Shuey, 
a French Huguenot, who landed in Philadel- 
phia, in 1732, and soon afterward settled in 
Lebanon county, Pa., where he engaged in 
farming until his death, in 1777. 

Lewis Shuey, paternal grandfather of 
Frank, was born in Bethel township, Lancas- 
ter county, Pa., November 17, 1785, and in 
1796 was taken by his parents to Augusta 
county, Va. , where he was reared to manhood 
on a farm. In 1806 he came to Germantown, 
Montgomery count)', Ohio, and January 1, 
1808, married Catherine, daughter of Judge 
Philip and Catherine (Schaeffer) Gunckel, na- 
tives of Berks county, Pa., but who settled in 
Germantown, Ohio, in 1803. To this marri- 
age were born four sons — Philip, Lewis, Jacob 
and Michael. After his marriage, Lewis Shuey 
secured the milling property of his father-in- 
law, rebuilt and remodeled the mill, became a 
man of wealth and extended influence, and, at 
his death, which occurred February 16, 1872, 
left a large estate to his children. Lewis Shuey 
was a nephew of Martin Shuey, who settled in 
German township in 1805, and who was the 
progenitor of the Dayton family of that name. 
Aside from the respect paid him on account of 



1052 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his worth as a business man, Lewis Shuey en- 
joyed the reputation of being a moral and up- 
right gentleman. 

Jacob Shuey, father of Frank Shuey, and 
third son of Lewis and Catherine (Gunckel) 
Shuey, was born in Germantown, Ohio, Janu- 
uary 6, 1814, and first married, December 31, 
1835, Sarah Ann Ayers, who bore him four 
children, viz: William H., Harrison M. , 
George E., and Ellen ( wife of William Ber- 
inger). Mrs. Shuey was called away Febru- 
ary 19, 1847, at the early age of twenty-seven 
years, and for his second helpmate he chose 
Phebe J. McCann, a daughter of William Mc- 
Cann, a pioneer farmer and wood turner of Ger- 
mantown, and this lady he married March 12, 
1848. This union was blessed with three chil- 
dren, viz: Dona O., Philip and Frank. Mr. 
Shuey was engaged in the dry-goods business 
in Germantown from 1834 to 1850, when he 
moved to Dayton, where he continued in the 
dry-goods trade until 1859. He then moved 
to Miamisburg, where he successfully carried 
on milling until his death, which took place 
March 4, 1870 — leaving a spotless name and 
an unsullied reputation as priceless heirlooms 
to his descendants. 

Frank Shuey, the subject proper of this 
memoir, was reared in Dayton and Miamis- 
burg, was educated in the public schools and 
served an apprenticeship of five years as a gen- 
eral machinist in Miamisburg and Cincinnati. 
He afterward worked as a journeyman in va- 
rious parts of the country until 1886, when he 
opened a machine shop on his own account in 
Miamisburg ; here he does all kinds of work 
pertaining to the trade, including the manufac- 
ture of gas engines and trip hammers of his 
own invention, and is doing an altogether thriv- 
ing business. Mr. Shuey was united in mar- 
riage, in 1878, with Miss Alice Studybaker, 
daughter of Wesley Studybaker, of Brookville, 
Montgomery county. Mr. Shuey and wife are 



members of the Reformed church, and live 
fully in accord with its teachings. Fraternally, 
Mr. Shuey is an Odd Fellow and a Knight of 
Pythias, and in politics is a republican. So- 
cially, Mr. and Mrs. Shuey enjoy the sincere 
esteem of the entire community in which they 
live, and Mr. Shuey's walk through life has 
been such as to preserve the good name left to 
him by his progenitors. 



*w ■ * ON. WILLIAM SHULER, M. D.. a 

l^\ prominent practicing physician of 
W Miamisburg, was born at Sumney- 
town, Montgomery county, Pa. , Jan- 
uary 7, 1843. He is a son of Henry and 
Maria (Miller) Shuler, and, as the name indi- 
cates, is of German extraction. He was first 
educated in the public schools of his native 
state, then in the classical department of 
Ursinus college, and, in 1867, was graduated 
from the medical department of the university 
of Pennsylvania, that commencement being 
the 100th anniversity of its establishment, the 
university itself, however, having been estab- 
lished in 1753, fourteen years before the med- 
ical department. 

On October 7, 1861, Mr. Shuler enlisted in 
company B, One Hundred and Seventh regi- 
ment, P. V. I., and re-enlisted, or veteranized, 
in 1864, in the same company. After serving 
four years, and enduring all the trials and 
hardships of the soldier's life, and having been 
advanced from the ranks for gallant service, 
he was mustered out, in 1865, as captain of 
company C, of his regiment. During these 
four years, beside marching and fighting, and 
performing all the duties of a patriotic soldier 
faithfully and cheerfully, he experienced the 
hardships of prison life in Libby prison, at 
Danville and at Salisbury, for seven months. 
After graduating, as above narrated, he 
practiced his profession in the east one year, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1053 



and in August, 1868, located in Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, where he has since 
resided, and where he has continued in the 
practice of his profession with a success which 
is very gratifying. Politically Dr. Shuler is a 
republican, has served his town as councilman 
for six years, and as a member of the board of 
education for the same period. For four years 
he was president of the board of examining 
surgeons at the soldiers' home, near Dayton, 
and, in 1893, he was elected to represent his 
county in the legislature of the state, where 
he served his constituents so faithfully and 
well that he was re-elected in 1895 by a largely 
increased majority. 

On October 30, 1871, Dr. Shuler was mar- 
ried to Nora Weaver, of Miamisburg, daugh- 
ter of Dr. Joseph and Fanny (Swar) Weaver, 
and to this marriage have been born five chil- 
dren, as follows : Grace, Carl, Fannie, Clara 
and William. All have been or are now being 
well educated in the public schools and in pri- 
vate institutions. Dr. Shuler and his wife are 
pleasant, hospitable and generous, and most 
popular and influential in both social and re- 
ligious circles. 



ON. EMANUEL SHULTZ, retired 



manufacturer and an ex-congressman 



75 

1 , P from Ohio, was born in Berks county, 
Pa., July 25, 1819. He is a son of 
George and Mary (Vinyard) Shultz, both of 
whom were natives of Pennsylvania. His pa- 
ternal grandfather, Frederick Shultz, was a 
native of Hesse-Cassel, in the Prussian duchy 
of Nassau, and came to America prior to the 
Revolutionary war. He became a soldier in 
the American army during that great struggle 
for independence, and served his adopted coun- 
try well. 

Emanuel Shultz received his education, 



until his eleventh year, in the common schools, 
and then, owing to the death of his father, he 
was compelled to depend on private study and 
self-teaching. Learning the shoemaker's trade 
through an apprenticeship of seven years, in 
Philadelphia, he was well prepared for self- 
support, and in 1838 he removed to Ohio, lo- 
cating in Miamisburg, where he established 
himself in the boot and shoe business, employ- 
ing from five to fifteen journeymen. This 
business he continued until 1846, when he 
changed his occupation to that of a general 
commission and mercantile trade. Soon be- 
coming one of the largest and most successful 
operators in his branch of commerce in the 
Miami valley, he took a leading part in the es- 
tablishment, organization and development of 
all the prominent enterprises of Miamisburg. 
One of these was the private bank of H. Groby 
& Co., established in 1865, in which Mr. 
Shultz was interested from the time of its es- 
tablishment until 1888. He was the principal 
projector of the Miami Valley Paper company, 
which, in connection with Dr. William H. 
Manning, he organized in 1871. With this 
latter enterprise he was connected until 1S89. 
From 1853 to 1S70 he was engaged extensively 
in dealing in leaf tobacco, and did much to en- 
courage the growth of this important staple 
product of the state of Ohio. The Miami 
valley is one of the noted tobacco growing re- 
gions of the state, comprising about 7,500 
square miles, and the average yield of its best 
soils reaching as high as 1,800 pounds per acre. 
Mr. Shultz was married July 23, 1840, to 
Sarah Beck, daughter of Conrad and Mary 
(Anspaugh) Beck, of Miamisburg, and to this 
marriage there were born three children, as 
follows: Mary A. (Mrs. Dr. William H. Man- 
ning), Amanda M. (Mrs. A. T. Whittich), and 
Sarah Aletta (Mrs. H. C. SchuberthV In re- 
ligion Mr. Schultz is of the Lutheran faith, 
and fraternally he belongs to the Masons, Odd 



1054 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Fellows and Knights of Pythias. He is a 
royal arch Mason and a Knight Templar, and 
was a charter member of Marion lodge, No. 
iS, I. O. O. F., of Miamisburg, which was 
organized in 1843. As a republican Mr. Shultz 
has held every office but one, that of township 
clerk, in the gift of Miami township and Mi- 
amisburg. Previous to the organization of the 
republican party he was a whig, but since that 
time has always been a republican. In 1875 
he was elected to the legislature, but was not 
a candidate for re-election. In 1873 he was a 
member of the convention that revised the 
state constitution, which, upon being sub- 
mitted to the people, was rejected. In Octo- 
ber, 1880, he was elected to congress from the 
Fourth district, which position he filled with 
credit to himself and to the satisfaction to his 
constituents. Elected commissioner of Mont- 
gomery county in 1859, he served three years. 
In 1 88 1 he was one of the organizers of the 
Lima Car works, was a stockholder and served 
as vice-president until he sold his interest. 

Mr. Shultz is a gentleman of sound and 
shrewd business judgment, and few are pos- 
sessed of a more genial disposition or endowed 
with so happy a faculty of winning friends. Of 
quick perception, he reads at a glance the 
character and disposition of those with whom 
he comes in contact; a ready conversationalist, 
he is thoroughly at home in any discussion. 
Free, unaffected and courteous in manner, he 
is still dignified and earnest and is a represent- 
ative man of the better class. He is fully 
alive to the practical every-day affairs of 
life, and is now enjoying the fruits of his own 
industry, which he has accumulated through 
half a century's exercise of good business tact 
and discerning and comprehensive survey of 
the tendencies of commercial movements and 
the necessities of his fellow-men. In 1889 he 
was appointed by President Harrison postmas- 
ter at Miamisburg, and filled the office in a 



most capable manner for four years and five 
months, retiring on the appointment of his 
successor in 1894. 



EON. CHARLES A. SIMONTON, 
ex-mayor of Miamisburg, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, and a success- 
ful business man of this thriving place, 
was born in Lebanon, Warren county, Ohio 
February 5, 1857. He is ason of Theophilus 
and Mary (Willis) Simonton, both of whom 
are still living. Theophilus Simonton is the 
son of Adam Simonton, who was born in what 
is now Warren county, Ohio, in 1789. Adam 
Simonton's father was a native of Ireland, an 
early emigrant from that country to America, 
and was a soldier of the Revolutionary army, 
thus aiding in the establishment of the Amer- 
ican republic. Adam Simonton was by occu- 
pation a farmer, was captain of a company in 
the war of 181 2, and late in life removed from 
Warren county, Ohio, to Lincoln, Logan coun- 
ty, 111., and there died. Theophilus Simonton 
was born in Warren county, Ohio, is a carriage- 
maker by trade, and settled in Miamisburg in 
1864. From that time until 1876 he was in 
the employ of the Kauffman company, and in 
the year last mentioned he established himself 
in business and has since continued to follow 
his trade. His wife was a daughter of George 
and Anna (Gorman) Willis, of Warren county, 
and he has two sons, George and Charles A. 

Charles A. Simonton came to Montgomery 
county with his parents in 1864, and here he 
has since resided. He was educated in the 
Miamisburg public schools, graduating from 
the high school May 22, 1874. In 1S94 he 
was honored by the high school alumni by 
being elected president of the alumni associa- 
tion. On leaving school he served an appren- 
ticeship of three years at general blacksmith- 
ing with the Kauffman company, and after the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1055 



expiration of that period worked as a journey- 
man until 1 891, when he embarked in busi- 
ness for himself as a member of the firm of 
Simonton & Ebling, which firm owns and 
operates a general blacksmithing and repair 
shop, and is meeting with ample success. 

Mr. Simonton was married, February 17, 
1 88 1, to Ada M. Smith, daughter of John and 
Anna Smith, of Lincoln, 111., people of excel- 
lent character and standing in the community 
in which they live. He is a member of the 
United Brethren church, and both he and his 
wife are untiring in their devotion to religious 
and educational work. Fraternally he is a 
member of Marion lodge, of the encampment 
and of canton Groby (patriarchs militant), 
I. O. O. F.; of the Knights of Pythias, and of 
the Ancient Order of United Workmen. Of 
Marion lodge he is past noble grand. In poli- 
tics he is a democrat. 

April 1, 1894, Mr. Simonton was elected 
mayor of Miamisburg, and in his official capac- 
ity proved himself to be a man of force and 
ability, as well as of tact and discretion. 
Being one of the most active and public spir- 
ited of the young business men of Miamisburg, 
he is always on the alert for the promotion of 
the public good, and his official administration 
has been a credit to his patriotism and judg- 
ment, and satisfactory to the people at large. 



K,/^\ EV. JOHN SMITH, a minister of the 
I /«^ German Baptist church, Madison 
V township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
is a native of the county and was 
born on his father's farm, November 30, 1827. 
Jacob Smith, his grandfather, was born in 
Maryland, near Hagerstown, of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch descent, and there married Mary Clop- 
per, who came from Germany when ten years 
of age, the result of the union being several 
children, of whom the names of the following 



are remembered: John, Jacob, Henry, Abra- 
ham, David, Mary, and one who became Mrs. 
Zook. Jacob Smith was a farmer, and in his 
latter years moved to Pennsylvania, the home 
of his forefathers, and passed the remainder 
of his life in Bedford county. 

Abraham Smith, son of Jacob and father 
of the Rev. John Smith, was born in Bedford 
county, Pa., in 1784. His father having died, 
his mother married Philip Knee, and in 1809 
the family came to Ohio, Abraham being then 
fifteen years of age. Mr. Knee first located 
at Germantown, Montgomery county, remained 
a year or so, then passed one year on Wolf 
creek, west of Dayton, and in iS 10 came to 
Madison township and purchased a tract of 
160 acres on the Salem road in the northeast 
corner of the township, and all in the deep 
woods. This land Abraham Smith assisted in 
clearing, and indeed did very nearly the entire 
work unaided. At the age of twenty-eight 
years he married Miss Catherine Bowman, 
daughter of John and Mary Bowman; he then 
bought the homestead from Philip Knee, and 
here lived all his active life. To the marriage 
of Abraham Smith were born two children — 
John, the subject of this biography, and one 
child that died unnamed. Mrs. Smith died in 
1830, a pious member of the German Baptist 
church, her only child, John, being then but 
three years of age. Abraham attained the age 
of eighty-seven years and six months, was also 
a devout member of the German Baptist church, 
and died in 1871 at the residence of his son, 
Rev. John Smith, leaving behind him many 
old friends to mourn his departure. 

Rev. John Smith was reared to farming, 
receiving at the same time a very good com- 
mon-school education. October 14, 1847, a t 
the age of twenty, he married, in Madison 
county. Miss Susan Wolf, a native of Mont- 
gomery county, born August 25, 1828, and a 
daughter of Jacob B. and Catherine (Miller) 



1056 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Wolf. The young couple lived for several 
years on the old Smith homestead. In 1869 
they moved to an eighty-acre tract which Mr. 
Smith had purchased, and which he cleared up 
and increased to 158 acres. Here Mrs. Smith 
died August 29, 1890 — a woman of many 
womanly virtues and a devout member of the 
German Baptist church. Following are the 
names of the children born to Rev. John Smith 
and his lamented wife: Sarah J., born August 
3, 184S — died February 8, 1861; Catherine, 
born October 6, 1851; an infant, born Novem- 
ber 16, 1853, but died unnamed; Andrew W., 
born October 24, 1854; Lucinda, July 2, 
1856; Harriet E., March 2, 1859; Oliver J., 
September 23, 1861; Emma, September 14, 
1863, and Mary E., January 24, 1865. Mr. 
Smith continued to reside on his farm until 
1892, when he bought a pleasant residence in 
Trotwood, where he has since been living re- 
tired from the active labor of life. He be- 
came a member of the German Baptist church 
in 1 85 1 and was elected a deacon in 1857; in 
i860 he was licensed preacher, and has since 
been active in expounding the gospel to his 
people, and in all respects exerting a large 
influence for good. Providence has blessed 
his labors in this respect, and, so aided, also, 
he has by his industry and thrift increased his 
worldly store. He at one time owned 568 
acres of land, which he has distributed among 
his children, reserving for himself a tract of 
thirty acres from the home farm, in addition 
.to his pleasant town residence. 



a 



NDREW SNELLER, of the well- 
known firm of Theobald & Sneller, 
the leading barbers of Miamisburg, 
Ohio, was born in Cincinnati April 
29, 18C2, and is a son of Louis and Philopena 
I Bollinger) Sneller, the former of whom was a 
tailor by trade and died July 5, 1863, from the 



effect of a wound received at Vicksburg, Miss., 
while battling in defense of his country's flag 
during the late Civil war. 

Andrew Sneller was educated in the public 
schools of Cincinnati, and on May 1, 1876, 
apprenticed himself to the barber's trade, at 
which he served two and a half years, and 
then worked at the business as a journeyman 
for eight years. In 1882 he located in Miam- 
isburg, and in 1884 formed a partnership with 
Adam Theobald, under the firm name of 
Theobald & Sneller, for the purpose of con- 
ducting a first-class tonsorial establishment, 
and, both partners being competent workmen, 
the concern enjoys an excellent business. 

Andrew Sneller was united in the bonds of 
matrimony October 25, 1891, with Miss Jennie 
E. Schuster, daughter of Charles O. and Mary 
E. (Loesch) Schuster, of Miamisburg, and to 
this union has been born one daughter — Mar- 
garet May. Mrs. Sneller is a consistent mem- 
ber of the Reformed church, while Mr. Sneller 
affiliates with the Lutherans. Mr. Sneller is 
a royal arch Freemason and in politics is a re- 
publican. His social relations are of a most 
pleasant character, as he and wife are highly 
esteemed by a large circle of sincere friends. 



lS~\ AVID JULIUS SNEPP, farmer, con- 
I tractor, and president of the Farmers' 
S\^f Mutual Fire association, of Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born in Miami 
township, May 20, 1842, a son of John and 
Catherine (Neible) Snepp. His paternal grand- 
parents, Leonard and Catherine (Isley) Snepp, 
were natives of Pennsylvania and were among 
the pioneers of Miami township, as was also 
his maternal grandfather, John Neible, who 
was by birth a Virginian. 

John Snepp, father of David J., was born 
in Miami township in 18 12; was a blacksmith 
by trade, and in 1845 removed to Shelby 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1057 



county, Ind., where he died in 1881. His 
children were: Elizabeth (Mrs. Hugh A. Hos- 
kins), William, Maria (Mrs. Jacob Runchey), 
Joseph, David J., and Mary J. (Mrs. Manning- 
ton Fickle). 

David J. Snepp was reared in Indiana from 
three years of age, and was educated in the 
common schools and in Purdy's Business col- 
lege, at Indianapolis. Farming has been his 
principal occupation, though for three years 
he was engaged as a buyer and shipper of 
grain at Boggstown and Fairland. In 1883 
he removed to Miami township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, where he has since been en- 
gaged in farming and contracting. In Novem- 
ber, 1866, he married Miss Margaret A., 
daughter of Joseph H. and Nancy L. (Hammal 
Dryden, of Miami township, and has four chil- 
dren — John D., Harry D., Nancy G., and 
Catherine C. Mr. Snepp has been president of 
the Montgomery County Mutual Fire associa- 
tion since 1890, and served one term as justice 
of the peace of Miami township, having been 
elected as a democrat; he was also president 
of the centennial celebration for the south 
half of Montgomery county, at Alexanders- 
ville, August 26, 1S96. He and his family 
command the respect of the entire community 
in which they live, and deservedly enjoy the 
esteem of their neighbors. Still in the prime 
of life, Mr. Snepp is engaged in the vigorous 
prosecution of the various lines of business 
which have occupied his attention for some 
years past. 



WOHN T. SNEPP, a retired farmer liv- 
m ing at Miamisburg, Montgomery coun- 
(% 1 ty, Ohio, was born in Jefferson town- 
ship, this county, December 2, 1S41. 
He is a son of John and Catherine (Rodehefferj 
Snepp. His grandfather was also named John, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, married a Miss 



Gebhart, located in Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, in 1804, and took up a 
tract of land on what is now the Farmersville 
& Carrollton pike, which he partially cleared 
and improved. This he finally sold and pur- 
chased another farm in the same township, 
most of which he cleared, and upon which he 
died. He and his wife were the parents of 
four children, as follows: Leonard; Eva, wife 
of John Getter; John, and Sarah, wife of 
Jacob Getter. 

Of these four children John was born in 
Jefferson township in 1808, engaged in farm- 
ing, and resided in the township all his life, 
dying in October, 1890, at the age of eighty- 
two. His wife, Catherine, was a daughter of 
Samuel Rodeheffer, of Jefferson township, 
Montgomery county. She bore him four chil- 
dren: Barbara, wife of John Getter; Mary M., 
wife of William W. Getter; John T. and 
Samuel. 

John T. Snepp was reared in his native 
township, was educated in the public schools 
and at Wittenberg college, and remained at 
home until 1869. He then purchased a farm, 
which he still owns, and on which he resided 
until 1889, when he removed to Miamisburg. 
On January 8, 1868, he was married to Mar- 
tha Snider, daughter of Adam and Mary (Ham- 
maker) Snider of Miamisburg. She bore him 
four sons, viz: Samuel E., a graduate of 
Heidelberg university, and at present a stu- 
dent in the McCormick Theological seminary 
at Chicago, preparing for the ministry in the 
Reformed church; Hugh Allen, also a graduate 
of Heidelberg university, and now at Clark's 
university, Worcester, Mass. , taking a post- 
graduate course preparatory to teaching school; 
Arthur E. and Lorin H., both students at 
Heidelberg university. 

Mr. Snepp and his family are members of 
the German Reformed church. In politics he 
is a democrat, and as such has served as clerk 



lllf.N 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of Jefferson township. Though a strong parti- 
san he is not in any sense a seeker after public 
honors, remaining content to perform his duty 
as a private citizen. 



^yj»ILLIAM S. ZELLER, one of the 
mm oldest and most respected natives 

\JLj| ni Germantown, Ohio, was hern 
October 17, 1829, and is a son of 
Andrew and Elizabeth (Kumber) Zeller. His 
great-grandfather, Andrew Zeller, came from 
Berks county, Pa., with his wife and five chil- 
dren, settled in German township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, in 1806, and cleared a farm 
near Germantown, on which he passed the re- 
maining years of his life. His children were 
named John, Michael, Andrew, Mary (Mrs. 
Dr. Jacob Antrim), and Christine (Mrs. Henry 
Kumber). 

John Zeller, son of Andrew and grand- 
father of William S. Zeller, cleared the farm 
in German township now owned by Ezra 
Kemp. On this farm Mr. Zeller made his 
home until his retirement to Germantown, 
where his life ended in i860. His wife, Chris- 
tiana, was a daughter of Martin Shuey, a pio- 
neer of German township, and to their mar- 
riage were born Andrew, Henry, Sarah (Mrs. 
James Gilbert), George, John, Christiana (Mrs. 
Rev. John L. Hoffman), David, Mary (Mrs. 
Jacob Zehring), and Eliza (Mrs. Rev. Peter B. 
Baker.). 

Andrew Zeller, the eldest of the above 
family and father of William S., was born in 
Berks county. Pa., January 29, 1804, was 
brought to German township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, by his parents and grandparents 
in 1806, as has already been mentioned, and 
here was reared to manhood. In 1830 he re- 
moved to Butler county, Ohio, where he was 
injured in a runaway accident in July, 1845, 
and died from the effect of the injury thus 



sustained in the following October. He was 
an able, intelligent and industrious man, whose 
untimely death was a loss to the entire com- 
munity. His wife was a daughter of Bishop 
Henry Kumber, and their children were Joseph 
K. , William S., John H., David A., and Mary 
E. , the wife of Dr. Samuel McClellan. 

William S. Zeller, whose name opens this 
sketch, was reared chiefly in Butler county, 
Ohio, throughout his boyhood and younger 
manhood and there received his elementary 
education, which was supplemented by an at- 
tendance at the Miami university of Oxford, 
Ohio. In April, 1849, he returned to Ger- 
mantown, where he conducted a drug store 
until January, 1878, since which date he has 
practically been living in retirement, although 
he has given some attention to the farm. 

The marriage of William S. Zeller was 
solemnized February 4, 1857, with Miss Lo- 
vina Schaeffer, daughter of George W. and 
Elizabeth (Catrow) Schaeffer, and grand- 
daughter of Jacob and Susannah Schaeffer, 
who came from Center county, Pa., in 1806, 
and settled in German township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio. To the union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Zeller have been born six children, two of 
whom are living, William E. and Maud, the 
latter now the wife of Dr. Loren Wilkie. 

Mr. Zeller, during the late Civil war, was 
a member of company E, Twelfth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, in which he served two and 
one-half years, and, after an honorable dis- 
charge from that service, re-enlisted and 
served one hundred days in company E, of the 
One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio infantry, 
from which, at the end of his service, he was 
also honorably discharged. In his religious 
faith, Mr. Zeller is firmly united to the Breth- 
ren in Christ, and in politics is a republican. 
Fraternally, he is a Freemason, also a mem- 
ber of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
as well as of the Grand Army of the Republic. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1061 



5>^V OAH E. SPITLER, a descendant of 
m one of the oldest pioneer families of 
r Montgomery county, and a regular 
minister of the old German Baptist 
church, was born in Clay township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, June 22, 1848. For a fuller 
account of the Spitler family than here pre- 
sented the reader is referred to the biography 
of Dr. E. W. Spitler, printed elsewhere in 
this volume. 

Samuel Spitler, the grandfather of Noah E. , 
was born in Lancaster county. Pa., and mar- 
ried Catherine Mishler, by whom he had the 
following children: Joseph, John, Jacob, 
Samuel, Henry, Daniel, David and Mary. 
Samuel Spitler moved to Ohio about 18 15, 
settling in Stark county, and living there about 
ten years. In 1825 he came to Montgomery 
county, settling on 765 acres of land, most of 
which he cleared up from the woods. In 1853 
he removed to Miami county, Ohio, passing 
the remainder of his life with his son-in-law, 
Joseph Gnodle. For many years he was a 
deacon in the German Baptist church, a man 
of influence in his neighborhood, and reached 
the age of seventy-two years, having been 
well-known for many miles around as a sturdy, 
hardworking, thrifty pioneer farmer. 

Jacob M. Spitler, his son, and father of 
Noah E., was born in Stark county, Ohio, 
January 8, 1820. He received a common- 
school education, became a farmer, and in due 
course of time married Ellen Earhart, who 
was born in 1831. She was a daughter of 
Jacob Earhart. Mr. and Mrs. Spitler settled 
on land in Clay township, purchasing eighty 
acres, which he greatly improved and made 
into a good farm and home. When he settled 
on it this tract was partly cleared, and by the 
untiring labor of his own hands he cleared 
away the surplus timber, added fertilizing ma- 
terial to the soil wherever necessary, and 

brought his farm to a profitable state of culti- 
45 



vation. He and his wife reared the following 
children: Levi, Harriet, Noah, and Mary Al- 
len. Mrs. Spitler died in 1856, Mr. Spitler re- 
maining on the home farm four years a widow- 
er. In 1 86 1, he married Mrs. Mary Sharp, 
a widow, whose maiden name was Stutsman. 
Mr. Spitler then bought land in Miami county, 
Ohio, where he lived until 1869, when he re- 
moved to Douglas county, Kans., there settling 
on 120 acres of land, upon which he is still 
living. His well-earned reputation for integ- 
rity and honorable dealing has followed him 
from Ohio to the west, where he is prosperous 
and successful. 

Noah E. Spitler received an excellent ed- 
ucation in the district school, and afterward 
attended the high school at Piqua. For some 
years he was successfully engaged in teaching 
school in Montgomery county, and also in 
Miami county. On August 9, 1870, he mar- 
ried Miss Anna Binkley, in Montgomery 
county, she having been born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., June 25, 1847. She is a daugh- 
ter of Jacob M. and Mattie K. (Weller) Bink- 
ley. For a fuller mention of Mrs. Spitler, the 
reader is referred to the history of the Binkley 
family, elsewhere published in this volume. 

Mr. Spitler removed, in 1877, to Miami 
county, remaining there until 1893, where, 
with the exception of a few years, he was en- 
gaged in teaching school. He has been one 
of the most successful of teachers, having 
taught thirteen years in three districts, twenty- 
seven months constantly in one district. In 
1876 he taught a graded school in district No. 
12, Miami county. His ability as a teacher is 
fully recognized and his labors in this capacity 
have always been highly appreciated by the 
people of Montgomery and Miami counties. 
Many people of prominence, both men and 
women, have been pupils of Mr. Spitler, and 
have their names on his roll of honor. 

In 1893 Mr. Spitler removed to his present 



1062 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



farm of thirty-eight acres. He and his wife 
are the parents of the following children: 
Harriet E. and Jacob F. Mr. Spitler became 
a member of the German Baptist church in 
1875, and in 1882 began preaching the gospel 
to his people, and has since continued to 
preach. He has always led a life of great 
usefulness, his object being to live for the ben- 
efit of others. In the fields of education and 
religion his work has been that of one who 
loved his fellow-men. 



>-y*OHN J. STETTLER, a prominent 
A farmer, was born in Miami township, 
/» 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, January 7, 
1835, a son of Daniel and Elizabeth 
(Wicklet) Stettler. His great-grandfather, 
George V. Stettler, with his wife and five sons 
— William, Henry, Daniel, George and Jacob — 
natives of Berks county, Pa., settled in Miami 
township about 1802, locating one mile south- 
west of Miamisburg, where the father died 
April 23, 1815. His son, Daniel, grandfather 
of John J., was born in Berks county, Pa., in 
June, 1773; was married in 18 10 to Catherine 
Gehres, also a native of the Keystone state, 
but who came to Butler county, Ohio, with 
her family about 1802. She was born in 1783 
and had four children by her union with Mr. 
Stettler — Daniel, Hannah (Mrs. Jacob Shy), 
Philip and George. Daniel, the father, was 
in the war of 181 2, and died in Miami town- 
ship in June, 1853, his wife surviving him un- 
til November 27, 1863. Both Daniel and his 
father, George V. , were large landholders, and 
it was at the cabin of the Stettlers that one of 
the early churches was organized in 1806, 
which organization is yet in existence. Dan- 
iel Stettler, father of John J. and the eldest 
son of Daniel and Catherine (Gehres) Stettler, 
was a farmer by occupation and spent all his 
life in Miami township. His children were 



five in number, viz: John J., Catherine (Mrs. 
Jacob Tobias), Mary (Mrs. Wesley Fornshell), 
Jacob and Daniel. 

John J. Stettler was reared in Miami town- 
ship, where most of his life has been spent in 
farming, in which he has been very successful. 
In 1 86 1 he married Loretta, daughter of Dan- 
iel Hohn, of Miami township, and has two 
children — Flora A. (Mrs. Isaac Eck) and Irvin 
P. Mr. Stettler is a member of the Lutheran 
church, in politics is a democrat, and is an es- 
timable citizen. The Stettler family, it will 
be perceived from the foregoing, is one of the 
oldest in Montgomery county, and for nearly 
a century has guarded and promoted its ma- 
terial and moral progress. 



WOHN HENRY STAMM, an ex-soldier 
■ of the late Civil war. and a prominent 
A 1 citizen of Miamisburg, Ohio, was born 
in Berks county. Pa., in the town of 
Stouchsburg, September 20, 1839, ar >d is a son 
of Moses and Lydia (Heckerman) Stamm, both 
of whom were natives of Berks county, Pa. 
The father of Moses Stamm was named John, 
a native of Holland, and was among the pio- 
neer settlers of Stouchsburg, Pa. The mater- 
nal grandfather of John H. Stamm, Henry 
Heckerman, was a native of Pennsylvania. 

John H. Stamm was reared in his native 
county in Pennsylvania, was educated in the 
public schools and afterward learned the paint- 
er's trade. In 1858, removing to Miamisburg 
with his parents, he worked there with his 
father at the plasterer's trade, but since 1864 
he has followed his own trade, that of painter, 
with gratifying success. 

On February 28, 1862, Mr. Stamm was 
married to Eliza E. Myers, daughter of Isaac 
and Lydia (Wirick) Myers, of Miamisburg. 
To this marriage there have been born sixteen 
children, twelve of whom are still living, as 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1063 



follows: Edward; Wilhelmina, wife of John 
Fox; Clarence, Harley, Herbert, Frank, Edith, 
Milton, Hermydell, John, Homer and Wilbur. 
During the late Civil war Mr. Stamm was a 
private soldier in company D, One Hundred 
and Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
serving one year and being honorably dis- 
charged at the expiration of his term of serv- 
ice. In politics he is a democrat. He is a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
and is a member of the German Reformed 
church, as is also his wife, who is a woman of 
many virtues, a devout and exemplary chris- 
tian lady. Mr. Stamm was a gallant soldier 
and did faithful duty during the term he served 
in defense of the flag of his native land. His 
course in civil life has been that of a useful 
and upright citizen. 



^"V'AMUEL STIVER, Sr., a widely- 
*\^^%T known farmer of German township, 

^ ^ J Montgomery count}', Ohio, was born 
here February 21, 1817, a son of 
John and Margaret (Wolf) Stiver, who were 
natives, respectively, of Lancaster and Dau- 
phin counties, Pa. 

The Stiver family are direct descendants 
from the Rev. John Casper Stiver (the name 
in his day being spelled Stoever), a pioneer 
Lutheran minister, who came to America from 
Germany in 1728, and labored chiefly among 
his countrymen of Lebanon and Lancaster 
counties. Pa., dying in that state in 1779, in 
his seventy-second year. 

John Casper Stiver, grandson of the rev- 
erend pioneer, was the patriarch of the family 
in Twin Valley, Ohio, and it was he who mod- 
ernized the spelling of the family name. He 
was born in Lebanon county, Pa., and came 
to German township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, in 1806, being accompanied by his fam- 
ily, comprising his wife and three sons, Fred- 



erick, Casper and John. The last named of 
these sons, John Stiver, the father of Samuel, 
purchased a farm on Little Twin creek (which 
farm is now the property of Samuel Stiver, 
Sr.), and became one of the leading citizens 
of this neighborhood. He was thrifty and 
prosperous as a farmer, and a man of very 
decided traits of character. He was very ac- 
tive in church affairs, and with his father and 
brothers assisted largely in the organization 
of the Lutheran church in Germantown in 
1809. His influence was such that he gener- 
ally carried his point when any question was 
to be decided, socially, politically or religious- 
ly. He reared a family of ten children, who 
were born in the following order: Barbara, 
John, Frederick, Michael, Catherine (Mrs. 
Frederick Dill), Elizabeth (Mrs. Jacob Weis), 
Susannah (wife of Christian Herr), Barbara 
(twin sister of Susannah and wife of Andrew 
Cotterman), Samuel and Elias — the two last 
named being the only survivors. 

Samuel Stiver, Sr. , whose name opens 
this biography, has always resided in German 
township. He was educated in all the sub- 
scription and district schools had to offer in 
the way of instruction, and has always been 
recognized as one of the most progressive and 
successful farmers of the township and county. 
March 4, 1841, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Catherine Emerick, daughter of 
George and Mary (Good) Emerick, residents 
of German township, but natives, respectively, 
of Maryland and Virginia. To the union of 
Samuel Stiver, Sr. , and Catherine Emerick 
have been born six children, viz: Benjamin 
M., William C, Samuel, Jr., Mary E. (Mrs. 
Edward Oldvvine), John A. and Sarah C. 
(Mrs. David Sholley). 

Samuel Stiver, Jr., was born on the Stiver 
homestead in German township, September 5, 
1846, received a fair education in the common 
schools, remained on the homestead until 



1064 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



1870, and then settled on his present farm of 
100 acres, of .which he completed the purchase 
in 1880. January 6, 1870, he married Miss 
Leah Harp, daughter of Abraham and Mary 
(Peters) Harp, of Jackson township, Mont- 
gomery county, and this union has been 
blessed with three children, viz: Lydia, wife 
of William O. Haller; Adam and Amanda J. 
Adam, married, February n, 1897, Pearl A. 
Moyer, daughter of William S. Moyer, of 
German township. The family are members 
of the Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. 
Stiver is a democrat. 

He possesses all the sterling qualities of his 
forefathers and stands among the foremost of 
the citizens of German township, both as a 
man and as a representative farmer. 



EENRY PETER TREON, an old and 
well-known farmer of Miami town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born in Germantown, in the same 
county, October 29, 18 19, and is a son of Dr. 
Peter Treon, a native of Berks county, Pa., 
who settled in Miamisburg, Montgomery coun- 
ty, in 181 1, and became one of the eminent 
physicians and surgeons of the western part 
of Ohio. 

Christian Treon, grandfather of Henry P., 
was a native of France, and sailed from the 
port of Cowes, England, on the ship Duke of 
Wurtemberg, arriving in Philadelphia, Pa., 
October 20, 1752. He had been a distin- 
guished surgeon in the French army, his an- 
cestors having also been physicians, and he be- 
came the progenitor of the Treon family in 
America. 

In February, 181 8, Dr. Peter Treon and 
Dr. John Treon, his nephew, together with 
Emil Gebhart and Jacob Kercher, platted the 
first town lots in Miamisburg. Dr. Peter Treon 
was also associated for some years with the 



same nephew in various other business enter- 
prises, and later conducted business on his 
sole account, dealing in horses, mules, etc., 
and also in real-estate, accumulating a com- 
petency, and at his death leaving our subject 
160 acres of land in Shelby county, Ind. 

Henry P. Treon was reared in German- 
town until seventeen years of age, when he 
came to Miamisburg and entered the employ 
of his father, with whom he remained until the 
latter's death. Since 1843 ne nas been en- 
gaged in farming and has lived on his present 
farm in Miami township ever since that date. 
Mr. Treon has been twice married; his first 
wife, whom he married March 22, 1842, was 
Sarah, daughter of Jacob Eagle, of Miami 
township, and of the two children born to this 
union one still survives — Rachel, now the wife 
of William Leis. Mrs. Treon died February 
4, 1S79, and the second marriage of Mr. Treon 
took place September 16, 1880, with Mary 
Haynes, of Washington township, who died 
December 25, 1894. Mr. Treon is a devoted 
member of the Lutheran church and superin- 
tended the erection of the Saint John's Lu- 
theran church edifice in Miami township, and 
also superintended the building of the brick 
school-house in his district; in his politics he is 
a democrat, and has ever been a truly useful 
and energetic citizen in the work of promoting 
the public welfare. 



m 



ILLIAM STIVER, a retired farmer 
of Montgomery county, Ohio, is a 
native of German township, and was 
born January 27, 1844, a son of 
Samuel and Catherine ( Emerick) Stiver. The 
genealogy of Mr. Stiver will be found in full in 
the biographies of Samuel Stiver, Sr., and 
Samuel Stiver, Jr., immediately preceding this 
memoir, and, therefore, a repetition of the 
same is not here necessary. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1065 



William Stiver was reared to farming on the 
old Stiver homestead in German township, 
and there worked in that honorable vocation 
until thirty-five years of age. In the spring of 
1880 he rented what was known as the Kercher 
farm, on which he resided for three years ; he 
then purchased the farm of sixty-two acres, 
now owned by John Miller, but which Mr. 
Stiver occupied until 1892. In 1893 he retired 
to Miamisburg, where he is passing his days in 
quietude, having, through his skill and industry 
as a husbandman, been enabled to retire 
from active labor. 

The marriage of Mr. Stiver took place Sep- 
tember 20, 1874, to Sarah Nicholas, daughter 
of William and Catherine (Bovinger) Nicholas, 
of Jefferson township, Montgomery county, 
and to this union have been born ten children, 
in the following order: Francis M. , Charles 
A., Perry J., John H., Joseph A., Dora A., 
Clara B., Ina G. , Edward A. and William C. 
Mr. and Mrs. Stiver are members of the Lu- 
theran church, and in politics Mr. Stiver has 
been a life-long democrat. 

Having been a tiller of the soil for so many 
years, Mr. Stiver has naturally done much to- 
ward the improvement of German township and 
the enhancement in value of its farming land, 
and he is a worthy example of that best class of 
agriculturists whose thrift and good citizenship 
are large factors in the prosperity of the nation. 



ISAAC TREON, a successful business 
man of Miamisburg, and one who stands 
high in the estimation of the general 
public, was born in Miamisburg, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, June 29, 1861. He is 
a son of Dr. Isaac and Mary (Allen) Treon, of 
whom mention will be made later in this sketch. 
The great-grandfather of the present Isaac 
Treon, who was named Christian Treon, was 
a Frenchman, and sailed from Cowes, England, 



in the ship Duke of Wurtemberg, arriving in 
Philadelphia, Pa., November 20, 1752. Chris- 
tian Treon was a distinguished surgeon in the 
French army, his ancestors having also been 
physicians; Michael Treon, his son, and grand- 
father of the subject, was born in Berks coun- 
ty, Pa., August 19, 1 761. He, too, was a 
physician of prominence and spent all his life 
in the county of his birth, where he died May 
28, 1828, and lies buried in the cemetery at 
Rohrersburg. He married Elizabeth Selzer, 
who was of German parentage. Their son, 
Isaac Treon, was born in Berks county, Pa., 
September 7, 1808. In 1822 he removed to 
Miamisburg, Ohio, and was educated at Ox- 
ford, Ohio, after attending medical lectures at 
Cincinnati, in 1833-34, and beginning the prac- 
tice of medicine at Miamisburg in 1835. Here 
he was engaged in active practice for many 
years, and was also engaged in the drug busi- 
ness, dealing likewise extensively in real estate. 

Dr. Isaac Treon was married three times — 
first to Rebecca Hoover. His second wife was 
Mary Allen, daughter of Isaiah and Rebecca 
(Rouse) Allen, of Miami township. She bore 
him five children, three of whom grew to ma- 
ture years, viz: Michael, Lillie, wife of George 
C. Weaver, and Isaac. His third wife was a 
Mrs. Leah Melinger. Dr. Isaac Treon died 
June 15, 1878, leaving a highly enviable record 
record for medical skill and upright manliness. 

Isaac Treon, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared in Miamisburg, and was educated 
in the public schools, graduating from the high 
school in 1879. He began life on his own ac- 
count as clerk in a drugstore, and in 1885 em- 
barked in the drug business at Lima, Ohio, 
continuing thus engaged in that city for three 
years. Shortly afterward, on account of ill 
health, he traveled extensively through the 
west, including California, returning in 1891 to 
Miamisburg, and here embarked in the stove 
and tinware business as a member of the firm 



1066 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of Treon & Cade, and in this business he has 
since continued, with unvarying success. 

Mr. Treon was married February 7, 1895, 
to Virginia Cade, daughter of William and 
Elizabeth Cade, of Miamisburg, and to this 
marriage there has been born one daughter, 
named Mary Caroline Treon. Mr. Treon is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Knights 
of Pythias, and of the Odd Fellows. Polit- 
ically, he is a republican, and is regarded in 
the community as an eminently patriotic and 
good citizen. Both Mr. and Mrs. Treon are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Both are untiring in their devotion to church 
and religious work and are highly esteemed and 
useful members of society. 



a APT. PORTERFIELD H.TROXEL, 
of Perry township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, is of German ancestry, his grand- 
father, Peter Troxel, having come 
from Germany many years ago. Capt. Troxel 
was born September 30, 1S31, in Augusta 
county, Va. , and is a son of Robert and Nancy 
(Cunningham) Troxel. He was educated in 
the common schools of Ohio, his parents hav- 
ing removed to Montgomery county, this state, 
in 1834, and settled on Tom's Run. Here 
young Porterfield was brought up on the farm, 
but received little education in school before 
he attained his majority, though he read and 
studied to good advantage in private during 
his leisure hours. After becoming of age he 
attended school for some time, and, when 
twenty-four years old, began teaching in the 
district schools, continuing this work about 
six years, or until the breaking out of the war. 
On October 28, 1861, he enlisted at Dayton, 
Ohio, in company E, Seventy-first Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, under Capt. Callender, for 
three years, or during the war. In this com- 



pany he served until January 13, 1864, when 
he veteranized, and continued a member of 
the same company until transferred to company 
C. He was discharged at San Antonio, Tex., 
November 30, 1865. 

Mr. Troxel was promoted for meritorious 
services to fifth sergeant, in 1862, then to 
third sergeant, and later to first sergeant. 
Still later he was promoted to second lieuten- 
ant and then to first lieutenant, and for a 
time served as adjutant of the regiment. 
Later he was commissioned captain and as- 
signed to company C, of the same regiment, 
and served as such until discharged. He par- 
ticipated in the battle of Shiloh, in the battle 
of Franklin (where he served as adjutant of 
his regiment), and also in the battle of Nash- 
ville. In addition to these he was in many 
smaller engagements and in numerous skir- 
mishes. His hardest marching and campaign- 
ing was from Atlanta to Nashville, and in 
Texas, from Matagorda Bay to Green Lake. 
The latter march was made in August, the 
weather being very hot, and there being but 
little water to be had. The regiment marched 
thirty-five miles in one day, many of the sol- 
diers falling out by the wayside. Capt. Troxel 
was at one time captured by the rebels, with 
six companies of his regiment, who were in 
due time paroled at Clarksville, Tenn. Capt. 
Troxel was always an active soldier, prompt 
and cheerful in the performance of his duty. 

After the close of the war the captain re- 
turned to Montgomery county and engaged in 
the manufacturing business, as a member of 
the firm of Munhdenk, Hiller & Troxel. He 
afterward engaged in farming in Perry town- 
ship, and in 1882 bought a fine farm of 104 
acres. He was married in March, 1866, at 
Pyrmont, to Sarah A. Taylor, daughter of 
Henry and Sarah (Hamilton) Taylor, who 
were the parents of the following children: 
James F. , Martha J., Sarah A., Emeline and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1067 



Almira. Mr. Taylor for some years held the 
office of township trustee. 

Capt. and Mrs. Troxel are the parents of 
the following children: Stanley, Stella, James, 
who died at the age of nineteen; Jennie and 
Maud. Politically, Capt. Troxel is a repub- 
lican, and takes pride in having voted for Gen. 
Winfield Scott, Gen. John C. Fremont and 
Abraham Lincoln. He is honored by all who 
know him as a man of integrity and of inde- 
pendence of character, and as a soldier who 
served his country well in her hour of need. 

Peter Troxel, the founder of the family in 
America, settled in Augusta county, Va., was 
a farmer by occupation, and reared the follow- 
lowing children: George, Abraham, Daniel, 
David, Polly, Robert, Susan and Rachael. 
He was an extensive farmer, owning some 400 
acres of land, and lived to be ninety-six years 
old. His wife lived to be ninety-four. 

Robert and Nancy Troxel, the parents of our 
subject, reared the following children: Robert, 
Porterfield H., Peter, John, Daniel, Rachael, 
Margaret and Mary. They removed to Mont- 
gomery county in 1832, settling in Perry town- 
ship. Mr. Troxel was a member of the United 
Brethren church, and was a man of high char- 
acter, and died when he was fifty-six years of 
age. He had two sons in the Civil war, Rob- 
ert and Porterfield H., the former of whom 
was in the Seventeenth Ohio battery, and was 
with Gen. Grant in the Vicksburg campaign. 

Archibald Patrick, the maternal great- 
grandfather of Capt. Troxel, was a soldier in 
the Revolutionary war, and was wounded at 
the battle of Guilford Court House. 



*w * EZEKIAH B. ULM, infirmary di- 

l^\ rector and retired farmer, now a resi- 

\ W dent of the city of Miamisburg, was 

born near Monroe, Butler county, 

Ohio, January 29, 1843. He is the eldest of 



six children now living, of the family of eleven 
children born to Edward and Elizabeth (Davis) 
Ulm, the former of German and English de- 
scent, while the latter was of Welsh and 
Scotch-Irish descent. 

His paternal grandfather, Daniel Ulm, was 
a Virginian by birth, whose ancestors were na- 
tives of Germany and pioneers of Virginia, 
and among the very early settlers of Ohio, 
first locating in Pike county, and later in Mon- 
roe and Butler counties. Daniel Ulm cleared 
two farms in Ohio, one in Warren county and 
the other in Butler county, and died in Mason, 
Warren county, Ohio, in 1858. His children 
were named, Polly (Mrs Abel Reynolds), 
James, Sarah (Mrs. William Fitzgerald), Jane 
(Mrs. Abraham Bercaw) Hattan and Edward, 
the latter being the father of our subject. Ed- 
ward Ulm was born in Warren county, Ohio, 
in 1820, and was reared a farmer's boy, receiv- 
ing a limited education in the pioneer schools. 
He chose and followed for his life vocation 
that of an agriculturist, and was a resident of 
Miami township from 1857 until 1891, when 
he removed to Franklin, Ohio, where he died 
April 22, 1893. His children were eleven in 
number, six of whom grew to maturity, viz: 
Hezekiah B., Martha J. (Mrs. Thomas Childs), 
Edward A., George A., and Eva and Hattie, 
twins — the former the wife of Harvey Kendall, 
and the latter the wife of William Evans. 

Hezekiah B. Ulm grew to manhood on the 
farm and lived during his earlier years in But- 
ler, Warren and Montgomery counties, he be- 
ing but fourteen years of age when his parents 
settled in Miami township, Montgomery coun- 
ty. He was taught industrious habits from 
childhood and has led a very active life from 
youth up to the present time. He attended 
the common schools and later supplemented 
these advantages by attending the Monroe 
academy. Having finished his education, he 
began life as a farmer, which occupation he 



1068 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



followed from 1 88 1 to 1896 in Washington 
township, this county, and was known through- 
out the southeast part of Montgomery county 
as one of the successful and well-to-do farmers. 

On July 31, 1862, he enlisted in company 
E, Ninety-third Ohio infantry, and immedi- 
ately after being mustered in, entered active 
service. The first engagement he participated 
in was that of Stone River (or Murfeesboro), 
Tenn., during which he received a gun-shot 
wound, which disabled him for further service 
to his country, and on September 24, 1863, 
he received an honorable discharge at Camp 
Dennison, Ohio, on account of disability. He 
returned home, and on the 1 5th of March, 
1866, was united in marriage with Ella W. , 
daughter of George and Ellen ( Wheatley") 
Pease, of Miami township, this county. By 
this marriage he has three children living: 
Olive, Walter K. and Herbert B. 

Mr. Ulm removed, in the fall of 1896, to 
the city of Miamisburg, where he is most pleas- 
antly situated. He and his wife are active 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
while fraternally he is a member of the G. A. 
R., and of the K. of P. since 1874. Politically 
he is a republican and was nominated in the 
fall of 1895 as candidate for infirmary director, 
to which office he was elected by a large ma- 
jority, which attests the popularity that he 
so deservedly enjoys. 




• HEODORE M. WAGNER, a thriving 
merchant of Trotwood, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and an ex-soldier of 
the Civil war, was born in Carroll 
county, 111., November 13, 1844, and is a son 
of Christian and Susan (Gaither) Wagner, who 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in August, 
1864, living first in Wayne township, and 
finally settling in West Baltimore. 

Theodore M. Wagner received a very fair 



common-school education in his native state, 
and early learned the trade of shoemaking. 
He came to Ohio wfth his parents, and in the 
winter of 1864-5 enlisted, at Dayton, in com- 
pany C, Eighth Ohio volunteer cavalry, to 
serve one year. Shortly after joining his regi- 
ment he was detailed to the post quartermas- 
ter's department at Clarksburg, W. Va. , where 
he served until honorably discharged in July, 
1865, at the close of the war. On his return 
to Ohio Mr. Wagner worked for a short time 
at his trade in Taylorsville, Montgomery coun- 
ty, going thence to West Baltimore, where he 
followed his calling until 1S77, when he set- 
tled in Trotwood. Here he embarked in mer- 
chandizing, which still occupies his attention. 

The marriage of Mr. Wagner to Miss Ka- 
turah Eck took place at West Baltimore, Sep- 
tember 28, 1868. Mrs. Wagner was born in 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1845, a daughter 
of William and Susan (Hockey) Eck. There 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Wagner three 
children — Clara R., Jennie M. and Charles O. 
Mrs. Wagner is a member of the Christian 
church, while Mr. Wagner has adopted the 
faith of the United Brethren. Fraternally Mr. 
Wagner is a member of Trotwood lodge, No. 
754, I. O. O. F. , in which he has reached the 
office of noble grand, and has been treasurer 
of his lodge and district deputy grand master. 
He is likewise a member of Court lodge, No. 
287, Brookville, K. of P., and of Foster Mar- 
shall post, G. A. R., of the same place. In 
politics he is a republican, but has never 
sought or held public office. He is a substan- 
tial citizen, and owns several stores and resi- 
dences in Trotwood, a small farm south of 
town, and houses and land at Stillwater Junc- 
tion, as well as land in Dayton. 

Christian Wagner, his grandfather, was a 
native of Lancaster county, Pa., whence he 
moved, in an early day, to Frederick county, 
Md., where he died at the age of eighty-nine 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1069 



years. Christian Wagner, father of Theodore 
M. , had born to his marriage five children — 
William H., John E., Theodore M., Adeline 
R. and Alice, all of whom came to Ohio ex- 
cepting John E., who settled in Iowa. Their 
father was a republican in politics, and lived 
to be ninety years old — the Wagner family, 
indeed, being noted for longevity. William 
Eck, the father of Mrs. Wagner, was born in 
Maryland, was a farmer of Preble county, 
Ohio, and the father of five children — Katurah, 
Rosina, Minerva, Ovien and Aaron. Mr. Eck 
in politics was a democrat, and a substantial 
and highly respected citizen. He died in 1894 
and his wife in 1893. 




I HE WAYMIRE FAMILY is one of 
the oldest and most highly respected 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, having 
been a resident here since 1805. John 
Rudolph Waymire, the founder of the family 
in America, was a native of Germany, and died 
in North Carolina at the age of eighty-five years. 
Daniel Waymire, son of John Rudolph, 
was born in North Carolina, married Sophia 
Plumer, and after the birth of his first child 
came to Ohio (1805) and settled where the 
Polk church now stands in Butler township, 
Montgomery county, where his homestead em- 
braced 160 acres of land, beside which he 
owned eighty acres in the Slashes, three miles 
south. At his house were held the first meet- 
ings of the members of the Christian church in 
his township, and he also contributed liberally 
toward the erection of the first house of wor- 
ship, in 1 8 16, belonging to that religious de- 
nomination, as well as to the building of the 
first school-house. To Daniel and Sophia 
Waymire were born the following-named chil- 
dren : Davis, Mary, Daniel, John, Catherine, 
Elizabeth, Sarah, Rebecca, Rosannah, Henry 
and Isabel. 



John Waymire, the fourth enumerated of 
the above family, was born in Butler township, 
August 30, 1808, was educated in a frontier 
log school-house, and was taught the cooper's 
trade. At the age of twenty-two years he 
married Miss Margaret Coble, a native of But- 
ler township, and daughter of Anthony and 
Mary (Coble) Coble, who settled in Butler 
township in 1806, and were the parents of 
Abraham, John, Sarah, Daniel, Margaret and 
Solomon. Mr. Coble was a substantial farmer, 
owning 160 acres of land, and died at the age 
of seventy-two years, a member of the Chris- 
tian church. After his marriage, John Way- 
mire settled on a farm of sixty-four acres, all 
in the woods, and known as Natchez Under 
the Hill. The tract abounded in game, and 
its soil was very rich, and the Stillwater river, 
on the banks of which it was situated, swarmed 
with choice fish, and the two afforded abun- 
dance of food at no cost. Nevertheless, Mr. 
Waymire worked industriously and increased 
his acreage to 235, which he fully improved. 
To his marriage with Miss Coble were born 
four children, viz : Isaac, Sarah, Daniel W. 
and Hamilton. Mrs. Waymire was called 
away, and Mr. Waymire married Elizabeth 
Woodhouse, daughter of Henry Woodhouse, 
and to this union was born one son, John. Mr. 
Waymire died an honored man, and left be- 
hind a family that is still highly respected by 
the residents of Butler township. 



>-j J, OSEPH WEAVER, M. D., the oldest 
■ male resident of Miamisburg, Ohio, 
/• 1 and one of the most prominent citizens 
of the place, was born three miles 
south of Dayton, December 22, 18 16. He is 
a son of George and Elizabeth (Hoch) Weaver, 
natives of Pennsylvania, who settled in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, in the year of his birth. 
His father, George Weaver, a farmer by occu- 



1070 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



pation, reared to maturity eleven of the twelve 
children that were born to him, and at the 
present time seven of the eleven survive. 

Joseph Weaver, when but twelve years old, 
located in Miamisburg, and worked for Drs. 
Isaac and John Treon for his board, clothing 
and education, until he was eighteen years of 
age. For four years subsequently he remained 
with them as a student of medicine. In the 
winter of 1836-37 he attended a course of lec- 
tures at the Ohio Medical college of Cincin- 
nati, and in 1838 began the practice of his 
profession at Miamisburg. Soon afterward he 
engaged in the drug business, in which he con- 
tinued for three years in connection with his 
medical practice. He then sold out the drug 
business and confined his attention to his pro- 
fession, in which he successfully continued un- 
til 1870, a period of thirty-two years. In 
1873 he embarked in the lumber business, in 
which he still continues, and in 1884 he erect- 
ed a large planing-mill, which he has since op- 
erated. Since 18S9 he has also been engaged 
in the coal business. For many years he has 
dealt in real estate, and has erected a large 
number of houses in Miamisburg, several of 
which he still owns. 

Dr. Weaver was married, in 1841, to Fan- 
nie Swar, daughter of John and Susan (Kauff- 
man) Swar, uf Miamisburg, and to this mar- 
riage there were born several children, as fol- 
lows: Minerva (Mrs. Rev. H. N. Weaver), 
John, Charles, Nora (Mrs. Dr. William Shu- 
ler), Anna (Mrs. John Walters), Louisa (Mrs. 
William Kauffman), and Clara. The doctor has 
twenty-two grandchildren. He is a member 
of the German Reformed church; in politics, 
originally a whig, he has been a republican 
since that party was organized. His first pres- 
idential vote was cast for Gen. William Henry 
Harrison, in 1840, and his last for Gen. Ben- 
jamin Harrison, in 1892. Dr. Weaver's mem- 
ory is perfect, and his reminiscenses of early 



days are exceedingly interesting. In the sixty- 
eight years of his residence in Miamisburg, the 
older generations have all passed away, and he 
stands now, hale and vigorous, nearly alone, 
but apparently with many years of active life 
and usefulness before him, the only represent- 
ative of the men who knew the place before it 
became a town and the only one living who 
assisted in its organization. 



*w ■ * ENRY WEAVER, the well-known re- 

|\ tired blacksmith of Miamisburg, Mont- 

r gomery county, Ohio, was born in 

Van Buren township, of the same 

county, October 26, 1825, and is a son of 

George and Elizabeth (Hoch) Weaver, natives 

of Lancaster county, Pa. 

John Weaver, the paternal grandfather of 
Henry, was also a native of Lancaster county, 
Pa., but was one of the pioneers of Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, having come to this state in 
1806. He entered, or purchased, a large tract 
of land in Van Buren township, cleared up a 
fine farm for himself and family, and at his 
death was able to endow each of his children 
with a handsome piece of farm land. 

Joseph Hoch, the maternal grandfather of 
Henry Weaver, was likewise a native of Lan- 
caster county, Pa., and a pioneer farmer of 
Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 

George Weaver, father of Henry, settled 
in Van Buren township in 1816, and cleared 
up a farm, on which he passed the remainder 
of his life. To his marriage with Elizabeth 
Hoch were born twelve children, of whom 
eleven grew to maturity, viz: William, George, 
Jeremiah, Joseph, Lucy A. (Mrs. Jacob Drayer), 
Mary A. (Mrs. Richard M. Miller), Henry, Isaac, 
Sarah (Mrs. David Furlong), Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Dr. John Treon), and Daniel. 

Henry Weaver, whose name opens this 
biographical notice, was reared in Van Buren 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1071 



township, where he received a fair education 
in the pioneer log school-house, and where he 
served two years as an apprentice to a black- 
smith. Having fully learned the trade, he 
worked as a journeyman for five years, and 
then established a shop of his own in his na- 
tive township, which shop he conducted for 
another period of five years, and then came to 
Miamisburg, where he passed thirteen years in 
the prosperous prosecution of his trade, and at 
the end of that period was enabled to retire to 
private life and to live on the competency his 
industry and thrift had so worthily gained him. 

Henry Weaver was happily married, in 
1850, to Barbara A. Kauffman, daughter of 
Henry and Maria (Bear) Kauffman, of German 
township, and to this union have been born 
eight children, of whom six grew to maturity, 
viz: Amos; Mary, who is the wife of Miles 
Blossom; Etta, widow of Amos K. Clay; 
Harry, Theodore, and Lizzie E., who died in 
March, 1893. 

Mr. Weaver, now one of the most substan- 
tial citizens of Miamisburg, has owned and 
occupied his present residence since 1S73. 
He is surrounded by a circle of pleasant neigh- 
bors and sincere friends, in whose esteem he 
holds a high position, and is also much re- 
spected by the community at large. Although 
a democrat in his party affiliations, he has 
never been a partisan in the office-seeking 
sense of the word, but has contented himself 
with giving voice to his principles through his 
vote at the polls. 



S^%. EORGE WASHINGTON WEAVER, 
■ ^\ the pioneer and most prominent mer- 
\^J chant of Miamisburg, was born in 
Miami township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, September 27, 1824. He is a son of 
Philip and Magdalena (Gebhart) Weaver, and 
is of Swiss origin. His paternal grandparents 



were Jacob and Margaret (Gebhart) Weaver, 
both natives of Pennsylvania, who came to 
Ohio in 1804, settling on Little Bear creek, 
Jefferson township, Montgomery county. Here 
Mr. Weaver cleared and improved a farm, 
upon which both he and his wife lived the rest 
of their lives. Jacob Weaver was born Feb- 
ruary 28, 1762, and was a son of Jacob 
Weaver, of Alsace-Lorraine, who was one of 
three brothers who were driven from their 
native land by religious persecution during the 
last century. 

Jacob Weaver, grandfather of George W., 
was the father of ten children, as follows: 
Henry, a soldier in the war of 1812; Michael, 
Jacob, Peter, Philip, John; Magdalena, wife of 
Jacob Beachler; Gretchen, wife of George 
Gebhart; Eva and William. Of these chil- 
dren, Philip, the father of George W. Weaver, 
was a farmer, and a most industrious, temper- 
ate christian gentleman. His death occurred 
July 12, 1851, when he was fifty-three years 
of age. His wife, Magdalena Gebhart, was a 
daughter of George and Elizabeth Gebhart, 
who came from Pennsylvania, and settled in 
Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1805. Their children who grew to matu- 
rity were as follows: William; Elizabeth, 
wife of Nelson Shade; George W. ; Rachel, 
wife of Eli Eck; Malinda, wife of Daniel 
Bookwalter; John P., Jacob; Lavina, wife of 
Wilson Gebhart; Noah; and Magdalena, wife 
of Philip Weaver. 

George W. Weaver, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared on the old homestead and 
remained there until he was twenty-one years 
of age. The education he received was lim- 
ited to that furnished by the common schools 
of his youthful days. In 1845, with a bor- 
rowed capital of $150, he embarked in the 
grocery business at Miamisburg, and in this 
business he has been engaged ever since, meet- 
I ing with all the success that could be desired. 



1072 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



In 1 86 1 he added a hardware department to 
his business, and has always been and still re- 
mains the leading and most extensive mer- 
chant of the place. For twenty-five years he 
was a large dealer in agricultural implements, 
buggies, etc., and in this department of trade 
was as successful as in those of groceries and 
hardware. 

Mr. Weaver was married Octobers, 1845, 
to Rebecca Rowe, daughter of Henry and 
Sarah (Squires) Rowe, and has eight children, 
as follows: Sarah M., wife of H. C. Hoff; 
Ellen, wife of R. J. Smith; Mary A. L., wife 
of F. C. Ampt; George C, Charles E. ; Louisa 
E., wife of Robert G. Weber; Emma C. , wife 
of Franklin Alter; and Harry C. Mr. Weaver 
is a member of the Reformed church, and has 
held the offices of deacon, treasurer and trus- 
tee. In politics he is a republican, and in 
every relation of life has always been recog- 
nized as a man of the highest integrity and 
honor, enjoying the regard of both the social 
and business elements of the community. 



^ywMLLIAM PERRY WEAVER, M. D., 

Mm one of the most successful and 

\%yl prominent physicians "1 Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born in Jef- 
ferson township, this county, October 8, 1851. 
He is the son of William and Sarah (Beck) 
Weaver. His paternal grandfather, Jacob 
Weaver, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., 
December 28, 1762, and settled in Jefferson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1805. 
In this township he cleared and improved a 
farm, on which he lived the rest of his life. 
His father, Jacob Weaver, came from Alsace- 
Lorraine, and in early manhood settled in 
Pennsylvania, serving later as a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war. The wife of Jacob 
Weaver, pioneer of Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was Margaret Gebhart, who bore him ten chil- 



dren, as follows: Henry, a soldier in the war of 
1812; Michael, Jacob, Peter, Philip, John, 
Magdalena (Mrs. Jacob Beachler); Gretchen, 
(Mrs. George Gebhart); Eva, and William, the 
latter being the father of the subject of this 
biographical sketch. 

William Weaver was born on the old 
homestead in Jefferson township, September 
25, 181 1, and was reared as a farmer and a 
distiller, conducting the latter business on 
Bear creek. He lived and died on the old 
Weaver homestead, his death being caused by 
injuries accidentally received, January 24, 1857. 
His wife was a daughter of Richard and Susan 
(Snepp) Beck, the former of whom was a 
native of England, at one time a resident of 
Montgomery county, and later a large land- 
holder on the Wabash river, near Fort Wayne, 
Ind. William Perry was the only child of the 
marriage of William and Sarah (Beck) Weaver. 

William Perry Weaver, M. D., was reared 
in his native county, was educated primarily in 
the public schools thereof, also in Notre Dame 
university and in Wittenberg college. In 1868 
he began the study of medicine by taking a 
course of lectures at Miami Medical college, at 
Cincinnati, Ohio, and finished his medical ed- 
ucation at the Cincinnati college of Medicine 
& Surgery, graduating from this institution in 
1 87 1. Locating immediately in Miamisburg, 
he has since had an extensive practice and has 
established himself in the confidence of the 
public to the fullest extent. 

Dr. Weaver was married, October 31, 
1 87 1, to Katie Burnett, daughter of Patrick C. 
and Mary (Coughlin) Burnett, of Cincinnati. 
By this marriage he has two children, W. 
Burnett and Genevieve. Dr. Weaver is a 
member of the Montgomery county Medical 
society, and has been a surgeon of the Big 
Four Railroad company for upward of fifteen 
years. He has been assistant surgeon of the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad com- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1073 



pany since 1894. He is a member of the 
board of health, and is a stockholder and di- 
rector of the Miamisburg Twine & Cordage 
company. Fraternally he is a member of the 
Knights of Pythias, and in politics a repub- 
lican. In all respects Dr. Weaver is a man 
worthy of confidence and esteem, and enjoys 
the high regard of all who know him. 



aHRISTIAN WEBER, a representa- 
tive business man and citizen of Mi- 
amisburg, was born in Ruxheim, Ger- 
many, February 14, 1826. He is a 
son of Christian and Anna M. Weber, who 
came to the United States in 1837, locating in 
Buffalo, N. Y. , where the former, who was a 
weaver by trade, resided until his death. He 
was a most excellent man, and, dying, was 
mourned greatly by all who knew him. 

Christian Weber, the younger, was reared 
in Buffalo from the time he was eleven years 
of age, receiving a limited education in the 
public schools. At the age of eighteen he es- 
tablished himself in business as a wholesale and 
retail tobacco and cigar dealer, in which he was 
successfully engaged for nine years in Buffalo. 
In 1853 he removed to New York city, where 
he was engaged in the wholesale tobacco trade 
until 1862, in the meantime traveling exten- 
sively through the tobacco-growing sections of 
the cquntry, buying largely for himself and 
others. In the year last mentioned he removed 
to Miamisburg, Ohio, and has since resided in 
that thriving place, being occupied from 1862 
to 1880 in buying and selling tobacco, and 
meeting with uniform success. 

Mr. Weber was married in 1862 to Miss 
Lucella M. Grove, daughter of George A. and 
Christiana (Kercher) Grove, of Miamisburg. 
By this marriage he has seven children living, 
as follows : Robert G., Amelia, Edmund C. , 
Eliza J., John H., Oliver A. and Margaret L. 



Mr. Weber was one of the organizers of the 
Citizens' National bank, of Miamisburg, and is 
a stockholder and director of the bank at the 
present time. He is also a stockholder and 
director of the Kauffman Buggy .company, and 
is largely interested in other important enter- 
prises. Prior to the war Mr. Weber was a 
whig, but since then has been a democrat. 
Both he and his wife are members of. the Re- 
formed church, of Miamisburg, and maintain 
an excellent standing, both in religious and 
social circles. They are doing all in their 
power to educate their children properly, and 
thus to make of them good and useful citizens 
of the republic. 



gf 



ILLIAM D. WELSH, an enterpris- 
ing farmer and citizen of Miami 
township, Montgomery county, was 
born in Clear Creek township, War- 
ren county, Ohio, November 28, 1836, a son 
of Samuel and Jemima (Blackford) Welsh, na- 
tives of Harper's Ferry, Va., and Warden 
county, Ohio, respectively. On the paternal 
side he is of Scotch-Irish descent. His mater- 
nal grandfather, Nathaniel Blackford, was a 
native of New Jersey, and one of the pioneer 
farmers of Clear Creek township, Warren coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he died; Samuel Welsh was 
one of the later settlers of Warren county and 
was a carpenter by trade, but in later life en- 
gaged in farming, and died in Clear Creek 
township, in 1879. His children were named 
Catherine (Mrs. Joseph Githens), Mary (Mrs. 
Thomas Link), William D. , John B., James, 
Ruth, Emma (Mrs. Jacob Swanager) and 
Nathaniel. 

William D. Welsh was reared in Clear Creek 
township, Warren county, Ohio, and in Union 
county, Ind. In 1855 he located in Miami 
township, Montgomery county, where he has 



1074 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



since resided, engaged in farming, and has 
occupied his present farm since 1879. 

December 23, 1862, Mr. Welsh married 
Miss Anna E., daughter of John and Jane 
(Vandever) Crain, of Miami township, and has 
three children: Charles, Bert, and John C. 
During the late Civil war Mr. Welsh was a 
member of company B, One Hundred and 
Forty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry; he en- 
listed in May, 1864, and was honorably dis- 
charged, at the expiration of service, in Sep- 
tember, 1864. He is in politics a republican. 
His course through life has been such as to win 
the respect of all who know him, as he has 
filled all his duties, as civilian and soldier, with 
an eye single to the welfare of his fellow-men. 



•~V*AMUEL WENGER, a former resi- 
k^^|* dent of Randolph township, now a 

K^_y resident of West Milton, Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio, is a highly esteemed citizen. 
He is a son of Christian and Mary (Klepinger) 
Wenger, and was born March 5, 1835, on tne 
olcj Wenger homestead in Randolph township, 
Montgomery county. Receiving the usual 
common-school education of the days of his 
youth, he early began to work at the varied 
tasks of the farm, becoming proficient in the 
use of the old-time scythe and cradle. He 
well remembers the first combined mowing 
and reaping machine introduced into the coun- 
try. He fully appreciates the great changes 
made by the introduction of the various kinds 
of farm implements, rendering the cultivation 
of great tracts even easier than was the tilling 
of a few acres by our forefathers. 

On November 29, 1858, he married Miss 
Elizabeth Waybright, in Randolph, she having 
been born July 7, 1834, on the Waybright 
homestead. She is the youngest of ten chil- 
dren born to Jacob and Elizabeth (Fetters) 
Waybright. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 



Wenger lived for about five years on the Way- 
bright homestead, and then removed to Miami 
county, Ohio, two miles southwest of Wes 
Milton, where he purchased 104 acres of his 
father. This farm he greatly improved and 
by thrift and industry added to it until he at 
length owned about 500 acres. In 1886 he 
bought a fine piece of property in West Milton, 
consisting of half a block of ground and a fine 
residence. In 1874 Mr. Wenger erected on 
his farm a substantial brick house, and also 
built a good barn and other farm buildings. 
Altogether his is one of the best farms and 
homes to be found in this part of the country. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Wenger there have been born 
the following children: Mary A., John V., 
Amanda, who died when twenty-eight years of 
age, and Valeria A. Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
are members of the German Baptist church, 
and in politics Mr. Wenger is a democrat. As 
such he has been honored by his fellow-citi- 
zens by election to the office of township trus- 
tee, in which position he served two years, and 
he has also been elected to other offices. He 
was a member of the school board for a con- 
siderable time. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
are of sturdy pioneer stock and rank with the 
best people of the county. He stands very 
high for the sterling qualities of manhood 
which he possesses, both by inheritance and by 
culture, and is bringing up his children in the 
ways of good citizenship, realizing that the 
strength of the nation depends very largely 
upon individual character. 



>Y*OHN WENGER, Sr., one of the most 
J substantial farmers of Randolph town- 
m J ship, and a descendant of an early pio- 
neer of Montgomery county, was born 
March 6, 1837, one-half mile west of Harris- 
burg, in the old Wenger homestead, which 
was upon the national road. He is a son of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1075 



Christian and Mary (Klepinger) Wenger, for 
fuller mention of whom the reader is referred 
to the biography of Joseph Wenger, elsewhere 
published in this volume. He was early put 
to work riding the horses that tramped out the 
grain on the barn floor, and gaining farm 
knowledge during the years that should have 
been spent at school. His education was 
therefore to a considerable extent neglected. 
When a young man Mr. Wenger spent many 
a day handling a scythe or reaping grain with 
a cradle, beginning to swing that primitive 
tool in the oat-fields when he was but little 
more than fifteen years of age. He began to 
plow when between nine and ten years of age, 
raked hay with a hand rake, and well remem- 
bers the first farming machinery that was in- 
troduced in his part of the county. 

He married when twenty-three years of 
age, March 8, i860, in Union township, 
Miami county, Ohio, Miss Mary C. Waybright, 
who was born in Montgomery county, near 
Harrisburg, and is a daughter of Daniel and 
Nancy (Kinsey) Waybright. Daniel Way- 
bright was a son of Dr. Jacob and Lizzie 
(Fetters) Waybright, the former being one of 
the early pioneers of Randolph township. 
Jacob Waybright was a farmer and a good 
citizen, and for many years a prominent prac- 
titioner of medicine in Montgomery county. 
Daniel Waybright was born in Randolph town- 
ship, became a successful farmer, and was the 
father of the following children: Sarah, Mary 
C. , Margaret, Lucinda, Rebecca, Salome, 
John and Ira. He lived to be about sixty years 
of age, dying in 1876. In religion, he was a 
Dunkard, and preached many years. He was 
well known for many miles around, as a man 
of sterling worth and character, and was highly 
regarded everywhere as a most energetic and 
useful citizen. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
settled on the farm now owned by him. At 



the time it consisted of 1 10 acres of land, which 
Mr. Wenger has greatly improved, and to 
which he has added other tracts, until at the 
present time he owns about 330 acres, all of 
which he has acquired by that industry and 
careful management which have made him one 
of the most prosperous farmers of his county. 
He and his wife have had the following chil- 
dren: David P., Martha, Lucinda, Daniel 
W., JohnH., EnosE., AnnaM., and Frank 
S. Mr. and Mrs. Wenger are members of the 
German Baptist church, and in politics, he is 
a democrat. Mr. Wenger's life has been a 
busy and useful one, and his unblemished 
character is recognized throughout the com- 
munity which has always been his home. 



>^OSEPH WENGER, one of the reliable 
C farmers of Randolph township, is a son 
(I I of one of the ancient pioneers of Mont- 
gomery county. His grandfather was 
John Wenger, who was of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
stock, was born in Pennsylvania and was mar- 
ried in that state to a Miss Long, by whom he 
had the following children: Christian, John, 
Joseph, Tobias, Annie, Esther, Mary, Fannie, 
and Barbara. John Wenger came to Ohio 
with his family in 1824 or 1825, settling on 
about 100 acres of timber land near Little 
York. This land he cleared of its timber, 
lived upon it the remainder of his days, and 
became a substantial farmer and a model citi- 
zen. He was a minister of the church of the 
Brethren in Christ, preaching the gospel many 
years. Attaining a great age, he died rich in 
the esteem of all who knew him. 

Christian Wenger, his eldest son, was born 
in Lancaster county. Pa., in 1806. In Penn- 
sylvania he received a good common-school 
education, and came with his father and others 
to Ohio when he was about eighteen or twenty 



1076 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



years of age. Arriving in Montgomery county, 
he married Polly Klepinger. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wenger soon after their mar- 
riage first settled near Little York, and later 
moved near to Harrisburg, Montgomery coun- 
ty, on a farm, which Mr. Wenger improved 
and to which he added until he owned 240 
acres in a body, beside several other pieces. 
He gave to his children in the aggregate 1,000 
acres of land, demonstrating not only his great 
industry, but that he was an unusually judi- 
cious manager and capable business man. He 
and his wife had the following children: Mary, 
Elizabeth, Nancy, who were born at Little 
York, Pa.; Samuel, John, Joseph, Amos, Levi 
and David, twins, and William, these seven be- 
ing born on the Ohio homestead. Their parents 
were members of the church of the Brethren 
in Christ, of which Mr. Wenger was a deacon 
for many years. Politically he was in his ear- 
lier life an old-line whig, but later was a dem- 
ocrat. Of a naturally robust constitution, he 
lived to be eighty years of age, dying Novem- 
ber 1, 1885, on his farm. He was endowed 
with the gift of saving, but was at the same 
time generous and was always kind to the poor 
and needy. He aided to build different 
churches in Montgomery county, and was in 
all ways a man worthy of the regard and con- 
fidence of the people. 

Joseph Wenger, the subject of this sketch, 
was born April 9, 1840, on the old homestead 
near Harrisburg. Reared a farmer's boy, he 
received the common-school education of the 
district school. When twenty-four years old, 
on March 24, 1864, he married Miss Mary 
Ann Niswonger, who was born November 9, 
1 841, and was a daughter of George and Eliza- 
beth (Warner) Niswonger. George Niswonger 
was a son of John and Elizabeth (Circle) Nis- 
wonger, the former of whom came from Vir- 
ginia, and whose children were as follows: 
Rachel, George, Fannie, John, Elizabeth, 



Nicholas, Nellie, Eli and Mollie. In religion 
John Niswonger was a member of the German 
Baptist church, and came to Montgomery 
county in 1804 or 1806, settling in Clay town- 
ship, on a farm which is now owned by Frank 
Klepinger. He was thus among the earliest of 
the pioneers, the Indians not having then left 
the county. 

George Niswonger was born in Montgom- 
ery county about 1806, growing up among the 
pioneers, marrying Elizabeth Warner, and 
rearing the following children: David, Eli, 
Catherine, Mary Ann and Moses. Mr. Nis- 
wonger settled on land near Salem, consisting 
of 160 acres. This land he cleared of its tim- 
ber and made of it a good farm and pleasant 
home for his family. To his original farm he 
constantly added other tracts until he had 500 
acres. He and his wife were members of the 
German Baptist church, he having been a dea- 
con for many years. Believing strongly in 
educating the young, he gave each of his chil- 
dren the best instruction possible, and lived to 
be seventy-four years of age, dying on his 
home farm. He was of the purest men of 
his day, honest and straightforward in his 
dealings, and highly esteemed by a large circle 
of friends and acquaintances. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Joseph 
Wenger settled permanently on their present 
homestead of 120 acres, to which he added 
forty acres, making 160 acres in one tract, and 
eighty acres in another farm. Of his first 
homestead of 120 acres he cleared up thirty 
acres, greatly improved his farm, and in 1879 
erected a good, substantial farm-house. To 
him and his wife there have been born the fol- 
lowing children : Elizabeth , Ella, Sallie, George, 
Edna, William H.,OHie Bell and Nettie C. Mr. 
and Mrs. Wenger are members of the German 
Baptist church, and have given their children 
good educations, so far as their means would 
permit. He himself was a member of the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1077 



school board six years in succession. Mr. 
Wenger is one of the most industrious and 
progressive farmers of this township and county, 
and a substantial citizen. Aided by his faith- 
ful wife he has brought up an excellent family 
of children. 



HMOS WENGER, one of the prom- 
inent farmers of Randolph township, 
is a son of Christian and Mary (Klep- 
inger) Wenger. Amos Wenger was 
born April 24, 1842, on the old Wenger home- 
stead, and received the common-school educa- 
tion of the day. He was brought up on the 
farm, and when yet a boy rode the horse while 
tramping out the grain on the barn floor, at a 
time when he should have been at school. He 
became an expert in the use of the old-fashioned 
scythe in mowing grass, and of the cradle in 
cradling grain. He well remembers the first 
combined mower and reaper that was intro- 
duced into his neighborhood, and he has kept 
pace with the march of progress in the manu- 
facture of agriculture implements and their 
growing use upon the farm. When he was 
twenty-four years of age, on May 1 1, 1866, he 
married Mary Huffer, who was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, and is a daughter of 
John and Mary (dinger) Huffer. John Huffer 
was of German ancestry, came from Maryland, 
and settled in Montgomery county at an early 
day. His children were as follows: John, 
Catherine, Julia, Lizzie, Mary and Sarah. 
Mr. Huffer lived for some time on the Wenger 
homestead, consisting of about 100 acres, and 
then removed to Miami county, upon a farm 
near Pleasant Hill, where he died at about 
seventy years of age. He was a member of 
the German Baptist church. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
settled on the homestead farm of 130 acres, 
which Mr. Wenger, by industry and careful 

46 



management brought up to a high state of 
cultivation. He erected substantial and excel- 
lent farm buildings, and by wise thrift added 
to his possessions until he owned 300 acres of 
good farming land. To Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
there were born the following children: Emma, 
born April 10, 1869; Lucy, born May 20, 
1871 ; Charles, born March 20, 1879; Sallie, 
born Febuary 19, 1881; Ezra, December 30, 
1882. Mrs. Wenger died November 7, 1884, 
a member of the German Baptist church, and a 
woman of many virtues and excellent qualities 
of head and heart. 

On December 6, 1885, Mr. Wenger mar- 
ried Mary Landis, a daughter of Samuel and 
Susannah (Erstine) Landis, and born August 
22, 1858. Samuel Landis was a son of Felix 
Landis, who came from Pennsylvania, was a 
farmer, and married while yet living in Penn- 
sylvania, Miss Elizabeth Garver. Felix Lan- 
dis was one of the earliest of the pioneers of 
Montgomery county, and became one of this 
county's most substantial citizens. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wegner have two children: 
Albert, born December 7, 1886, and Walter, 
born January 17, 1897. Both are members of 
the German Baptist church, old order. Mr. 
Wenger has served as a member of the school 
board, and is a valuable citizen. His father, 
Christian Wenger, was one of the best known 
of the pioneers, and a man of excellent stand- 
ing in every relation of life. 



^ EVI WENGER, one of the prosper- 

C ous farmers of Randolph township, 

L^J^ and a son of one of the pioneers of 

Montgomery county, was born on 

the Wenger homestead, August 26, 1844. 

He is a son of Christian and Mary (Klep- 

inger) Wenger, for fuller mention of whom 

the reader is referred to the biography 

of Joseph Wenger, elsewhere published in this 



n»7s 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



volume. Levi Wenger received the common- 
school education obtainable in the district 
schools, beginning to work early in life. When 
he was a boy, farm machinery had not been 
brought into use to any great extent, horses 
being used to tramp out grain. He was often 
employed in the winter time upon the farm, 
when he should have been at school. He well 
remembers the first combined mower and 
reaper that he ever saw, and other machines 
as they were invented and put upon the farm. 
He has spent many a day mowing with the old- 
fashioned scythe, reaping with a cradle, and 
raking hay with a hand-rake. The change to 
the present system has been very great and 
has been made with great rapidity, and none 
appreciate the march of improvement more 
than does the intelligent farmer. 

When he was twenty-eight years old Mr. 
Wenger married, on September 23, 1873, Miss 
Amanda Smith, born in Clay township on the 
Smith homestead, and a daughter of Abraham 
and Catherine (Long) Smith. Abraham Smith 
was of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, from Lan- 
caster county. Pa., and a farmer. He came 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, and settled at 
Greencastle, southwest of Dayton, where he 
ran a wagonmaker's shop for some years. At 
this place he was married and had the follow- 
ing children: Cyrus and Amanda, and one 
that died young. Mr. Smith moved to Clay 
township, on sixty acres of land, to which he 
added by thrift and industry until he owned a 
farm of 100 acres. He was one of the hard- 
working, prosperous men of his township, was 
a democrat in politics, and he and his wife 
were members of the church of the Brethren 
in Christ. He died in 1892 when he was 
seventy-five years old. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Wenger 
lived for one year on the Smith homestead, at 
the end of which time they removed to the 
Wenger homestead, where they have since 



lived. This farm Mr. Wenger has greatly im- 
proved, among the improvements being a fine, 
large brick house and other good buildings, 
such as are needed on a well conducted and 
well regulated farm. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Wenger there have been 
born the following children: Dora O, Jesse 
W T . , Bertha J., Rosella, Rollin, Leroy and 
Stella A. The parents are members of the 
church of the Brethren in Christ. In politics, 
Mr. Wenger is independent, and he is well 
known for his strict integrity and high char- 
acter. He comes of the best pioneer stock, 
is the head of an excellent family, and is one 
of the highly honored citizens of Randolph 
township. 



WEROME WERTZ, a retired merchant 
■ of Miamisburg, and a prominent citi- 
/• 1 zen, was bofn in Jefferson township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, September 
14, 1 83 1. He is a son of Daniel and Sarah 
( Weamer) Wertz, natives respectively of Frank- 
lin and Somerset counties, Pa., who settled in 
Franklin, Ohio, in 1808. There Mr. Wertz 
followed his trade, that of carpenter, until 
18 1 8, when he removed to Jefferson township, 
Montgomery county, where he cleared and 
improved a farm, and where he was engaged 
in the manufacture of wind mills. Upon this 
farm he lived the rest of his life, dying Sep- 
tember 28, 1873. His wife died March 10, 
1859. They were the parents of the follow- 
ing children: Catherine, wife of Jacob Mullen- 
dore; Anthony, deceased; Mary, wifeof George 
Getter; Sarah, wifeof Daniel Lambert; Jacob, 
deceased; Nancy, wife of Daniel Mueky; Eliza- 
beth, wife of Frederick Stine; Caroline, wife 
of Peter Lambert; Lavina, wife of Aaron Mul- 
lendore; Harriet, wife of Joseph Hartzell; 
Daniel; John, deceased; Jerome; and Rachael, 
wife of Jacob Beachler. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1079 



Jerome Wertz was reared in Jefferson town- 
ship, and received a limited education in the 
common schools. While yet a young man he 
learned the tinner's trade, which he followed 
in Miamisburg for ten years. In 1857 he re- 
moved to Anderson, Ind., where he conducted 
a tin store for two years, returning to Miamis- 
burg in 1859 and to his father's farm in i860. 
Upon this farm he remained until 1863, and 
then again returned to Miamisburg, where he 
was engaged in merchandizing until 1884. For 
five years thereafter he was engaged in farm- 
ing in Jefferson township, and, in 1889, retired 
from active life altogether, and has since re- 
sided in Miamisburg. 

Mr. Wertz, on June 9, 1858, married Sarah 
A. Schenck, daughter of William and Margaret 
(Small) Schenck, of Miamisburg, and to this 
marriage have been born five children, viz: 
William S. ; Calvin A., deceased; Laura, Al- 
fred and Willis. During the late Civil war 
Mr. Wertz served his country as a member of 
company E, One Hundred and Thirty-first 
regiment, Ohio volunteer infantry, and was 
honorably discharged at the expiration of his 
term of service. Politically he is a republican, 
and he is a member of Al Mason post, No. 
508, G. A. R. In religious matters both he 
and his wife are Methodists, and are excellent 
people in all respects, enjoying the fullest con- 
fidence of all their friends and acquaintances. 
It will be seen that Mr. Wertz has led an act- 
ive and industrious life. His business tact and 
thrift have won him a competence, and he is 
now enjoying in ease the fruits of his earlier 
and arduous labors. 



at 



'ALTER C. WILSON, the worthy 
and experienced superintendent of 
the public schools of West Carroll- 
ton, Miami township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born in Jackson township, 



in the same county, October 9, 1862, and is a 
son of John R. and Susan (Oldfather) Wilson, 
natives respectively of Jackson and German 
townships, and descendants from early settlers 
of Montgomery county. 

John Wilson, paternal grandfather of Wal- 
ter C. , was a native of Washington county, 
Pa., of Scotch-Irish descent, and in 181 5 set- 
tled in Jackson township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, where he cleared up and improved a 
farm from the wilderness, and there resided 
until his death, in 1874. His wife, Susan 
(Aulti Wilson, was also a native of Washing- 
ton county, Pa., and bore her husband twelve 
children, named Hiram, Joseph, Jacob, Mary 
A. (Mrs. Jacob Oldfather), Elizabeth (Mrs. 
Thomas Smith), Sarah (Mrs. Henry Oldfather), 
John R., Henry, Susan (Mrs. Wesley Kline), 
Anna (Mrs. William H. Oldfather), Lucy 
(Mrs. A. M. Sterling), and Jenny. 

Samuel Oldfather, maternal grandfather of 
Walter C. Wilson, was a son of Jonathan 
Oldfather, a Pennsylvanian who came to Ohio 
in 1804 and settled in German township, Mont- 
gomery county. 

John R. Wilson, father of Walter C, was 
reared on a farm, but in 1867 embarked in 
mercantile business in Farmersville, Montgom- 
ery county, and also engaged in the manufac- 
ture of boots and shoes, and continued in 
these lines until 1876, when he became a sub- 
contractor in the mail service, which occupied 
his time until 1891. During this interval he 
was also postmaster at Farmersville for four 
years. His children who grew to maturity 
were named Walter C, Ora, Etta (Mrs. Joshua 
Albaugh) and Harry. 

Walter C. Wilson received his elementary 
education in the common schools of Jackson 
township and later attended the National Nor- 
mal university at Lebanon, Ohio, and Antioch 
college at Yellow Springs, Greene county, 
Ohio. He began his business life as a baker, 



1080 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and also learned the barber's trade. In 1880 
he began teaching, and in this profession dis- 
covered his forte, which he has since pursued 
with much credit and success. His first graded 
school was at South Lebanon, Warren county, 
where he taught one year; he then went to 
Bellbrook, Greene county, and taught four 
years; since 1890 he has been superintendent 
of the public schools in West Carrollton, in 
which position he has given the greatest satis- 
faction to the community and won for himself 
an enviable reputation. For six years, 1890 
to 1896, he has also been associate principal 
of the normal department of Antioch college. 
Mr. Wilson was united in marriage, Sep- 
tember 18, 1884, with Miss Amanda Snethen, 
daughter of George and Catherine (Stahlj 
Snethen, of Warren county, Ohio, and to them 
have been born three children: Clyde S., 
K. Grace and Morris C. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in politics Mr. Wilson is a democrat. Fra- 
ternally, he is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and the O. U. A. M. , and socially he and his 
wife enjoy a very high standing. 



lf\ ANIEL W. YOUNG, Sr., of Miamis- 
1 burg, and a retired hotel proprietor, 
/^^J was born in Munichweiter, Rhine 
province, Germany, January 16, 
1839. He is a son of Daniel and Wilhelmina 
(Von Brecht) Young, his paternal grandpar- 
ents having been Philip and Catherine (Weber) 
Young, and his maternal grandparents, Julius 
Von Brecht and wife. 

Daniel W. Young's early education was re- 
ceived in the public schools of his native 
country, and in his twelfth year he was ad- 
mitted to the university at Speyer, with the 
view to being trained for the ministry of the 
Evangelical Protestant church. He had pre- 
viously attended an art training school and 



had become proficient as an ornamental 
painter. And as will be seen, later on, this 
latter training entered, in part, into his fu- 
ture course of life. In 1853 he sailed for the 
United States from Havre, on the ship Ar- 
lington, and, after a tedious voyage of sixty 
days, landed in New York. From this city he 
went by canal to Buffalo, and thence by rail 
to Saint Louis, where he joined his uncle, 
Peter Weber, a noted musician, who sent him 
to Walter & Cook's business college, from 
which institution he graduated with honor in 
the spring of 1856. He was next employed 
as clerk and steward in a hotel, remaining in 
this position for two years. In 1858 he went 
to Zanesville, Ohio, where he was employed 
in a confectionery store until the fall of 1859, 
wben he removed to Miamisburg. In i860 he 
entered the employ of Bookwalter & Kauff- 
man, carriage builders, as foreman of their 
painting department, and was engaged with 
them, and the various firms that succeeded 
to that business, for a period of nearly eleven 
years. In 1870, having purchased the Valley 
house, he engaged in the hotel business, and 
conducted this hotel for two and a half years. 
Selling out the Valley house, he removed to 
Dayton, and there conducted the Gait house 
for three years, at the end of which time he 
returned to Miamisburg, purchased the Arcade 
restaurant, thoroughly renovated and remod- 
eled the building, and conducted the restau- 
rant until 1888. He then took charge of what 
is now known as the Hotel Young, and carried 
on a successful business until 1895, when he 
retired from active participation in business 
affairs. 

In 1 89 1 Capt. Young went to Germany, on 
a visit to his aged mother and other relatives, 
this being his first visit to his native land after 
he left there in 1853. In 1861 he married 
Elizabeth Jacobus, daughter of Frederick and 
Catherine (Graff) Jacobus, of the Rhine prov- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1081 



ince, Germany, and pioneers of Miamisburg. 
To this marriage there have been born three 
children that are still living, as follows: F. 
Henry, Daniel W. , Jr., and Charles. During 
the late Civil war Capt. Young served in 
the Morgan raid, and, notwithstanding he 
was the youngest member of his company, he 
was elected captain. He now has in his pos- 
session three commissions that were given 
him, one as captain of company I, Fourth 
Ohio volunteer infantry; one as captain ot 
company D, Seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, 
and one as captain of company E, Thirteenth 
Ohio volunteer infantry. 

Fraternally Capt. Young is a member of 
Schiller lodge, No. 38, I. O. O. F., of Day- 
ton, of the Knights of Pythias lodge of Mi- 
amisburg, and was the founder of and is past 
grand master of Mozart lodge, A. O. U. W. 
He is at the present time serving his second 
term as grand master of the D. O. H. Among 
other positions of trust that he has held may 
be mentioned that of president of the Miamis- 
burg Cemetery association, which he has held 
for the past eight years, and under his efficient 
management of the affairs of the association 
the cemetery has been brought into a condition 
of high perfection and beauty. In politics 
Capt. Young is a democrat, and a man of high 
character and undoubted patriotism. 



EARRISON WOLPERS, a prominent 
dry-goods merchant of Germantown, 
Ohio, was born in Germantown, No- 
vember 11, 1845, a son °f Charles O. 
and Louisa (Schwartz) Wolpers. 

Charles O. Wolpers was a native of the 
duchy of Brunswick, Germany, born in 1795, 
came to America in 18 14, and settled in Ger- 
mantown, where soon after his arrival he 
opened a store near Gunckel's mill. Begin- 
ning on a small scale, he gradually enlarged 



his operations in proportion to the demands of 
trade. After some years of success he erected 
a business structure on the lot now occu- 
pied by the dry-goods establishment of H. 
Wolpers & Co., where he continued busi- 
ness for a short time. He spent several years, 
also, in Bellefontaine, Ohio, which was then 
called Bellville, but Mr. Wolpers changed the 
name to Bellefontaine, which it has ever since 
retained. On his return to Germantown he 
engaged in the drug business, and was also 
interested in a distillery. He was a well-edu- 
cated man, a classical and scientific scholar, 
and was a diligent student throughout his life. 
He was also a practical chemist, and erected a 
laboratory, where he manufactured various 
articles for medical purposes. In 1824 he 
married Louisa Schwartz, daughter of Dr. 
Schwartz, of Baltimore, Md., who was a na- 
tive of Germany and a Revolutionary soldier. 
To Mr. and Wolpers were born eight children, 
three of whom grew to maturity — Frederika, 
Vandalena (Mrs. Lewis Eminger), and Har- 
rison, our subject. 

Harrison Wolpers was reared and educated 
in Germantown, and began his business career 
as a boot and shoe merchant in that town, in 
1865. In this he continued one year and since 
1866 has been in the dry-goods business, as a 
member of the firm of D. L. Oblinger & Co., 
Oblinger & Wolpers, as H. Wolpers, and since 
1892 as H. Wolpers & Co., the business having 
been established by Gabriel Oblinger in 1825. 

May 2, 1870, Mr. Wolpers married Eliza 
J., daughter of Joseph F. and Eva (Coblentz) 
Kemp, of German township, the marriage re- 
sulting in the birth of six children, five now 
living: Eva (Mrs. Edwin Chryst), Charles 
F. , Frank, Lulu and Laura ; and one, Harry, 
deceased. Mr. Wolpers is a member of the 
Lutheran church and of the F. & A. M. In 
politics he is a republican, and during the late 
Civil war he held the offices of assistant asses- 



1082 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



sor and and assistant deputy collector of internal 
revenue. He has been a member of the Ger- 
mantown school board for nine years and has 
always done his full duty as a citizen, while as 
a business man he has met with abundant 
success and prosperity. 



**r* EVI ZEHRING, a retired farmer of 

C Germantown, Ohio, was born in Ger- 

_^^ man township, Montgomery county, 

June 15, 18 19, a son of Peter and 

Elizabeth (Bonebrake) Zehring. His paternal 

grandfather, Lewis Zehring, was a native of 

Lebanon county, Pa., and a son of Henry 

Zehring, who was a son of Ludwig Zehring, a 

pioneer of Lebanon county, Pa., his ancestors 

being from Baden, Germany. 

Peter Zehring was born in Lebanon county, 
Pa., November 2, 1793. He was educated in 
his native state, where he learned the shoe- 
maker's trade, and in May, 1816, settled in 
German township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and followed his vocation until 1818, when he 
married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Dewalt 
and Christiana Bonebrake. He then engaged 
in farming, clearing and improving most of the 
farm of 136 acres on which he settled, and 
where he died August 8, 1858. Both he and 
his wife were members of the United Brethren 
church. In politics Mr. Zehring was a stanch 
democrat. 

Levi Zehring, the only child of Peter who 
grew to maturity, was born and reared on the 
old homestead, and received a limited educa- 
tion in the schools of his day. He continued 
to live on the homestead until 1882, when he 
retired and removed to Germantown, where he 
has since resided. He was an industrious and 
able farmer, and made many improvements on 
the old homestead. He married, February 5, 
1846, Ann Maria, daughter of Barnard and 
Elizabeth (Swartzly) Zehring. She was the 



granddaughter of Philip Swartzly, one of the 
pioneers of Montgomery county, who helped 
to lay out the present city of Dayton. Mr. 
Zehring has one son living, Amos, of whom 
mention will be made hereafter. Mr. Zehring 
is one of the best known citizens of German 
township. While not a member of any church, 
he is a believer in Christianity, and is a sup- 
porter of the United Brethren denomination; 
in politics he is a democrat. 

Amos Zehring, a prominent farmer of Ger- 
man township, was born on the Zehring home- 
stead, where he now resides, December 28, 
1847, a °d is the only son of Levi and Anna M. 
(Zehring) Zehring. He reached the years of 
manhood in his native township, where he re- 
ceived a common-school education. He has 
always followed farming as an occupation, 
and, with the exception of four years, has al- 
ways lived on the old Zehring homestead. In 
September, 1871, he married Mary, daughter 
of John P. Hildreth, of Jay county, Ind., and 
has five children — Oscar O., Eva M., Willie 
A., Levi E. and Aaron Earl. Mr. Zehring is 
a member of the United Brethren church, is 
president of the township school board, and in 
politics is a republican. He is honored wher- 
ever known, and is a most well-to-do farmer, 
as well as an excellent citizen. 



* » ■ * ON. LEWIS HENRY ZEHRING, 

j^V mayor of Miamisburg, and familiarly 

P known as Judge Zehring, was born in 

Miamisburg July 12, 1S40, son of 

Samuel and Mary (Wenger) Zehring. 

In his native town Judge Zehring grew to 
manhood, securing a good education in the 
public schools. At the age of twenty years he 
began teaching school, and followed that vo- 
cation for twelve years, and during a part of 
that time was also engaged in farming. He 
was principal of the grammar department of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1083 



Miamisburg's school for three years, and 
taught a select school one year. In 1874, 
while on the farm, he was elected justice of 
the peace, and the following year removed to 
Miamisburg, where he has since resided and 
through successive re-elections has continuous- 
ly held the office. For two years he served in 
the city council, and as mayor seven years, 
and is the present incumbent of that office, 
and for four years rendered efficient service as 
a member of the board of school examiners. 
He has been connected with the fire depart- 
ment ever since 1865, with the exception of 
five years spent on his farm, and has been its 
president since 1892. From January, 1891, 
to January, 1894, he held the office of county 
commissioner, and was a member of Mont- 
gomery county's soldiers' relief committee for 
four years. 

In 1863 he was united in marriage with 
Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Emanuel B. Geb- 
hart, of Miami township, by whom he has two 
daughters: Laura M., wife of Oliver P. 
Dosch; and Blanche, now a student of Yale 
college. 

In politics the judge is a democrat, and a 
recognized leader in the councils of his party. 
Fraternally, he is a Mason, and has attained 
the thirty-second degree, and for twelve years 
he served as worshipful master of Minerva 
lodge, No. 98, of Miamisburg. In all matters 
pertaining to the public good Judge Zehring 
takes a commendable interest, and as public 
official or private citizen has proved true to 
every trust reposed in him. 



at 



ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 
BRIDGMAN, a prominent farmer 
and dairyman of Van Buren town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, 

was born in that township, January 27, 1844. 

He is a son of Thomas and Esther (John) 



Bridgman, the former a native of Virginia and 
the latter of Ohio. Thomas and Esther 
Bridgman were the parents of nine children, as 
follows: Sarah, wife of B. B. Pancoast; Mary 
Jane, wife of F. M. Ewry; William H. H. ; 
John T. ; Perry B. ; Albert Orion, Francis 
Marion; Laura, wife of John Shutts, and 
Charles G. 

Thomas Bridgman, born April 15, 1803, in 
Jefferson county, Va., was a farmer by occu- 
pation, came to Ohio about 1827, and pur- 
chased a farm of 1 52 acres in Van Buren town- 
ship, which he managed, and also ran a saw- 
mill. Upon that farm he lived until his death, 
which occurred in 1882, when he was seventy- 
nine years of age. His widow, a native of 
Van Buren township, is now seventy-seven 
years of age. She is, as he was, a member of 
the United Brethren church, of which he 
served for some years as one of the trustees. 
He also served for a number of years as di- 
rector of the school district in which he lived. 

The paternal grandfather of W. H. H. 
Bridgman died in Virginia. The maternal 
grandfather, Asa John, was a native of Wales, 
and an early settler in Van Buren township. 
He was enterprising, industrious and success- 
ful, and accumulated a large amount of real 
estate both in Montgomery and in Shelby 
counties. His death occurred when he was 
eighty-two years old. 

William H. H. Bridgman was reared in 
Van Buren township, received his early educa- 
tion in the district schools, and remained at 
home until he was eighteen years of age. On 
February 2, 1862, he enlisted in company D, 
Seventy-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, in 
which he served two years. Then, re-enlist- 
ing as a veteran, he served until the close of 
the war. Among the battles in which he par- 
ticipated were those of Chattanooga, Stone 
River, and all of those on Sherman's march to 
the sea. Returning home from the war he 



1084 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



engaged in farming and threshing on his own 
account, with continuing success. About 
1890 he also embarked in the dairy business, 
in which he has likewise prospered. His farm 
of 134 acres lies about four and a half miles 
southeast of Dayton, and is well improved and 
highly cultivated. 

Mr. Bridgman was married, December 28, 
1865, to Miss Adeline O. Fellows, of Niagara 
county, N. Y. To this marriage there were 
born five children, as follows: Henry Clay, 
Bertha, Ollie, Florence and Sidney Burke. 
Florence died at the age of six years in the 
state of New York. Mrs. Bridgman, mother of 
these children, died November 6, 1S77, a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church. On No- 
vember 18, 1885, Mr. Bridgman again mar- 
ried, his second wife being Miss Hannah 
Dedrick, daughter of David and Mary (Altick) 
Dedrick. By this marriage he has one child, 
Maud Marie. Mr. and Mrs. Bridgman are 
members of the United Brethren church, and 
Mr. Bridgman is a member of Montgomery 
lodge, No. 5, I. O. O. F., also of Earnshaw 
post, No. 590, G. A. R. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Union Veteran Legion, camp No. 
145. Politically he is a republican, but has 
never sought or held office. 



^y w M LLIAM CLEMMER, one of the 
MM most prosperous farmers of Mad 

\JLvl River township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born in Perry town- 
ship, that county, on the banks of Tom's Run, 
October 11, 1825. He is a son of John and 
Phoebe (Nevius) Clemmer, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania and of Virginia, respectively. They 
were the parents of eleven children, five of 
whom are still living, as follows: Frances, 
wife of Joshua Fagler; John N. ; William; 
Rachel Ann, wife of George Bixler, and Cath- 
erine, wife of Henry Bish. 



John Clemmer, the father of William, was 
a farmer by occupation, and served in the war 
of 1 8 1 2. He came to Ohio about 1 820, located 
in Perry township, Montgomery county, and 
lived there the rest of his life. He died about 
1S60, when eighty-two years of age, his wife 
having died some six years before. Both were 
members of the German Reformed church. The 
father of John Clemmer reared a family of ten 
children, and died in Pennsylvania. The ma- 
ternal grandfather of William Clemmer was a 
farmer by occupation, had a family of ten 
children, and died in Virginia at quite an 
advanced age. 

William Clemmer has lived all his life in 
Montgomery county. Reared on the farm, his 
early life was that of the country lad of pio- 
neer days. He attended the district school, 
remained at home until he attained his major- 
ity, and then his father gave him an opportunity 
to make something for himself, by working a 
farm on shares, and at length gave him a 100- 
acre farm, upon which he lived and which he 
farmed for about ten years. Selling this farm, 
he then bought 144 acres in Jackson township, 
where he lived until 1872, when he traded for 
his present farm, which contains 183 acres. 

He was married October 12, 1848, to Miss 
Sarah Zehring, born September 9, 1824, 
daughter of David and Christena (Houtz) 
Zehring, who were natives of Pennsylvania 
and became residents of Montgomery county 
about 1827. They had three children — Sarah, 
Eliza and Elias. To William Clemmer and 
wife have been born six children, as follows: 
Eliza Catherine, Orion, Celeste Mary, Florence 
A., Clara and Tolton, the latter of whom died 
in infancy. 

Mr. and Mrs. Clemmer are members of the 
United Brethren church, of which he is a trus- 
tee. Politically he is a republican and has 
served as clerk of Perry township. He has 
also been a school director in Mad River town- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1085 



ship for a number of years. He is one of the 
successful farmers of Mad River township, in- 
telligent and well informed, and always ready 
to take advantage of new improvements, in- 
ventions and ideas. 



>"j*ONATHAN CREAGER, a farmer of 
J Washington township, Montgomery 
/• J county, Ohio, was born in Van Buren 
township, this county, October 4, 1845. 
His parents were John C. and Sarah Ann 
(Prugh) Creager, both of whom are also natives 
of Montgomery county. To them were born 
eight children, six sons and two daughters, of 
whom five of the sons and one of the daught- 
ers are still living, as follows: Jonathan, 
Abner; Martha, wife of Thomas Jones; Levi, 
George W. and Gideon W. 

John C. Creager, in his early life, was a 
carpenter and also a cooper, but in his later 
years he followed the occupation of a farmer. 
All his life has been passed in this county, 
with the exception of a few years spent in 
Darke county, where he bought eighty acres 
of land. Some time afterward he sold this 
farm and purchased one containing sixty acres 
in Van Buren township, Montgomery county, 
on which he lived about six years; he then 
purchased the adjoining farm, on which he now 
lives, containing ninety-six acres of fine land. 
This farm he has much improved by careful 
fertilizing and cultivation, and by the erection 
of good buildings, including a large and com- 
fortable dwelling. Mr. Creager also owns a 
farm of ninety-six acres in Darke county. 

Politically, Mr. Creager is a republican, 
and has held numerous local offices. He was 
school director for three years and pike com- 
missioner for two years, in addition to the 
several township offices which he has filled. 
Both he and his wife are members of the Ger- 
man Reformed church. The paternal grand- 



father of Jonathan Creager, John Christian 
Creager, was of German ancestry, and was 
born in Maryland. The maternal grandfather, 
Abner Prugh, was also a native of Maryland, 
was one of the early settlers of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and died in this county at the 
great age of 101 years. 

Jonathan Creager was born in Van Buren 
township, but was reared in Washington town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, and received 
his early education in the district schools. 
Being the eldest of the family, most of the 
farm work fell to his share, and thus his edu- 
cational advantages were more limited than 
they otherwise might have -been; but he has, 
since attaining his majority, improved his op- 
portunities for reading and observation, and 
has in this way become a well-read and well- 
informed man. He remained at home with 
his parents until he attained to man's estate, 
and was married on the 13th day of Novem- 
ber, 1873, to Miss Lyda A. Moats, daughter 
of John and Elizabeth (Shell) Moats. Mrs. 
Creager is a member of the German Reformed 
church. Mr. Creager is a member of Columbia 
lodge, Knights of Honor, and politically is a 
republican, and served with his father for one 
year as pike commissioner. He is a member 
of one of the oldest and best families in the 
county, and enjoys the confidence and respect 
of his neighbors and friends to a high degree. 



>-j»AMES COOK, farmer of Washington 
■ township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
/• 1 was born in Lincolnshire, England, 
May 11, 1835. His parents, William 
and Elizabeth (Nailor) Cook, were natives of 
England. To them there were born seven 
children, five of whom are still living, as fol- 
lows: William, John, James, Alfred, and Mary, 
widow of George Driver, and who lives in Craw- 
fordsville, Ind. William Cook had also one 



1086 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



child by a former marriage. William Cook 
was a laboring man, came to the United States 
more than forty years ago, and lived in Wash- 
ington township, Montgomery county, for 
many years. At length he removed to Craw- 
fordsville, Ind., with his daughter, Mary, and 
died there in 1893, at the great ageof 103 years. 
His wife died about forty years ago. Both the 
grandfathers of James Cook were natives of 
England, and died in that country. 

James Cook was seventeen years of age 
when brought to the United States by his par- 
ents, and began life here with no means what- 
ever. At the present time he has 102 acres of 
land in Washington township, the result of his 
industry and perseverance. On the 13th of 
October, 1S69, he was married to Nannie Mc- 
Grevv, daughter of Milton and Anna (Russell) 
McGrew. To this marriage there have been 
born three children — Milton William, Anna 
Miriam and Mary Rebecca. Of these, Milton 
William lives at home, and Anna Miriam mar- 
ried Frank Tizzard, of Dayton, and has one 
child, Hazel. 

Mrs. Cook's maternal grandfather, James 
Russell, was one of the earliest settlers in Day- 
ton, locating there when there was but one 
house in the place. Having purchased land in 
Washington township, he built a log cabin 
upon it, and then brought his family down the 
Ohio river on a flatboat to Cincinnati, whence 
he brought them by wagons to Montgomery 
county. He was one of the most industrious 
and energetic of the early settlers of Montgom- 
ery county, was one of this county's prominent 
citizens, serving for many years as justice of 
the peace, and also as a member of the state 
legislature. He was a man of remarkable 
strength, both of body and mind, and lived to 
be eighty-four years of age. 

Mrs. Cook's paternal grandfather, John 
McGrew, was also one of the early pioneers of 
Montgomery county, coming to the west from 



York county, Pa. His farm lay in the river 
bottoms of Washington township. In 1788 
he was married, and removed to Georgetown, 
Ky. , the same year. In 1790 he joined the 
army to fight against Indians, and was in the 
great battle of Maumee Ford, which occurred 
on the present site of Fort Wayne, Ind. In 
1796 he removed to Montgomery county and 
settled five miles south of the present site of 
Dayton. He became a prosperous farmer, 
was married twice, was a worthy member of 
the Baptist church, and died at the age of 
eighty-two years. 

The father and mother of Mrs. Cook were 
natives of Washington township. Both were 
members of the Unwersalist church. Mr. Mc- 
Grew died October 27, 1868; his wife survived 
him until 1890, and was in her eighty-fourth 
year when she died, having lived over fifty 
years on the farm on which James Cook now 
makes his home. 



HBRAHAM A. DENLINGER, a repre- 
sentative farmer of Montgomery 
county, came of Pennsylvania stock, 
which was of ancient Swiss origin. 
The tradition is that at an early day four 
brothers came to this country together, locat- 
ing in Pennsylvania, and settled in different 
parts of that state. 

The grandfather of Abraham A. Denlinger, 
whose name also was Abraham, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa. , and became one of the 
prominent farmers of that county. His chil- 
dren were named as follows: Elizabeth, Henry, 
Christian, Abraham, John, Martin, Hettie, 
Nancy, Christina, Susan and Barbara. All of 
these lived to marry and to rear children of 
their own. Mr. Denlinger died in Lancaster 
county, Pa., when forty-two years of age. 

Abraham Denlinger, fourth child of the 
above, and father of the subject, was born in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1087 



Lancaster county, Pa., August 5, 1806. He 
was reared a farmer, and when a young man 
came to the state of Ohio, locating in Mont- 
gomery county in 1831 or 1832. Soon after 
arriving here he married Miss Margaret Miller, 
who was born February 27, 1806, on Wolf 
creek, in Harrison township, and who was a 
daughter of Daniel and Susan (Bowman) 
Miller. The former of these came to Ohio 
from Huntingdon, Pa., locating in Montgom- 
ery county in 1804. It was he who cut the 
first road up Wolf creek through the woods 
west of Dayton, in which town at that time 
there were living but three families. He was 
one of the most enterprising of the pioneers, 
entering land from the government, and pur- 
chasing a large tract, in the aggregate amount- 
ing to 2,000 acres. A large part of this land he 
cleared, and beside erected a saw and grist 
mill and a distillery. The products of these 
two establishments he shipped down the Ohio 
and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, thus 
becoming a business man as well as a farmer. 
His children were as follows: Benjamin, 
John, Daniel, Joseph, Mary, Elizabeth, Es- 
ther, Susan, Margaret, Catherine and Sarah. 
Mr. Miller lived to be eighty-four years of age, 
most of his life being a member of the German 
Baptist church. He was a well-known pio- 
neer, and a man of industry and of great force 
of character. 

After his marriage Abraham Denlinger set- 
tled on a farm of 140 acres, in Madison town- 
ship, cleared it and made a good home for 
himself and family. To this original tract he 
added other lands until at length he became 
possessed of 400 acres. He was one of the 
most substantial and successful farmers of his 
day, and noted for his strength of character 
and decisive opinions on all the leading ques- 
tions of the times. His children were John, 
Daniel, Abraham A., David, Israel, Mary and 
Joseph. His religious views were those of the 



Quakers, while his wife was a member of the 
German Baptist church. The longevity for 
which his ancestry was noted was again illus- 
trated in him, he living to be eighty-seven 
years of age, and dying at the residence of his 
son, the subject of this sketch. 

Abraham A. Denlinger was born February 
25, 1836, in Madison township, and received 
a good common-school education. After leav- 
ing school he continued to improve his mind 
by wide and careful reading and in this way 
became one of the best informed men of his 
day. Working on the farm from early youth 
until he was twenty-one years of age, he mar- 
ried Sarah Garber, March, 26, 1857. She 
was born March 10, 1839, and was a daughter 
of Joseph and Mary (Wampler) Garber, the 
former of whom, when yet a small boy, came 
with his father, Joseph, from Rockingham 
county, Va. , and settled in Montgomery county, 
Ohio. Joseph Garber and Mary, his wife, 
were the parents of the following children: 
Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary A., William, Joseph, 
Anna, Philip, Lucinda and Jesse. Joseph Gar- 
ber owned an excellent farm of 106 acres of 
land, which his father had cleared from the 
woods, and lived to be a very old man, dying 
when upward of eighty years of age. In re- 
ligious belief he agreed with and was a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Denlin- 
ger settled on her father's 160-acre farm, pur- 
chasing 100 acres thereof and developing it 
into a fertile and productive farm. Their chil- 
dren were: Lavina G., Clara A., Ira G., An- 
nie G., Lizzie G., Laura G., Edgar G. and 
Elmer O. Mrs. Denlinger died March 1, 1872, 
a consistent member of the German Baptist 
church, and on June 6, 1875, Mr. Denlinger 
married Annie Bowman, who was born August 
22, 1852, in Randolph township, and is a 
daughter of Benjamin and Belinda (Hyre) 
Bowman. Benjamin Bowman was born in 



1088 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Madison township February 4, 181 1, and was 
a son of John and Christina Bowman, the 
former of whom came from Pennsylvania to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, as one of its pio- 
neers. Benjamin Bowman and his wife were 
the parents of the following children: Isaac, 
John, David (who served as a soldier in the 
late Civil war), Sarah, Joseph, Franklin, An- 
nie and Lucinda. Mr. Bowman settled on a 
farm of 1 30 acres, became a prosperous farmer, 
was a member of the German Baptist church, 
and a highly respected citizen. His wife died 
March 4, 1897, aged eighty-one years. They 
had lived together, when Mrs. Bowman died, 
about sixty years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Denlinger are the parents of 
the following children: Austin H., Sibyl E., 
Stella, Carl H. and Ralph R. Thus Mr. Den- 
linger is the father of thirteen living children, 
and also of one child, Roy H., now deceased. 
Politically, Mr. Denlinger is a democrat, and 
as such has held the office of township trustee 
for fourteen years. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of Randolph lodge, No. 98, I. O. O. F., 
in which he has held all the offices, including 
that of noble grand, and is also a member of 
the encampment. 



ISRAEL DENLINGER, of Trotwood, 
Ohio, is a son of one of the earliest of 
the pioneers. He was born June 7, 
1840, a son of Abraham and Margaret 
(Miller) Denlinger, on the old homestead in 
Madison township. He received the usual 
common-school education; he was reared a 
farmer, and on November 28, 1861, married 
Miss Mollie Garber, who was born in 1844, 
and is a daughter of Joseph and Mary A. 
(Wampler) Garber. 

Joseph Garber was born in Virginia, a son 
of Joseph Garber, Sr. , who came at an early 
day with his family to Montgomery county as 



one of the first of the pioneers, bringing with 
him his wife and four children — Betsey, Susie, 
Kate and Joseph. Joseph Garber, Sr. , settled 
on land which he cleared from the woods, and 
for a time lived in Randolph township. He 
was an elder and a minister in the German 
Baptist church, and preached the gospel many 
years. A successful farmer and an esteemed 
minister of the church, he lived to be eighty 
years of age, leaving the memory of a well- 
spent life. 

Joseph Garber, the father of Mrs. Denlin- 
ger, was but a small boy when he came with 
his parents to Ohio. Reared as were most 
farmers' boys, he became inured to labor and 
hardship, which gave him a strong constitution 
and a sound, healthy mind. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Martha, Cath- 
arine, Sarah, Elizabeth, Lucinda, Mollie, Will- 
iam, Joseph, Philip and Jesse. Mr. Garber 
settled in Randolph township on 106 acres of 
land, which had belonged to his father, which 
he cleared of its timber. He was a member 
; of the German Baptist church, and a man of 
estimable character. He lived to the age of 
seventy years. His wife, Mary A. Wampler, 
was born in Harrison township, February 22, 
1 8 16, on the Wampler homestead, and died 
January 29, 1847. She was a daughter of 
Philip and Catherine (Ryer) Wampler, the 
former of whom was a son of David and Cath- 
erine (Ingler) Wampler. David Wampler was 
a native of Maryland and of Dutch descent. 
As one of the earliest of the pioneers of Mont- 
gomery county he was well known to many of 
the people of that and surrounding counties. 
He was twice married, first to Mary Sanch- 
wick, by whom he had several children, all of 
whom died young but two, Mary and Philip. 
By his second wife he had no children. David 
Wampler was a member of the German Bap- 
tist church and lived to be an aged man. 

Philip Wampler was a native of Maryland, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1089 



was married in that state, and reared the fol- 
lowing children: Mary A., Edward, Jesse, 
David, William, John, Joseph, Samuel, and 
Annie. Mr. Wampler was one of the most ex- 
tensive farmers of his day, owning 300 acres of 
land. Like his father before him, he was a 
member of the German Baptist church, and 
was also for many years a preacher and elder. 
Israel Denlinger, whose name opens this 
sketch, after his marriage settled on the Den- 
linger homestead, where he lived a short time, 
and then removed to Randolph township, liv- 
ing there two and a half years. Then buying 
a tract in Madison township, containing ninety- 
four and a half acres, he removed to that 
farm, which he still owns and to which he aft- 
erward added by purchased seventeen acres. 
He and his wife reared the following children: 
Viola, Allen, William, Walter F., Carlton, 
who died a young man; Vernon, Elwood and 
Carrie. Mr. and Mrs. Denlinger belong to the 
old German Baptist church, and are most ex- 
cellent members of the community, in which 
they have the respect of all for their kindly 
christian characters. 



^""V*AMUEL EARNST, a prosperous farm- 
•Y^^fcT er of Perry township, Montgomery 

K. J county, Ohio, comes from sturdy Ger- 
man ancestry. His father, Mathias 
F. Earnst, or, as he spelled his name, Arnst, 
was born in Wittenberg, Germany, near the 
village of Falebaugh. His father owned a 
farm in that county. Mathias F. Arnst came 
to America when he was twenty-two years of 
age, settled in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, 
and married Sallie Martin, who was born in 
Pennsylvania. Soon after his marriage he re- 
moved to Maryland, locating near Liberty, in 
that state. In 1823 he came to Ohio and set- 
tled on the section of land on which Samuel 
Earnst now lives, his farm containing eighty 



acres of land, which he cleared of its timber 
and converted into an excellent farm. Here 
he lived and labored many years, prospered as 
a reward for his industry, and, in addition to 
his land in Ohio, entered 237 acres in Bar- 
tholomew county, Ind., which his two sons 
afterward purchased, of him. Mr. and Mrs. 
Arnst were the parents of the following chil- 
dren: Hannah, John, Mary, Samuel, George, 
Catherine and Sallie. Mr. Arnst died in his 
eighty-sixth year, at the home of his son, Sam- 
uel. He was a member of the German Bap- 
tist church, and was in all respects an honora- 
ble and upright citizen. 

Samuel Earnst was born February 8, 18 18, 
in Maryland, near Liberty. He was therefore 
but five years old when he came to Ohio with 
his parents. At that time there were no com- 
mon schools, as that term is now understood, 
but in their place there were subscription 
schools, each parent paying so* much for each 
child that he sent to be educated. At one of 
these subscription schools young Earnst re- 
ceived his early education, and it was Gran- 
ville Andress, the teacher of this subscription 
school, who changed the spelling of the name 
from Arnst to Earnst. Mr. Earnst well re- 
members the journey from Maryland to Ohio, 
which was made by means of wagons. After 
his school days were over he took up the hard 
work of the farm, and when he was twenty- 
five years old he married Susannah Holsapple, 
a daughter of Adam Holsapple, the marriage 
ceremony being performed October 6, 1843, 
by Daniel Miller, a minister of the German 
Baptist church. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Earnst lived with her father, Adam Hols- 
apple, for a short time, when Mr. Holsapple 
died, and Mr. Earnst then managed the farm 
for several years. In 1864 he bought his 
father-in-law's farm, containing eighty acres, 
and later purchased his present farm of sev- 
enty-five acres, which was partly cleared. 



1090 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



To Mr. and Mrs. Earnst were born the fol- 
lowing children: Anna, Mary, Rebecca, Sarah, 
John, Noah, Nancy and Lee. After the death 
of his first wife Mr. Earnst married a widow, 
Mrs. Catherine Brown, whose maiden name 
was Hoover. By this marriage he had no 
children. After the death of his second wife 
he married Catherine Gnodle, who yet 
survives him. 

Mr. Earnst, by his industry and good man- 
agement, added to his possessions until he ac- 
quired 400 acres of good land, of which he has 
given portions to his children, and now retains 
only the homestead, consisting of 1 39 acres, 
and also eighty-four acres in Madison town- 
ship. For fifteen years Mr. Earnst bought 
and sold cattle, and was also successfully en- 
gaged in the butcher's business. He has al- 
ways been a good business man, and justly 
esteemed for his straightforward dealings with 
his fellow-men. He is a member of the Ger- 
man Baptist church. 



'^y'ACOB EBY, the well-known horticult- 
■ urist and farmer of Madison township, 
A 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
here January 23, 1843, and springs from 
Pennsylvania-German stock, intermixed with 
Scotch-Irish. 

Christian Eby, grandfather of Jacob, was 
born in the Keystone state, married Susan 
McDaniels, of Scotch-Irish descent, moved to 
Maryland, and settled on a farm near Hagers- 
town. There were born to this marriage 
twelve children, named John, Christian, Adam, 
Samuel, Wilson, James, Jacob, Betsy, Jane, 
Catherine, Susanna and Levina. From Mary- 
land Christian Eby came to Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, where he had previously bought a 
large tract of land on Twin creek, cleared a 
farm from the woods, and then moved across 
the line into Preble county, where he died at 



the age of ninety-two. His wife, with whom 
he had been united for over sixty years, died 
at the age of ninety-three. 

Wilson Eby, father of Jacob, was, in all 
probability, born in Maryland ; and before 
twenty-one years old he came to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, a year before his father, 
Christian Eby, came, and settled on a part of 
the land his father had previously purchased 
on Twin creek. He married Elizabeth Stover, 
a native of Maryland and a daughter of Daniel 
and Susan ( Fink ) Stover, and to this union 
were born the following children : Jane, Jacob, 
Daniel, Susan, Catherine, James, Wilson, 
Christian and Elizabeth. 

Wilson Eby cleared a fine farm on Twin 
creek, then, later, moved to Preble county, 
where he bought 320 acres, but eventually re- 
turned to Montgomery county and purchased 
160 acres of the farm on which his son, Jacob, 
now lives. He was a consistent member of 
the German Baptist church, and died in that 
faith in 1884, at the age of sixty-eight years, 
after a life of industry, usefulness, and un- 
swerving integrity. 

Jacob Eby, whose name opens this sketch, 
received a good district-school education, grew 
to manhood on his father's farm, and on De- 
cember 24, 1866, married Miss Martha J. Jor- 
dan, who was born September 29, 1848, in 
Clermont county, Ohio, a daughter of Nathaniel 
Wesley and Esther Ann (Scott) Jordan. 

Nathaniel W. Jordan was born in North 
Carolina, June 22, 181 3, a son of Silas Jordan, 
who was a slave owner and factory proprietor 
near Edenton, on Albemarle sound, and a 
very wealthy man. Nathaniel, his brother, 
was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. 
Silas was one of the pioneers of Clermont 
county, Ohio, and the Edenton of that county 
was by him named after the Edenton in North 
Carolina, and was built on his land. He 
lived to be eighty-six years of age, and died in 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1091 



Edenton, Ohio, the father of the following 
children: Nathaniel W. , Jane, Louisa, Caro- 
line and Elizabeth. He was one of the found- 
ers of the Methodist Episcopal church in 
Edenton, Ohio, of whi«h he was a member, 
and was also a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. Nathaniel W. Jordan 
came to Ohio with his father, and was married 
November 24, 1836, to Miss Esther Ann Scott, 
who was born in Warren county, Ohio, Janu- 
ary 17, 1 82 1. In 1834 the Scott family 
moved from Warren county to West Wood- 
ville, in Clermont county, and settled on 180 
acres of land, and in this county the daughter 
was married to Mr. Jordan. After his mar- 
riage Mr. Jordan located on a part of his 
father's farm, and to his marriage there were 
born nine children, viz: Silas, Alexander V., 
Hannah E., Charles, Amos, Martha J., 
Louisa, Caroline and Frank. Mrs. Jordan 
died October 27, 1893, but Mr. Jordan still 
survives at the age of eighty-three years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Eby, after their mar- 
riage, first located on a farm of 100 acres in 
Preble county, Ohio, but, in 188 1, a cyclone 
destroyed everything on the farm — fences, tim- 
ber, crops, buildings, and all, excepting the resi- 
dence. Mr. Eby then sold out and returned to 
Montgomery county, where he already owned 
half of his present farm, his father owning the 
other half, which Jacob bought. Mr. Eby is 
here largely engaged in the culture of fruit, 
having many acres in pears, grapes, apples, 
and other fruits. He carries on, beside, gen- 
eral farming. Mr. and Mrs. Eby are the par- 
ents of four children — Charles, Perry J. , Daniel 
C, and Katie L. These children have been 
carefully reared and well educated. In poli- 
tic Mr. Eby is a democrat, and has been a 
member of the school board at intervals for 
twenty-five years. 

Elder Jenkin David, maternal great-grand- 
father of Mrs. Eby, was born in Wales in 



1753, and in that country married Martha 
Evans in 1784; came to America in 1794, be- 
came a minister in Grand Valley, Pa., out- 
lived eight sons and ten daughters, and died 
June 23, 1834. Mrs. Jacob Eby had two 
brothers, Alexander and Charles, who served 
during the Civil war in company H, One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-third Ohio volunteer infantry; 
Charles died a prisoner of war at Florence, S. 
C, in his twenty-first year. 



ISAAC ERBAUGH is one of the solid 
farmers of Perry township, and a son 
of an early settler in Montgomery coun- 
ty. His grandfather, Jacob Erbaugh, 
was a native of Rockingham county, Va. , 
married a Miss Funk, and came to Ohio in 
1834. He was the father of the following 
children: Polly, Catherine, Susan, Nancy, 
Esther, Jacob and Abraham. Jacob Erbaugh 
died two months after reaching Montgomery 
county. In Rockingham county, Va., he 
owned 600 acres of land, so that his family 
was left in comfortable circumstances. He 
was seventy-eight years of age at the time of 
his death. 

Jacob Erbaugh, the father of Isaac, >was 
born in Rockingham county, Va., in 1797. 
He received a good common-school education 
in the German language. While yet living in 
Virginia he married Sarah Kibler, who was 
born in 1795. Mr. Erbaugh settled on his 
father's estate, and his children were as fol- 
lows: Isaac, Jacob, Philip, Susannah, Polly 
and Elizabeth, the latter of whom died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Erbaugh came to Montgomery 
county in the fall of 1834, moving with a four- 
horse team and wagon, and settling in Perry 
township, on the farm now occupied by his son 
Isaac, and which then contained seventy-five 
acres. Four years later Jacob Erbaugh died. 
From the time he was twenty-five years of age 



1092 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until his death he was a consistent member of 
the German Baptist church. 

Isaac Erbaugh was born September 1 1 , 
1820, in Rockingham county, Va., received a 
good common-school education, was reared on 
the farm, and came with his father to Ohio 
when about fourteen years old. He drove the 
four-horse team, a somewhat difficult task for 
a boy of that age, and was three weeks on the 
way. His father being blind, Isaac began 
while very young to do the work on the farm, 
and his entire youth was spent in the toil of 
that occupation. 

He was married, April 27, 1843, to Miss 
Margaret Bowser, who was born November 14, 
1820, in Jefferson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, and is a daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Myers) Bowser. George Bowser was born 
in 1783, in Frenchtown, Pa., and became a 
farmer. Coming to Ohio, he married in Mont- 
gomery county. To George Bowser and wife 
there were born the following children: John 
and Betsy (twins), Nancy, Katie, Polly, Mar- 
garet, William, Philip, Henry, George, Benja- 
min, Daniel, and Christian. These lived to 
become men and women, and four others died 
young. George Bowser was a pioneer of Jeffer- 
son township, settled in the woods on 160 
acres of land, and, in addition, owned 240 
acres in Tipton county, Ind. He was a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church, and lived 
to be nearly eighty years of age. 

Mr. Erbaugh settled on the farm where he 
now lives, and has lived there for the past 
sixty-two years. He and his wife have had 
no children born to them; but they have reared 
two children, Levi Harris and Ella Johnson, 
the latter of whom is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. 
Erbaugh gave them a pleasant home and a 
good education, and treated them in every way 
as though they were their own. Mr. Erbaugh 
is a practical farmer and has a most excellent 
farm of 122 acres. By careful thrift and con- 



tinued industry he has prospered and is now 
well to do. He has been a member of the 
German Baptist church for the past forty- 
three years, and is probably the oldest church 
member in the township. He has always been 
a consistent christian man, kindly disposed 
toward all, and always ready to help the 
needy and unfortunate. 



HLBERT J. ZIMMERMAN, city mar- 
shal of Miamisburg, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a native of Dauphin 
county Pa., born September 6, 1854, 
a son of Joseph and Mary (Bross) Zimmerman, 
of German descent. Joseph Zimmerman, also 
a native of Pennsylvania, was a tanner by occu- 
pation, served as a soldier in the late Civil war, 
and was killed at the battle of Gettysburg, Pa., 
July 3, 1863. 

Albert J.Zimmerman received his education 
at the Mount Joy Soldiers' Orphan school in 
Lancaster county. Pa., and learned telegraphy 
at Jonestown, Lebanon county. He was em- 
ployed in the latter capacity by the P. & R. 
Railroad company until 1876, when he came 
to Ohio and was employed at various occupa- 
tions in Miamisburg until 1894. He was then 
elected city marshal, the duties of which office 
he performed so thoroughly to the satisfaction 
of the public that he was re-elected in 1896, 
and is now filling the position with great credit 
to himself, and, as in his first term, with the 
general approbation of the community. 

The marriage of A. J. Zimmerman was cele- 
brated June 19, 1879, with Miss OlettaBuehner, 
daughter of John and Louisa (Dechant) Bueh- 
ner, the former of whom was one of the pioneer 
German Miamisburg contractors. The union 
of Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman has been blessed 
by the birth of four children, named, in order 
of birth, Pearl, Louis, Mary and Burton, and 
who have been reared in the religious faith of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1093 



their parents — that of the Lutheran church. 
In his societary relations Mr. Zimmerman is a 
Forester, is a member of the uniform rank Knight 
of Pythias, and of the Sons of Veterans organi- 
zation. In politics he is a republican, while the 
social relations of himself and family are all 
that could be desired. 



^/^VAPOLEON B. BAILEY, a prosper- 
m ous farmer and well-known citizen of 
r Washington township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born near Leb- 
anon, Warren county, Ohio, March 31, 1819. 
He is a son of Henry and Margaret (Musser) 
Bailey, the former of whom was a native of 
Pennsylvania and the latter of Virginia, and 
both of excellent families. They were the 
parents of four children, three of whom are 
still living, as follows: Simon K., of Hunting- 
ton, Ind. ; Napoleon B., and William, of Day- 
ton, Ohio. 

Henry Bailey was by occupation a farmer. 
In early days he came to Ohio and settled in 
Mad River township, Clarke county, near 
Springfield, where he lived for some years. 
Then removing to Warren county he remained 
there until 1832, when he came to Montgom- 
ery county. In religious belief he was a 
Quaker, and was one of the upright, honora- 
ble band of pioneers who laid the foundations 
of society and of the state broad and deep. 
He died some two miles south of Centerville 
about 1834, when he was seventy-seven years 
of age. His wife, who was a Baptist in re- 
ligion, survived him some twenty years, and 
died when she was about seventy years of age. 

Josiah Bailey, the paternal grandfather of 
Napoleon B. Bailey, was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, a farmer by occupation, a Quaker in 
religious belief, and died in Pennsylvania. His 

wife was of the same religion with himself, and 
4,7 



came to America with William Penn. The 
maternal grandfather, Jacob Musser, was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, of German descent, a 
farmer by occupation, and died at an advanced 
age in West Virginia. 

Napoleon B. Bailey was reared in Warren 
county until he was thirteen years of age, and 
then came to Montgomery county. His edu- 
cation was received in the common schools of 
both counties, and when he was eighteen years 
of age he began to learn the trade of a stone- 
cutter. This trade he followed seven years, 
after which he lived for about three years on 
land rented of his father-in-law, Jesse Kelsey. 
At the end of this period he purchased eighty- 
five acres of land in Washington township, to 
which he has added, from time to time, until 
now he owns 295 acres, all of which is finely 
improved. From the time he was thirteen 
years of age he has lived in Washington 
township, and has been during the whole of 
that time, a period of more than sixty years, 
an important factor in bringing about the de- 
velopment of the county into one of the rich- 
est in the state. 

Mr. Bailey was married April 8, 1846, to 
Rebecca A. Kelsey, daughter of Jesse and 
Hettie (Marsh) Kelsey. To this marriage 
there were born three children, viz: Jesse 
Alonzo, William Henry and one who died in 
infancy. Jesse Alonzo married Ella Clark; 
William Henry married Caroline Montgomery, 
and has two children, Charles and Estella. 
Mrs. Rebecca A. Bailey died February 15, 
1854, a member of the Baptist church. 

Mr. Bailey again married, his second wife 
being Elizabeth A. Tibbals, daughter of Noah 
K. and Elizabeth (Silvers) Tibbals. To this 
second marriage there were born two children 
— Perry N. and Clara Belle. Clara Belle mar- 
ried James Lewis and has four children: Ellery, 
Ethel, Ralph and Herman. Elizabeth A. 
Bailey, the second wife of Napoleon B. Bailey, 



1094 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



died September 9, i860. She also was a 
member of the Baptist church. 

Mr. Bailey married for his third wife 
Amanda E. Carver, daughter of Smith and 
Rachel Carver, the marriage taking place 
August 29, 1867. To this marriage there were 
born six children, as follows: Ada M., Lewis 
M., Wilbur H., Rutherford H., Walter Ed- 
mund and Arthur. Rutherford H. died in 
infancy; Ada M. married Henry Durth, and 
has one child, Emma; Lewis M. married Mary 
Reedy. Amanda E. Bailey died June 24, 1890, 
a member of the Christian church. 

Politically, Mr. Bailey is a republican, but 
has never sought official station. The esteem 
in which he is held in the community is inspired 
not alone by his material success, but by his 
upright character and his lifelong record as a 
good citizen. 




IHOMAS BRIDGMAN (deceased), for- 
merly of Van Buren township, was 
born at Harper's Ferry, Va., April 
15, 1803. He was a son of Francis 
and Mary (Scott) Bridgman, natives of Vir- 
ginia, the former of whom was of English and 
French, and the latter of Irish descent. Francis 
and Mary Bridgman were the parents of thir- 
teen children, ten of whom lived to mature 
years. Mr. Bridgman died in his native state. 
Thomas Bridgman was twenty-four years of 
age when he came to Ohio, and he located on 
the farm upon which he died, and which is 
now occupied by his widow. His son, Charles, 
and his family also live on the old farm. Mr. 
Bridgman was a member of the United Breth- 
ren church, to which his widow still belongs. 
Thomas Bridgman first married, May 25, 1829, 
Miss Sarah John. They were the parents of 
two children, viz: Benjamin F. and Asa J. 
Mrs. Bridgman was born July 8, 18 14, and 
died March 26, 1836. Mr. Bridgman married, 



for his second wife, Esther John, a sister of his 
deceased wife. She was born June 12, 1820. 
They were the parents of nine children, as fol- 
lows: Sarah, Mary Jane, William Henry Har- 
rison, John Thomas, Perry B., Albert Orion, 
Laura, Francis Marion, and Charles Grant. 
All these children are living but Benjamin F., 
the first child of his first wife. Benjamin F. 
had married Miss Kate Magee, and, after her 
death, he married a German lady. By his 
first wife Benjamin F. had one child, Mary E. 
Asa J., the second child of Mr. Bridgman's first 
wife, married Elizabeth Magee. They have 
six children, viz: Orion, Annie, Elma, Ida, 
Thomas and Pet. Sarah married B. B. Pan- 
coast. They have five children living, as fol- 
lows: Leonidas, Ella, Harry, Charles and 
Warren. Mary Jane married Frank Ewry. 
They have seven children, as follows: Harry, 
William, Cora, Annie, Calvin, Morris and 
Emma. William Henry Harrison married for 
his first wife Miss Adeline Fellows. They had 
four children, Henry Clay, Bertha, Ollie and 
Bert. For his second wife he married Hannah 
Dedrick, by whom he had one child, Maud 
Marie. John Thomas married Laura Huston, 
by whom he had four children, Edward, Min- 
nie, Lewis and Ettie. Perry B. married Kate 
Protzman. They have three children, Leroy, 
John and Foster. Albert Orion married Sarah 
Owens, who died in 1888, her two children 
having both died previously. Albert is a farmer 
of Greene county. Laura married John Shutts. 
They have two children, May and Clarence. 
Francis Marion married Annie Eagle. They 
have four children, Esther, Perdita, Orville and 
Chalmer. Charles Grant married Emma Min- 
nerup, daughter of George and Mary (Link) 
Minnerup. They have two children, Callie 
and Robert. 

The father of Mrs. Esther ( John ) Bridg- 
man, Asa John, was a native of Kentucky, and 
came to Ohio at an early day. During the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1095 



war of 1 8 1 2 he served his country as a soldier. 
He bought ioo acres of land, upon which his 
daughter, Esther, now resides. A portion of 
this farm he gave to her, and Thomas Bridg- 
man, whom she married, purchased the rest. 
Asa John bought another farm adjoining, 
which is now occupied by his son, John. Upon 
this farm he died about 1S73, at the age of 
eighty-two years, his wife having died some 
years before, at the age of sixty-five. Both 
were members of the Christian church, and 
excellent people. In the old farm, which is 
owned by Mrs. Thomas Bridgman, there are 
151 acres, and the entire farm is well improved. 
The old sawmill is run by Charles G. Bridg- 
man and Elmer John. Charles G. Bridgman 
also manages a dairy and is one of the enter- 
prising and successful farmers of the county. 



SAMUEL ERBAUGH, farmer. Perry 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
is a son of one of the early pioneers. 
He was born February 2, 1830, in 
Rockingham county, Va., and is a son of 
Abraham and Susannah (Coffman) Erbaugh. 
He was reared a farmer and received his early 
education in one of the old-fashioned log cabin 
school-houses. He married, at the age of 
twenty years, August 22, 1850, Miss Esther 
Hay, who was born April 5, 1832, in Perry 
township, and who is the daughter of Michael 
and Christina (Krull) Hay. Michael Hay was 
born in Pennsylvania and when yet a young 
man removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
where he married. For fuller mention of Mr. 
Hay the reader is referred to the biography of 
George Erbaugh, elsewhere in this volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Erbaugh 
settled on seventy acres of land, on which 
they still live. This farm he cleared of its 
timber, with the exception of twenty-five acres, 



which were cleared when he settled thereon. 
He has greatly improved this farm and at this 
time it is one of the best in the township. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Erbaugh are as fol- 
lows: Mary A., Rachael, Susannah, Michael, 
Christina, Samuel C, John O., Harvey and 
Uriah E. Both Mr. and Mrs. Erbaugh are 
members of the German Baptist church, and 
believe strongly in the education of the young. 
They are carrying their belief into practical 
effect by giving their own children the best 
available education. One of his sons, Uriah 
E. , is a school-teacher. 

Of the children of Samuel Erbaugh, Mary 
Ann, married Jacob Brumbaugh, by whom she 
has three children. They are living on a 
farm in Darke county. Rachael married Joseph 
Musselman, a contractor and builder-of Day- 
ton, and has seven children living and four 
deceased. Michael married Agnes Lyday, is a 
farmer of Perry township, and has six children. 
Christina married George Lyday, a carpenter 
and contractor of Dayton, and has four chil- 
dren living. John married Catherine Gerhart, 
is a farmer of Perry township, and has three 
children. Harvey married Mary Brovver, of 
Preble county, and has one child. Uriah E., a 
dry-goods merchant of Pyrmont, married Liz- 
zie Alslagel, and has one child. Samuel C. 
married Cora A. Rauch. 



@EORGE ERBAUGH, a well-known 
farmer of Perry township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, and a member of 
the conservative branch of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, was born in Montgomery 
county. The family is of German origin, the 
great-grandfather of George Erbaugh, Law- 
rence Erbach, as the name was then spelled, 
coming from Mannheim, Germany, and set- 
tling in Bucks county, Pa., on land in Lower 



1096 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Milford township. Here he lived and became 
a man of considerable wealth. His wife was 
Anna Mary Christian, and they had the fol- 
lowing children: Jacob; Anne Mary, who mar- 
ried Theobald Samuel; Margaret, who married 
Jacob Rothrock; Catherine, who married David 
Groff; Barbara, who married John Stucker; 
and Anna, who married John Huber. An- 
other son, Abraham, met his death by acci- 
dent when sixteen years old. 

Jacob Erbach, or Erbaugh, as the name 
had by this time come to be spelled, son of 
Lawrence, was the grandfather of George Er- 
baugh. He married a Miss Funk, by whom 
he had the following children: Mary, wife of 
Michael Billheimer; Catherine, wife of Michael 
Garber; Susannah, wife of Jacob Billheimer; 
Anna, wife of John Garber; Esther, wife of 
George Miller; Abraham; Rebecca, who mar- 
ried John Coffman, and Jacob. Mr. Erbaugh 
removed in 1790 to Rockingham county, Va., 
where he bought land and made a home for his 
family. In 1833 he came to Ohio, with his 
son, Abraham, and settled on the farm now 
owned and occupied by George Erbaugh, the 
farm being purchased by Abraham. Jacob 
Erbaugh was a member of the German Bap- 
tist church, and was a man of sterling charac- 
ter. He lived to the age of seventy-two, dy- 
ing on his farm, and leaving a goodly property 
to his children. 

Abraham Erbaugh, father of George, was 
born July 6, 1799, in Rockingham county, Va. 
By occupation he was a farmer, and in 1820 
or 1 82 1 married Miss Susannah Coffman, in 
that county. She was born October 26, 1799, 
in Rockingham county, and was a daughter of 
Christian Coffman. To Mr. and Mrs. Erbaugh 
there were born the following children: Anna, 
Sallie, John, Samuel, Abraham, Susannah, 
Hester and George. In 1833 Mr. Erbaugh 
brought his family to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and settled in Perry township, on the 



farm now occupied by his son George — this 
farm, containing 205 acres, being then mostly 
covered with timber. Abraham Erbaugh lived 
to be seventy-two years of age, dying in 1871. 
He was a minister of the German Baptist 
church, and for some years an elder. For 
many years he was prominent both in his 
church and in general society, and was a man 
of high christian character, who exercised an 
excellent influence on all with whom he came 
in contact. His wife lived to be ninety years 
of age. 

George Erbaugh, the subject of this sketch, 
was born March 20, 1841, on the homestead 
farm, and received a good common-school 
education. When twenty-four years of age 
he married Mary A. Hay, who was born Octo- 
ber 11, 1843, in Perry township, and is a 
daughter of Michael and Christina (Krull) 
Hay. Michael Hay was of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
descent, was born in Pennsylvania and came, 
when a child, to Montgomery county with his 
father, Valentine Hay, whose wife, the mother 
of Michael, was Esther Martin. The children 
of Michael and Christina Hay were as follows: 
John, Hester, Salome, Joseph, Michael, Abra- 
ham and Mary A. Michael Hay lived to be 
seventy-two years of age, while his wife lived 
to be eighty-three. 

Mr. and Mrs. Erbaugh, after their marriage, 
settled on the Erbaugh homestead, upon which 
they have ever since lived. Their children are 
as follows: Laura B., who married Peter Neff ; 
Amy K., who died at the age of twenty-three, 
the wife of Isaac Brumbaugh; Meda A., wife 
of J. P. Bowman; George A., Ivan L. , John 
O., and Ina M. Mr. Erbaugh has been a 
minister in the German Baptist church for 
fifteen years, and has during that period 
preached the gospel from the pulpit of the 
church. He stands high among his people, 
and is a well-read and unusually intelligent 
man, well equipped for the duties of his calling. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1097 



<V^V ANIEL FRANTZ, one of the wealthy 
I pioneers of Madison township, Mont- 
/^^^ gomery county, Ohio, descends from 
Pennsylvania - German stock. His 
grandfather, Christian Frantz, moved from 
Berks county, Pa., to Botetourt (now Roa- 
noke) county, Va., where he bought a farm 
and was successful as an agriculturist. He 
was a member of the German Baptist church, 
in the faith of which he died at a very old age, 
leaving four children — Michael, John, Christian 
and Henry. The youngest of this family, 
Henry Frantz, was born in Berks county, Pa. , 
went with his father to Botetourt county, Va., 
there married Mary Kinsey, and became the 
father of the following family: Christian, 
Daniel, Susan, Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Sallie, 
Lydia and Hettie. 

Henry Frantz, in the fall of 1825, came 
from Virginia to Ohio with his family, convey- 
ing his personal effects in a four-horse wagon 
and Mrs. Frantz riding a saddled horse. After 
a journey of three weeks they reached Madi- 
son township, Montgomery county, and here 
Mr. Frantz purchased 160 acres of wild land, 
developed a good farm and passed the re- 
mainder of his days, dying in the fall of 1840, 
at the age of sixty-seven years, and leaving 
behind a name that his descendants still recall 
with pride. 

Daniel Frantz was born in Botetourt coun- 
ty, Va. , February 7, 181 3, and was about 
thirteen years old when he came to Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, with his parents. He re- 
ceived little or no education, as there were no 
district schools at that day, but was inured to 
all the hard labor pertaining to a frontier farm, 
yet found frequent recreation in shooting wild 
turkeys and squirrels, and occasionally made 
trips into Darke county for deer. His first 
marriage was with Salomie Radabaugh, of 
Harrison township, Montgomery county, a 
daughter of Adam and Catherine Radabaugh, 



to which union were born five children, of 
whom two are deceased, and three — Maria, 
Catherine and Lucinda — are still living. The 
mother of these children was called from earth 
May 23, 1853, aged nearly forty-one years, 
and Mr. Frantz next married Miss Susan Ar- 
nold, who was born in Perry township, Mont- 
gomery county, a daughter of John and Bar- 
bara (Friend) Arnold, and to this union there 
were born three children — Ananias, Ira and 
Alice. Mrs. Susan Frantz died December 2, 
1 891 , a member of the German Baptist church. 

Mr. Frantz has always been a hard-work- 
ing, industrious farmer, and after his first mar- 
riage rented a forty-acre tract in Madison 
township, then bought his present farm of 155 
acres, added seventy-five acres, and by thrift 
and economy continued to accumulate until he 
now owns nearly 600 acres. Although Mr. 
Frantz was uneducated, he was yet a good 
manager and possessed of keen business per- 
ceptions. He reared his children in respect- 
ability, educated them well, and has been able 
to endow them with land and money as they 
entered upon the duties of life on their own 
account. In politics he is a republican, and 
at the age of eighty-four years retains his 
faculties to a remarkable degree and has an 
extraordinarily retentive memory. 

Ira Frantz, son of Daniel and Susan (Ar- 
nold) Frantz, was born on the homestead in 
Madison township, September 5, 1857, and 
lent ready assistance in his early manhood to 
the development of the home farm. He was 
fairly well educated in the common schools, 
and was married in Randolph township, April 
11, 1880, to Miss Elizabeth Sollenberger, who 
was born November 6, 1859, in the same town- 
ship, a daughter of John and Catherine (Teff- 
ley) Sollenberger. Mr. Sollenberger was born 
in Pennsylvania, and when a boy was brought 
by his father, Jacob Sollenberger, to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, and became a substan- 



1098 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tial farmer of Randolph township. His chil- 
dren were named Elizabeth, Jacob, John, 
David, Aaron, Moses, William and Henry. 
Mr. Sollenberger was also a German Baptist 
minister, and died in March, 1892. 

Mr. and Mrs. Frantz, after marriage, set- 
tled on the old homestead, Mr. Frantz having 
been presented by his father with 164 acres of 
land, which he has converted into a first-class 
farm, and to this he has added, through thrift 
and good management, sixty-nine acres, now 
owning 233 acres of fine farming land, all in 
one body. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Frantz has been blessed with two children: 
Marion A., born September 15, 1881, and 
Loretta B., born September 24, 1886. In 
politics Mr. Frantz is a republican, and has 
served as a member of the school board of Ran- 
dolph township. He is a thoroughly practical 
farmer, is public spirited and prompt to aid in 
all enterprises designed to promote the public 
welfare, and enjoys the high regard of the 
entire community. 



(T^VANIEL GARRISON, farmer, of 
I Washington township, Montgomery 
/^^^J county, Ohio, was born in this town- 
ship, on the farm upon which he now 
lives, August 20, 1834. He is a son of Daniel 
and Catherine (Metterd) Garrison, the former 
of whom was a native of the Red Stone coun- 
try, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Maryland. 
They were the parents of four children, all 
sons, three of whom are still living: George, 
Daniel and Jacob. The second son of the 
family, Jonathan, is dead. 

Daniel Garrison, the father of these chil- 
dren, was a blacksmith by trade, came to Ohio 
about 1 8 19, and lived in Butler county for 
about five years. Then, removing to Mont- 
gomery county, he settled on the farm on 
which his son Daniel was born. His first pur- 



chase was of three acres only, and to this he 
added by successive purchases, from time to 
time, until he owned more than 100 acres 
at the time of his death, which occurred No- 
vember 1, 1866, when he was sixty-six years 
of age. He and his wife were members of the 
Lutheran church, in which he held the office 
of deacon. She survived him until 1877, when 
she died, at the age of seventy-eight. 

The paternal grandfather of the subject, 
Jonathan Garrison, was of German descent 
and a native of Pennsylvania. He followed 
the occupation of farming, came to Ohio at an 
early day, reared a family of twenty-seven 
children, by three wives, and died near Mid- 
dletown. The maternal grandfather, George 
Metterd, was also of German descent, and a 
native of Maryland. He came to Ohio in pio- 
neer days and settled in Miami township. He 
was a cabinetmaker by trade, and likewise fol- 
lowed farming. He reared a family of seven 
children, and died in Washington township 
when eighty years of age. 

Daniel Garrison was reared on the farm 
upon which he now lives, and on which he has 
lived all his life. His education was received 
in the district schools, and after he became of 
age he purchased a piece of land containing 
five and a half acres, to which he has added 
from time to time until he has now eighty 
acres, beside the home farm. 

On February 15, 1857, he was married to 
Miss Martha Maze. To this marriage there 
have been born four children, viz: Rachel, 
Emma, Albert and Frank. Rachel married 
Clyde Barclow, and lives in Germantown. 
She and her husband have three children, Ce- 
cil, Glenn and Everett. Emma married Ed- 
ward J. Bennett, and died in April, 1S95. 
Albert died when three years of age. 

Mrs. Daniel Garrison was in early life a 
member of the Lutheran church, but at the 
time of her death she was a Presbyterian, as 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1099 



is Mr. Garrison. Politically he is a democrat. 
His life has been one of industry and thrift, 
and he has well earned his standing as a use- 
ful and reliable citizen. 



>-j*OSEPH HOUS, farmer, of Perry town- 
J ship, Montgomery county, who is de- 
/• J scended from one of the early pioneers 
of the county, was born in Preble 
county, Ohio, September 22, 1844. He is a 
son of Andrew and Mary (Richard) Hous, who 
gave him the best education obtainable in the 
district schools. Reared a farmer, he adopted 
that vocation for a livelihood, and married, 
November 27, 1868, in Perry township, Miss 
Eliza A. Hansbarger, who was born July 20, 
1852, on the homestead of her parents, An- 
drew and Hannah (Wogoman) Hansbarger. 
Andrew Hansbarger, her father, was a son of 
John and Elizabeth (Niswonger) Hansbarger, 
the former of whom was born in Virginia, and 
moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, as one of 
the early pioneers, settling in Perry township 
in the fall of 1833. He cleared up his farm 
from the dense woods, and it is on this farm 
that Joseph Hous now lives. He was one of 
the most substantial farmers of his time. His 
children were as follows: Ephraim, George. 
Henry, Stephen, Elizabeth, Sophia, and Caro- 
line, beside Andrew. John Hansbarger lived 
to be somewhat over seventy years of age. 

Andrew Hansbarger, the father cf Mrs. 
Hous, was born in Virginia in 1823, and came 
with his father to Montgomery county in 1833. 
He was the father of six children, as follows: 
Ephraim, Sabina, Eliza, Elizabeth, John, and 
Daniel, the latter of whom died young. Mr. 
Hansbarger was one of the leading farmers of 
his township, owning 160 acres of land, the 
old Hansbarger homestead. He died when 
but thirty-nine years of age. 



After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Joseph 
Hous settled on the Hansbarger homestead, 
eighty acres of the old farm, where they now 
live, and which they have greatly improved. 
Mr. Hous has always been a careful and prac- 
tical farmer, and is looked upon as one of the 
representative men of his community. He 
and his wife have had one child, Minnie, who 
on December 25, 1889, married Hugh Weaver. 
She died when twenty-two years of age, leav- 
ing one son, Otto H., born on the homestead, 
November 18, 1890. Politically, Mr. Hous is 
a stanch democrat. 



(D 



ICHAEL HUSTON, a successful 
farmer of Van Buren township, 
Montgomery county, was born in 
Greene county, Ohio, eight miles 
from Dayton, April 24, 1837. He is a son of 
William and Elizabeth ( Swigart ) Huston, the 
former of whom was born a short distance 
north of Dayton, and the latter in Greene 
county, Ohio. William and Elizabeth Huston 
were the parents of five children, three sons 
and two daughters, two of whom are now 
living, Michael and John. William Huston 
was reared on the farm north of Dayton, and 
grew to manhood in Montgomery county. After 
his first marriage he removed to Greene county, 
and lived there until his death, in June, 1894, 
when he was eighty-six years and five months 
old. His wife died in 1850. They were both, 
when young, members of the Lutheran church, 
but later became members of the German Re- 
formed church. For his second wife he mar- 
ried Mrs. Caroline Mayhew, whose maiden 
name was Burke. By his second marriage he 
had one child, William F. Mrs. Huston, by 
her former marriage had a son, John B. May- 
hew, and a daughter, Matilda, who died in 
young girlhood. 



11 (JO 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



The paternal grandfather of Michael Hus- 
ton was John Huston, an old Indian trader, 
who was in the early days at the post of Cole- 
rain, and at Fort Meigs. He was a native of 
Ireland, but was reared in Highland county, 
Ohio. He and his wife were the parents of 
sixteen children, and he at his death was bur- 
ied at South Whitley, Ind. The maternal 
grandfather, Michael Swigart, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, of German ancestry, and came 
to Ohio at an early day, settling in Greene 
county, where he acquired 1,200 acres of land. 
He was twice married, and when he died was 
upward of eighty-six years of age. 

Michael Huston was reared on the farm in 
Greene county, which adjoins the farm he now 
owns in Montgomery county. He followed 
farming until he was nineteen years of age and 
then learned the carpenter trade, following that 
trade until the breaking out of the late Civil war. 
In 1864 he enlisted in company K, One Hun- 
dred and Thirty-ninth Indiana volunteer infan- 
try, and served six months. After the war he re- 
turned to his home in Montgomery county and 
resumed farming, which occupation he has fol- 
lowed ever since. He began by renting 100 
acres of his father, which later fell to him in 
accordance with his father's will. 

On July 27, 1870, he married Martha M. 
Morgan, daughter of Merrill Morgan and Jane 
( Allen ) Morgan. To this marriage there were 
born three children, Harry G., Belle and David 
Franklin, all of whom are living at home. 
Mrs. Huston died in 1886, a member of the 
United Brethren church. Mr. Huston belongs 
to the Old Guard post, No. 23, G. A. R. , of 
Dayton. Politically he is a republican, but 
has never sought office of any kind. During 
his entire life of fifty-nine years he has lived 
within about eight miles of Dayton. He has 
always been a man of high standing among his 
fellow-citizens, and is one of those in whom all 
place confidence. 



SEV. AMOS HYRE, a member of the 
old German Baptist church, is a 
grandson of one of the pioneers of 
Montgomery county. His grand- 
father, Wesley Hyre, was from North Caro- 
lina, and was an original pioneer, settling in 
Madison township at a very early day. At the 
time of his arrival in this county, the land was 
almost entirely covered with timber, so that 
his first home here was in the forest, from 
which he cleared his farm. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Wesley, Solo- 
mon, Isaac, Moses, Abraham, Absalom, Daniel, 
Belinda and Nancy. The head of this family 
lived to a great age. In religion he was a 
member of the German Baptist church. 

Moses Hyre, fourth child of Wesley, was 
the father of Amos Hyre. He was born in 
Madison township, Montgomery county, March 
19, 1 8 19. By trade a bricklayer, he also ran 
a sawmill in company with his brother, Absa- 
lom. His wife, whose maiden name was 
Rebecca Stoner, was a native of Frederick 
county, Md., and a daughter of William 
and Elizabeth Stoner. Their children were 
named William, Amos, Sarah and Susan. 
After his marriage Moses Hyre settled on land 
in Madison township, upon which he spent the 
rest of his life, dying when seventy-three years 
of age. A man of high character and a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church, he stood 
well in the estimation of the community. 

Rev. Amos Hyre was born March 14, 1846, 
in Madison township, and in his youth re- 
ceived a common-school education. At the 
age of twenty-one he married Miss Mary Den- 
linger, who was born in Madison township, 
September 14, 1843, and is a daughter of 
Abraham and Margaret (Miller) Denlinger. 
Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hyre 
settled on seventy-six acres of land, his present 
farm, which was at the time only partially 
cleared. This farm he has greatly improved 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1101 



by systematic cultivation and by the erection 
of good buildings. To Rev. Mr. Hyre and his 
wife there have been born the following chil- 
dren: Jennie, Edwin E., Abraham \V. , Mazie 
E. and Orpha. Beside these, who are all 
yet living, there were born several others, who 
have died. Mr. Hyre has been a deacon in 
the German Baptist church since December, 
1 88 1, and a minister of the church since April 
28, 1882, since which time he has been ear- 
nestly engaged in preaching the gospel to the 
people. He is one of the most worthy men in 
Montgomery county, and stands high among 
those who know him not alone for his devotion 
to his calling, but also for his sterling charac- 
ter as a man and citizen. 



>"j»ESSE P. KIMMEL, of Trotwood, Ohio, 
J a successful farmer of Madison town- 
/• 1 ship, is a descendant of one of the 
pioneer families of Montgomery county. 
Fuller mention of the Kimmel family will be 
found in the biography of Aaron Kimmel, in 
this volume. 

Louis Kimmel, father of Jesse P., was 
born in Somerset county, Pa., August 24, 
1804, and was a son of David and Barbara 
(Kroner) Kimmel. The founder of this family 
in America was David Kimmel, the grandfa- 
ther of Louis Kimmel, he coming to this coun- 
try from Switzerland in 1760. He settled in 
York county, Pa. , and reared a family of eight 
children, as follows: Abram, Jacob, Isaac, 
Philip, David, Solomon, Michael and Lizzie. 
Of this family, David was the father of Louis 
Kimmel, who was the father of Jesse P. Bar- 
bara Kroner, wife of David Kimmel, was born 
in Somerset county. Pa., and they were the 
parents of six children. 

Louis Kimmel had but limited educational 
advantages, though he made the best use of 
such as he enjoyed. His father came to Mont- 



gomery county in 1817, and settled on land in 
Madison township, Louis living at home until 
his father's death, which occurred September 
25, 1827. David Kimmel was a Jacksonian 
democrat, and a member of the German Bap- 
tist church. His wife died November 28, 
1840, a devout member of the same church 
with her husband. Louis Kimmel married, Aug- 
ust 28, 1828, in Clay township, Mary Niswon- 
ger, who was born May 26, 1808, the daughter 
of Levi Niswonger. Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel 
became the parents of twelve children, as fol- 
lows: Michael, Sarah, Eliza, Joseph, Barbara, 
Mary, Susan, Levi S., Ellen, Jesse P., Louis 
C. , and Charles, all of whom lived to mature 
years except Eliza, and all are now living ex- 
cept Eliza, Michael and Charles. Louis Kim- 
mel settled on his father's old homestead, where 
the soldiers' home is now located, and assisted 
in clearing up the farm from the woods. He 
lived on this homestead, which originally con- 
sisted of 200 acres, and to which he added by 
thrift and industry until he owned 450 acres. 
Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel were members of the 
German Reformed church. Mr. Kimmel was 
a democrat of the Jacksonian type, and a typ- 
ical pioneer. He lived to be about seventy- 
four years old, dying in 1878. 

Jesse P. Kimmel, the subject of this sketch, 
was born May, 27, 1846, on the old home- 
stead, and received the usual common-school 
education of the day. Reared a farmer, he 
adopted that occupation as his life work, and 
on March 28, 1869, he married, at Dayton, 
Ohio, Catherine Lingle, who was born Novem- 
ber 8, 1847, in Miami township, a daughter 
of Daniel and Anna Mary (Long) Lingle. 

Daniel Lingle was of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
stock, and when a young man came to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio. He was a shoemaker 
by trade, and married Anna Mary Long, March 
10, 1842. She was born June 14, 1812, at 
Annville, Pa., and was a daughter of Henry 



1102 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and Catherine (Grebil) Long. Henry Long 
moved by wagon as a pioneer to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, settling in West Dayton, where 
he entered 200 acres of land and cleared up a 
fine farm. He and his wife became the par- 
ents of the following children: Henry, Jacob, 
Christopher, Anna Mary, Katie, Susan and 
Barbara. Mr. Long was a substantial farmer, 
a member of the River Brethren church, and 
lived to a good old age. After their marriage 
Mr. and Mrs. Lingle settled on land in Van 
Buren township, where he worked at his trade 
until his death, which occurred in middle life. 
His children were Amanda and Catherine, and 
others who died in their infancy or youth. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel settled on land in 
Madison township, and at length he purchased 
a farm of 123 acres, to which by good hus- 
bandry he has added other acres, and made 
an excellent farm. He erected an attractive 
farm residence and other buildings, and now 
has one of the pleasantest homes in the town- 
ship. His children are Edward B. and Ida 
M. Politically Mr. Kimmel is a democrat. 
Edward B. Kimmel, a farmer of Montgomery 
county, married, February 22, 1894, Susan 
Beachley, and Ida M. married Frank James, 
an attorney at law of Dayton, Ohio. 



eDWARD FRANKLIN NEWCOM, 
farmer, of Van Buren township, 
Montgomery county, was born Feb- 
ruary 7, 1858. He is a son of Ed- 
ward and Cynthia (Irvin) Newcom, both of 
whom were natives of Ohio. Edward and 
Cynthia Newcom were the parents of seven 
children, two sons and five daughters. Four 
of the seven children are still living, as follows: 
Irene, wife of Christian F. Rohrer; Caroline, 
wife of William Richmond; Lucy, wife of Oli- 
ver Roop, and Edward Franklin. 

Edward Newcom was a farmer and stock 



dealer, and lived his entire life on the old farm, 
in Van Buren township. He died March 23, 
1882, at the age of sixty-seven years. His 
wife is still living on the old place. She is a 
member of the United Brethren church. 

Edward Newcom, the paternal grandfather 
of Edward F., was a native of Ireland, came 
to America with his parents when a boy, mar- 
ried here and reared a family of nine children. 
The maternal grandfather, Moses P. Irvin, 
was a native of North Carolina, and left that 
state with his parents when he was nine years 
old, they settling in Washington township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, where he grew to 
mature years. There he continued to reside 
until his death, in 1 86 1 , when he was seventy 
years of age. His wife, whose maiden name 
was Rachael Tibbies, died about six years be- 
fore her husband. 

Edward Franklin Newcom lives on the old 
farm upon which both he and his father were 
born. This farm now contains 160 acres of 
land. On January 12, 1887, he married Miss 
Nettie C. Prugh, daughter of Levi and Ru- 
hama (Marshall) Prugh. To this marriage 
there have been born three children: Virgil, 
Noble and Essa. Mr. Newcom, in politics, is 
a republican, but is in no sense of the word an 
office-seeker. He is a member of one of the 
oldest and best known families in the county, 
and is a progressive thinker and farmer. 



f\ EORGE OLDT, postmaster of Beav- 
■ ^\ ertown, was born in New York city 
^^W June 5. l &39- He is a son of George 
J. and Catherine (Kuntz) Oldt, the 
former a native of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, 
and the latter of Rheinbrein, Germany. They 
were the parents of two children — Catherine, 
now deceased, and George. George J. Oldt 
was a shoemaker by trade, and came to the 
United States in 1833, locating in the city of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1103 



New York, and for some time working as a 
journeyman. About 1846 he removed to Penn- 
sylvaniasburg, Ind., where he carried on the 
shoe business until his death, at the age of 
sixty-four years. His wife survived him for 
some two years, and died at the age of sixty- 
two. Both were Christians, he a member of 
the Lutheran church and she of the Catholic 
church. The paternal grandfather, George 
Oldt, was a miller by trade, had a family of 
four sons, and died in Germany. The mater- 
nal grandfather had a large vineyard, kept a 
public house, and also died in Germany. 

George Oldt removed to Indiana with his 
parents, grew to manhood at Pennsylvanias- 
burg, and there learned the trade of his father 
— the shoemaker's trade. Remaining at home 
until the breaking out of the Civil war, he en- 
listed in the Sixteenth Indiana volunteer infan- 
try, and served thirteen months as corporal. 
At the end of this time he re-enlisted, in the 
Eighty-third Indiana volunteer infantry, com- 
pany G, of which company he was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant, served in that capacity 
one and a half years, and was then commis- 
sioned captain. In this position he served un- 
til the close of the war, his entire service cov- 
ering something more than four years, from 
April, 1861, to June, 1865. His first engage- 
ment was at Chickasaw Bayou, where he suf- 
fered a gunshot wound in the left arm. After 
being for some weeks in the hospital at Padu- 
cah, Ky., he rejoined his regiment at Vicks- 
burg. Going thence to Memphis he marched 
to Bridgeport, Ala., and was afterward in the 
battle of Missionary Ridge, that most remark- 
able battle of the war in one respect, having 
been won by the private soldiers against the 
orders of the commanding general. His next 
engagement was at Resaca, where he was 
wounded in the leg. He was in nearly all the 
battles of the famous Atlanta campaign, being 
under fire more than two hundred consecutive 



days. From Atlanta he marched to the sea, 
and thence up through the Carolinas, and was 
within three days' march of Richmond when 
that place was surrendered to Gen. Grant. 

Returning to his home after the war was 
over, Mr. Oldt was married, September 20, 
1865, to Miss Helen Ratheuser, daughter of 
Frederick and Helen (Yinkj Ratheuser. To 
this marriage five children were born, two sons 
and three daughters: George Frederick, 
Charles William, Emma, Annie and Ellen. 
George Frederick has been in the regular 
army for eight years, and Charles recently re- 
turned from the regular army, in which he had 
served three years. Emma married William 
Hiney, and lives with her family, consisting of 
husband and four children, in Dayton. The 
names of the children are as follows: Nellie, 
Frederick, George Calvin and Anna May. 
Annie married George Castenborder, of Day- 
ton, and Ellen lives at home. 

Mrs. Helen Oldt, first wife of George Oldt, 
and mother of the above-named five children, 
died in 1877, a member of the Catholic church. 
Mr. Oldt married, March 5, 1879, Miss Mar- 
garet Buehler, daughter of Mark and Margaret 
(Boyer) Buehler. To this second marriage 
there have been born four children, one son 
and three daughters, as follows: Frank, Ger- 
tie, Mary and Caroline. Mr. Oldt is a Lu- 
theran in religion. He is a member of Earn- 
shaw post, No. 590, G. A. R., and in politics 
is a democrat. As such he has served as town- 
ship clerk for nineteen years, and has recently 
been elected for another term. Under the 
first administration of President Cleveland he 
was postmaster at Beavertown postoffice, and 
again served in that capacity under the 
second administration of President Cleveland. 
Having lived in Beavertown since 1867, he is 
one of the oldest as well as one of the most 
highly respected citizens of the place. His 
grocery store he has conducted for about 



1104 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



eighteen years. Mr. Oldt is widely known 
throughout Montgomery and surrounding coun- 
ties, and is as well known for his integrity as 
for his business capacity. 



WOHN H. PLANDER, one of the sub- 
m stantial farmers of Perry township, 
/• 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
April 22, 1842, in Hanover, Germany, 
near Bremen, a son of Gerd A. and Adaline 
(Windhorst) Plander. The father, Gerd A., 
was born in the same place, where his ances- 
tors had lived for generations. He was a 
farmer, but in humble circumstances, and 
worked at farm labor for the current wages 
paid able-bodied hands — six cents per day; 
but he was industrious and frugal, and man- 
aged to keep his family in comfort. He and 
his wife were the parents of John H., Marga- 
ret and Sophia (who died in Germany at the 
age of thirty years, the wife of John Voge). 
The father died at the age of seventy-six 
years and the mother at sixty-six, both in the 
faith of the Lutheran church. 

John H. Plander was early trained to hard 
work, received the usual public-school educa- 
tion, and at the age of seventeen years began 
working for neighboring farmers, receiving for 
his first year's labor $17. He so worked for 
several years, and the last year in his home 
neighborhood received $35 in gold; he then 
went to another part of the country, and for 
one year's labor was given his board and $40 
in gold. In 1867 he came to America, sailing 
from Bremen in the steamer Atlanta, and ar- 
riving in New York September 13. He went 
to Cincinnati and then to West Alexandria, 
Preble county, Ohio; he worked in the latter 
place four weeks, and then returned to Cincin- 
nati, where he was employed for a time in the 
Eagle White Lead factory. Finding that this 
business was injurious to his health, he then 



worked in a foundry two and a half years; he 
then found employment with the Herman 
Lackman Brewing company, with which he 
remained twelve years, of which period he was 
for eight years its trusted collector — having 
the charge of six routes and collecting annu- 
ally $350,000. 

The marriage of Mr. Plander took place 
in West Alexandria, Ohio, February 28, 1868, 
with Miss Annie Maggie Sekamp, who was 
born in Germany April 8, 1848, and came to 
America in the same steamer with her future 
husband. To this marriage have been born 
two children — John F. and Harry A. April 19, 
1883, Mr. Plander brought his family to Mont- 
gomery county and settled on eighty acres of 
improved land in Perry township, and to this 
he has added until he now owns 11 1 acres, and 
has a most pleasant home. He is largely en- 
gaged in the breeding of swine and poultry. 

Mr. and Mrs. Plander are members ot the 
Lutheran church at West Alexandria, of which 
Mr. Plander has been a trustee. Fraternally, 
he is a member of the Knights of Honor, of 
Humboldt lodge, I. O. O. F., I. O. R. M. and 
the A. P. A., all of Cincinnati. In politics he 
is a republican, and has served as judge of 
elections for three years. He is much re- 
spected for his straightforward methods of do- 
ing business and for his unswerving integrity 
of character. 



a LARK PINE, formerly an active 
fanner, now retired, and living at 
Centerville, Ohio, was born in Miami 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
December 23, 1831. His parents, Simeon 
and Sarah (Haines) Pine, were both natives of 
New Jersey. Six children were born to Simeon 
and Sarah Pine, as follows: Susan, widow of 
James Sheehan; Clark; Mary; Rachel, wife of 
Jeremiah Campbell; William and Charles. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1105 



Simeon Pine came to Ohio, in 1818, from 
New Jersey, walking all the way, and carrying 
his wallet on a stick. Upon arriving at 
Waynesville he had only his bull's eye watch, 
and thirty-seven cents in money. This was 
the sum total of his wealth, and the capital 
with which he began to make his way in life in 
this then wild western country. His first work 
was as a farm laborer, and his wages $8 per 
month and board. After some time spent in 
this way he began raising crops on other peo- 
ple's land, and at length purchased 164 acres 
of land for himself, one-half of which Clark 
Pine now owns. This purchase was made in 
1836, and upon this farm he lived until 1855, 
when he died at the age of fifty-five. Simeon 
Pine was in politics a whig, was a believer in a 
tariff for protection and took great delight in 
discussing political questions. In religion he 
was a Quaker, as was also his wife, who sur- 
vived him and who married a second time. 

Samuel Pine, the paternal grandfather of 
Clark Pine, was a native of Camden, N. J. 
He was one of a large family, the members of 
which upon reaching their maturity scattered 
throughout the different states of the Union. 
Samuel, however, remained in New Jersey, be- 
came a farmer and died, in his native state. 
He and his wife reared a large family, and 
they both died well advanced in years. The 
maternal grandfather, John Haines, was also a 
native of Camden, N. J., was one of the 
earliest of the settlers of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, lived some years in Washington town- 
ship, and removed thence to Springboro, War- 
ren county, where he died at an advanced age. 
He was married three times, all of his wives 
dying before him. In religion he was a Quaker, 
and by occupation a farmer. 

Clark Pine was reared in Montgomery 
county, and has lived in Washington township 
since 1836. He remained at home until he 
was twenty-one years of age, having in the 



meantime secured a good education in the dis- 
trict schools. Dreading an ax and a cross-cut 
saw more than almost anything else, he went 
to Dayton just before he was twenty-one years 
of age, and was examined for a teacher's cer- 
tificate, which he was granted, and thereafter 
for three years he taught school in the winter 
season, working on the farm in the summer 
time. During this period his father died, and 
Clark, returning to the farm, was the main 
support of the family for some years. 

Young Pine went to Cincinnati with the in- 
tention of learning bookkeeping, but being dis- 
satisfied with that study and with the labor of 
keeping books, he returned to his home, where 
he taught school and carried on farming, in 
the manner related above, for three years. 
During this time he was unusually successful in 
his business management, as he not only paid 
off a debt of $1,000 of his father's, but also 
accumulated $1,000 for himself, all out of his 
one-third interest in the farm proceeds. For 
three years longer he continued to farm, and 
then purchased half of the farm of the heirs, 
on which there were no buildings. His por- 
tion he then improved, erected a house and 
other buildings, and still owns the half thus 
purchased. This farm lies one mile and a half 
south of Centerville. 

On November 11, 1858, Mr. Pine was mar- 
ried to Theresa Miskelley, daughter of Robert 
and Mary (Jackson) Miskelley. To this mar- 
riage there have been born six children, as fol- 
lows: Edwin, Robert, Lewis, Samuel K., 
Laura and Clara. Edwin married Susan Han- 
nah and has two children, Dell and Elbert. 
Edwin is himself now farming on the old place. 
Robert is keeping store in Centerville; he mar- 
ried Laura Watkins and has one child, Her- 
bert. Lewis, who lives on the Allen place, 
married Nettie Wilson and has two children, 
John and Ernest. Samuel K. is in the office 
of County Treasurer Sunderland, and is un- 



1106 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



married. Laura married William Elliott, and 
is deceased, and Clara is living at home. 

Mr. Pine is in politics a republican, and as 
such was elected township treasurer of Wash- 
ington township, in i860, holding the office 
for thirty years in all, twenty-eight years in 
succession. He is serving; as clerk of the town- 
ship at the present time. For twenty years 
he has been notary public, and he has also 
served as justice of the peace several terms. 
For the past ten or eleven years he has lived 
in Centerville, where he had before lived two 
or three times at intervals, managing the store 
for two years and a half. 

Mr. Pine has been one of the most promi- 
nent men of the county for many years, and 
has been honored by his fellow-citizens beyond 
the average of men. He belongs to one of the 
oldest families in the county, and is fully sus- 
taining its reputation for all that constitutes 
good citizenship and an honorable manhood. 



>-j'OHN W. PRISER, whose post-office 
M is Pyrmont, Ohio, and who is one of 
A 1 the thriving farmers of Perry township, 
is a grandson of one of the old pioneers 
of Montgomery county. His grandfather, 
Philip Priser, was born in Pennsylvania, and 
in that state married Mary Foutz, who was of 
German antecedents in Maryland. Philip 
Priser removed to Ohio in 1 8 16, and settled 
on Bear creek, in Perry township, on 160 
acres of land, but little of which had been 
cleared. The rest of his land he cleared and 
made a good home for his family. His chil- 
dren were as follows: Frederick, Michael, 
Daniel, Sarah and Mary. In 1832-33 a cyclone 
passed over his land, laying low a great deal 
of his timber, and barely missing his house, a 
double log cabin, in which fifteen people had 
taken shelter. Philip Priser was a member of 
the German Baptist church, and lived to be 



eighty-six years of age, dying at Sharpsburg. 
He was well known as one of the sturdy pio- 
neers of Perry township, and a trustworthy, 
honorable man. 

Michael Priser, the father of John W. , was 
born in Pennsylvania, and came with his father 
to Ohio when he was sixteen years of age. In 
Perry township he married Sarah Flory, whose 
parents came from Germany. The ship in 
which they crossed the ocean was boarded by 
pirates, and robbed of all its supplies. They 
lost all the money they possessed and the 
grandmother died of fright. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Michael Priser there were 
born five children: Barbara, Samuel, John 
W., Mary and Joseph. Mrs. Priser died in 
1834, at the age of sixty-two years, and Mr. 
Priser again married, his second wife being 
Margaret Sheplerl by whom he had one son, 
William. After the death of his second wife, 
Mr. Priser married Catherine Fiant, who was 
born in 1806. To this marriage there were 
born four children: Elizabeth. Daniel, James 
and Noah. Mr. Priser first entered eighty 
acres of land, which he afterward sold, and 
then entered eighty acres in Perry township, 
which latter he improved and made into a 
good farm and home. He was a member of 
the German Baptist church. His death oc- 
curred in 1875, at the age of seventy-five years, 
and his wife survived him eleven years. 

John W. Priser, the subject of this sketch, 
was born March 27, 1830, in Perry township. 
Reared a farmer's boy, he became a farmer, 
and was married, October 5, 1851, in Preble 
county, to Miss Jemimah Wysong, who was 
born in November, 1829, and was a daughter 
of Charles and Margaret iGustin) Wysong. 
Charles Wysong was of German ancestry and 
came from Virginia, and was a son of Jacob 
and Jemimah (Cottrell) Wysong. Jacob Wy- 
song was one of the pioneers of Preble county, 
who settled there in the woods about 1818, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1107 



and cleared up a farm of 160 acres. He was 
a member of the German Baptist church, and 
lived to be over seventy years of age. His 
children were as follows: Stephen, Charles, 
John, Joseph, Robert, Matthew, James, Eliza- 
beth, Lydia, William, Henry, Jacob and Val- 
entine. Mr. Wysong, father of Mrs. Priser, 
married Margaret Gustin, by whom he had the 
following children: Hannah, Harrison, Jemi- 
mah, Stephen, Lydia, Betsey, 'Rachael, Jacob, 
Margaret, Dorothy, Annie and Mary, the last 
of whom died in infancy. Mr. Wysong was en- 
gaged in sheep husbandry, and died in 1890. 
Politically, he was a democrat. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Priser 
settled in Perry township on a farm, and lived 
there until 1856, when Mr. Priser bought 
seventy-two acres of land, which he cleared of 
its timber and converted into a home. His 
children are as follows: Catherine, Benjamin 
F. , John H., Rachael A., Joseph, Perry, Nora, 
Minnie and Mattie. Politically, Mr. Priser, 
though formerly a republican, is now a demo- 
crat. He has held the office of township trus- 
tee one year, and that of treasurer six years. 
He has also served as a member of the school 
board, and as justice of the peace four years. 
He has reared his children in such a manner 
that they have all won for themselves re- 
spectable positions in society, and they, like 
their parents, are esteemed for their many 
excellent qualities of mind and heart. 



ST 



TLLIAM RICHMAN, farmer, of 
Van Buren township, Montgomery 
county, was born in Dayton, Ohio, 
September 22, 1830. He is a son 
of David and Ruth (Johnson) Richman, both 
natives of Salem county, N. J. David and Ruth 
Richman were the parents of four children, 
two sons and two daughters, William being the 
only one now living. They came to Ohio about 



1826, driving over the mountains, and locating 
in Dayton, where Mr. Richman died in 1832. 
While living in the east Mr. Richman followed 
farming and ran a saw-mill, but after reaching 
Dayton he became a grocer. His wife survived 
until 1878, when she died at the age of seventy- 
six. She was a most exemplary woman, of 
strong character, and a member of the Uni- 
versalis! church. 

Daniel Richman, the paternal grandfather of 
William, was a native of Salem county, N. J., 
and for some time served there as judge. He 
was the father of a large family and died at an 
advanced age. The maternal grandfather, 
Samuel Johnson, was also a native of Salem 
county, N. J., a farmer by occupation, the 
father of a large family, and lived to an old age. 
Both grandfathers were factors in the develop- 
ment of Salem county, and the memory of 
both is cherished until the present day in the 
county of their birth. 

William Richman lived in Dayton, Ohio, 
until he was ten years old, removing then to 
Madison county, where he lived until 1874. 
For many years he was engaged in driving and 
leading horses over the mountains to Philadel- 
phia, making three trips each year. In 1 874 he 
removed to Van Buren township, Montgomery 
county, and bought a farm of 190 acres, known 
as the Clint Wilson farm, and lying directly 
across the road from his present home; this 
is owned by his wife, and contains seventy 
acres. Mr. Richman also has 320 acres in 
Madison county, and all three farms are finely 
improved. While Mr. Richman's education 
in his youth was but limited, yet by careful 
reading and thinking, and by wide and accurate 
observation of men and events, he has acquired 
a large fund of information and is one of the 
best-read man of his community. 

September 15, 1874, he married Miss Caro- 
line Newcom, daughter of Edward Newcom 
and Cynthia Irvin, his wife. To this marriage 



1108 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



there have been born six children, two sons 
and four daughters, as follows: Edward N., 
Laura D., Dora, Estcs, Ruth and Carrie. 
Edward N. is a bookkeeper in Buffalo, N. Y. 
The other children are living at home. Mr. 
Richman has been a successful man, having 
acquired what property he now owns by his 
own thrift and industry, aided by the efforts 
of his most excellent wife. The Newcom family 
is so well identified with the history of Mont- 
gomery county, that it would be superfluous 
to here further allude to it. 



i/\ ANIEL YIKE, a retired farmer of 
I Van Buren township, Montgomery 
J^ ^J county, Ohio, was born in Schuyl- 
kill county, Pa., December 22, 1822. 
He is a son of Daniel and Catherine (Fauste- 
nock) Yike, who were natives of Pennsylvania, 
and the parents of eleven children, five of 
whom are still living, as follows: Daniel; Re- 
becca, widow of Aquilla Parish; Catherine, 
wife of David Baughman; Elizabeth, widow of 
Frank Meek, and Abraham. 

Daniel and Catherine Yike lived to be quite 
aged people, highly respected and honored by 
the pioneers who formed their acquaintance. 
Mr. Yike came to Ohio about 1836, and was 
one of the most useful of the early settlers, 
being a blacksmith by trade, as well as a 
farmer. He settled in Fairfield county, and 
there lived until his death, April 18, 1884, 
when he was seventy-five years of age. His 
wife lived four or five years after his death. 
They were members of the Christian, or, as it 
was then known, the New Light church. 

The paternal grandfather of the subject, 
Daniel Yike, was a native of Germany, and 
upon emigrating to the United States, settled 
in the state of Pennsylvania, where he died at 
an advanced age. The maternal grandfather 
lived and died in the same state. Both these 



ancestors were industrious farmers, and both 
died in comfortable circumstances. 

Daniel Yike, whose name opens this sketch, 
was about fourteen years old when his parents 
came to Ohio. For eight years he lived in 
Fairfield county, and then removed to Mont- 
gomery county, which has ever since been his 
home, though he traveled extensively in his 
youth in the United States and Canada. On 
February 28, 1853, he married Miss Elizabeth 
Parish, daughter of Luke and Rachel (Pearce) 
Parish, then of Fairfield county, though origin- 
ally from Maryland. To this marriage there 
were born three children: Rachel, Romancy 
Ann and Joseph. Rachel married Jacob Bell- 
man of Van Buren township, and has seven 
children. Romancy Ann married Samuel Her- 
rington. They live at Ellenwood, Kans., and 
have no children. Joseph married Kittie 
Routsong, and has had four children, two of 
whom are living. After the death of his first 
wife, Joseph Yike married Maggie Sheehe, and 
they now live at Indianapolis, Ind., and have 
one child. 

Daniel and Mrs. Yike have lived in their 
present beautiful home ever since the first year 
after their marriage. When Mr. Yike was a 
young man he learned the carpenter trade, 
and followed that trade for forty years. He 
has a well-improved farm of fifty-one acres, 
which is under a high state of cultivation. The 
county of Montgomery, since Mr. Yike became 
an inhabitant thereof, has made wonderful 
strides in growth and development, and is now 
one of the foremost in the state. Mr. Yike is 
universally respected for his temperate, up- 
right and useful life. His wife, who like him- 
self has hosts of friends, is a member of the 
Reformed church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Yike 
have so lived that they can look back through 
the vista of the many years they have passed 
so happily together, and heave no sigh because 
of the neglect of any duty. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1109 



EENRY APPLE, of Germantown, 
Ohio, one of the substantial farmers 
of Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, and a most prosperous and 
respected citizen, sprang from Pennsylvania 
Dutch stock. 

His grandfather, who was also named 
Henry Apple, was born in Berks county, Pa., 
and was a son of John Apple. This grandfa- 
ther, Henry, married Sarah E. Gebhart. of 
Berks county, and they became the parents of 
thirteen children, all of whom reached mature 
years, married and reared families of their 
own. These thirteen children were as follows: 
John, Henry, George, Catherine, Elizabeth, 
Magdalene, Margaret, Eli, Encch, Eve, Bar- 
bara, Daniel and Tennie. Henry Apple re- 
moved to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1805, 
entering land in Jefferson township, eighty 
acres, which he cleared up and lived upon about 
seven years. In 181 3 he removed to Jackson 
township and there bought 160 acres, which he 
made his permanent home, clearing up this lat- 
ter farm from the woods. He became pros- 
perous because of his steady, industrious hab- 
its, bought more land, and gave eighty acres 
to each of his children. He was a Lutheran 
in religion, and was one of the founders of the 
Slyfer church, in connection with Philip Slyfer. 
This church was founded in 1819 and is still in 
existence. Politically, Mr. Apple was a dem- 
ocrat and was one of the foremost citizens of 
Jackson township. He was one of the sturdy 
pioneers, and an honorable man. His father, 
John, came later to this country, and here 
passed the remainder of his days. 

Henry Apple, son of the above and father 
of the subject, was born in 1802, in Berks 
county, Pa., where two of his brothers, John 
and George, were also born, the remainder of 
the family being born in Montgomery county, 
Ohio. Henry was but three years old when 
brought to Ohio by his parents, and grew up a 

48 



pioneer among the pioneers. Trained to a 
farmer's life he naturally adopted that voca- 
tion. He married Elizabeth Rodehefer, who 
was born in 1807, and was a daughter of 
Samuel and Catherine (Ruby) Rodehefer, both 
of whom were of German descent and pioneers 
of Montgomery county. Henry Apple and his 
wife settled in the woods in Jackson township, 
prospered by hard work and economical man- 
agement, and in 1838 bought 160 acres of land 
in that township. Mr. Apple also entered 160 
acres in Darke count}'. He was a member of 
the Lutheran church, in which he was a dea- 
con and an elder, as was his father before him. 
His children were as follows: William, Julia, 
George, Solon, Catherine, Barbara, Henry and 
Elizabeth. The above children were by his 
first wife, after whose death he married Sarah 
Stroup, by whom he had the following chil- 
dren: John; Samuel; Louisa, who died at the 
age of seventeen; Mary, who died at the age of 
twenty years; Lydia, Hiram, David, and Sarah 
Eve. Thus he was the father of sixteen children, 
fourteen of whom were living at the time of his 
death. Politically, he was a democrat, and 
as a citizen he was held in high regard. 

Henry Apple, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Jackson township, August 6, 1835, 
received a common-school education and was 
reared a farmer. On March 13, 1856, he 
married Catherine Meckley, daughter of Chris- 
tian and Nancy (Kuner) Meckley, of whom 
fuller mention is made elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Ap- 
ple settled on 144 acres of land in Jefferson 
township, upon which they lived thirty-five 
years. This land Mr. Apple cleared up from 
the woods and made of it a good farm and 
home, putting up good buildings and improv- 
ing the farm in every way. By careful man- 
agement and hardy thrift he added to his pos- 
sessions, owning at one time 320 acres of land. 
In 1892 he built a pleasant residence on the 



1110 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



township line, and now lives on a small prop- 
erty, his children having been given the greater 
part of his land. He is a member of the 
Slyfer Presbyterian church, of which he has 
been for many years a trustee. His wife is a 
member of the Reformed church. Mr. Apple 
was a member of the building committee of 
the new Slyfer church edifice, built for the 
Union church. Politically, he is a democrat, 
but is not an office seeker. His children are 
as follows: Lucinda; Benjamin F. ; Oliver, 
who died at the age of three years; and Perry. 
Mr. Apple is a most worthy citizen, and en- 
joys the confidence of a large circle of valued 
friends and acquaintances. 



/^^V" AMUEL BECK, prominent as a con- 
*^^KT tractor and builder in his native town- 
k^_J ship of Jefferson, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born August 17, 1850, a 
son of Samuel and Annie (Getter) Beck, and 
here he has been reared to manhood, his pres- 
ent post-office address being Ellerton, Ohio. 

Henry Beck, his paternal grandfather, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, but early became 
one of the pioneers of Salem, Montgomery 
county, Ohio; while John Getter, his maternal 
grandfather, also a native of Pennsylvania, 
was one of the pioneers of Jefferson township; 
and thus it will be seen that Samuel Beck, our 
subject, is of long-time Buckeye descent. 

Samuel Beck, Sr., settled on a farm near 
Liberty, Montgomery county, Ohio, prior to 
1840, and here pursued his trade of carpenter- 
ing until his death, which occurred in 1850. 
His children were four in number and were 
named, in order of birth, Mary, who became 
the wife of Frederick Staver; Martha J., the 
wife of Fred Schwartztrauben; Henry; and 
Samuel, whose name opens this sketch. 

Samuel Beck, the youngest of this family 
of four children, was reared in Jefferson town- 



ship and received the best education its com- 
mon schools afforded, and, after having passed 
through his schoolboy days, served an appren- 
ticeship at the carpenter's trade, which he 
learned thoroughly. For six years after serv- 
ing his term of apprenticeship he worked as a 
journeyman, perfecting himself in the mean- 
while in his trade, and was thus enabled, in 
1878, to start in business on his own account 
in Gettersburg, Montgomery county, the post- 
office of which village, as has been mentioned, 
is known as Ellerton. He has made a marked 
success in his vocation, and is probably now 
the most prosperous contractor and builder of 
Jefferson township. 

The marriage of Mr. Beck took place, in 
1878, to Miss Martha Howser, the accom- 
plished daughter of John and Sarah Ellen 
(Drill) Howser, of Miamisburg, Ohio, and as a 
result of this union there are ten children. 
They are John H., who is a teacher by profes- 
sion; Samuel; Jennie, the wife of Harley Long; 
Annie; Ida, married to Furman Woodward; 
Howard, Charles, Edith, Flora and Ethel. 
The father is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics adheres 
to the democratic party, and no man is more 
favorably known throughout the county, as a 
business man and public-spirited citizen, than 
Samuel Beck. 



HNDREW H. BAKER, one of the 
early merchants of Phillipsburg, and 
now among the most respected citi- 
zens of Clay township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born on his father's farm, 
in Randolph township, same county, March 
25, 1 82 1, 

Grandfather Baeker, as the name was orig- 
inally spelled, came from Pennsylvania about 
the year 1800 and entered a section of land in 
Randolph township, settling near the saw-mill 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1111 



now owned by Henry Baker. The tract at 
that time was a dense forest, but Mr. Baeker 
cleared up a fine farm from the woods. His 
wife bore the maiden name of Echelman, and 
bore her husband five children, who were 
named John, Samuel, David, Henry and An 
drew. The father of these children, however, 
did not live many years after reaching Ohio, 
and at his death divided his property equally 
among his children. 

David Baker, father of Andrew H. Baker, 
was a youth when brought to Ohio by his 
parents, and here attained his majority on the 
home farm. He married Salomi Hart, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, in 1797, and whose 
parents came to Ohio at the same time with 
the Bakers — the Hart children being named 
William, Elizabeth, Rebecca and Salomi, of 
whom Elizabeth and Rebecca were respectively 
married, in Ohio, to a Mr. Kessler and a Mr. 
Hazen. After his marriage David Baker set- 
tled on his own farm of 112 acres, near the 
old homestead in Randolph township, close to 
the county line. He died, however, at a com- 
paratively early age, the father of three chil- 
dren — Lavina, Andrew H. and David. Mrs. 
Baker afterward married John Turner, to 
which union was born one child, Rebecca, who 
married James Ross. 

Andrew H. Baker was educated in the 
pioneer schools of his early day, and at the 
age of sixteen years began learning the cabi- 
netmaker's trade in Salem, served three years, 
and then worked one year in Dayton, with R. 
J. Wagoner. But he did not long continue at 
his trade, as in 1842, at the age of twenty-one 
years, he engaged in mercantile business in 
Phillipsburg,. which he found to be more to his 
taste and profit, and which he pursued for the 
long period of nearly fifty years, selling out in 
1890, when he retired with a competency. In 
his career as a merchant, Mr. Baker formed 
several co-partnerships, viz: First, with John 



Fry, who was the earliest responsible merchant 
of Phillipsburg, the partnership lasting six 
years; next, with David Swank, four years; 
then, with his own brother, David Baker, for 
several years. At one time the firm was com- 
posed of four members — Andrew H. and 
David Baker, Peter Smith and David Swank. 
These partners carried on a store in Phillips- 
burg and one at West Alexandria, in Preble 
county, and did a large country trade until 
the dissolution of the firm. Andrew H. con- 
tinued alone for some years in Phillipsburg, 
then admitted his son, Charles W. , into part- 
nership, but for the last few years of his 
mercantile life he was again alone. Although 
practically retired, Mr. Baker still owns a saw- 
mill, over which he keeps a supervision. 

Andrew H. Baker was united in marriage 
March 29, 1842, in Phillipsburg, with Miss 
Hannah Thomas, who was born in that village 
January 3, 1825, a daughter of Dr. William 
and Mary (Cox) Thomas. Dr. William Thomas 
was a son of John Thomas, who came from 
South Carolina in the early part of the present 
century and settled in Clay township, where 
he entered a farm, on which he died at an 
advanced age, the father of four children — 
Isaiah, George, William and Nancy. Dr. 
William Thomas, father of Mrs. Baker, was a 
physician of note in Phillipsburg, but removed 
to and died in Indiana, the father of seven 
children — Hugh M., Micajah, Priscilla, Ase- 
nath, Nancy, Hannah and Sarah. The union 
of Mr. and Mrs. Baker has been blessed with 
the following children: Charles W., Granville 
(died September 5, 1896), Dr. Edson R. , 
David, William and Ella. 

In politics Andrew H. Baker was originally 
a democrat, but was a strong prohibitionist, 
and became one of the organizers of the repub- 
lican party in his township. His was the 
only house in Phillipsburg, in the early days, 
that would give shelter to an abolitionist, but 



1112 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



he adhered tenaciously to the cause until it at 
last became triumphant. He never sought 
public office, but as a matter of duty served 
nine years as justice of the peace. He was a 
strong Union man during the Civil war, and 
furnished two sons to the army — Charles and 
Granville — both of whom were in the three- 
years' service, were in the Atlanta campaign 
and followed Sherman to the sea. Mrs. Baker 
is a member of the Christian church, and Mr. 
Baker, a man of broad intelligence, is liberal 
in his religious views. He occupies a high 
position in the esteem of his fellow-citizens, 
and his influence is felt throughout the county 
in every movement designed to promote the 
public good. 



•~V"AMUEL G. CLAGETT, a successful 
•^^^* farmer and fruit grower of Harrison 

h^_J township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born in this township, within a 
quarter of a mile of his present home, Decem- 
ber 26, 1852. His parents, Samuel M. and 
Elizabeth (Drill) Clagett, were natives of 
Maryland, he of Frederick county, and she of 
Washington county. They were the parents 
of eleven children, nine of whom are still liv- 
ing, as follows: Annie J., wife of S. W. La- 
kin, living in Columbus, Ohio; Harriet, widow 
of George McCausland; Mary, wife of S. A. 
Bailey; John W. ; Elizabeth, wife of Henry 
Smith, of Dayton; Martha, wife of George K. 
Funderberg, of Carlisle, Ohio; Samuel G. ; 
Maggie, wife of Charles B. Attick, and 
James W. 

Samuel M. Clagett was by occupation a 
farmer, came to Ohio about 1836, lived in 
Dayton one year, and then removed to Wayne 
township. After living in Wayne township a 
few years, he settled in Harrison township, 
where he continued a resident the rest of his 
life, a period of nearly forty years, his death 



occurring in 1876. He was at the time sixty- 
seven years of age. His wife died in 1S91, 
aged seventy-four. Both were members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church, and of his 
church he was trustee and steward for many 
years. Politically he was a democrat up to 
the breaking out of the war, and then became 
a republican, acting with this party the re- 
mainder of his life. 

The paternal grandfather of Samuel G. 
Clagett was a native of England, was a miller 
and distiller by occupation, reared a family of 
six children, and died in Maryland when 
seventy years of age. The maternal grand- 
father, George Drill, was of German ancestry, 
but a native of Maryland, was a soldier in the 
war of 18 1 2, came to Ohio at an early day and 
settled in Harrison township, where he died at 
the age of forty-eight. 

Samuel G. Clagett has lived his entire life 
in Harrison township. He was reared a farm- 
er's boy, was well educated in the district 
schools, and has kept himself thoroughly in- 
formed upon the important events and ques- 
tions of the day. Remaining at home with 
his parents until he attained his manhood, he 
was married October 16, 1877, to Miss Alvina 
Darst, daughter of Abraham and Sarah Ann 
(Dean) Darst. To their marriage there have 
been born four sons, as follows: Warren D., 
Wilson G., Arthur E. and Edward F. The 
first two were twins. 

Mr. and Mrs. Clagett are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. Clagett 
is now and has for the past thirteen years been 
a class leader in his church. He was also 
superintendent of the Sunday-school for seven- 
teen years. In 1895 ne was elected treasurer 
of his township, being the first republican to 
hold that office since the war. Beginning life 
for himself by working for his father, he has 
since made a well-deserved success as a 
farmer, and as a useful and influential citizen. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1 1 1 :; 



He now owns ninety-one acres of land, well 
improved. Mr. Clagett is a charter member of 
Linden lodge 412, K. of P., and has also been 
member of the I. O. O. F. for over twenty 
years. He is a descendant and a worthy rep- 
resentative of two of the oldest and best fam- 
ilies in Montgomery county, and well sustains 
their reputation, established by long years of 
straightforward and honorable dealing with 
their fellow-men. 



>y» ONATH AN BRUESTLE, one of the old 

k settlers of Clay township, Montgomery 
/• J county, Ohio, was born in Berks coun- 
ty, Pa., July 1, 1829, and is of German 
extraction. 

Christian Bruestle, his grandfather, was a 
native of Wurtemberg, Germany, a tailor by 
trade, and married Sabina Wert, by whom he 
became the father of the following children: 
Christian, Henry Charles, Caroline and an- 
other, whose name has been forgotten by the 
present generation. The father of this family 
died in his native country, a member of the 
Lutheran church, at the age of fifty-seven 
years, and his second son, Henry Charles, be- 
came the progenitor of the Bruestle family in 
America. Christian, the eldest brother, was 
a German Baptist minister, was born in Ger- 
many in 1772, made three visits to America, 
returned as many times to his native land, and 
died January 1, 1841 , at the homeof his father. 
Henry Charles Bruestle, father of Jonathan, 
was born in Germany November 22, 1780, re- 
ceived a liberal collegiate education, and be- 
came master of seven languages. April 25, 
18 19, he departed for America, and after a voy- 
age of four months landed in Philadelphia, 
August 25, 1 8 19. Later he went to Tulpe- 
hocken township, Berks county, Pa., where he 
married, August 31, 1823, Elizabeth Oldwine. 
In April, 1853, he came to Ohio and bought a 



small plat of ten acres at Air Hill, Perry town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and on this little 
garden spot he died April 25, 1857, a member 
of the Lutheran church, of which he had been 
an elder for sixteen years before he came to 
Ohio. His wife, daughter of Warner and 
Catherine (Long) Oldwine, was born in Leb- 
anon county, Pa., January 22, 1795, and 
bore her husband two children — Henry and 
Jonathan. 

Warner Oldwine, the father of Mrs. Bru- 
estle, was born in Germany and was twenty- 
five years of age when he came to America. 
Here he enlisted in the patriot army and bore 
a valiant part in the Revolutionary war at the 
battle of Bunker Hill, Brandywine, and else- 
where, fought through the whole of the glori- 
ous, struggle, and lived also to take part in the 
war of 1 81 2. He made his home in Lebanon 
county, Pa., where he owned 200 acres of 
farming land, and where he reared a family of 
four children, viz: Anty, Jacob, Samuel and 
Elizabeth. His death took place at the age 
of seventy-five years, and his patriotic serv- 
ices were gratefully remembered by his fellow- 
citizens, who interred his remains with the 
honors of war. 

Jonathan Bruestle was reared on the home 
farm, received a good education in his youthful 
days, and was also taught the cabinetmaker's 
and carpenter's trades. At the age of about 
twenty-five years, in 1853, he came to Ohio 
and for two years lived in Miamisburg, and 
then removed to Salem. In the interval, 
April 27, 1854, he married Ann Mary Buech- 
ler, the ceremony being performed in Madison 
township by Rev. John Reichert, of the Ger- 
man Reformed church. Miss Buechler was 
born March 15, 1826, in Pine Grove township, 
Schuylkill county, Pa., and is a daughter of 
John and Barbara (Stein) Buechler. 

John Buechler, father of Mrs. Bruestle, 
came from Pennsylvania to Ohio in 1836, set- 



1114 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tied on a farm of 144 acres in Madison town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and died in 1880, 
at the age of eighty-three years. To him and 
his wife were born a family that became use- 
ful members of the community of Madison 
township, both those who were born in Penn- 
sylvania and those born in the Buckeye state. 
They were named, in order of birth, William, 
George, John, Henry, Daniel, Ann Mary (Mrs. 
Bruestle) and Katie. 

Jonathan Bruestle, after his marriage, lo- 
cated in Salem, Montgomery county, and for 
seventeen years was the leading cabinetmaker 
and undertaker of the town and the surround- 
ing country, but in the meantime, October 4, 
1864, bought a tract of sixty-six acres, which 
he devoted to general farming and tobacco 
growing, making a specialty of the latter prod- 
uct. He erected a good barn, a fine tobacco 
shed and other necessary buildings, was indus- 
trious and thrifty, and added to his land until 
it covered eighty acres, which he still owns, 
and on which he is passing in peace his declin- 
ing years. In religion Mr. Bruestle, with his 
wife, is a member of the Lutheran church, in 
which he has held the offices of elder and 
trustee, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and in the 
latter state, for over five years, he was the 
sexton for his congregation. His only child, 
John Davis Buechtel Bruestle, was born June 
10, 1859, in Salem, and is now a representa- 
tive citizen of Clay township. 



^^V AVID CRIPE, farmer, of Madison 
I township, is a son of one of the early 
/^_^ pioneers of Montgomery county. 
John Cripe, Sr. , his grandfather, 
came to Ohio, probably in 1806, from Blair 
county, Pa., settling in Madison township, 
two miles south of where David now lives. 
His wife was Catherine Ullery, and his chil- 
dren were as follows: Stephen, David, John, 



Susan, Esther and Elizabeth. Mr. Cripe 
cleared a farm of 160 acres, lived in Mont- 
gomery county all his life, and died at an ad- 
vanced age. He was a minister of the Ger- 
man Baptist church. 

John Cripe, Jr., son of John Cripe and 
father of David, was born in Blair county, Pa., 
about 1804, and was two years old when 
brought by his father to Montgomery county, 
Ohio. Young Cripe was brought up among 
the pioneers and became a farmer. Upon 
arriving at maturity he married Catherine 
Shively, by whom he had the following 
children: Eli; John, who died when two 
years old; David, Esther, Catherine, Mary, 
Hannah and Stephen. Mr. and Mrs. Cripe 
settled on the farm upon which their son David 
now lives, and which then consisted of 160 
acres of land, all in the woods, with the excep- 
tion of five acres, which were partly cleared. 
This land Mr. Cripe cleared of its timber, 
made of it a good farm, and greatly improved 
it with excellent buildings. In 1853 he re- 
moved to Indiana, locating near Peru, and 
there bought 160 acres of land, upon which he 
passed the remainder of his days, dying when 
seventy-two years of age. He was one of the 
best men of his time, and a member of the 
German Baptist church, in which he was a 
deacon for many years. Always a diligent and 
industrious man, he was successful in his busi- 
ness affairs, and was well known for his hon- 
esty and integrity of character. 

David Cripe was born February 19, 1831, 
on the farm on which he now lives. His edu- 
cation was received in the common district 
school. Reared a farmer, he has followed 
that honorable and independent occupation 
all his life. He married, October 16, 185 1, 
Miss Mary Ullery, who was born on the Still- 
water river, in Randolph township, and is a 
daughter of Samuel and Susan (Whitehead) 
Ullery. Samuel Ullery was born in Blair 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1115 



county, Pa., near Hollidaysburg, in 1794, and 
when seventeen years old came to Montgom- 
ery county with his parents, Stephen and Mary 
(Rench) Ullery. 

Stephen Ullery came to Montgomery 
county in 181 1, and settled in Madison town- 
ship, near Stillwater Junction, where he en- 
tered government land, to the extent of 160 
acres, which he cleared and upon which he 
lived for many years. His children were 
Joseph, Stephen, Samuel, Mary and Cather- 
ine. Stephen lived to be an aged man, was a 
German Baptist and a valued citizen. 

Samuel Ullery, the father of Mrs. Cripe, 
settled on the farm adjoining the Cripe home- 
stead. His first wife was Mary Miller, a 
daughter of Daniel Miller, the pioneer. By 
this wife he had one daughter, Susannah. 
Mrs. Ullery having died, Mr. Ullery married 
Susannah Whitehead, by whom he had ten 
children, as follows: Lydia, Moses, Annie, 
Aaron, Stephen, Mary, David, Samuel, Chris- 
topher, and Valentine. Samuel Ullery devoted 
himself to farming, and became a very pros- 
perous man. By industry he thrived until at 
length he owned 600 acres of land, which he 
divided among his children, giving each a farm. 
He was a member of the German Baptist 
church, and died in his seventy-first year. His 
wife died October 19, 1882, in her seventy- 
eighth year. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cripe, after their marriage, 
settled on the Cripe homestead, which has 
since been their home. Mrs. Cripe's mother 
made her home with them, living with them 
for about eighteen years, and it was at their 
home that she died at an advanced age. She 
had been most of her life a member of the 
German Baptist church, and all her life an ex- 
cellent woman. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cripe had one child, named 
Annie, who died March 13, 1885. She mar- 
ried Jacob Miller, a grandson of Daniel Miller, 



the pioneer, and son of Joseph Miller. To 
Jacob Miller and his wife there were born two 
children, Joseph Albert and Mary Catherine. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cripe are members of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, of which Mr. Cripe has 
been a deacon for thirty-four years. 

His granddaughter, Mary Catherine Miller, 
married Albert M. Mumma, and has one son. 
The entire family are well to do, have a large 
circle of friends, and are among the most use- 
ful of Montgomery county's citizens. 



Sf 



ILLIAM A. CROSBY, a successful 
farmer of Mad River township, 
Montgomery county, was born near 
Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, 
October 15, 1842. He is a son of James and 
Lydia Ann (Baner) Crosby, the former of 
whom was a native of Delaware county, Pa. , 
and the latter of Cape May county, N. J. 
To their marriage there were born three 
children, viz: William A.; Martha A., wife 
of John Kinder, of Franklin, Ohio; and Alice, 
wife of Edwin S. Smith, living at Lawrence- 
ville, 111. 

James Crosby learned shoemaking when a 
boy, and followed this trade for several years. 
Coming to Ohio in 1S30, he located near 
Springboro, Warren county, where he after- 
ward bought land. In Warren county he was 
married, and removed to Montgomery county 
in 1858, locating on the grounds now occupied 
by the soldiers' home, and there lived for 
nine years. Selling his property there, he re- 
moved to Mad River township, where his son 
William A. now lives, and where he bought 
seventy acres, now finely improved. On that 
farm he lived the rest of his life, dying Sep- 
tember 12, 1884, when he was seventy-two 
years of age. His wife, who died June 13, 
1886, was a Quaker in religious belief. 

Robert Crosby, father of James Crosby, 



UK*. 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



was a native of county Down, the most east- 
erly county in Ireland, and was of Scotch- 
Irish descent. When a young man he came 
to the United States and settled in Delaware 
county, Pa., being accompanied by two of his 
brothers, and in 1S30 he came to Ohio, dying 
on the farm where he settled in Warren coun- 
ty. He was of a quiet and amiable disposition, 
reared a family of one son and five daughters, 
and at his death was seventy-five years of age. 

The maternal grandfather of the subject, 
Isaac Baner, was a native of New Jersey, and 
moved to Ohio between 1830 and 1835, float- 
ing down the Ohio river on a flatboat, and 
locating near Springboro, Warren county. He 
followed shoemaking all his life, and in relig- 
ious belief was a strong Quaker. 

William A. Crosby was about sixteen years 
of age when his father left Warren county, 
and remained at home as long as his father 
lived. He has managed and cultivated the 
Mad River township farm ever since its pur- 
chase by his father, and after his parents' 
death became the owner of a two-thirds inter- 
est in it. 

On February 21, 1865, he was married to 
Miss Nancy J. Heiney, daughter of Joseph 
and Elizabeth Heiney. To this marriage there 
were born eleven children, as follows: Ida 
May. Frank Albert, James E. , Emma Alice 
(deceased), Joseph H., Lizzie A., William A., 
Orin J., Grace L. , Howard, and Mattie B. 
Ida May married Charles Alexander, of Wayne 
township; Frank A. married Iona Clemmer, 
and lives in Wayne township; they have one 
child, Ruth. James E. married Loretta 
Johnson; they live in Clark county and have 
three children, Florence, Chester and Rachael. 
Lizzie A. married Alva Wolf; they live in 
West Dayton. Mrs. Nancy J. Crosby died 
January 10, 1891. Early in her life she was 
a member of the German Reformed church, 
but later united with the United Brethren 



church, and died in that faith, Mr. Crosby being 
also a member of this church. Politically, 
Mr. Crosby is a democrat, and is at the pres- 
ent time (1 896) serving a three-years' term as 
justice of the peace. For fifteen years he was 
a member of the board of directors of his 
school district, and at present is a member of 
the school board. Upon his farm, which con- 
tains 125 acres, he carries on general agricult- 
ural operations, and for the past three years 
has also been conducting a cream dairy and 
raising red-polled cattle. For thirty-seven 
years Mr. Crosby has lived in Montgomery 
county, and has contributed his full share to its 
fine development. His home is beautifully 
situated on a knoll three miles from Dayton, 
and here is dispensed the most sincere and 
generous hospitality. 



BENRY L. ECKHARDT, of Jefferson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
a practical and experienced farmer, 
was born in Germany, April 15, 1854, 
but has been a resident of Montgomery county 
since his infancy, his parents, George and 
Catherine (Felty) Eckhardt, having come to 
America in the fall of 1854. These newcom- 
ers first located in German township, Mont- 
gomery county, where the father successfully 
engaged in the pursuit of agriculture until 
1874, when he found it to be to his interest to 
remove to Jefferson township, and here he has 
been engaged in farming ever since that year. 
He and his wife were the parents of seven 
children, who were born in the following or- 
der: Christian H., Henry L. , Jacob; Mary, 
the wife of George Smith; Emma, married 
to Charles Root; Louisa, now Mrs. Frank 
Recher, and Minnie, the wife of Elmer Palmer. 
The first two named were born in Germany, 
and the others in Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Henry L. Eckhardt was educated in the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1117 



common schools of his district. At the age of 
twenty years, in 1874, he came to Jefferson 
township with his father's family, and here he 
has since been engaged in farming. Here also, 
in i860, he married Miss Mary M. Getter, 
daughter of Daniel and Sarah J. (Shade) Getter, 
residents of Jefferson township, and this mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Eckhardt has been 
blessed by the birth of one son, named Earl C. 
In politics Mr. Eckhardt has always been 
closely identified with the republican party, and 
is at present the assistant postmaster of Eller- 
ton, Montgomery county, Ohio. In religion, he 
is, with his wife, a consistent member of the 
Lutheran church, of which he is also a trustee. 
He has led a life of industry, and has ever 
been a useful and public-spirited citizen. 



>-j*OSEPH L. ENSLEY, a prominent 
m farmer of Harrison township, Mont- 
/• J gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Butler township, this county, near 
Stillwater, May 18, 1821. His parents were 
James and Susan (Lodge) Ensley, both natives 
of Pennsylvania. To them there were born 
seven children, three of whom are now living, 
as follows: Mary, wife of Thomas Huffman, 
of Des Moines, Iowa, Joseph L. and James. 

James Ensley, the father of Joseph L. ,was 
one of the old-fashioned pioneer settlers of the 
southern part of Ohio. By occupation he was 
a farmer, and had to contend with the difficul- 
ties and hardships that were inseparably con- 
nected with his vocation in the early days of 
the century. Moving to Ohio in 18 18, he 
settled in Butler township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, built a log cabin and lived there until 1849, 
when he died, at the age of sixty-five years. 
His wife survived him until 1888, dying at the 
great age of ninety-three. Both were members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Ens- 
ley served as justice of the peace for a number 



of years, and also held other township offices, 
showing that he was a man of prominence and 
that he was held in honor by his fellow- men. 
Upon arriving in Butler township, as above 
related, he purchased 160 acres of land, to 
which he added other tracts from time to time 
until at his death he owned about 300 acres. 
Beside this large quantity of land he owned a 
grist-mill, which he leased to others. 

George Ensley, the father of James Ensley, 
was a native of Bedford county, Pa., and was 
of German descent. He and his wife, who 
survived him some years, reared a family of 
seven children. He died in his native county 
at an advanced age. The maternal grandfa- 
ther of Joseph L. Ensley, William Lodge, was 
a farmer by occupation and died in Pennsylva- 
nia, while yet in middle life. 

Joseph L. Ensley received the rudiments of 
his education in the district schools, and has 
supplemented the education there obtained by 
close observation and wide reading, until now 
he is one of the best informed men of his com- 
munity. Remaining at home until he was 
twenty-four years of age, he then began the 
active duties of a farmer's life on his own be- 
half, and was soon afterward married to Ann 
Rebecca Drill, daughter of George and Jemima 
(Lakin) Drill. This marriage occurred De- 
cember 18, 1849, and has resulted in the birth 
of six children, two sons and four daughters, as 
follows: Mary, Elizabeth, Martha, James, 
Benjamin Franklin and Rosa Ann. Mary 
married Ezra Jones, of Harrison township; 
Elizabeth died in infancy; Martha married 
William Brentlinger, and has nine children, as 
follows: Franklin, Ira, Burt, Arthur, Annie, 
Mary, Wilbur, Charles and Elizabeth. James 
married Melissa Deaton, and has one child 
living, Lawrence. Rosa Ann married William 
Kerns, and has one child, Joseph. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ensley are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, as are all of the 



1118 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



children, their wives and husbands. Mr. Ens- 
ley is trustee of his church. Politically he is a 
republican. 

Mr. Ensley began life for himself by rent- 
ing 1 60 acres of land of his father in Harrison 
township, upon which he lived four or five 
years, and then purchased it in partnership 
with his brother, George W. Later he sold 
his interest to his brother, and purchased 200 
acres near the Miami river and not far from 
the city of Dayton. Upon this 200-acre farm 
he lived for thirteen years, and then purchased 
the farm upon which he now resides. This 
farm then contained seventy- two acres, to 
which he has added at different times, becom- 
ing the owner of several farms, and also of five 
or six houses and lots in Dayton. To his chil- 
dren he has given largely of his property, and 
now retains only 130 acres of farm land, his 
home being two and a half miles from the Day- 
ton court house. He also owns one-third of 
Idylwild park. 

Mr. Ensley has been one of the principal 
factors in the development of Montgomery 
county, and has seen Dayton grow from a vil- 
lage into a large and prosperous manufacturing 
city. As a representative farmer, and as an 
upright and useful citizen, he enjoys the sin- 
cere esteem of a large circle of acquaintances 
and friends. 



HNDREW FORNEY, justice of the 
peace of Highland, Ohio, was born in 
Jackson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, Jurle 7, 1838. He is a son 
of Christian and Magdalene (Kimmel) Forney, 
the former of whom was a native of Lancas- 
ter, Pa., and the latter of the " The Glades," 
in Pennsylvania. Christian and Magdalene 
Forney were the parents of four children, three 
of whom are now living, as follows: John, of 
Liberty; Andrew and David, both of Dayton. 



In his early life Christian Forney was a black- 
smith, but afterward turned his attention to 
farming. He was one of the early settlers of 
Ohio, locating in Jackson township, Montgom- 
ery county, but afterward bought a farm of 
135 acres in Jefferson township, upon which he 
lived the remainder of his life, dying at the 
age of sixty-six. His wife had died about five 
years before. 

The paternal grandfather of Andrew For- 
ney lived in Lancaster, Pa., dying therein old 
age. The maternal grandfather also died at 
an advanced age in Pennsylvania. 

Andrew Forney, the subject of this sketch, 
with the exception of four years when he 
lived in Greene county, has been a resident of 
Montgomery county all his life. When yet 
quite a young man he began learning the black- 
smith trade in his father's shop in Jackson 
township. He lived at Harshman for eight 
years, and in December, 1893, removed to 
Highland, his present place of residence, and 
established himself in the trade of blacksmith, 
in making and repairing wagons and carriages. 
That he is a skillful workman is known far and 
wide, and his patronage is unusually extensive. 

On April 19, i860, he married Mahaley 
Shank, daughter of Samuel Shank. To this 
marriage there were born five children, as fol- 
lows: Emma, Laura, Mollie, Charles and 
William. Emma married Charles Garst, and 
has two children living; Laura married William 
Magarity, lives in New York, and has three 
children; Mollie married Henry Mohler, and 
has two children; Charles, who lives at Harsh- 
man, married Ella Myers, and has one child; 
and William, who lives in Greene county, mar- 
ried Emma Rigglesperger. 

Mrs. Forney died February 26, 1875, a 
member of the United Brethren church. Mr. 
Forney's second marriage was with Miss Susie 
Ebright, who lived but a short time. Febru- 
ary 14, 1882, Mr. Forney married, for his third 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1119 



wife, Mrs. Magdalene Schiller, daughter of 
Frederick and Eleanora (Schuster) Unland. 
By this marriage he has one child, Min- 
nie. By her marriage with Michael Myers, 
her first husband, Mrs. Forney has two chil- 
dren living, viz: John and Ella. John mar- 
ried Miss Ella Brown and has one child, and 
Ella married Charles Forney, son of Andrew 
A. Forney, and has one child. 

Mr. and Mrs. Forney are members of the 
Reformed church. For many years he was an 
elder in the United Brethren church at Lib- 
erty and also class leader. Inasmuch as at 
Highland there is no church of that denomina- 
tion he and his. wife united with the Reformed 
church. During the late Civil war Mr. Forney 
was a soldier in the one hundred days' service 
at Camp Miami. Politically, he is an old 
Jackson democrat. He has been thrice 
elected justice of the peace, and when the 
spring of 1897 arrives he will have served in 
that office nine years. Mrs. Forney, like her 
husband, has been married three times, her 
second husband having been William Schiller. 
Both Esquire Forney and his wife are highly 
esteemed members both of general society and 
of their church. 



>-j»OSIAH B. FLORY, a prominent farmer 
M and dairyman of Harrison township, 
A 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Randolph township, same county, June 
29, 18152. He is a son of Henry and Susan 
(Miller) Flory, natives of Montgomery county, 
he having been born in Madison township, 
and she on the farm on which subject now re- 
sides. To their marriage were born three chil- 
dren, as follows: JosiahB.; Mary, wife of W. 
J. Shoup, and IraO. Henry Flory has always 
followed farming, and at present lives in Ran- 
dolph township, near Harrisburg. He moved 
into Harrison township in 1852, and resided 



there until 1889, when he removed to his pres- 
ent farm. At one time he owned 212 acres 
of land near Dayton, has always been a gen- 
eral farmer, and has been unusually successful. 
His wife, who was, as he is, a member of the 
German Baptist or Dunkard church, died in 
1 88 1, aged forty-eight years. 

The paternal grandfather of Josiah B. , 
Abraham Flory, was a native of Pennsylvania, 
and of German descent. He was also a farm- 
er, and was one of the very early settlers of 
Ohio. He came to this state when yet a boy, 
was reared and educated in Ohio, and became 
a minister of the German Baptist church. He 
reared a family of three children and died in 
his eighty-ninth year. The maternal grand- 
father, Daniel Miller, was born in Harrison 
township, this county, on the farm upon which 
his father settled in 1804. Upon this farm 
Daniel grew to manhood, lived in this town- 
ship all his life, and died in 1 861, at the age 
of fifty-five years. He reared a family of 
three daughters. 

Josiah B. Flory was reared on the farm 
upon which he now lives, from the time he was 
thirteen years of age. Upon this same farm 
his father and grandfather were reared before 
him. His early education was received in the 
district school and at Lebanon Normal school. 
Remaining at home until he was twenty-one 
years of age, he then rented a tract of land, 
upon which he carried on farming for six years. 
Then buying a farm in Darke county, he lived 
thereon about one year, when he returned to 
the old home farm, upon which he has lived 
ever since. This home farm now contains sev- 
enty-seven acres, and upon it he carries on 
general farming and the dairy business. Be- 
side this farm, Mr. Flory has an interest in a 
farm near Dayton View, the latter containing 
sixty-six acres. 

On October 30, 1S73, Mr. Flory married 
Miss Sarah Eby, daughter of Adam S. and 



1120 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Elizabeth (Bartels) Eby, and to this marriage 
there have been born two children, Edgar L. 
and Robert E. Mr. and Mrs. Flory are mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church, and po- 
litically Mr. Flory is a republican. 



a ARRIS W. FALKNOR, farmer, of 
Clay township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born in Randolph town- 
ship, same county, December 14, 
1847. His grandfather, Levi Falknor, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and shortly after his 
marriage, in that state, to Margaret Nicode- 
mus, came to Ohio, about the year 1820, and 
settled on eighty acres of land in Randolph 
township, Montgomery county. This land he 
cleared from the woods and converted into as 
good a farm as could be found among the pio- 
neers. He was a democrat, a useful member 
of his community, and reared a goodly family 
of children, who were named John, Daniel, 
Hettie, Levi, Mary A., Andrew, Eli, Wesley 
and Joseph. 

Levi Falknor, father of Carris W. Falknor, 
was born in Randolph township, in October, 
1824, and was reared on his father's farm. 
He received but a limited education, as good 
schools were not very plentiful in those early 
days, and labor on the home farm was greatly 
in demand. He married Miss Nancy R. Herr, 
a daughter of Samuel and Frances (Long) 
Herr, and settled on a farm of 1 50 acres in the 
woods of Clay township, where he lived until 
1872, when he retired to Harrisburg, where he 
now resides. He is the owner of two farms, 
however, one in Clay and one in Randolph 
township, aggregating 250 acres, which he 
still manages. Mrs. Nancy Falknor died in 
Harrisburg in 1880, a member of the Wegner 
church, and sincerely esteemed for her many 
excellent qualities as a wife and mother. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Falkner were born the follow- 



ing children: Angeline, who died at five years 
of age; Carris W. , the subject of this memoir; 
David, Francis, Lorin, Mary A., Theodore and 
Jerome. Mr. Falknor has been very success- 
ful through life and is now enjoying the fruits 
of his early industry. Like his father, he is in 
his politics a democrat. 

Carris W. Falknor received the usual dis- 
trict-school education common to lads reared 
on the farm, and was an assistant to his 
father on the home place until his marriage, 
January 28, 1872, to Miss Mary A. Kinsey, who 
was born in Randolph township, January 14, 
1853, a daughter of Jacob and Susannah 
(Boyer) Kinsey. The young couple remained 
on the Falknor homestead until March 5, 
1872, when they moved to Darke county, and 
lived there for two years, and then returned to 
their old home. February 15, [88 1, Mr. 
Falkner bought his present farm of ninety- 
three acres, which he has greatly improved in 
many ways, having set out a thrifty orchard 
and otherwise embellished his place. The 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Falknor has been 
blessed with one daughter, Carrie H., now 
married to Rollin Welbaum, of Miami county. 
She was born September 30, 1875, married 
September 9, 1894, and is the mother of one 
child, Ocelin M., born October 26, 1895. 

Mr. and Mrs. Falknor are members of the 
United Brethren church, and in politics Mr. 
Falknor is a democrat. He has prospered in 
his vocation, establishing for himself at the 
same time an enviable reputation for integrity 
and public-spirited usefulness, and has one of 
the most pleasant homes in Clay township. 



£""V*AMUEL L. FRENCH, a farmer of 
*\^^%T Harrison township, Montgomery coun- 

k^_J ty, Ohio, was born in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pa., March 7, 1825. His parents 
were George W. and Elizabeth (Roberts) 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1121 



French, the former a native of Hartford, Conn., 
and the latter of Lancaster county, Pa. To 
them there were born eleven children, seven 
of whom are still living, as follows: Samuel 
L. ; Eliza, wife of James Myers; Mary Anna, 
wife of James Mahlon; John, Benjamin, Abner, 
and Melissie, wife of Joseph Gillan. 

George W. French, the father, was a nail 
cutter in his early life. In 1835 he came to 
Ohio and here engaged in farming, locating 
six miles east of Troy, where he bought a 
quarter section of land. Here for about twenty 
years he followed the pursuit of agriculture. 
In 1856 Mr. French removed to Indiana, lo- 
cating fourteen miles from Indianapolis, where 
he carried on farming for a number of years, 
and about i860 purchased property in Zions- 
ville, sixteen miles from Indianapolis, where 
he continued to live until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1894, when he was ninety-six years 
old. His widow, who is now ninety-four years 
of age, is living with her daughter, Mary Ann. 
Mr. French was, and Mrs. French is, a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

When George W. French and his family 
came to Ohio, Samuel L. , his son, was nine 
years old. He was here reared to the life of 
a pioneer farmer, living in the woods, as the 
country was then but little cleared. Remain- 
ing at home until he was seventeen years of 
age, he then began to learn the blacksmith's 
trade, which he followed for five years. He 
then removed to Shelby county, where he lived 
for fourteen years, and in 1866 came to Mont- 
gomery county, where he purchased a farm of 
100 acres of land, together with a tract for 
the erection of his buildings, and has lived 
here since that time. 

November 5, 1846, he was married to Miss 
Mary Booher, daughter of Bartholomew Boo- 
her and his wife, Sarah. To this marriage 
there have been born six children, five sons 
and one daughter, as follows: George, Sarah, 



John, Isaac N., and two that died in early 
childhood. Only two of these children are 
now living, viz: Sarah and Isaac. Sarah 
married William Heinz, of Dayton, and has 
two children. Isaac married Ella Snyder. 
Mr. and Mrs. French are members of the 
United Brethren church. Politically he is a 
democrat, and is a man of character and repu- 
tation, second to none in the county. 



HNANIAS FRANTZ, of Clayton post- 
office, one of the substantial farmers 
of Randolph township, is a grandson 
of one of the original pioneers of 
Montgomery county, Henry Frantz, who was 
a son of the original emigrant from Germany, 
the founder of the family in America, whose 
name is not now recalled. But he settled in 
Pennsylvania, where Henry Frantz was born. 
Removing to Virginia, Henry Frantz settled at 
Salem, in what is now Roanoke county, that 
state. He married Mary Kinsey, who is men- 
tioned more fully in the biography of Jesse 
Kinsey, elsewhere in this volume. Their chil- 
dren were as follows: Daniel, Christian, Het- 
tie, Lydia, Mary, Sallie, Polly, Susannah, 
and Elizabeth. 

Henry Frantz moved with his family to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1825, with a 
four-horse team and large wagon, Mrs. Frantz 
riding on horseback. At first he settled in the 
Stillwater valley, and then bought land in 
Madison township, where Ira Frantz now 
lives. This land was then partly cleared, and 
he cleared the remainder, making it a fine farm 
and a good home. Henry Frantz was one of 
the sturdy, reliable pioneers, and reared a most 
respected family. He died on his home farm 
in 1840, at the age of sixty-seven years. 

Daniel Frantz, son of Henry and father of 
Ananias Frantz, was born February 7, 1813, 
and was therefore twelve years of age when he 



] L22 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



came with his parents to Ohio. Having re- 
ceived his education and chosen his vocation 
in life, that of a farmer, he married Salome 
Rodebaugh, by whom he had the following 
children: Maria, Katie, Lucinda, and two 
that died in infancy or youth. The mother of 
these children having died, Mr. Frantz mar- 
ried Susannah Arnold, who was born July 24, 
1 817, in Perry township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and was a daughter of Hon. John and 
Barbara (Freedni Arnold, the former of whom 
was one of the pioneers of that county, in 
which he entered land. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Frantz there were born three children, viz: 
Ananias, Ira and Alice. Daniel Frantz first 
bought land in Madison township, near the old 
homestead, afterward bought fifty acres in 
Randolph township, and in later years pur- 
chased the old Frantz homestead of 160 acres, 
making 250 acres of land. In his early days 
he was a great hunter and fisher, and killed 
many squirrels and quails, which he disposed 
of in the Dayton market. He was a sturdy 
pioneer, and has always borne an honorable 
reputation. He is still in good health and has 
an excellent memory, at the great age of 
eighty-four. 

Ananias Frantz, son of Daniel, was born 
April 11, 1855, on his father's farm in Madi- 
son township. Having received a good edu- 
cation in the common schools, and entered 
upon the life of a farmer, he married, on No- 
vember 16, 1876, in Dayton, Miss Alice Lan- 
dis, who was born September 16, 1857, in 
Madison township, near Trotwood, Ohfo. She 
is a daughter of John M. and Elizabeth 
(Weaver) Landis. John M. Landis is of Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch stock and is a son of Abraham 
and Mary (Miller) Landis. 

Abraham Landis was born in Pennsylvania, 
married there and became one of the pioneers 
of Montgomery county, Ohio. He and his 
wife reared a large family, as follows: Sallie, 



Myra, Leah, Nancy, Polly, Lydia, Katie, Su- 
san, Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, John M., Abra- 
ham and Michael. He was a successful farmer, 
lived to the age of seventy-seven years, and 
was a member of the German Baptist church. 
John M. Landis was born near Trotwood Jul)' 
9, 1832, became a farmer, married Elizabeth 
Weaver, and is the father of the following 
children: Alice, Bell, Edward, Charles, 
Emma and Clarence. 

Ananias Frantz and wife settled on his 
father's farm and afterward bought the place, 
consisting of 190 acres, which he has con- 
verted into a fine farm and upon which he 
erected, in 1886, a handsome residence. As 
a republican, Mr. Frantz has served on the 
school board eight years. 



(/\ R. HAYES E. GARDINER, one of 
I Montgomery county's well known 
/^^J physicians and surgeons, is a native 
of Miami county, Ohio, was born 
March 7, 1866, and is of Scotch-Irish stock. 
Henry Gardiner, his father, was born June 6, 
1827, in county Mayo, Ireland, his parents 
having been natives of Scotland, and reared 
to be uncompromising Presbyterians. 

Henry Gardiner was a landowner and came 
to America at the age of twenty years, and 
engaged in farming in the neighborhood of 
Troy, Miami county, Ohio, about 1851. He 
married in that city Miss Rebecca J. Sproule, 
who was born in Troy, September 19, 1826, a 
daughter of Robert and Margaret (Hayes) 
Sproule. 

Robert Sproule was a native of county Ty- 
rone, Ireland, of Scotch Covenanter descent, 
and was of a wealthy family of landowners. 
He came to America when a young man, 
bought an estate in South Carolina, settled 
thereon, and there married Miss Margaret 
Hayes, who was born in county Tyrone, Ire- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1123 



land, and came to America in the same vessel 
with her future husband. Mr. Sproule re- 
mained for some years on his estate in South 
Carolina, but, being opposed to the institution 
of African slavery as it then existed, sought a 
home in Ohio about the year 1807. Reaching 
a point opposite Cincinnati on his way hither, 
he crossed the river, with his chattels, in a 
ferry-boat, pushed on with his horses and 
wagons until he reached Miami county, where 
he entered large tracts of land near Troy, and 
gave to each of his nine children a farm, 
reserving 320 acres for his homestead. There 
he followed farming and also built a rlouring- 
mill and a saw-mill — the best in the county — 
and in 18 19 erected a fine brick dwelling, 
superior, in every respect, to any then in the 
neighborhood or in the county of Miami. 
This mansion is still standing, and is in a good 
state of preservation. Mr. Sproule possessed 
rare attainments, and voluntarily taught the 
pioneer schools of his adopted county that 
were within his reach. 

To Mr. Sproule and wife were born the fol- 
lowing named children: Thomas, Samuel, 
James, Robert, Margaret, Fannie (who died 
young), Martha, Sallie, Matilda, Elizabeth, 
Isabel, Rebecca J. and Nancy. Mr. Sproule 
was a devoted Presbyterian, and assisted to 
found and erect the edifice for that denomina- 
tion in his own county; he was also a patriot 
and took part in the Indian wars, but lived to 
be an aged man, and died full of honor and 
respected as a benefactor of his race. 

After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gardi- 
ner settled on a farm of 160 acres at Troy, 
Ohio, fully improved it, and there Mr. Gardiner 
still resides. Their children were born in the 
following order: Robert, who was killed by 
lightning in 1880, at the age of twenty-three 
years; William; Samuel, deceased; Hayes E., 
Nannie and Sallie. 

Dr. Hayes E. Gardiner was reared on his 



father's farm near Troy, Ohio, received his 
education in the common schools and in the 
Normal university at Ada, Ohio, and afterward 
attended the Columbus (Ohio) Medical college, 
from which he graduated, with honors and the 
class prize, in April, 1889. He also studied 
medicine under Dr. Linderberger, of Troy, 
and in the year of his graduation began the 
pursuit of his profession at Salem, where he 
soon secured a large and lucrative practice in 
the town and throughout the surrounding 
country. Dr. Gardiner is a member of the 
Miami Medical society, from which he receives 
many important hints derived from the prac- 
tice of his brother practitioners, and to which 
he contributes essays based on his personal 
experience. 

The marriage of Dr. Gardiner was con- 
summated June 4, 1890, in Dresden, Mus- 
kingum county, Ohio, with Miss Elenor Bell, 
who was born in Bakersville, Coshocton coun- 
ty, Ohio, December 16, 1869. She is a 
daughter of Rev. Thomas H. D. and Mary 
(Krout) Bell, whose other children were Alba 
and Frederick — the latter dying at the age of 
nineteen years. Dr. Gardiner and wife have 
one child — Claude. In politics the doctor is 
a republican. Fraternally, he is a member of 
Randolph lodge, I. O. O. F., in which he has 
passed all the chairs, and of the K. of P. lodge 
at Brookville. 



EENRY A. GARLAUGH, farmer, of 
Beaver Creek township, Greene coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born February 7, 1830, 
in the township in which he now re- 
sides. He is a son of Henry and Mary (Har- 
mison) Garlaugh, the former of whom was a 
native of Washington county, Md., and the 
latter of Virginia. They were the parents of 
five children, as follows: Sophia, wifeof Simon 
Black; Henry A., the subject of this sketch; 



11 2-4 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Sarah E. ; Upton H. and Noah C. Upton H. 
died in August, 1895, aged fifty-two years. 
Henry Garlaugh, the father, was by occupa- 
tion a farmer, and came to Ohio in 1828. His 
father, Adam Garlaugh, entered the land 
where Henry A. Garlaugh now lives. Henry 
Garlaugh had been previously married, and 
had brought his first wife to Ohio, where she 
died. He then returned to Maryland, lived 
there sixteen years, married again and came 
to Ohio for the second time in 1828. His 
second wife was the mother of the children 
named above. He continued to live on the 
farm above mentioned until his death, which 
occurred February 16, 1858, when he was sev- 
enty-five years old. Mary Harmison, his sec- 
ond wife, was born August 2, 1S02, and died 
May 22, 1S79. Both were members of the 
German Reformed church. Mr. Garlaugh 
first came to Ohio about 181 1, and served his 
country in the war of 181 2. During the rest 
of his life in this state he was of more than 
ordinary prominence in the community, and 
was always highly esteemed for his patriotism 
and his excellent qualities of citizenship. 

The paternal grandfather of the subject, 
Adam Garlaugh, lived in Maryland during the 
early days of his life, but came to Ohio, fol- 
lowed the occupation of a farmer here, and 
died in Greene county, both he and his wife, 
Christina, being buried in the Beaver Creek 
cemetery. The maternal grandfather of the 
subject, William Harmison, was a native of 
Berkeley county , Va. , as also was his wife, Ruth. 

Henry A. Garlaugh has lived all his life on 
his present farm, which was his grandfather's 
before him. He received his education in the 
district schools. After his father's death the 
farm was left to his mother, and he and his 
brother, Upton, worked for her until her death. 
Then he and Upton bought the interests of the 
other heirs, and in 1893 Henry A. bought his 
brother Upton's interest, thus coming into 



possession and ownership of the entire farm, 
which contains 160 acres of land. It is well 
improved, with a commodious residence, and 
gives evidence of the careful husbandry of its 
owner. 

Mr. Garlaugh was married January 15, 
1874, to Miss Martha Brown, daughter of Sam- 
uel and Elizabeth (Lindamond) Brown. To 
this marriage there have been born three chil - 
dred, Daisy Belle, Mary Allen and Frank El- 
wood. Mrs. Garlaugh is a member of the 
Lutheran church. Mr. Garlaugh is a repub- 
lican, and interested in the questions of the 
day. He has lived sixty-five years on his pres- 
ent farm, and has witnessed the great develop- 
ment of the Miami Valley, and especially of 
the city of Dayton. At one time when he was 
a young man he brought a load of lumber into 
Dayton, and his wagon passed over the ground 
on which the court house now stands. The 
county of Greene, in which he lives, has also 
made rapid strides in growth and prosperity, 
during his life time. Mr. Garlaugh is a repre- 
sentative farmer, and a good citizen. The 
success with which he has met is due to his own 
effort and thought, and in the truest sense of 
the word he is one of the self-made men of his 
county. 



HUSTIN GEBHART, a well-known 
agriculturist of Jefferson township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
in Miami township, July 13, 1829, 
and is an ex-soldier of the late Civil war. 

John George Gebhart, his paternal grand- 
father, was a native of Berks county, Pa., 
came to Ohio in 1804, and settled in Miami 
township, this county, where he cleared an 
excellent farm, on which he passed the re- 
mainder of his days. His wife, who was born 
Catherine Smith, bore him ten children, name- 
ly: Henry, who was born in Berks county, Pa.. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1125 



in 1799; Mary M., who was married to John 
Shupert; Catherine, wife of Daniel Shelley; 
Susan, who married Peter Waldsmith; Eliza- 
beth and Maria, twins, the former of whom 
was married to Henry Pressler, and the latter 
to John Stettler; Peter, Margaret, George and 
Saloma — the last named married to Daniel 
Miller. 

Jacob Yount, the maternal grandfather of 
Austin Gebhart, was a native of North Caroli- 
na, and came to Ohio in 1802, cleared up a 
farm in German township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, and there died, a highly honored pioneer. 
His wife, whom he married in his native state, 
bore the maiden name of Foutz. 

Henry Gebhart, father of Austin, was 
reared in Miami township from the age of nine 
years. He married Miss Sally Yount, daugh- 
ter of Jacob Yount, named above, and this 
union resulted in the birth of fourteen children, 
of whom six grew to maturity, viz: Jacob, 
now deceased; Zebulon; Mary, deceased wife 
of William Gebhart; Austin, our subject; Mi- 
nerva, now Mrs. William Loy, and Peter Y. 
The father of this family was a lifelong and 
prosperous farmer, was a man of mark in his 
community, and for eighteen consecutive years 
was trustee of Miami township, bearing the 
soubriquet of Trustee Henry. 

Austin Gebhart was reared in Miami town- 
ship, where he followed his vocation as a farm- 
er until 1869, when he came to Jefferson town- 
ship, where he has been engaged in farming 
ever since, and on the farm on which he now 
resides since 1876. He has been twice mar- 
ried, his first wife being Sarah Ann Shade, and 
the second, Barbara Billman. 

During the late Civil war Mr. Gebhart was 
a member of company E, First Ohio volunteer 
infantry, and participated in the battles of 
Pittsburg Landing, Stone River and Chicka- 
mauga, and was with Sherman until his three- 
year term of enlistment expired at Atlanta, 
49 



Ga. He was placed on the roll of honor for 
gallantry displayed at Stone River, and on his 
return to Ohio on a furlough, in March, 1864, 
he was elected over three other candidates to 
bring with him the sum of $7,000, which the 
members of the regiment sent home to their 
families. On the 10th of August, 1864, Mr. 
Gebhart was honorably discharged from the 
service at Dayton, Ohio. He is a member of 
the United Brethren church, in politics is a 
republican, and holds a high position in the 
esteem of his neighbors. 



@EORGE GETTER, deceased farmer 
of Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., February 3, 1805, a son 
of John and Mary (Lambert) Getter, and in 
18 19, when in his fifteenth year, was brought 
to this county by his parents, and here grew to 
manhood. March 14, 1828, he married Miss 
Mary Wertz, who was born in 1808, a daugh- 
ter of Daniel and Sarah (Weymer) Wertz, of 
Jefferson township, and at once purchased the 
farm on whiqh his widow still resides. This 
farm he cleared and improved, and here fol- 
lowed the peaceful pursuit of agriculture until 
his final illness, which resulted in his death 
July 5, 1875. The union of George and Mary 
Getter was blessed with thirteen children, born 
in the order here given: John, Daniel (de- 
ceased), George (deceased), William, Sarah A. 
(Mrs. Thomas Askins, deceased), Jacob, Jo- 
seph, Peter (deceased), Mary E. (wife of Eli 
Shade), Samuel, Perry P. (deceased), Henry 
and Albert T. In his politics George Getter 
was a democrat, and for fourteen years served 
as township treasurer, and for several years as 
infirmary director; he reared his family in the 
faith of the Lutheran church, and in this faith 
he himself expired, an upright and greatly re- 
spected citizen. 



L126 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Albert T. Getter, son of George aud Mary 
Getter, mentioned above as their youngest 
child, was born on the Getter homestead in 
Jefferson township April 7, 1855, and this has 
always been his home, his vocation being that 
of a farmer. November 15, 1877, he married 
Miss Susan Treon, daughter of Michael and 
Sarah (Gebhart) Treon, and this marriage has 
resulted in the birth of ten children, of whom 
eight are still living, viz: Harvey, Alice, May, 
George, Ray, Grace, Walter and Goldie. 
Treading in the footsteps of his honored father, 
Mr. Getter is a democrat in his politics and has 
served four years as township trustee; he is 
fraternally a member of the I. O. O. F., and 
in religion is a consistent Lutheran. He is a 
skillful and industrious farmer, a useful citizen, 
and holds a secure position in the esteem of 
his neighbors. 



HBRAHAM HARTZELL, who was one 
of the best known farmers of Jeffer- 
son township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was a native of the county and 
was born January 26, 1836, a son of John and 
Susannah (Heck) Hartzell, natives, respect- 
ively, of Pennsylvania and Virginia. The 
paternal grandfather, Adam Hartzell, was a 
native of Berks county, Pa., was a farmer, and 
one of the pioneers of Jefferson township; while 
the maternal grandfather, Abraham Heck, 
born in Virginia, was a pioneer shoemaker of 
Jackson township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
John Hartzell was a young man when he 
settled in Jefferson township, where he con- 
tinued farming until his death, which occurred 
when he was seventy-five years of age. He 
was the father of the unusually large family of 
seventeen children, of whom sixteen reached 
mature years, and were named, in order of 
birth, as follows: Jacob, Joseph, Eliza, Lavina, 



Allen, Clinton, John, David, Sarah, Abraham, 
Lewis, Leonard, Susannah, George, Polly and 
Elizabeth. Of these, Sarah was married to 
Samuel Douglass, Susannah is the wife of 
Charles Hunter, and Elizabeth is now Mrs. 
Jacob Sharritts; those who died after reaching 
maturity were Jacob, Joseph, Lavina, Allen, 
Clinton and Abraham. 

Abraham Hartzell, the tenth born of this 
family, was reared and educated in his native 
township of Jefferson, always followed farming 
as an occupation, and died, September 29, 
1896, on the farm he had occupied since 1878. 
He belonged to the Reformed church, of which 
his widow is still a member. He was thor- 
oughly skilled in his calling, and his place 
presented every evidence of thrift and pros- 
perity. Mr. Hartzell was twice married — his 
first wife having been Catherine Beckinbaugh, 
and his second wife Emeline Beckinbaugh. 
In his politics Mr. Hartzell was a democrat. 
The family, being one of the oldest in Mont- 
gomery county, is held in universal esteem. 



£~>f AMUEL HAMMEL, an old settler of 
»^^^k* Montgomery county, Ohio, and an 

h^^J honored citizen of Clay township, is of 
sterling Irish ancestry and was born 
in Dauphin county, Pa., November 21, 1814, 
a son of William and Susan (Kelley) Hammel. 
William Hammel came from Ireland to 
America at the age of eighteen years, settled 
first in Baltimore, Md., and took an active 
part in the war of 181 2. He married Susan 
Kelley in Dauphin county, Pa., whither he 
had removed after the war, and where he 
worked at his trade of mason. This marriage 
resulted in the birth of nine children, viz: Isa- 
bel, Samuel, William, Prudence, Henry, 
James N., Joseph W., Eliza and Andrew J., 
the majority of whom were born in Ohio, as 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1127 



the father brought his wife and his Pennsylva- 
nia-born children t'o Montgomery county, this 
state, in i S 1 8, and settled in Salem. Here 
he worked at his trade until his removal to 
Madison township, about 1828, when he made 
his home near Air Hill until 1832. He then 
removed to Darke county and bought a farm 
of 160 acres near Greenville, where he passed 
the remainder of his days, dying at the age of 
sixty-five years in the faith of the Presbyterian 
church, in which faith, also, his widow died 
at the age of seventy-four years. In politics 
Mr. Hammel was a Jacksonian democrat. He 
enjoyed the fullest esteem of his fellow-men, 
and his wife was equally well known for her 
strength of character and her many womanly 
qualities. 

Samuel Hammel was a lad of but four 
years when brought to Ohio by his parents. He 
received as good an education as the pioneer 
schools of his early youth afforded and was 
reared to the pursuit of farming, although his en- 
trance upon this career did not at first promise 
great results, inasmuch as he worked from his 
eighteenth to his twenty-first year for the com- 
pensation of $100 per year and clothed him- 
self. But he was industrious and economical 
and was prepared to take unto himself a wife 
when he had reached his majority, his choice 
of a helpmate being Miss Catherine Wright, 
whom he married near Brookville, Ohio, De- 
cember 3, 1835. This lady was born October 
15, 181 5, in Dauphin county. Pa., and was a 
daughter of Robert and Elizabeth Wright. 

Robert Wright, the father of Mrs. Ham- 
mel, was born in Ireland, but came to America 
when a young man, settled in Pennsylvania 
and there married a lady of German descent. 
They came to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
about the year 1827, and settled on 100 acres 
near Brookville, where they lived until Mr. 
Wright's accidental death on the railroad near 
Brookville. He and wife were the parents of 



five children, named George, Robert, Mary, 
Catherine and Alexander, and were faithful 
members of the Presbyterian church. 

Samuel Hammel, when married, had not suf- 
ficient means with which to buy a farm, but 
with his willing wife began his wedded life in a 
log cabin, with a puncheon floor and the usual 
rude finishings, situated on a farm owned by 
his uncles, Samuel and John Kelley, and there 
farmed for three years or more. He was a 
man of great industry and of rigid economy, 
through which he accumulated the means to 
purchase his present farm in 1844, and on 
which he settled in 1847. He continued to 
work for other persons in order to earn money 
with which to stock and improve his home 
place, to which he has constantly added until 
he now owns a handsome farm of 249 acres, 
which will vie in fertility and productiveness 
with any other in the township. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hammel 
were born seven children, viz: Joseph, who 
died at the age of ten years; Robert, Will- 
iam H., John K., Abraham F. ; Catherine, who 
died in infancy; and Leah I. The mother of 
the children died in November, 1892, in her 
seventy-eighth year, a devout member of the 
United Brethren church, respected by all who 
knew her and honored for her devotion as a 
wife and mother. Mr. Hammel has also been 
a member of the United Brethren church for 
many years. In politics he was an old-line whig 
and voted for William Henry Harrison for the 
presidency of the United States; later he be- 
came a republican, on the formation of that 
party, and voted for its first candidate for the 
presidency — John C. Fremont. Mr. Hammel 
has served fifteen years as township trustee, 
and has always been an advocate of a liberal 
public and free education to the youth of the 
land, having served as school director for over 
thirty years. He is more than a fair example 
of what is usually called a self-made man, and 



1128 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his life has been one that might be profitably 
emulated by the young of the present genera- 
tion. He has lived to see his descendants in- 
crease and multiply, and is now the grand- 
father of seventeen, and great-grandfather of 
six children. 



^/\ AVID L. HECK, one of the venera- 

■ ble citizens of Madison township, 

J^^S Montgomery county, Ohio, springs 

from German ancestors, who, on 

coming over from Germany, settled in Virginia. 

David Heck, his grandfather, was a farmer 
in Virginia and there married Christina Lane, 
by whom he had the following children: Dan- 
iel, Christina, Elizabeth, Jacob, David and 
two others. The mother of these children 
having died, he married again, the name of 
his second wife being not now recalled, but by 
whom he had a large family. 

David Heck, father of David L. , was born 
in 1783 in Maryland, where his father lived at 
one time. He married, in Virginia, Magda- 
lena Spitler, daughter of Jacob Spitler, fuller 
reference to whom is made in the history of 
the Spitler family, elsewhere in this volume. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Heck there were born the 
following children: Samuel M., John D., 
David L., Annie, Elizabeth, Susannah, Polly 
A., and Andrew B., the last named of whom 
died at the age of six years. David Heck 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 181 8, 
settling in Madison township on December 29, 
of that year. David L. now lives on a part of 
the farm then taken up. David Heck received 
eighty acres from his wife's father, Jacob Spit- 
ler, who had purchased a quarter section in 
this county, but who himself never came here. 
David Heck had come to this county in 181 1, 
then, going back to Virginia, married there, 
and, bringing his wife with him to Ohio, he 
erected a cabin and cleared a small part of his 



land. He again returned to Virginia after re- 
maining here two months, and was engaged in 
the war of 1812. After the war was over he 
lived with his wife's father until 181 8, when 
he again came to Montgomery county to re- 
main. Upon arriving in Dayton he was offered 
the lot upon which the Phillips House now 
stands, in exchange for the leader of his four- 
horse team, which offer he refused, because 
the land there was so wet. By industry and 
hard labor he prospered and entered a half 
section of land in Tipton county, Ind., he and 
six others in 1837 going on horseback from 
Montgomery count}' to Indiana, where they all 
entered land. The price paid by Mr. Heck 
for his land was $400 for 320 acres. 

Mr. Heck was a member of the Regular or 
Hard Shell Baptist church, but in his old age 
became a member of the German Baptist 
church. Politically he remained a Jackson 
democrat, and was always strong in the faith, 
as he was in all his opinions, religious or po- 
litical. He was for a time a director of the 
Dayton turnpike company, of which he was a 
stockholder. He also served for a number of 
years as treasurer of the company. He served 
as justice of the peace one term, and was 
looked upon by all as a straightforward, hon- 
orable man. 

David L. Heck was born March 4, 1S16, 
in Botetourt county, Va. , and was therefore 
only two years old when brought to Montgom- 
ery county by his parents. Reared among the 
early pioneers he became a typical pioneer 
himself, thoroughly familiar with their cus- 
toms, habits and virtues. Though his educa- 
tional facilities and opportunities were exceed- 
ingly limited when he was young, yet, possess- 
ing an active mind, he read and studied much 
privately, and became a thoroughly well-in- 
formed man. He fully appreciated the value 
of a cultivated, disciplined mind, and now has 
a good education. In his youth he learned 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1129 



the carpenter trade. On May 23, 1842, he 
married, in Perry township, Susannah Shank, 
who was born on December 25, 18 19, and was 
a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Noffsinger) 
Shank, for fuller reference to whom the reader 
is referred to the biographical sketch of Henry 
Shank, published elsewhere in this volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Heck 
remained on the homestead farm for six years, 
during which time he worked at his trade. 
He then bought forty acres of land adjoining 
his father's farm, where he now lives. Through 
steady work and industrious application he 
cleared his farm, made it a good home for his 
family, and has added to it. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Heck there were born 
the following children: Harriet, who died 
at the age of seven years; David F., Eliza- 
beth, Samuel, Eliza A., John W., Warren, 
Harry and Clement L. Mrs. Heck died in her 
seventy-fourth year, a member of the United 
Brethren church and a woman of many vir- 
tues. Politically Mr. Heck is a democrat, and 
as such has served as justice of the peace one 
term and as county infirmary director one 
term. Thoroughout his life he has been well 
known as a man of straightforward honesty of 
character and of strict adherence to principle. 
His judgment is universally respected, and for 
this reason he has been selected to serve the 
people of his county in various capacities. 



@EORGE C. HENKEL, M. D., of 
Farmersville, Ohio, is the oldest and 
most prominent physician in this 
town and vicinity, where he has 
practiced for the past thirty-five years. He 
descends from a very ancient family of Saxony, 
Germany, of noble caste. Rev. Mulenborg, 
the first Lutheran minister in America, was 
sent here by Count Henkel, one of Dr. Henkel's 
ancestors, and the great-great-grandfather of 



Dr. Henkel was born in North Carolina in 
colonial times. The children born to the 
latter ancestor were Johan, Gertrude and Paul, 
of whom the last named was the great-grand- 
father of George C. Henkel. 

Rev. Paul Henkel, grandfather of the 
doctor, was a Lutheran minister, born in 
North Carolina, but who removed to Virginia, 
and Rev. Andrew Henkel, the father, also 
became a resident of Virginia, making his resi- 
dence in New Market, Shenandoah county, 
but when a young man came to Ohio and set- 
tled in Perry county. There he married Miss 
Margaret Trout, a native of Washington coun- 
ty, Pa., and a daughter of George and Eliza- 
beth (Zeigler) Trout, to which union were 
born Hiram, Melancthon, Julia A., Paul,' Mary, 
Margaret, Sabina, George C. , William and 
Edward. In 18 19 Andrew Henkel settled in 
Germantown, Ohio, preached to the pioneers, 
and died in 1873 at the advanced age of 
eighty years. He was a democrat in politics, 
was worshipful master in the Germantown 
lodge of Freemasons and noble grand in his 
lodge of Odd Fellows. His son, Edward, 
served three years in the Ninety-third Ohio 
volunteer infantry, was captured by the enemy 
at the battle of Perry ville, Ky., but was 
paroled and served out his term. 

Dr. George C. Henkel was born in Ger- 
mantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, July 2, 
1835, and was educated primarily in the dis- 
trict schools, supplementing this by a thorough 
training at Oxford university, Butler county, 
Ohio. He then read medicine under Dr. John 
H. Helm, of Eaton, Ohio, and later attended 
medical lectures at the Ohio Medical college, 
of Cincinnati, and, having secured his diploma, 
began the practice of medicine in Salem, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in i860. He re- 
mained there for only about four months, and 
then removed to Farmersville, where his abil- 
ities were at once recognized and where he has 



1130 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



held a lucrative and successful practice, since 
his first location here in 1861. 

The marriage of Dr. Henkel took place, in 
1 86 1, to Miss Catherine Martin, who was born 
in 1S36 in Berks county, Pa., a daughter of 
John and Eliza (Brown) Martin, the result of 
this union being four children, named, in order 
of birth, Vernon A., Naomi, Ruth and Orpha. 
The doctor and his wife are members of the 
Progressive Brethren church, in which the 
doctor is a deacon. He is, beside, a member 
of Friendship lodge, No. 21, Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of Germantown. 



v/^V ANIEL HOOPS, one of the oldest 
I and most respected farmers of Jack- 
/^^_J son township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born here on his father's 
farm, August 24, 18 17, and descends from 
Scotch ancestors who settled in America be- 
fore the war of the Revolution, his great- 
grandfather, a blacksmith, having been the 
first of the family to come to this country. 
He settled in Chester county, Pa., near Phila- 
delphia, where he followed his trade and also 
engaged in farming; but he sold his farm dur- 
ing the Revolutionary war, receiving in pay- 
ment continental money, which proved to be 
worthless, and he was therefore obliged to 
return to his trade of blacksmithing. He 
died in Chester county, aged eighty years. 

Eben Hoops, grandfather of Daniel, died 
in Chester county, Pa. Among his children 
was a son who was also named Eben, who be- 
came the father of Daniel, the subject of this 
memoir. The younger Eben was born in 
Chester county, Pa., was a tailor by trade, 
and was married in Virginia to Kate Kinsor, 
who bore him seven children: Michael, John, 
fane, Isaiah, Christine, Polly, and one whose 
name cannot be remembered. In 1808 Eben 
Hoops came to Ohio, and bought 100 acres of 



land in Jefferson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty. He followed his trade of tailor, and the 
pioneers came from Dayton and the country 
roundabout, bringing homemade cloth, which 
he made into clothing. He always kept on 
hand, also, a large stock of cloth, and was kept 
constantly busy. He prospered, and bought 
sixty additional 'acres of land, and eventually 
became one of the most substantial farmers of 
the township. He was a democrat in politics, 
served as township trustee for years, and was 
well known throughout the county. On the 
death of his first wife, he married Miss Sus- 
annah Sheets, who was born in Rockingham 
county, Va. , about 1799, and this union re- 
sulted in the birth of Daniel, whose name 
opens this sketch, Sarah, Lewis, Henry, Mi- 
nerva, Eliza and Solomon. Eben Hoops died 
on his farm at the age of eighty-four years, 
leaving an untarnished name and the memory 
of a useful life. 

Daniel Sheets, father of Mrs. Susannah 
Hoops, came from Kentucky to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, having been a pioneer of that 
as well as of this state. He passed the re- 
mainder of his life in Jackson township, and 
here, also, his wife died at the age of ninety 
years. They were the parents of Hannah, 
Nancy, Polly, Susannah and Solomon Sheets. 
Daniel Hoops was reared among the pio- 
neers of Jackson township, and received his 
education in the log school-house of the fron- 
tier, which he attended during the winters until 
he was twenty years of age. He learned the 
shoemaker's trade, became very expert, being 
able to make nine shoes in a day, and success- 
fully followed the trade thirty-five years. He 
was industrious and economical, and earned 
with his last the money with which he bought 
his present farm. May 26, 1840, he married 
Miss Mary A. Delawter, who was born in 
Farmersville, Ohio, May 22, 1822, a daughter 
of Jacob and Sarah (Brown) Delawter. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1131 



Jacob Delawter was a native of Maryland, 
of German descent, came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, in 1821, bought 180 acres in the 
woods and converted it into a fine farm. His 
children were named Alpheus, Ezra, Rebecca, 
Mary A., Catherine, David, Sarah A., Jacob, 
Jonas, Lewis and Elizabeth. Mr. Delawter 
was for a long time crier at public auctions, 
was full of wit, and was known throughout the 
county as Uncle Jake. He died at the age of 
eighty-three years, a member and trustee of 
the Lutheran church. 

Daniel Hoops and wife after marriage set- 
tled on Twin creek, where Mr. Hoops con- 
tinued to work at his trade. He first bought 
eight acres in Jackson township, on which he 
lived four years, then bought twelve acres 
more, on which he lived eleven years, then 
moved to Preble county, where he remained 
for eleven years longer, and finally returned to 
Jackson township and settled on his present 
farm of 103^ acres. The union of Mr. and 
Mrs. Hoops was blessed with the following 
children: Sarah, Susan, Jacob and Rebecca. 
Mrs. Hoops died on the farm May 15, 1893, a 
devout member of the German Reformed 
church, and a woman who honored the names 
of helpmate and mother. In politics Mr. 
Hoops is a democrat and served as trustee of 
his township for five years, as constable three 
years, and also for many years as member of 
the school board. He has been a member of 
the grange ever since its organization, and is a 
man of sterling worth. 



<V~) EV. JONAS HORNING, a farmer of 
I /^T Jackson township, Montgomery coun- 
w ty, Ohio, and a minister for the past 
fifteen years of the German Baptist 
church, was born April 27, 1839, in Montgom- 
ery county, Pa. He is a son of William and 



Hannah (Price) Horning, and was a year and 
a half old when brought to Ohio by his par- 
ents, in the fall of 1840. His early education 
was not by any means neglected, he being per- 
mitted to attend the common schools as long as 
this course was profitable, and afterward he pur- 
sued a steady course of carefully selected read- 
ing and study, more particularly in Bible sub- 
jects, and is thus well qualified for the duties 
of his responsible position as pastor of the 
church. In his twenty-fifth year, on March 
10, 1864, he was married in Perry township to 
Miss Catherine Bowser, who was born January 
24, 1843, in Wabash county, Ind. , and is a 
daughter of Philip and Susan (Warvel) Bowser. 
The grandfather of Mrs. Horning, George 
Bowser, was a well known pioneer, for a fuller 
mention of whom the reader is referred to the 
biography of Isaac Erbaugh, elsewhere in this 
volume. 

Philip Bowser, father of Mrs. Horning, was 
born in Montgomery county, Ohio, and mar- 
ried Susan Warvel, by whom he had the fol- 
lowing children, besides Catherine: Noah, 
Emanuel, who died at the age of twenty-one; 
Daniel, George and Aaron. Soon after his 
marriage, Philip Bowser moved to Indiana, 
settling in Wabash county, but later, not 
being satisfied there, returned to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, where he purchased a farm of 
fifty-two acres in Perry township, to which he 
added until he had 100 acres in one body, and 
at length purchased fifty-three acres in Jackson 
township, where Mr. Horning now lives. Mr. 
Bowser was a member of the German Baptist 
church and lived to be seventy-five years of 
age. He was a man of high character, and 
much esteemed by the people among whom he 
had lived. 

Rev. Mr. Horning and wife settled on their 
present farm immediately after their marriage 
and have lived thereon ever since, a period of 
thirty-two years. Mr. Horning has proved 



1132 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



himself to be one of the most practical farmers 
of the county. 

When twenty-three years of age Mr. Horn- 
ing united with the German Baptist church, 
becoming a deacon in 1870, in which relation 
he served the church five years, at the end of 
which period he was elected minister, and has 
preached the Gospel for the past fifteen years. 
Mr. and Mrs. Horning had one son, George, 
who was born October 3, 1873, and who died 
at the age of seventeen months. For his 
tendency toward the ministry Mr. Horning is 
indebted to his mother's side of the family, 
many of his ancestors on that side having fol- 
lowed that calling, the Prices being among the 
first to preach and practice this particular form 
of religion in the United States, as may be 
more fully learned by reference to the biogra- 
phy of Rev. Samuel Horning, published else- 
where in this volume. 



•""^EORGE W. HOUK, a prosperous 
I ^\ farmer of Jackson township, Mont- 
^L^J gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Germany December 25, 1849, a son 
of George and Margaret Houk, who were the 
parents of four other children. 

George Houk, the father, was a blacksmith 
by trade, and in 1854 sailed from Bremen for 
New York, whence he came direct to Ohio 
and for one year worked at his trade in Cin- 
cinnati. He then came to Dayton, where he 
opened a shop and carried on blacksmithing 
for twenty years. He then went to Jackson 
county, Mo., and was eight years engaged in 
farming, when he died at the age of sixty-five 
years. He was a republican in politics, was a 
hard-working and worthy citizen, and was re- 
spected for his integrity and many manly 
qualities. 

George W. Houk, at the age of five years, 
with his mother and her other children, started 



from Bremen for America in a sailing vessel 
for the purpose of joining the husband and fa- 
ther, but the mother and one daughter — Edith 
— died of cholera on the voyage and were 
buried at sea. After a passage of forty days 
the vessel arrived in New York, whence the 
four surviving children were sent to their father 
in Cincinnati, where they were placed in a 
German Protestant orphans' institution. Here 
George W. remained for three years, receiving 
instruction in German and English. About 
this time the father married, at Dayton, Sadie 
Millsteder, to which union was born one child 
—William. George being now eight years 
old, rejoined his father, with whom he lived 
until he was thirteen, and then went to live 
with Jacob Eby, a farmer of Jackson township, 
and here he worked until he was* twenty-six 
years of age, attending school, meanwhile, 
until he was eighteen. December 28, 1876, 
Mr. Houk married, in Dayton, Miss Sarah 
Cotterman, who was born near that city May 
9, 1858, a daughter of William and Amanda 
(McPherson) Cotterman. 

William Cotterman was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and was a lad when brought by his 
father to Ohio. He grew to manhood on a 
farm near Dayton, married Miss McPherson, 
and became the father of the following chil- 
dren, beside Sarah: Clinton, Clara, Adam, 
James, and Albertus (who died at the age of 
fifteen years). Mr. Cotterman was a soldier 
in the Civil war, served three years, and after 
his return passed several years on his farm at 
Pyrmont, Ohio, but some time since retired to 
the soldiers' home near Dayton to pass in 
quiet his remaining days. Mrs. Cotterman 
died at the age of about forty years, a con- 
scientious member of the Lutheran church and 
a devoted wife and mother, her daughter, 
Sarah, being then fifteen years old. 

Immediately upon their marriage, Mr. and 
Mrs. Houk went to Madison county, Ind., 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1133 



where they lived on a farm for fifteen years 
and then returned to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, where Mr. Houk bought his present 
tract of 152^ acres in Jackson township, which 
he has materially improved. The marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Houk has been blessed with five 
children, who are named Ella A., Jennie M., 
Blanche S., Ruth M. and Juanita. In politics 
Mr. Houk is a democrat and an ardent friend 
of free silver. While a resident of Madison 
county, Ind., he was superintendent of the 
pikes, or gravel roads, of Anderson township, 
and also a member of the school board for 
several years, and is now a trustee of Jackson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 



sr 



TLLIAM F. HOWELL, a promi- 
nent and successful farmer of Har- 
rison township, Montgomery county, 
was born in Clermont county, Ohio, 
May 11, 1827. He is a son of John M. and 
Mary M. (Fee) Howell, the former a native of 
Bracken county, Ky.,and the latter of Cler- 
mont county, Ohio. They were the parents 
of nine children, seven of whom are still living, 
as follows: William F., Joseph P., Augusta 
M., widow of James Carr; Mary Jane, also a 
widow; Callie, wife of William Plank; Thomas 
L., and Elizabeth, wife of Robert Searles. 

John M. Howell was a blacksmith in his 
early life, but later turned his attention to 
farming. He came to Clermont county, Ohio, 
when he was nine years of age, and lived in 
the county the remainder of his life, dying there 
in 1877 when in his seventy-first year. His 
wife, surviving him a number of years, died 
when she was eighty-four. Both were most 
excellent people, were known for many miles 
around as kind-hearted and Christian neigh- 
bors, and were members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Her father, beside being 



one of the early justices of the peace, was a 
minister in the Methodist Episcopal church in 
the pioneer days of Montgomery county. 

The father of John M. Howell, Lampkin 
Howell, was for many years a resident of 
Maryland, and later of Kentucky, Bracken 
county, in which county he died when his son, 
John M., was nine years old. The farm then 
owned by Lampkin Howell still goes by the 
name of the "Howell farm." The maternal 
grandfather of William F. Howell, Elijah Fee, 
was a farmer, a justice of the peace and a local 
preacher. He was an early settler of Cler- 
mont county, where he died when upward of 
sixty years of age. 

William F. Howell was reared in Clermont 
county, Ohio, and remained at home on the 
farm until he was twenty years of age, when 
he entered a commercial college in Cincinnati. 
Afterward he was engaged in business in Cin- 
cinnati for about ten years. In 1859 he lo- 
cated on the farm on which he now lives, 
which is three miles west of the court house in 
Dayton, and upon this farm all his children 
were born, except the eldest, who was born in 
Cincinnati. Politically, Mr. Howell is a re- 
publican. For many years he was a director 
of the Home Avenue railroad, running to the 
soldiers' home, and also a director of the 
Teutonia National bank. His home farm had 
originally 175 acres of land, but now has only 
100 acres. Mr. Howell has lived in Mont- 
gomery county nearly forty years, and has 
witnessed and aided its wonderful growth and 
development. He and his father-in-law were 
prime movers in the construction of the Home 
Avenue railroad, as well as in many other im- 
provements, and he has always been a man of 
enterprise and public spirit. 

Mr. Howell was married July 9, 1857, to 
Miss Sarah C. Applegate, daughter of James 
and Mary (Snyder) Applegate, the former of 
whom was of the old Applegate publishing 



1134 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



house of Cincinnati, and for many years has 
been a leading and prominent citizen of Day- 
ton. To Mr. and Mrs. Howell there have 
been born five children, four sons and 
one daughter, as follows: James A., de- 
ceased; John W. ; Thomas E. ; Frank Web- 
ster and Mary. John W. , who resides on the 
home farm, married Miss Anna Fee, and has 
one child, Frederick. Thomas E. married 
Miss Elizabeth Blackwell, by whom he has 
four children,. Robert, Eugene, Marguerite and 
Edwina. Thomas E. Howell is manager of 
the city railway, and lives on a portion of the 
home farm, which has been subdivided. 
Frank W. is practicing law in Dayton, and 
Mary is living at home with her parents. The 
eldest three of the children of Mr. and Mrs. 
William F. Howell, as well as themselves, 
are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and are all highly esteemed and useful mem- 
bers of society. 



aHARLES HUNTER, a well-known 
farmer of Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, was born near 
Earlville, Berks county, Pa., October 
26, 1838, a son of Jacob and Matilda (Boyer) 
Hunter, both natives of Berks county, Pa., and 
of English and German descent, respectively. 
The paternal grandfather, John Hunter, and 
the maternal grandfather, Jacob Boyer, were 
also born in Berks county, Pa. 

Jacob and Matilda Hunter, parents of 
Charles, came to Jefferson township about the 
year 1850, and here resided until 1861, when 
they removed to Mad River township, where 
the father died in 1S62; the mother survived 
until 1880, when she expired at the home of 
her son Charles. They had a family of five' 
children, who grew to maturity, and who were 
named Charles, James B., Catherine, Ada and 
Ann. Of these, Catherine was married to To- 



bias Marker, Ada became the wife of Henry 
Crouder, and Ann is now Mrs. Samuel Gilbert. 
Charles Hunter was reared in Jefferson 
township from the age of twelve years, was 
educated in the common schools, and, with the 
exception of two years spent near Cincinnati, 
has passed all his life in this township since he 
came here with his parents in 1850, and has 
been an occupant of his present farm since 
1867. He was united in matrimony October 
20, 1 86 1, with Miss Susannah Hartzell, daugh- 
ter of John and Susannah (Heck) Hartzell, of 
Jefferson township, and to this union have 
been born eleven children, in the following 
order: Ida, now Mrs. Howard Linebaugh; 
Almeda, the wife of Frank Eyler; Catherine, 
now Mrs. Tatzell; Adriella, deceased; Clara, 
married to Edward Eck; Susannah, who mar- 
ried Joseph Wiseman; Matilda, married to 
Firman Gross; Rosa, married to George W. 
Stebbins; Charles, at home; Adella, the wife 
of Charles Stuck, and Howard, at home. In 
his politics Mr. Hunter is a democrat, and has 
served several terms as trustee of Jefferson 
township, and also as superintendent of the 
county infirmary for two years. 



>-j , OSEPH IZOR, of Farmersville, a sub- 
£ stantial farmer of Jackson township, 
/» I Montgomery county, Ohio, springs from 
Irish and German ancestry, old settlers 
in Pennsylvania. His grandfather, Philip Izor, 
moved with his family in pioneer days to 
Preble county, Ohio, settling near Urich's 
Mills, where he lived for some time. His 
wife, Mary Ridgeley, bore him six children, 
viz: John Henry, Philip, Joshua, Alexander, 
David and Elizabeth. Philip Izor, the father 
of these children, died in Winchester, Ohio. 

David Izor, father of Joseph, was born in 
Pennsylvania, came with his father to Ohio, 
and married Rosanna Ault, who was a daugh- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1135 



ter of John and Annie Auk, and born in 
Montgomery county. Mr. Izor was a farmer 
by occupation, and his children were Joseph, 
Joshua, and Sarah A. Mr. Izor died in 1833, 
when he was about twenty-eight years of age. 

Joseph Izor was born November 1, 1828, 
in Preble county, Ohio, and was therefore 
about six years of age when his father died. 
He was bound out by his father until he should 
be eighteen years of age, to Henry Bear, of 
Montgomery •county, a farmer. Young Joseph 
remained with Mr. Bear during the period for 
which he was bound, receiving in the mean- 
time a good education. He continued with 
Mr. Bear afterward until he was twenty-six 
years of age, and on December 21, 1854, 
married Matilda Oldfather, who was born in 
Montgomery county, November 24, 1834, and 
was a daughter of Samuel and Rebecca 
(Pense) Oldfather. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Izor 
rented a farm of Mr. Bear, on which they lived 
until 1 87 1, in which year they removed to 
their present farm. This farm Mr. Izor has 
much improved and made a good home. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Izor are as follows: 
William O., Charles E., Clayton A., Ira F., 
Samuel, Daniel W., Jesse I., two that died in 
infancy, Sarah A. and Laura E. Mrs. Izor 
died December 26, 1896, a member of the 
German Reformed church, of which Mr. Izor 
has for years been a trustee. Politically, he is 
a prohibitionist, though formerly a democrat. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Izor married 
as follows: William O. married Jane Apple, 
has four children, and is a farmer of Jackson 
township; Charles E. married Maggie Guntle, 
has four children, and is a farmer of Clay 
township; Clayton A. married Anne Albaugh, 
has three children, and is a farmer of Jackson 
township; Ira E. married Ida M. Stiver, has 
one child, and is a farmer upon the home 
place; Samuel married Catherine Stiver, has 



one child, and is a farmer of Jackson township; 
Sarah A. married Moses Mingle, a farmer of 
Jackson township; Laura E. married Frank 
Bower, now deceased, and has one child. 

Samuel Oldfather, the father of Mrs. Izor, 
was a farmer of German township, owning 
there 100 acres of land, his father, Henry, 
having been one of the original pioneers. 
Samuel Oldfather's children were named as 
follows: Sarah A., Matilda, Mary J., William, 
Henry, Susannah, Elizabeth, Simon P., 
Thomas J. and Daniel W. Mr. Oldfather 
was a member of the German Reformed church, 
and was a trustee of his church. He lived to 
be seventy-two years of age, dying on his farm. 



^r* EWIS W. JOHNS (deceased), for- 
j merly a resident of Montgomery 
^^X county, Ohio, and a soldier during 
the late Civil war, was born Novem- 
ber 15, 1845. He came of an excellent family 
and was himself the head of a much respected 
family of children. He was of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock, and a straightforward, honor- 
able man in all his dealings. 

Lewis W. Johns received the customary 
common-school education of the days of his 
youth, and was reared a farmer. He enlisted 
January 25, 1864, at Dayton, Ohio, as a 
member of Capt. Charles H. Harrison's com- 
pany H, Sixty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, 
for three years or during the war, and was 
honorably discharged July 8, 1865, at Louis- 
ville, Ky. He participated in the famous At- 
lanta campaign and was in the battles of 
Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Goldsborough, 
Peach Orchard, Big Shanty, Marietta, Deca- 
tur, East Point and Atlanta, and was also in 
many skirmishes. Thus it will be seen that 
he took part in the hardest-fought battles of 
the Atlanta campaign, one of the most re- 
markable in history. He was also one of those 



113f. 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



that went with Sherman to the sea. Endur- 
ing all the hardships of a soldier's life, and 
performing all his duties in the most faithful 
spirit, he is well deserving of a niche in the 
history of his country, along with other heroes 
of the great struggle for the preservation of the 
Union. He was more fortunate than many 
others, not being in the hospital nor wounded 
while in the service, though he participated in 
all the battles and skirmishes in which his 
regiment was engaged. 

After the war Mr. Johns returned to Mont- 
gomery county, and resumed farming on his 
father's homestead. On December 3, 186S, 
he married Barbara E. Spitler, of Clay town- 
ship, who was born in 1850, at Arlington, 
Ohio, on her father's farm. She is a daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Barbara (Limperd) Spitler, 
the former of whom was a substantial farmer 
of Clay township, and was a son of John Spit- 
ler, one of the pioneers of Clay township. 
Joseph Spitler and wife were the parents of 
ten children, as follows: Ephraim, John H, 
Hannah H., Martha J., Mary E., Ezra M., 
Sarah C, Barbara E., Susannah M. and Luella 
B. Joseph Spitler lived to be seventy-eight 
years old, and died September 16, 1888. Po- 
litically, he was a republican, and he was a 
member of the United Brethren church. He 
was one of the patriotic citizens of the country 
at the time of the war, and had two sons in 
the 100-day service, John H. and Ezra M. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johns settled on their present 
homestead of fifty-two acres, which he ma- 
terially improved. He and his wife were 
members of the United Brethren church, he 
taking an active interest in all kinds of relig- 
ious work, and holding all the offices of his 
church at different times. He was class leader 
twelve years, and was trustee and also super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. Politically, 
he was a republican and later a prohibitionist. 
He was a man of unblemished character and 



highly esteemed for his sterling integrity and 
worth. His children are as follows: Carson, 
Parker, Lester, Edna, Ada and Maud. His 
death occurred January 4, 1893, to the regret 
of all that knew him. He was a great sufferer 
from the effects of his army service, which 
doubtless did much to hasten his death. 

John John, his father, who wrote the fam- 
ily name without the final "s," was a pioneer 
settler of Clay township, coming from Penn- 
sylvania, and being a successful farmer. He 
reared a family of ten children, and lived to 
be seventy-nine years old. 



£~V" EBASTIAN B. KEENER, one of the 
•^^k* substantial farmers of Jefferson town- 

h><J ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born on the old Keener homestead in 
Madison township, in the same count)', No- 
vember 17, 1832, and is of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock. 

Daniel Keener, his paternal grandfather, 
was the founder of the family in America, hav- 
ing come from Germany with a part of his 
family and settled in Pennsylvania prior to the 
Revolutionary war. John Keener, son of 
Daniel, was born in the Keystone state, was 
reared to farming, and was married, in his na- 
tive state, to Miss Mary Huffer, the union re- 
sulting in the birth of the following-named 
children: George, Jacob and David (twins), 
John, and also nine daughters, of whom the 
names of seven are remembered, viz: Chris- 
tine, Elizabeth, Nancy, Lydia, Kate, Barbara 
and Susan. John Keener, the father of this 
family, was a well-to-do farmer of Dauphin 
county. Pa., was a member of the German Re- 
form church, and died in that faith in his na- 
tive state. 

John Keener, son of the John named above 
and father of Sebastian B., was born in Dau- 
phin county, Pa., about the year 1805, and, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1137 



while yet a young man, came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio. Here he married Miss Mary 
Heeter, who was born in Berks county, Pa., 
and was brought by her parents to Madison 
township, Montgomery county, when she was 
about five years of age, and here died in 1896, 
at the age of eighty-six years. 

Sebastian Heeter, the father of Mrs. John 
Keener, was a native of Pennsylvania, a sol- 
dier in the Revolutionary war, and was one of 
the pioneer farmers of Madison township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio. He married Miss 
Elizabeth Rerick, the union resulting in the 
birth of the following children: John, George, 
Henry, Frederick, Abraham, David, Daniel, 
Jacob, Samuel, Sebastian, Barbara, Mary, an 
infant that died unnamed, Catherine and Sal- 
lie. The father, Sebastian Heeter, lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-six years, and died an 
elder in the Lutheran church — his wife dying 
at the age of eighty-four. 

John Keener and wife, soon after marriage, 
settled on a tract of 160 acres of land in the 
woods of Madison township. Mr. Keener 
cleared up a good farm from the wilderness, 
and by his thrift was able to add to his estate 
until he owned 370 acres. He was an elder in 
the Lutheran church, was a democrat in poli- 
tics, was one of the most substantial farmers 
of his township and died an honored and re- 
spected citizen. The children born to John 
and Mary Keener were named: Sebastian B., 
Abraham, John J., Daniel, Jacob, Elizabeth 
and Catherine. 

Sebastian B. Keener was educated in the 
common schools of his native township of 
Madison, and was reared to the hard work of 
the farm. January 3, 1856, he married at 
Dayton, Ohio, Miss Lucy Humerickhouse, 
who was a resident of Perry township, but 
was born in Pennsylvania Augusts, 1835, a 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Heckel) 
Humerickhouse. 



John Humerickhouse, father of Mrs. Keener, 
was born in Germany, was a miller, and came 
to America shortly after the birth of his first 
child. He died nine miles from Little York, 
Pa., amember of the Reformed church and 
the father of the following named children: 
George, John, Jacob, Daniel, Eli, Lizzie, 
Katie, Mary, Sarah, Susan, Lucy and Caroline. 

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Keener set- 
tled on eighty acres of land in Madison town- 
ship, on which they lived until 1880, and then 
moved to Jefferson township, where he bought 
195 acres, which were partly cleared and 
which he has since greatly improved, erecting 
substantial farm buildings. To this tract he 
subsequently added twenty-one and one-quar- 
ter acres, and in 1895 erected the fine residence 
he now occupies. To Mr. and Mrs. Keener 
have been born the following children: John 
F., MaryE., Cephas H., SamanthaJ., Ben- 
niah, Eli W., Charles A., Sarah C, Nora A., 
William A., Dora I., Ezra A. and Amelia A. 
The parents are members of the Lutheran 
church, in which Mr. Keener is a deacon. In 
politics he is a democrat, and for three years 
was a trustee of Madison township and for a 
number of years a member of the school board. 
Mr. Keener is one of the most honored farmers 
of Jefferson township, and well deserves the 
high position which he holds in the esteem of 
his neighbors. 



^""^EORGE WASHINGTON KEMP, a 
■ G\ prominent farmer and one of the old- 
\^J est citizens of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born in Mad River town- 
ship, this county, when it was known as Day- 
ton township, June 29, 181 1. He is a son of 
Joseph and Elizabeth (Herring) Kemp, the 
former of whom was a native of Frederick 
county, Md., and the latter of Germany. 
Joseph and Elizabeth Kemp were the parents 



11. 'IS 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of six children, five of whom are yet living, as 
follows: George W., the subject of this 
sketch; Margaret; Barbara, wife of William 
Steele; David, and Catherine, widow of Math- 
ias Burrows, formerly a prominent manufac- 
turer of Dayton. 

Joseph Kemp was a farmer by occupation, 
and came with his parents to Ohio in 1806, 
when yet a young man. He continued to live 
with his parents in Mad River township until 
his marriage. He served in the war of 1812, 
as a member of Capt. William Van Cleve's 
company. The war having come to a close 
he returned to his home and resumed his oc- 
cupation of farming. He died a young man, 
having been born in 1788, and died in 1824. 
His wife was born January 17, 1790, and died 
August 21, 1 86 1. She was a member of the 
United Brethren church. 

Lewis Kemp, the paternal grandfather of 
George W. , was a native of Frederick county, 
Md., came to Ohio in 1805, and bought sec- 
tion No. 22, Mad River township, and also a 
quarter of section No. 29. He continued to 
live on the old homestead until his death, 
which occurred when he was eighty-eight years 
of age. He and his wife reared a family of 
seven children, four sons and three daughters, 
all but one of whom purchased land in the vi- 
cinity of his home. The maternal grandfather, 
Jacob Herring, was a native of Germany, 
afterward a resident of Maryland, and still 
later of Ohio. He settled in Beaver Creek 
township, Greene county, in 1806, and there 
bought a section of land. He and his wife 
reared a family of one son and three daugh- 
ters. He lived in Greene county the rest of 
his life, dying when seventy-five years of age. 

George W. Kemp was reared on the old 
homestead in Mad River township, received 
his education in the district school, in what 
was known as the Kemp school-house, which 
stood on an acre of ground donated for the 



purpose by his grandfather. This school 
house was erected in 181 5, was constructed of 
logs, and had three windows, with sash and 
glass, which was something quite unusual in 
those days. The largest subscription toward 
the erection of this house was $6. Arriving 
at man's estate, Mr. Kemp removed to Dayton 
and here completed his trade, that of carpen- 
ter, which he followed ten years. He then 
purchased a sixty-acre farm adjoining the old 
home, and added to it twenty-one acres of the 
home farm, which he has since increased to 
the extent of twenty-four acres, so that now 
he owns a farm of 105 acres, lying one mile 
east of the corporation line. 

Mr. Kemp was married April 11, 1838, to 
Miss Lydia Cox, daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Spies) Cox, both of whom were among 
the early settlers of this county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Kemp were the parents of six children, as 
follows: John Cox, Oliver Perry, Martha 
Washington, Joseph Warren, Francis Marion, 
and Kate Elizabeth. John C, Oliver P. and 
Martha W. are deceased. Joseph W. married 
Miss Mary Pearson, and lives on the old farm. 
He and his wife have a family of six children, 
as follows: George W., Earl, Lora, Kate, 
Edna and Lydia. Francis M. married Jennie 
Wise, and lives in Dayton. They have three 
children living, as follows: Daisy E., Scott 
and LeRoy. Kate Elizabeth married J. P. 
Mellinger, and resides in Dayton. 

Mrs. Lydia Kemp died June 25, 1873, at 
the age of fifty-eight years. She was a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church in her early years, 
but late in life she joined the Reformed church 
and died in that faith. In 1867 they left the 
old farm, after a residence thereon of fifty-six 
years, and removed to Dayton, where Mrs. 
Kemp died and where Mr. Kemp has since 
continued to reside. He owns the substantial 
residence at No. 210 Bainbridge street, where 
he lives with his daughter, Mrs. Mellinger, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1139 



her husband. Mr. Kemp has been an Odd 
Fellow sixty-one years ; a Mason forty-five years, 
reaching the thirty-second degree, and a Knight 
Templar thirty-two years, being a member of 
Reed commandery, No. 6. Politically, he is a 
democrat, and as such was trustee of Mad River 
township many years, and was also assessor in 
the same township, and in i860 was appraiser 
of land in Mad River township. Many are the 
changes that have been made in Montgomery 
county since Mr. Kemp was born, his father 
having at that time only two acres of land 
cleared, and many other farms being in no 
better condition at that early day. His father, 
together with a man named Ott, went down 
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on rlatboats 
early in the history of the county, lashing their 
boats together. They were accompanied by 
their hired men, William Hamer, Thomas 
Roby, Johnson Perrine, and one other. Mr. 
Ott died of yellow fever in New Orleans, and 
Perrine sold his goods for him and returned 
to his home. 

George \V. Kemp is now eighty-five years 
old, and with the exception of a short time 
when away from home in Indiana, has con- 
tinuously lived in Montgomery county. Upon 
early historical events pertaining to this local- 
ity and in early reminiscences, he is considered 
the best informed man in the county. He is 
yet quite a strong man physically, and his 
memory is remarkably quick and accurate. 
He is most highly esteemed by his many friends 
and acquaintances, and is among the few who 
yet remain of Montgomery county's living 
pioneer citizens. 



^yj»ILLIAM HENRY KEMP, a promi- 
M a nent farmer living in Mad River 

^J^J township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born in this township, Febru- 
ary 20, 1823. He is a son of David and Eliz- 



abeth (Crist) Kemp, both natives of Maryland, 
and who had a family of nine children, eight 
of whom are still living, as follows: William 
H.; Margaret Ann, wife of Henry Bellow; 
Mary Jane, wife of David Moler; Annie, wife 
of William W. Harris; Amanda, wife of Joseph 
Kimmel; Harriet Louisa, wife of John Knisely; 
David C. and Joshua Perry. Elizabeth Cath- 
erine, who married John McCauley, died five 
weeks aft«r her marriage. David Kemp came 
to Ohio when twelve years of age, with his 
parents, his father purchasing 800 acres of 
land in Mad River township, and settling on 
section 22. He subsequently sold a quarter- 
section of his land, part of which is now within 
the corporate limits of the city of Dayton. 
David Kemp grew to manhood on the old 
place and lived there many years, and then 
moved into Dayton, where his wife died, Feb- 
ruary 21, 1874. He then went to live with 
his daughter, Mrs. Knisely, and died at her 
home, August 26, 1878, aged eighty-six years. 
During the earlier years of their lives both 
David Kemp and his wife belonged to the 
German Reformed church, but toward the last 
she became a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. During the war of 181 2 Mr. 
Kemp drove a team and furnished supplies to 
the soldiers. Both he and his wife were typi- 
cal pioneers, well known for many miles 
around, and possessing the pioneer virtues of 
generosity and hospitality. 

Ludwig Kemp, the father of David Kemp, 
was a native of Maryland, and came to Ohio 
in 1806. He and his wife reared a family of 
eight children, and both lie buried in the Kemp 
burying ground, he having given an acre of 
land for cemetery purposes. Peter Crist, the 
maternal grandfather of William H. Kemp, 
was also a native of Maryland; came to Ohio 
about 1 8 10, and located in Warren county, 
where he purchased several hundred acres of 
land. He and his wife reared a family of 



114H 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



eight children, and he died in 1S76, when 
ninety years of age. 

William H. Kemp was reared on the farm 
which his grandfather, Ludwig Kemp, first 
purchased upon arriving in Ohio. His educa- 
tion was received in the district school, and he 
remained at home until he was twenty-four 
years of age. On February 25, 1847, he was 
married to Miss Barbara Aley, daughter of 
John and Susanna (Hawker) Aley. To this 
marriage there have been three children born, 
viz: Alice Ann, Charles and Lizzie Jane. 
Alice Ann died at the age of two and a half 
years, and Charles when but six months old. 
Lizzie Jane married John Coblentz, and with 
him lives near Bellbrook, Greene county. 
Mrs. Kemp is a member of the German Re- 
formed church. Mr. Kemp during his earlier 
life was a democrat, but of late years he has 
been a republican. He has never been a 
seeker after official honors, the only office he 
has ever held being that of supervisor. 

Mr. Kemp has a good farm of 144 acres, 
finely improved, about three miles east of the 
court house in Dayton. He has confined him- 
self mainly to general farming and has been 
unusually successful. 



WOSEPH KENNEDY, a leading farmer 
m of Harrison township, was born on the 
(9 1 farm on which he now lives, August 7, 
1826. He is a son of Joseph and 
Nancy (Kerr) Kennedy, the former a native of 
Scotland and the latter of Virginia. They 
were the parents of six children, three sons and 
three daughters, but two of whom are still liv- 
ing, John and Joseph. Joseph Kennedy, the 
elder, was brought by his parents from his na- 
tive country to the United States when he was 
two years old. They settled at Shippensburg, 
Pa., and there he grew to manhood. In 1805 
he removed to Dayton, Ohio, settling just 



south of the city, and living there two years. 
In 1807 he removed to Harrison township, 
where he purchased 160 acres of land, to which 
he added from time to time, until at his death 
he owned 300 acres or more. ' He followed 
general farming and died in 1856, at the age of 
eighty-one. His wife died February 19, i860, 
at the age of sixty-four. Both were members 
of the Third Presbyterian church, of Dayton. 

The paternal grandfather of the subject, 
Gilbert Kennedy, a native of Scotland, came 
to America in 1777, and in 1808 came to Ohio. 
He is supposed to lie buried in Warren county. 
In religion he was a Presbyterian, and reared a 
family of two sons and four daughters. The 
maternal grandfather, John Kerr, lived on a 
farm adjoining that on which Joseph Kennedy 
now lives. This farm he purchased in 18 10, 
having just previously arrived from Virginia. 
Upon this farm he lived for many years, but 
died on another farm in the county, in 1846, 
at the age of eighty-one years. 

Joseph Kennedy, whose name opens this 
sketch, has lived on his present farm all his 
life with the exception of eight or ten years, 
when he lived in Indiana and northern Ohio, 
during the greater part of which time he was 
engaged in telegraphing. He spent some time 
in Mercer county, occupied in running a saw- 
mill, and afterward was in Mississippi for a 
year employed in railroad contracting. The 
rest of his life was spent on the farm. 

On May 27, 1858, he was married to Miss 
Catherine A. Clagett, daughter of Dr. G. A. 
and Caroline M. (Stonebraker) Clagett. To 
this marriage there were born four children — 
three sons and one daughter, as follows: Graf- 
ton C, Gilbert, John D. and Caroline. Gilbert 
and John are dead. Grafton C. married Miss 
Louise Achey, and has two children, Katharine 
and Sherwood. Caroline married Edward 
Martin, and has two children, Joseph and 
Richard. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1141 



Mrs. Kennedy, the mother of the four chil- 
dren above named, died May 16, 1865, a 
member of the Presbyterian church. October 
27, 1866, Mr. Kennedy again married, his 
second wife being Miss Emma C. Clagett, a 
sister of his deceased wife. To this marriage 
there have been born one son and two daugh- 
ters, as follows: Katharine, Eugene G. and 
Emma Cornelia. Katharine died at the age of 
two years. Eugene G. and Emma C. are both 
living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy are 
members of the Presbyterian church, and in 
politics Mr. Kennedy is a republican. 

The home farm of Mr. Kennedy contains 
147 acres of land, and is well improved. Mr. 
Kennedy also owns a farm in Wayne township 
and still another in Mad River township — alto- 
gether about 325 acres of land. He is among 
the progressive farmers and thinkers of the 
day, and is recognized as one of the most 
reliable and influential citizens of the county. 



SICHARD J. KETROWioneof the best 
known farmers of Jackson township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, is a na- 
tive here and was born on his father's 
farm, June 22, 1833. 

Joseph Ketrow, his grandfather, was born 
in Maryland, was there married, came to Ohio 
in 1807 or 1808, and settled in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and cleared up a 
farm from the woods, on which he lived for 
twenty years and the title to which has never 
changed from the Ketrow name. The chil- 
dren born to Joseph Ketrow and wife were 
John, Charles, Thomas, Richard, Betsey, Pol- 
ly, Rebecca and Susan. Mrs. Ketrow lived to 
the great age of ninety-seven years. 

Richard Ketrow, fourth child of Joseph 1 
Ketrow and wife, and the father of Richard J. : 
Ketrow, was born in Frederick county, Md., 
February 28, 1S05, and was but two or three ' 

50 



years of age when brought by his parents to 
Ohio, where he grew to manhood among the 
pioneer farmers. He was married in German 
township, in 1826 or 1827, to Sophia Christ, 
who was born in Frederick county, Md., about 
1802, and was a daughter of Henry and Chris- 
tina Christ. Henry Christ was also a native 
of Maryland, but his father was of German 
birth. Henry was a blacksmith and gunsmith, 
and came to Montgomery county in the same 
year with the Ketrows. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ketrow, at their marriage, 
settled on the farm where their son, Richard 
J., now lives, in Jackson township, and there 
Mr. Ketrow died at the age of seventy years. 
Their children were named Oliver, Adaline, 
Richard J., Allen and Caroline. 

Richard J. Ketrow was reared on his fa- 
ther's farm, but developed strong mechanical 
gifts, inherited probably from his maternal 
grandfather, and became a blacksmith and 
carpenter. October 17, 1858, he married, in 
Jackson township, Miss Elvira Drayer, a na- 
tive of the township, and a daughter of George 
and Precilla Drayer. George Drayer was a 
native of Pennsylvania and a son of Peter 
Drayer, of German descent, who kept a tavern 
in the Keystone state. 

George Drayer was about eleven years of 
age when brought here by his parents, was 
here reared to manhood, accumulated 178 
acres of land, and died in July, 1874, at the 
age of sixty-eight years, an elder in the 
Methodist church. He was the father of the 
following children: Jesse, Elizabeth, Elvira, 
Utila, George, Lydia, Peter, Catherine and 
Joseph. 

To Richard J. and Elvira (Drayer) Ketrow 
were born the following children: Cora E., 
Erne P. (Mrs. John Lowman), Mary C. (Mrs. 
S. L. Bohn), Orphie (Mrs. Herman Thoelking), 
and Charles H., at home. Mrs. Elvira Ketrow 
died April 25, 1875, and Mr. Ketrow next mar- 



1142 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ried, August 6, 1876, Elizabeth Yost, daughter 
of John H. Yost, of Preble county, Ohio. 
Mr. Ketrow now occupies the old homestead 
and is one of the foremost farmers of the 
township. In politics he is a democrat, but 
has been content simply to exercise his fran- 
chise at the polls, and has never sought office. ' 



>t-»ACOB KNECHT, farmer and fruit 
a grower, of Harrison township, living 
/• 1 just north of the city of Dayton, was 
born in Bavaria, Germany, December 
23, 1835. He is a son of Jacob and Susanna 
(Goelder)Knecht, both of whom were natives 
of Germany and died in that country. They 
were the parents of five children, as follows: 
Jacob; Elizabeth, deceased; Christian; Charles 
and Michael. The four sons came to the 
United States. Michael served in the Union 
army during the late Civil war, as a member 
of the Fourth Ohio cavalry. He was shot and 
killed at Stone river while doing guard duty. 
Charles was a soldier in the war, from the be- 
ginning to the close, and was slightly wound- 
ed. Christian was also a Union soldier, but 
on account of sickness was discharged in 1862. 
Jacob and Christian now live side by side, and 
Charles lives in Madison township. Jacob 
Knecht, their father, was a farmer in Ger- 
many, and died there in 1852, aged tbirty- 
nine. His wife died in 1849. Both were 
members of the Lutheran church. The pa- 
ternal grandfather, Christoph Knecht, was 
also a farmer, reared a family of one son and 
five daughters, and died at an advanced age. 
The maternal grandfather, John Jacob Goeld- 
er, was also a farmer, was mayor of the town 
of Talfroeshn for thirty-two years, reared a 
large family and died at seventy years of age. 
Jacob Knecht, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared and educated in Germany. He 
was brought up on the farm, and remained at 



home until after the death of his parents, and 
then, in 1853, came to the United States, be- 
ing at the time eighteen years of age. Land- 
ing in New York he went thence to Philadel- 
phia, where he visited relatives for a short 
time, and came thence direct to Dayton. 
Here he lived for a time with his uncle, Chris- 
tian Miller, who had sent him the money with 
which to pay his passage to this country. Mr. 
Miller lived on the Stoddard farm as a tenant, 
and Jacob lived with him seven months. He 
then went to work for George A. Mumma, 
and remained in his employ five years, engaged 
in the nursery and on the farm. January 15, 
1857, he was married to Miss Magdalena 
Simons, daughter of Jacob and Anna (Pol- 
larst) Simons. To this marriage there were 
born eight children, five sons and three daugh- 
ters, as follows: George, Christian, John 
Jacob, Charles M., Jacob J., Elizabeth, Katie 
and Julia. George, Christian, Julia and Jacob 
J. are dead. John Jacob married Theresa 
Handwerger. Charles M. married Elizabeth 
Zeisert, by whom he has had two children, one 
of whom is dead; the other, Carrie, is still liv- 
ing. Mrs. Chas. W. Knecht died in February, 
1 89 1. Elizabeth married Frank Martindale, 
and has two children, Mamie and George. 
Katie is living at home. 

Mrs. Magdalena Knecht, the mother of the 
above-named eight children, died in 1888, at 
the age of fifty-three years. She was a most 
exemplary woman, and a member of the Lu- 
theran church. Mr. Knecht married June 21, 
[891, for his second wife. Miss Anna Rausch, 
daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Koch) Rausch, 
of Mischelstadt, Germany, both of whom are 
deceased. To this second marriage there has 
been born one child, Susanna. Mr. and Mrs. 
Knecht are members of the Lutheran church. 
Mr. Knecht is an Odd Fellow and a United 
Workman, and politically is a democrat. 

After his first marriage Mr. Knecht for a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1143 



time carried on farming on shares with Mr. 
Mumma. He then rented a large farm, which 
he afterward purchased. At that time it con- 
tained ninety-six acres, and to this he has 
added until the tract now includes 155 acres 
of land. After remaining on his ninety-six- 
acre farm one year he removed to the Stod- 
dard farm, in i860, and remained there three 
years. In the spring of 1863 he sold most of 
his implements and stock and rented a smaller 
farm, upon which he lived two years, after 
which he entered upon gardening and tobacco 
raising. In 1865 he purchased the property 
where he now lives, comprising eight acres, 
and in 1872 he erected his present residence. 
On this small place Mr. Knecht raises fruits 
and berries. His farm of 155 acres he farms 
as well, his son Charles residing upon it and 
having charge of the farm operations. Mr. 
Knecht has by his industry and energy accumu- 
lated quite a handsome estate, showing what 
can be done by a determined and persistently 
industrious man. 



v y ■ * ENRY KLEPINGER is a son of one 

wT ~\ of the pioneers of Montgomery coun- 
JL.r ty, ar| d a successful farmer of Madi- 
son township. His father, George 
Klepinger, was born in 1800, in Westmoreland 
county, Pa., and came of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
ancestry. The father of George Klepinger 
came from Pennsylvania to Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, in 1 S 1 5 , settling on a farm, which 
he cleared and improved, and upon which he 
lived for some time, when he removed to In- 
diana with his family, his children at that time 
being John, George and Mary. The Mont- 
gomery county farm was in Madison township, 
and not long after leaving this farm for Indi- 
ana, the father of these children, whose name 
was Henry, died. His entire family consisted 
of the following children: Jacob, Henrv. 



David, Samuel, John, Isaac, George, Mary 
and one that died unnamed. 

George Klepinger was but fifteen years of 
age when he came with his father from Penn- 
sylvania to Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
upon reaching his maturity he married Maria 
Loutzenhizer, settling on a farm in Randolph 
township. Upon this farm he remained until 
1840, when he removed to the farm on which 
Henry Klepinger now lives, which farm con- 
tains 172 acres of excellent land. Mr. and 
Mrs. Klepinger reared the following children: 
Susan, Henry, John, William, Aaron and 
Maria, and had several that died while yet 
young. Politically Mr. Klepinger was an old- 
line whig, and in religious belief a German 
Baptist. While on a visit to Westmoreland 
county, Pa., he died, in 1858. 

Henry Klepinger, the subject of this sketch, 
was born August 11, 1S32, in Randolph town- 
ship, and was thus eight years old when he 
came with his father to the present homestead, 
upon which he has lived ever since except for 
a short time when he was a young man. 
Early in life he learned the carpenter trade in 
Dayton, and remained there about four years, 
working at his trade, however, in all about 
eight years. On October 22, 1S57, he was 
married to Miss Elizabeth Miller, who was 
born in Harrison township, November 6, 1836, 
and is a daughter of Benjamin and Elizabeth 
(Bowser) Miller, the former of whom was the 
son of Daniel Miller, the well-known pioneer 
of Wolf creek. Daniel Miller was born in 
Pennsylvania, May 5, 1776. His old family 
Bible, printed in Germany, is still in existence, 
and according to its title page was published 
MDCCLXXYIII. It is bound in wooden cov- 
ers, with leather back and brass clasps, and 
contains the family record. It was valued 
highly by grandmother Miller, who was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania and whose maiden name 
was Bowman. 



1144 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Daniel Miller and his family were the first 
settlers on Wolf creek, cutting their way 
through the woods to their place of settlement. 
At that time Dayton had but a few log houses 
and only one house with a shingle roof. Daniel 
Miller took up government land and became a 
very prosperous man, because of his industry 
and excellent management. When he started 
in life he was very poor, so much so that his 
wife worked with him in the field. She also 
made her own bedclothing of flax. From such 
humble beginnings did Daniel Miller and his 
most excellent wife acquire all their property, 
and become possessed of a large body of land. 
Mrs. Miller was born in Pennsylvania January 
1 8, 1769, and she and her husband were mar- 
ried May 25, 1790. 

Benjamin Miller, the father of Mrs. Klep- 
inger, was born in Pennsylvania, March 20, 
1 79 1, and came with his father, Daniel, to 
Ohio, locating in Montgomery county, as 
above narrated. He was at the time between 
twelve and thirteen years of age. The date of 
his birth is given from the records in the old 
family Bible above described, but the date of 
removal to Ohio is a matter of tradition. 
Benjamin Miller married Elizabeth Bowser, 
and they settled on the farm on which David 
Miller now lives, Mr. Miller clearing up the 
land from the woods. They at first had 160 
acres, Mr. Miller, however, buying more land 
as he became able to do so, and so successful 
was he in the management of his affairs that 
at the time of his death he had property of 
large value. In his religious views he was a 
German Baptist, and was in every respect an 
excellent man and citizen. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Susan, George, 
Daniel, Margaret, Benjamin, David and Eliza- 
beth. His death occurred October 4, 1855, 
when he was sixty-four years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Klepinger, after their mar- 
riage, lived four years on the Benjamin Miller 



farm, and in 1861 removed to the Klepinger 
homestead, upon which they still live. This 
farm Mr. Klepinger has developed in every 
way, increasing its fertility and greatly im- 
proving the buildings upon it. The first brick 
house in Madison township was erected on this 
farm by Adam Rodabaugh, one of the original 
pioneers of Montgomery county. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Klepinger were born the following chil- 
dren: David, Alfred, Ellsworth H., Charles, 
Llewellyn, Edwin and Howard. The parents 
of these children are members of the German 
Baptist church, and Mr. Klepinger has been a 
deacon for thirty years. Politically he is a * 
republican, and is a worthy and honorable 
citizen. His son Alfred, who was for some 
years a school-teacher in Montgomery county, 
married Olive Miller. David married twice, 
first Laura Wampler, by whom he had one 
child, and for his second wife he married Ida 
Stowcher, by whom he has no children. Ells- 
worth H. married Lizzie Denlinger. Charles 
married Mary Anderson, lives in Dayton and 
has one child, and is a member of the Dayton 
Leather Collar company. Mr. Klepinger has 
228 acres of land and also own a considerable 
portion of the stock of the Dayton Leather 
Collar company, two of his sons also being 
members of this company. 



^/\ AVID LANDIS, retired farmer, re- 
I siding at Salem, Montgomery county, 
/^^_J Ohio, is a native of Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pa., was born March 18, 1S16, 
and is a son of David and Annie (Springer) 
Landis, of German descent. 

David Landis, the father, was also a native 
of Lancaster county, Pa., born April 10, 1780, 
and was a farmer, carpenter and wind-mill 
maker. He married Miss Annie Springer, who 
was born July 25, 1781, a daughter of Peter 
Springer, the marriage resulting in the birth of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1145 



six children, who were named John, Martha, 
Catherine, Annie, David and Elizabeth. In 
1837 Mr. Landis brought his family to Ohio, 
making the journey with a team of four horses 
and a large covered wagon or wain, and con- 
suming twenty-three days' time on the route. 
The party comprised four families, the other 
three being those of John Landis, son of David ; 
George Utsley, son-in-law of David, and Abra- 
ham Stoner, another son-in-law of David. This 
party reached Montgomery county and all set- 
tled near Salem, May 3, of the same year. 
Here David Landis bought four tracts of land, 
comprising, respectively, forty, sixty, seventy- 
eight and 100 acres, and bought and entered, 
beside, 500 or 600 acres in Darke county, 
Ohio. He settled on the 100-acre tract, 
which he subsequently cleared, improved and 
occupied until his retirement from active labor, 
when he located on a few acres near Salem, 
lived to his ninety-first year, and died July 17, 
1870. Mr. Landis was a preacher in the pio- 
neer Brethren church, was very active in the 
cause of religion, and his house was always 
the home of the preacher who visited his 
neighborhood in the early days. He was 
strictly upright, and his death was deeply 
mourned by the whole community, who held 
him in the highest esteem. Mrs. Annie 
(Springer) Landis died November 17, 1841. 

David Landis, the subject of this memoir, 
was reared on the home farm until fourteen 
years of age, when he began working in his 
father's carpenter shop, and at the age of 
twenty-one years drove the four-horse team 
from Pennsylvania to Ohio, as narrated above. 
After reaching Ohio, he assisted on his father's 
farm until 1839, but was married October 25, 
1838, to Miss Rachel Wellbourn, who was 
born December 20, 1820, in Brookville, Perry 
township, Montgomery county, a daughter of 
Christian and Sarah (Frouty) Wellbourn. Mr. 
and Mrs. Landis soon began housekeeping on 



the farm which David Landis, the elder, had 
settled in Randolph township, and here made 
their home for fifty-three years, prospering 
through unceasing industry and a wise econ- 
omy, united with a practical knowledge of 
agriculture. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Landis have been born ten children, in the 
order here given: John, Jacob H., Sarah A., 
Josiah (deceased), William (deceased), Lu- 
cinda (deceased), Catherine (deceased), Theo- 
dore, Harvey A. and Dora E. The parents are 
consistent members of the Dunkard church, 
and in politics Mr. Landis was formerly a 
whig, but since the formation of the republican 
party has affiliated with the latter. His living 
children are of the same religious faith with 
himself, and it may be added that his sons 
agreed with him in his political affiliations. 
Two of them, Josiah and Jacob, served in the 
100-day enlistment in the late Civil war. Mr. 
Landis has shared liberally, from his hard- 
earned accumulations, with his children, and 
is now enjoying in retirement that ease to 
which his long life of industry and thrift fully 
entitles him. 



aYRUS WALTER LAUGHLIN, gro- 
cer, of Dayton, Ohio, was' born in Sun- 
bury, Montgomery county, Ohio, Sep- 
tember 1, 1855. He is a son of Sam- 
uel and Eliza (Walters) Laughlin, both natives 
of Westermoreland county, Pa. They were 
the parents of seven children, five of whom are 
still living, as follows: Elemina, wife of 
Washington Eby, of Sunbury, Ohio; Francis 
M., a farmer, of Brown Run, Montgomery 
county; Philip, of Aspen. Colo.; Cyrus W., 
and Charles, also a resident of Colorado. 

Samuel Laughlin was a farmer by occupa- 
tion, came to Ohio about 1850, and located 
near Germantown, Montgomery county, where 
he followed farming for some years, and then 
opened a grocery at Sunbury, which he kept 



1146 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



until the death of his wife, which occurred 
September 13, 1884, in her sixty-eighth year. 
After this he lived among his children and 
grandchildren until his death, which occurred 
while he was living with his son, Cyrus W. , in 
Dayton, Ohio, March 29, 1895, he being then 
in his eighty-first year. Both Samuel Laugh- 
lin and his wife were members of the United 
Brethren church. 

The paternal grandfather of Cyrus W., 
James Laughlin, died June 12, 1861, when he 
was seventy-three years of age, and his wife, 
Barbara, died October 19, 1872, at the age of 
eighty-three years. She and her husband were 
the parents of fifteen children. The maternal 
grandfather, Joseph Walters, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, in which state he kept what was 
termed in his day a tavern or inn. 

Cyrus W. Laughlin was reared in Mont- 
gomery county, and was educated in Sunbury, 
remaining there until he was eighteen years of 
age. On February 1, 1877, he married Emma 
Florence Cox, daughter of John A. and Ellen 
(Crider) Cox. John A. Cox was born in But- 
ler county, Ohio, in 1837, ar >d hrs wife, Ellen 
Crider, in Indiana, in 1840. They had a fam- 
ily of four children, three of whom are now 
living, namely: Emma Florence, wife of Mr. 
Laughlin; Edgar C. , a merchant of Anderson, 
Ind.; and Elizabeth, wife of Frank Davis, of 
West Manchester, Ohio. 

John M. Cox, the grandfather of Mrs. 
Laughlin, was of German descent, and was 
born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1805, and died 
in that county in 1877. His wife, whose 
maiden name was Nancy Hilt, was born in 
Kentucky in 1802, and died in Butler county, 
Ohio, in 1879. They had a family of seven 
children, six of whom are still living, as fol- 
lows: Elizabeth, widow of Frank Banker, 
living at Battle Creek, Mich. ; Walter, a farmer 
of Butler county, Ohio; Samuel, a farmer of 
the same county; Catherine, wife of John 



Keister, a farmer of Butler county; John A., 
who is a carpenter by trade and lives in Preble 
county, Ohio, and Drusilla, wife of Alpheus 
McElwain, of Darke county, Ohio. Mary 
died in infancy. 

The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Laugh- 
lin, Philip Crider, descended from German 
ancestors. He was born in Washington coun- 
ty, Pa., in 1803, and died in Preble county, 
Ohio, in 1874. The trades of carpenter and 
millwright he followed for some years, and 
lived on Second street in Dayton, Ohio, in 
1846. His wife, Nancy Wright, was born in 
Ireland in 1799, and died in Preble county, 
Ohio, in 1876. To this couple nine children 
were born, but only the following are now liv- 
ing: Ellen, wife of John A. Cox; Susanna, 
now Mrs. Cooper, of Indiana; Mary Ann, wife 
of George W. Catrow, of Miamisburg, Ohio; 
George W. , a farmer of Tennessee, and James 
Henry, who is a merchant of Oklahoma, and 
surveyor of that city. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin have been born 
five children, two sons and three daughters, as 
follows: Elsie C, J. Raymond, Clifford L., 
Ruth E., and one that died in infancy. Mr. 
Laughlin is a trustee in the United Brethren 
church, of which both he and his wife are 
members. Fraternally he is a member of the 
Independent Order of Foresters and of the 
Patriotic Order of Sons of America. Polit- 
ically he favors the laboring man, and sustains 
that party which, in his opinion, will do most 
for this class of citizens. When Mr. Laughlin 
came to Dayton in October, 1884, he was 
employed by the Dayton Malleable Iron com- 
pany, remaining with them three years; then 
going to work in D. O. Kimmel's grocery, he 
remained there until 1891, when he opened a 
grocery and meat market at his present loca- 
tion, Nos. 1 1 70 and 1172 Germantown street. 
Here he has ever since conducted a remark- 
ably successful business. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1147 



SENRY MECKLEY, of Germantown, 
one of the most successful and sub- 
stantial farmers of Jackson township, 
sprang from Pennsylvania -Dutch 
stock. Henry Meckley was born December 6, 
1837, on the farm upon which he now lives. 
Receiving a good common-school education, 
he was reared a farmer, beginning to work on 
the farm as soon as old enough and strong 
enough to be of use. 

When he was thirty years of age he mar- 
ried, in Miamisburg, Ohio, February 27, 1868, 
Susannah Stonner, who was born December 
22, 1844, and is a daughter of Andrew and 
Mary (Hostetter) Stonner. Andrew Stonner 
came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, locating in 
Wayne county among the first settlers there. 
His children were John, Levina, Elizabeth, 
Catherine, Sarah and Susannah. He was a 
member of the Lutheran church, and lived to 
be seventy-nine years of age, dying in Mont- 
gomery county in 1887, when on a visit to his 
relatives. 

Henry Meckley and wife soon after their 
marriage settled on the old Meckley homestead, 
of which he bought 150 acres of his father, 
and cared for his parents during their old age. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Meckley there were born two 
children, viz: Sarah A. and Mary C. Mr. 
Meckley is a member of the German Reformed 
church, and served on the building committee 
of Slyfer church. He is an honored citizen of 
his community, and can always be relied upon 
to aid worthy religious, moral and educational 
enterprises. His wife died December 19, 1888, 
at the age of forty-four years. She was a 
member of the Lutheran church, and a woman 
of many excellent traits of character. 

Mr. Meckley is a democrat in politics, and 
during the recent presidential campaign, result- 
ing in the election of Maj. McKinley, he was 
an advocate of the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. 



<V^ENJAMIN METZGER, a farmer of 
l(^^ Jackson township, Montgomery 
JK^J county, Ohio, was born in Madison 
township, in the same county, on his 
father's farm, his parents being Henry and 
Susannah (Ullery) Metzger. The father of 
Henry, John Metzger, came to America before 
the war of the Revolution, from Wurtemberg, 
Germany. He was a Dunkard in religion, 
and was married near Bedford, Pa., settled on 
a farm in the vicinity of that city, lived there 
until eighty-six years of age, and died at the 
home of his son-in-law, John Brumbaugh. 
His children were named John, Henry, Jacob 
and Andrew, and of these, Henry, the father 
of Benjamin, was born on the original farm 
near Bedford, Pa., about 1778, and was there 
married, June 15, 1800, to Susannah Ullery. 
In 181 1 he brought his family to Ohio and lo- 
cated in Jefferson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, on a tract of 160 acres, but six months 
later removed to Madison township and bought 
154 acres, all in the deep woods. Here he 
erected a log house, by hard work and incess- 
ant industry cleared up his land and developed 
a fine farm, and here passed the remainder of 
his days, an honored pioneer and useful citizen, 
passing away September 11, 1859 — his death 
taking place in Perry township. He was a 
minister in the German Baptist church, and at 
his decease was able to give each of his chil- 
dren a start in the world, with either land or 
money. These children were born and named 
in the following order: John, January 24, 
1803; Stephen, November 15, 1804; Elizabeth, 
October 19, 1806; Samuel, August 24, 1808; 
Henry, November 24, 18 10; Susannah, March 
10, 1 81 3 ; Mary, January 7, 1816; Isaac, Sep- 
tember 22, 18 17, and Benjamin, September 
7, 1825. The first five of these children were 
born in Bedford county, Pa., and the others in 
Madison township, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Benjamin Metzger received the education 



114JS 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



available in the common schools of his youth- 
ful days, and worked on the home farm until 
twenty years of age, when he married, in 
Jackson township, December 18, 1S45, Miss 
Annie Trissel, who was born in Rockingham 
county, Ya., April 16, 1821, a daughter of 
David and Mary (Bowman) Trissel. Her fa- 
ther, David, was of German extraction, was 
a farmer, and moved from Rockingham coun- 
ty, Ya., to Montgomery county, Ohio, in the 
fall of 1 S3 1, and bought a tract of 170 acres 
in Jackson township, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying March II, 1854, at 
the age of about sixty-two years, in the faith of 
the German Baptist church. He was the father 
of three children — Hettie, Annie and Samuel. 
After marriage, Benjamin Metzger lived on 
his father's farm four years, and in 1850 pur- 
chased fifty acres of his present homestead, to 
which he has added until he now owns 1 1 5 
acres of well-cleared land and a most comfort- 
able home. To Mr. and Mrs. Metzger no 
children were born, but they reared from child- 
hood Lucinda Brown, who was married to 
Alexander Powell, of Preble county, Ohio; 
they also reared another young girl — Ellen Sha- 
ner, who was married to David Repp. Mrs. 
Annie Metzger was called to rest, in the faith 
of the German Baptist church, September 20, 
1893 — a woman of kind heart and many vir- 
tues, and a true Christian. Mr. Metzger has 
been a deacon in this church for thirty-three 
years, has done much in aid of its prog- 
ress and its work for the good of the people, 
and is recognized as a worthy citizen and a 
man of strict integrity. 



m 



ICHAEL MEYER, a retired farmer 
of Clay township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born in the kingdom 
of Bavaria (now a part of United 
Germany), August 18, 1838, and came with his 



parents to America at the age of fourteen years. 
John Jacob Meyer, father of Michael, was 
born near Landau, Bavaria, in 1806 or 1807, 
was reared a farmer, and married Margaret 
Hale, the union resulting in the birth of the 
following children, in Bavaria: Daniel, Mich- 
ael, John (deceased), Jacob, Charles and Mar- 
garet, and Sarah, born in America. The fa- 
ther owned a farm of twenty acres in the old 
country, but, with the expectation of better- 
ing his fortune, sailed from Havre, with his 
family, for the United States in 1853 or 1854, 
and after a passage of thirty-two days, during 
which the vessel lost 100 passengers from 
cholera, owing to a supply of bad water, the}' 
landed in the city of New York. They came 
at once to Ohio and settled on a farm of 142 
acres two miles from Phillipsburg, in Mont- 
gomery county, and here Mr. Meyer died, at the 
age of sixty-four years, in 1870, a member of 
the German Reformed church. 

Michael Meyer, the subject of this biog- 
raphy, was reared on his father's farm, which 
he assisted in clearing and improving and in 
making one of the best of its size in Montgom- 
ery county. November 10, 1865, he married 
Susannah Shank, who was born November 15, 
1844, in Darke county, Ohio, a daughter of 
Peter and Barbara (Kener) Shank. 

Peter Shank, father of Mrs. Meyer, came 
from Lancaster county, Pa., and settled on a 
farm of 160 acres in Darke county, Ohio, 
where he made a good home and died at the 
age of eighty-four years, a respected and sub- 
stantial farmer. His children were named 
Henry, John, Nancy, Lydia, Elizabeth, Katie, 
Maggie and Susannah. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Meyer 
made their home in West Milton, Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio, where Mr. Meyer had an interest in 
a flouring-mill. He next bought a farm of 
eighty acres near Georgetown, Miami county, 
on which he lived twelve years, and then 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



T49 



moved to his present excellent farm of 142 
acres. From this, however, he retired, in 
1892, to Phillipsburg, where he bought a home 
of sixteen acres, on which he built a comfort- 
able modern residence, in which to pass his re- 
maining days. His children, to whose welfare 
Mr. Meyer is devoting himself, are named John, 
Millie, Eva and Lydia. They and their father 
are consistent members of the German Reform 
church. Mrs. Meyer died September 5, 1885, 
at the age of forty years and twenty days, a 
member of the Mennonite church. 



EENRY CLAY MUMMA, a prominent 
farmer and fruit grower of Harrison 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born in this township, April 8, 
1838. He is a son of Jacob H. and Susan 
(Brumbaugh) Mumma, the former of whom was 
a native of Maryland. Jacob H. and Susan 
Mumma were the parents of five children, all 
sons, three of whom are still living, as follows: 
Henry Clay, David H. and George W. 

Jacob H. Mumma came to Ohio with his 
parents in 1827. They located in Harrison 
township, and in this county Mr. Mumma 
lived most of his life, but spent some two 
years in Clarke county. From 1845 to 1 875 
he lived in Madison township, and after a few 
months in Champaign county he returned to 
Harrison township, where he lived with his 
son, Henry Clay, until the spring of 1881. He 
then went to Miami county, and died there in 
the spring of 1879, at the age of seventy-nine 
years. His wife died December 25, 1873, at 
the age of fifty-six, and he then married Bar- 
bara Rowe, widow of John Hess. She died 
in December, 1894. Both were members of 
the German Baptist church. 

Henry Mumma, the paternal grandfather 
of Henry C, was of German descent and a 
native of Maryland. Coming to Ohio in 1827, 



he located in Harrison township, living there 
until his death, which occurred in 1853. He 
had a family of three sons and two daughters. 
The maternal grandfather, William Brum- 
baugh, was an early settler in Ohio, but later 
removed to Kosciusko county, Ind., where he 
died at an advanced age. He and his wife 
reared a family of ten children. 

Henry Clay Mumma has been a resident of 
Harrison township most of his life. His edu- 
cation was received in Madison township, in 
the district schools, and though quite limited, 
because of the inferior facilities of the day, has 
been supplemented by his own subsequent 
study until now he is among the best-informed 
men of his county. 

On September 30, i860, Mr. Mumma mar- 
ried Miss Ann Black, daughter of Thomas 
Black. To this marriage there have been born 
fourteen children, as follows: Arthur V., 
Belle, Sarah, Martha, Thomas, Amanda, Cora, 
John, Eve, Leo, Effie, Walter and two that died 
in infancy. Sarah, Amanda, Effie and Walter 
are also now dead. Arthur V. married Aman- 
da Neiswinger, who is now deceased. He 
afterward married Amanda Minnick, by whom 
he has two children, viz: Wilbur and Willard. 
Belle married Thomas Nichol, and has four 
children, viz: Joseph, William, Ivy and Wal- 
ter. Martha married William Ehrbaugh, and 
has three children, Clarence, Ethel and Ber- 
tha. Cora married Augustus Haines, and has 
three children, Harlan, Maizyand Howard H. 

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Mumma are 
members of the German Baptist church. After 
his marriage Mr. Mumma moved upon his fa- 
ther's farm, which he managed for four years 
on shares, and at the end of this time he 
bought the place, which now contains 144 
acres. While during most of his life on the 
farm he was engaged in general agriculture, he 
has of late given considerable attention to the 
raising of fruit and to gardening. He is a 



1150 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



member of one of the oldest and best families 
in the county, and by his honorable and up- 
right career, is most creditably sustaining its 
reputation. 



a LINTON MYERS, a farmer and nur- 
seryman of Jefferson township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, was born on 
the farm he now owns and occupies, 
July 10, 1842, a son of Emanuel and Eliza- 
beth (Furner) Myers, natives of Maryland and 
Juniata county, Pa., respectively, and of Ger- 
man descent. 

Michael Myers, a native of Strassburg, 
Germany, and grandfather of Clinton Myers, 
came from Maryland to Ohio in 1803, and 
purchased a section of land in Jefferson town- 
ship, on a portion of which Clinton still resides. 
His wife bore the maiden name of Billmyer, 
and their male children were named Moses, 
Martin, Michael, Emanuel and Menassah, be- 
side whom they were the parents of three 
daughters. Michael Myers was a man of con- 
siderable wealth in his day, lived to see his 
section of land in Montgomery county cleared 
up and improved, and on this land he died, a 
respected pioneer, at a good old age. 

Emanuel Myers, father of Clinton Myers, 
was reared in Jefferson township, on the pater- 
nal homestead, where he passed all his life, 
and died in 1853, aged fifty-seven years. 

Clinton Myers, only child born to Emanuel 
Myers and wife, was reared to farming on the 
old Myers homestead, where, with the excep- 
tion of five years passed in Miami township, 
Montgomery county, he has always resided. 
The common schools of his native township 
afforded him a plain education, and general 
farming, in connection with the growing of 
nursery stock, has always been his occupation. 
In 1866 Mr. Myers married Miss Phebe J. 
Holderman, of Jefferson township, and to this 



union several children have been born, of whom 
three are living, viz: May (Mrs. Charles S. 
Billman), Howard M. and Musetta E. In his 
politics Mr. Myers is a democrat, and has 
served as a member of the board of agriculture 
for two terms; he is a Knight of Pythias in his 
fraternal relations, and being a member of one 
of the oldest families of Jefferson township and 
an upright and useful citizen, is held in high 
estimation by the community in which he lives. 



«V^~\ ENHART ORTMAN, a successful 
l(^^ agriculturist of Clay township, Mont- 
JK < _J gomery county, Ohio, is a native of 
Hanover, Germany, born August 31, 
1847, and is a son of Henry and Ricky (Pans- 
ing) Ortman, natives of the same country, 
where their marriage took place. 

Henry Ortman was born October 18, 18 17, 
was reared a farmer, and to his marriage were 
born twelve children, eight of whom reached 
years of maturity, viz: Benhart, Mary, John, 
Frederick, Minnie, Lizzie, Henry and Ricky. 
In 1848 Henry Ortman, with his wife and 
child, Benhart, sailed from Bremen for 
America, and after a voyage of seven weeks 
landed in New Orleans, whence he came direct 
to Miamisburg, Montgomery county, Ohio. 
There he worked as a miller, and also as fore- 
man in an oil factory, until 1861, when he 
settled on the farm of ninety-five acres in 
Clay township, now occupied by his son Fred- 
erick, and where he died November 19, 1875, 
a member of the Lutheran church. He was 
in politics a democrat, and a man of moral 
life and greatly respected in his neighborhood. 
He brought up with careful training those of 
his children who grew to maturity, all of whom 
were born in Montgomery county with the ex- 
ception of Benhart, who was but an infant 
when he was brought to the United States by 
his parents. Mrs. Ortman, mother of Ben- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1151 



hart, passed away November 19, 1888, a 
devout member of the Lutheran church. 

Benhart Ortman received a good common- 
school education, and was trained as a farmer 
and carpenter. August 2, 1873, he married 
Annie Cook, who was born April 9, 1847, in 
Hanover, Germany, a daughter of John and 
Catherine (Deilts) Cook, or Koch, as it was 
spelled in German. 

John Cook was born in Hanover, Germany, 
October 18, 1817, a son of Henry and Annie 
(Benhart) Cook, who were the owners of a 
farm of twenty acres, were quite well-to-do, 
and were the parents of the following named 
children: John, Henry, Klass Henry, Cort 
Henry, Paul and Mary. The father was a 
soldier in the German army for five years and 
with Napoleon I in the campaign against Mos- 
cow, and, like all the rest in that famous re- 
treat, nearly perished with cold and hunger. 
He died in Germany at the age of fifty-one 
years, a member of the Evangelical church. 
John, his son, the father of Mrs. Ortman, was 
a blacksmith by trade, and to his marriage 
with Catherine Deilts, who was born July 5, 
181 5, in the same German village with him- 
self, and was a daughter of John and Elizabeth 
(Blotner) Deilts, there were born, in the old 
country, two children, Annie and Catherine. 
Mr. Cook came to America in 185 1, landed in 
New York in July, after a passage across the 
ocean lasting seven weeks, came to Montgom- 
ery county, moved thence to Darke county, 
and there cleared up a farm of fifty acres. 
Later he sold this farm and came to Clay 
township, Montgomery county, bought a farm 
of eighty acres, and here passed the remainder 
of his life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ortman, after their marriage, 
lived for two years on the Cook farm, and in 
1877 bought thirty acres of the Cook home- 
stead, whereon Mr. Ortman erected a hand- 
some residence and a number of other good 



buildings. In 1890 he took up his residence 
on his present place of fifty-two acres, which 
he has also converted into a fruitful and most 
pleasant farm and delightful home. In poli- 
tics Mr. Ortman is a democrat, but has never 
been an office-seeker. By diligence and atten- 
tion to his calling he has gained a comfortable 
competency, and has won for himself and fam- 
ily a well-deserved respect. 



V^VHILEMON W. PEIRSON, a resident 

I I of Wengerlawn, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and one of the old settlers of 
this county, is a son of a pioneer of 
Clay township. Jonathan Peirson, his grand- 
father, was born near Trenton, N. J., and 
married Sarah Lalon, who was born January 
27, 1767. Both the Peirson and Lalon fam- 
ilies were of Irish descent. Of the Lalon 
brothers ten were in the Revolutionary war. 

Jonathan Lalon and his wife were the par- 
ents of the following children, beside Sarah: 
Millicent, born October 22, 1787; Elizabeth, 
born June 30, 1790; Rachel H., born May 12, 
1796; Edward B., born June 28, 1801, and 
Sarah V., born April 15, 1806. 

Jonathan Peirson, father of Philemon W. , 
was born in New Jersey, July 2, 1793, and in 
18 16 married Mary Hart, born in New Jersey, 
June 27, 1794. He was a soldier in the war 
of 18 12, and was engaged in a fight off Sandy 
Hook. To Mr. and Mrs. Peirson there were 
born the following children: George W., born 
February 3, 1817; Sarah, born June 22, 1819; 
Jonathan J., born September 6, 1821; Mary 
A., born December 9, 1823; Philemon W., 
born January 14, 1826; Samuel F., born April 
23, 1828; Andrew J., born July 1 1, 1832; and 
Elizabeth A., born May 29, 1837. Jonathan 
Peirson, the father of these children, removed 
with his family to Ohio in 18 16, making the 
journey with horses and wagon, and, upon ar- 



] 152 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



riving in this state, settled in Warren count)', 
and there bought land. After living there 
until 1829, he removed to Montgomery coun- 
ty and entered land just west of Mr. Carmony, 
and cleared up about ten acres. After living 
on this land about one year he settled on 160 
acres, upon which his son Philemon now lives. 
At that time it was all woods, but he built a 
log cabin, and by dint of hard and persistent 
labor cleared up his farm and made a good 
home. Both he and his wife were members of 
the Old School Baptist church, and in politics 
he was a democrat. He was a sturdy pioneer, 
and everywhere noted for his honesty, high 
character and sterling worth. He lived to be 
sixty-four years old, dying October 2, 1857. 

Philemon W. Peirson, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Warren county, Ohio, and 
received but a limited education, that being re- 
ceived in the old-fashioned subscription school. 
He was reared a pioneer among the early pio- 
neers of Montgomery county, on his father's 
farm, and on September 6, 1846, married 
Elizabeth Myers, daughter of Martin and Eva 
(Besecker) Myers. Mr. and Mrs. Peirson set- 
tled on the old homestead, and upon this farm 
they still live. They are members of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, and in politics Mr. Peir- 
son is a democrat. He is a well-known citizen, 
and has been a hard working and industrious 
man, and enjoys the respect and confidence of 
all. The Peirson family is one of the old pio- 
neer families of Montgomery county, and is 
descended from the best of ancestry. Mr. 
Peirson has a good farm of 100 acres, with valu- 
able improvements upon it, including a most 
pleasant residence. 

Mr. and Mrs. Peirson adopted Rachael A. 
Smith when she was three years old, rearing 
her as if she were their own child. She mar- 
ried John Eisner, and they had a son named 
Henry Weslay. Mr. Eisner died, and his 
widow then married Cyrus Palmer, and by him 



has three children. When she married the 
second time Mr. Peirson gave her thirty-one 
acres of land. 



aHARLES F. POWELL, M. D., regu- 
lar physician and surgeon of Mad 
River township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born in Wayne township, 
same county, September 23, 1857. He is a 
son of John C. and Hester A. M. (Wells) Pow- 
ell, the former a native of England, the letter 
of Virginia. They were the parents of nine 
children, five sons and four daughters, six of 
whom are now living, as follows: Jennie, wife 
of S. M. Houck; Louisa, wife of B. F. Stoner; 
John W., Albert H., Charles F. and William G. 
John C. Powell was brought to this country 
by his parents when he was a boy. They 
landed at Wilmington. Del., and afterward 
lived in Pennsylvania until about 1832, when 
they removed to Dayton, Ohio, and here Mr. 
Powell engaged in mechanical work. He cast 
his first vote in 1836, in the brick building 
which stood where the old court house now 
stands. After reaching Dayton Mr. Powell 
learned the trade of millwright, which he fol- 
lowed for a numberof years. He tnen married 
and engaged in farming. His marriage took 
place in 1 839, and in 1 889 he and his wife cele- 
brated their golden wedding. They are now 
living in Wayne township, where they have 
lived for more than fifty years. Mr. Powell 
has always been an industrious man, and has 
accumulated a competency, and at the present 
time has a finely improved farm. He and his 
wife are members of the United Brethren 
church. Mr. Powell was for many years a 
member of the school board, has served also 
as constable and justice of the peace, and has 
always been much esteemed in the community. 
The paternal grandfather of Dr. Powell re- 
moved to Lawton, Mich., and died there at an 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1153 



advanced age. He and his wife reared a family 
of six children. While living in England he 
served as a soldier in the British army. The 
maternal grandfather lived in Miami county, 
on a farm near Tippecanoe, and was one of 
the eariy settlers there, having come from Vir- 
ginia, his native state. He was a slaveholder, 
but becoming satisfied that slavery was wrong 
he emigrated to Ohio, freeing his slaves. He 
died in Miami county, at a ripe old age, highly 
respected by all that knew him, for his sense 
of right and justice and for the blameless char- 
acter of his life. 

Charles F. Powell, M. D., was reared on 
the farm in Wayne township, and received his 
education in the district schools. Then, at- 
tending Miami Medical college, he graduated 
from that institution in 18S0. After complet- 
ing his medical studies he began the practice 
of his profession in Osborn, Greene county, 
Ohio, and after seven years of laborious prac- 
tice was obliged to abandon that calling on ac- 
count of ill health. Going to California and 
remaining there for some months, he returned 
much improved in health, and resumed the 
practice of medicine in Osborn, but shortly 
afterward was again compelled to abandon it, 
for the same reason as before. Selling his 
home, he removed to Montgomery county in 
1887, purchasing a part of the farm on which 
he is at present living, and entered upon farm- 
ing for his health, with very beneficial results. 

Dr. Powell was married June 9, 1881, to 
Miss Alia Eaton, daughter of Amos and Susan 
(Stutsman) Eaton, of Mad River township. 
To this marriage there have been born three 
children, two sons and a daughter, viz: Milo 
E., Lottie B. and Cyrus W. Dr. Powell is a 
member of the Order of United American Me- 
chanics, and though in former years a repub- 
lican is now a prohibitionist. Both he and his 
wife are members of the Central Church of 
Christ of Dayton, and active in religious work. 



His farm contains 100 acres of land, and lies 
about four miles from the court house. 



'^■t'AC'OB PULS, one of the pioneer 
■ farmers of Jackson township, Mont- 
ftt J gomery county, Ohio, was born in Leb- 
anon county, Pa., November 15, 1816. 
His father, Jacob Puis, Sr. , also a native of 
the Keystone state, descended from a colonial 
family of German extraction, was a carpenter 
by trade, and married, in Lancaster county, 
Pa., Polly Knouse, to which union were born 
Solomon, George, Polly, Jacob, Daniel, Sam- 
uel and Catherine. In 1821 Mr. Puis brought 
his family to Ohio and settled on the German- 
town and Farmersville pike, in Jackson town- 
ship, Montgomery county, where he passed the 
remainder of his life on his farm, dying at the 
age of seventy-two years, a member of the 
German Reformed church. 

Jacob Puis, the subject of this biography, 
grew to manhood in Jackson township, and 
learned the carpenter's trade, at which he 
worked for twenty-five years. He married, 
in Jackson township, in April, 1841, Miss 
Elizabeth Basore, who was born in Lebanon 
county, Pa., about 18 16, a daughter of Adam 
and Mary (Creiter) Basore, who had settled 
in Montgomery county and were the parents 
of Philip (who died in Pennsylvania), David, 
Elizabeth, Joseph and Daniel. Mr. Basore 
died here at the age of sixty years. Mr. Puis, 
after his marriage, lived one year in Farmers- 
ville, and then bought eighty acres in this 
township, on which he lived for thirty years 
and which he greatly improved; about 1870 
he settled on his present farm, which is one 
of the best in the neigborhood, and contains 
160 acres. 

The children born to Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Basore) Puis were named Mary A., Rachel 
L. (who died at sixteen years of age), Eliza 



1154 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



(who died at the age of nineteen), William, 
Joseph and Allen. Of these Mary A. is mar- 
ried to Elijah Oldfelter, a farmer of Indiana, 
and has six children; Eliza was married to 
Jacob Stiner, but died two .years afterward, 
leaving one child; William, a farmer in Ger- 
mantown, married Althea Rodeheffer, and is 
the father of seven children; Joseph and 
Allen live on the home farrii. Mr. Puis has 
now fourteen grandchildren and eleven great- 
grandchildren. The mother of the above 
family died August 12, 1880, a devout member 
of the Lutheran church and a woman of many 
virtues. Mr. Puis has been a member of this 
church since he was twenty years of age and 
has been an elder for thirty-five years, and for 
many years a trustee. He has been liberal 
in his contributions toward its support and 
aided materially toward the erection of the 
Lutheran church edifice south of Farmington. 
In politics he is a democrat. 

Mr. Puis has led a long and useful life, has 
always been industrious and thrifty, but never- 
theless generous, and has always maintained 
the integrity of an upright character. 



BENRY N. REED, now of Clay town- 
ship, was born in Madison township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, August 7, 
1S27, educated in the pioneer school- 
house of that day, and was trained to the life 
of a farmer. 

Peter Reed, his father, was born in Penn- 
sylvania in 1804, of German ancestry, and was 
still a young man when he came to Ohio and 
settled in Montgomery count}', married Wilhel- 
mina Neipmann.and bought a tract in the woods 
of Madison township. He cleared off the 
forest and brought forth a fertile farm, on 
which he passed the remainder of his days, 
and died in 1886, at the good old age of eighty- 
two years. His children were born and named 



in the following order: Abraham N. (now de- 
ceased), John N., Henry N., Michael N. and 
Benjamin N. Mr. Reed was a member of the 
German Baptist church, to which, also, his 
family gave adherence, and was one of the 
solid farmers of Madison township, well-known 
as a useful and upright citizen. 

Henry N. Reed, on attaining his twenty- 
fifth year, entered into the bonds of matri- 
mony, August 26, 1852, in Clay township, 
with Miss Mary Cloppert, who was born Sep- 
tember 2, 1825, a daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth Cloppert, who also came from Pennsyl- 
vania. Mr. Cloppert was a substantial farmer, 
owning 115 acres in Clay township, and had a 
family of eight children: Henry, Mary, Bet- 
sey, Susan, David, John, Isaac and Ephraim. 
He died at the age of eighty-four years, a 
member of the German Baptist church. Mr. 
Reed and his young wife went to housekeeping 
on a rented farm in Clay township, on which 
they lived and prospered until 1859 or i860, 
when Mr. Reed bought a tract of sixty-five 
acres, in the same township, cleared off the 
timber, erected a good house and all the nec- 
essary farm buildings, and soon had a most 
comfortable home as well as a profitable farm. 
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Reed was blessed 
by the birth of five children, viz: Sarah, Mary 
A. (who died at the age of twenty-two years), 
Catherine, John and Susan. These children 
are all married and the four survivors are well 
situated in life. Sarah married Jacob Pefrly, 
a farmer of Kansas; Mary A. was married to 
N. J. Niswanger, and became the mother of 
three children; Catherine became the wife of 
John Procter, a farmer; John, now farming in 
Kansas, married Delia Mills, who has borne 
him three children; Susan is the wife of A. B. 
Turner, and is the mother of four children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reed are consistent and faith- 
ful members of the German Baptist church, to 
the support of which they contribute liberally 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1155 



of their means, and also give their active moral 
support in the advancement of both its spirit- 
ual and material progress. In his political 
views Mr. Reed is a democrat, and is a strong 
advocate of temperance. Kis life has been a 
well-spent and useful one, and he has fairly 
earned his conceded place as one of Clay town- 
ship's best citizens. 



>*j*OHN REEL, of Farmersville, Ohio, 
J one of the most venerable men in the 
/• 1 state and probably the oldest in Mont- 
gomery county, springs from German 
stock, his great-grandfather having come to 
this country from Germany. Peter Reel, fa- 
ther of John, was a farmer of Virginia. He 
married Elizabeth Folk, by whom he had the 
following children: Daniel, Polly, Sallie, 
Jacob, Abraham, Susannah and John. Peter 
Reel was a citizen of Berkeley county, Ya., 
and lived to be a middle-aged man, dying from 
an accident. He was a man in comfortable 
circumstances, and owned slaves. While he 
was a member of the Lutheran church, his wife 
was a member of the German Reform church. 
Both died in V irginia. All of the children are 
now deceased except the subject of this sketch. 
John Reel was born in Berkeley county, 
Va.. December 19, 1803, on Dry Run, about 
three miles from Martinsburg. When his fa- 
ther died he was nine years old, his mother 
dying three years later. From that time on 
he was reared by his guardian's son-in-law, 
David Wolf. While his educational advan- 
tages were but limited, yet he learned to .read 
and write and got as far as the " Rule of 
Three," in arithmetic. In 18 12, he went with 
David Wolf to Washington count)', Md. , and 
thare lived until he was twenty-six years 
old. Coming to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
in 1829, he made a journey to the Ohio river 
on foot, having a pair of saddle-bags, in which 



he carried his personal effects. Reaching the 
Ohio river at Wheeling, he went to Cincinnati, 
walked thence to Dayton. Going on to Ger- 
mantown, consisting at that time of but a few 
houses, he went to work for the Rev. J. King, 
whose sister, Ann Maria King, Mr. Reel mar- 
ried July 29, 1829. Mrs. Reel was born in 
1 801, in Martinsburg, Va., a daughter of Jacob 
King, who came to Montgomery county in 
1828, settling in German township, with his 
son, Rev. J. King, a minister of the United 
Brethren church. Jacob King was the father 
of the following children: Jacob, John, Isaac, 
Ann Maria and Elizabeth. Mr. King was an 
aged man when he came to Ohio and had then 
retired from active life. He was a wagon- 
maker by trade, and had lived for many years 
at Hagerstown, Md. In religion he was iden- 
tified with the United Brethren church, of 
which he was one of the first members. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. John 
Reel, during the first week of September, 1 829, 
moved to his present farm, then containing too 
acres, thirty of which were cleared. Mr. Reel 
had carefully saved his wages and was thus 
enabled to pay for his farm, which by industry 
and thrift he greatly improved and made a 
pleasant home. He and his wife were the 
parents of the following children: Elizabeth, 
Eleanor, Magdalena, Ann Maria, Jacob, David 
K. and Catherine, the latter of whom died 
quite young. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reel were members of the 
United Brethren church, in which he was a 
class leader and trustee for many years. 
Politically, Mr. Reel was in early life a demo- 
crat, then an old-line whig, then republican, 
and at last a prahibitionist. He voted for 
Andrew Jackson for president in 1828, for 
William Henry Harrison in 1840, for John C. 
Fremont in 1856, for Abraham Lincoln in 
i860 and 1864, and has voted for one of the 
candidates at every presidential election since. 



1156 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



He has always been an honored citizen, 
retiring in disposition, frugal and temperate in 
his habits, and has reared an excellent family. 
Now, at the age of ninety-three, he is still 
strong and vigorous, and well preserved. 

Of his children, Elizabeth Reel married 
Henry Snyder, and has one son; Eleanor mar- 
ried Daniel Stiver, and has four children; Mag- 
dalena married Frederick Ade, and has one 
child living; Maria married John W. Moyer, 
now deceased, and had one child, who is 
also deceased. Mr. Reel's children are devot- 
edly attached to him and are striving to make 
his declining years free from all care. 



■^"j'AMES A. RICE, one of the most ex- 
m perienced farmers of Carrollton Sta- 
<% J tion, Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio (the post-office being 
named West Carrolltonj, was born in Fred- 
erick county, Md., May 24, 1825, and is a son 
of James and Rebecca (Drill) Rice, both 
natives of Maryland, and, respectively, of Eng- 
lish and German descent. 

James Rice came from Maryland to Ohio 
in 1835, and, with his small family, located in 
Harrison township, Montgomery county, but 
afterward removed to Van Buren township, 
following farming as an occupation, although 
he had been reared a miller. Mrs. Rebecca 
Rice died before the family moved to Van 
Buren township, but the father survived for 
some years and died in Van Buren township on 
the farm on which his children were reared. 

James A. Rice, from the age of ten years, 
lived in Montgomery county, was educated in 
the common schools, and has all his life been 
a farmer. He began on his own account by 
renting a place in Van Buren township, on 
which he lived for twenty-five years, when he 
came to Jefferson township, in 1861, and pur- 
chased the farm of eighty-eight acres, on 



which he has since resided, and on which he 
has made most of the improvements. His 
farm is a model one, is unsurpassed in fertility, 
and been brought to its present state of perfec- 
tion through the exertions and skill of Mr. 
Rice himself, aided by his elder children. Mr. 
Rice's marriage took place September 16, 
1847, to Miss Hannah Updyke, daughter of 
Albert and Rebecca (Reeder) Updyke, of Van 
Buren township, and the result of the union 
has been the birth of nine children, viz: 
Charles, Albert, Oliver, Newton, Wilson, 
Willie, Elmer, Emma and Olive. In politics 
Mr. Rice is a democrat, but has always been 
devoid of ambition as an office seeker, con- 
tenting himself with the exercise of his fran- 
chise. He has been industrious and is now 
enjoying the reward of that industry, while his 
high standing in the community in which he 
lives is well deserved. 



B RANK J. RIEGEL, farmer of Jackson 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born in Berks county, Pa., April 
11, 1 83 1, a son of David and Eliza- 
beth (Kaucher) Riegel, of whom further facts 
may be read in the biography of John Riegel. 
When but one year old he was brought by his 
parents to Ohio, was reared on the home farm 
among the pioneers and received the usual edu- 
tion of the backwoods schools. He married, 
in Jackson township, December 1, 1853, Miss 
Catherine Weaver, who was born June 23, 
1 83 1, in this township, a daughter of John I. 
and Catherine (Pence) Weaver. 

John I. Weaver was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, was born in 1799, of German parentage, 
and at the age of eight years was brought to 
Ohio by his parents, who settled in Jackson 
township, Montgomery county. Here he grew 
to manhood, married Miss Pence and went to 
farming on a tract of 160 acres, which he 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1157 



cleared up from the wild woods, adding to it 
until he owned about 500 acres, which at his 
death he divided among his children. These 
were named Sarah, Malinda, Mary M., Cath- 
erine, Urias, John D. and William A. In 
politics Mr. Weaver was a democrat and served 
as township trustee and treasurer. He died 
at the age of eighty-eight years, a deacon and 
elder in the Slyfer Lutheran church. John 
Pence, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Rie- 
gel, came from Virginia, and died in Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, at the advanced age of 
seventy-two years. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Riegel 
settled on the John B. Miller farm, in Jackson 
township, occupying 124 acres, and have now 
one of the best improved farms in the town- 
ship. Their marriage has been blessed with 
three children — Amanda H., Ellen N. and 
Altha I. Mr. Riegel is a consistent member of 
the United Brethren church, in which he has 
been a class leader for many years, and Mrs. 
Riegel is a member of the Reformed church. 
In his politics Mr. Riegel is a democrat and an 
advocate of the free silver doctrine, and is also 
an ardent prohibitionist. Of the children born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Riegel, Amanda H. is married 
to Allen Bussard, a farmer of Butler county, 
and has two children — Franklin P. and Elva 
E.; Ellen N. is the wife of John M. Ebbert, 
principal of the Nineteenth district public 
school, Dayton, and has three children — Le- 
Roy, Robert Laird andWendall; and Altha 
I. is married to Paris Binkley, a former hard- 
ware merchant of East Fifth street, Dayton, 
and now of San Diego, Cal. 



aHRISTIAN ROHRER, farmer and 
dairyman of Mad River township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
in this township, October 13, 1842. 

He is a son of Manin and Elizabeth (Kreider) 
51 



Rohrer, both natives of Lancaster county. Pa. 
They were the parents of five children, two 
sons and three daughters, as follows: Chris- 
tiana, Tobias, Maria (wife of Franklin P. 
Grimes), Christian and Martha, the latter the 
wife of E. J. Williamson. 

Martin Rohrer was a distiller by occupa- 
tion, and came to Ohio in 1834, settling on 
the farm upon which Christian, his son, now 
lives. Upon this farm he lived until his death 
in 1844, when he was forty-eight years of age. 
His wife survived him a number of years, dy- 
ing when she was sixty-three. Both were 
members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Rohrer 
purchased 1,200 acres when land was cheap, 
and so became a comparatively wealthy man. 

The paternal grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, Christian Rohrer, was born in 
Germany, came to the United States and set- 
tled in Pennsylvania. He and his wife reared 
a family of nine children, only one of whom is 
still living — Jacob, who is now eighty-four 
years of age. Each of the others lived to be 
at least eighty-five years of age. Christian 
Rohrer was a miller by trade, and also a 
farmer. His death occurred in Pennsylvania. 
The maternal grandfather of the subject, Henry 
Kreider, was also a native of Germany, came 
to the United States, followed the calling of a 
farmer, in Pennsylvania, and died in Lancaster 
county, that state. 

Christian Rohrer, whose name opens this 
sketch, was born and reared on the farm upon 
which he still resides. His early education 
was received in the district school, and after- 
ward he attended Farmers' college, at College 
Hill, Hamilton county, Ohio, taking a two- 
years' course. Returning to the farm, he was 
married, August 13, 1861, to Miss Caroline 
Carles, daughter of Daniel and Livonia (Rog- 
ers) Carles. To this marriage there have been 
born four children, as follows: Alice, George 
O, Rodney K. and Sylva C. Alice married 



1158 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the Rev. J. M. Bolton, of the Presbyterian 
church, and has one child, Carl; Sylva C. mar- 
ried Anna Nobling, and has one child, Esther. 
The others have not married. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer are members of the 
United Brethren church, and Mr. Rohrer, as 
a republican, served as township clerk three 
terms. He owns 250 acres of land, farming 
1 50 acres. For the past four years Mr. Rohrer 
has been engaged in the dairy business, having 
one of the best equipped dairy farms in the 
country. He is painstaking and methodical 
in the conduct of this enterprise, and has met 
with the success that follows thrift. 



m. 



[LLIAM RHOADES, farmer, of 
Jackson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a son of one of 
the pioneers of that township, and 
springs from Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry. 
His grandfather was Philip Rhoades, a farmer 
of Bedford county, Pa., who removed to 
Montgomery county between 1800 and 1805, 
bringing his family with him. Buying land in 
Jackson township, one mile west of where 
William Rhoades now lives, he built thereon 
a log cabin and cleared his farm. At that 
time there were but few settlers in Jackson 
township, so that Mr. Rhoades may justly be 
considered one of the original pioneers. He 
was a member of the Slyfer Reformed church, 
and politically was a democrat. He died on 
his farm at an advanced age. His children 
were as follows: John, Jacob, Henry, Lewis, 
Polly, Sallie and Esther. 

John Rhoades, the eldest son, and father 
of William Rhoades, was born in Bedford 
county, Pa., August 10, 1792, and was there- 
fore about ten years of age when his parents 
came to Ohio. When they reached Dayton, 
Ohio, after a long and tedious journey with 
teams and wagons, they found a small hamlet 



with only a few cabins clustered together. 
Young Rhoades was reared among the pioneers, 
received the best education obtainable in those 
early days, which was very limited, but being 
of an inquiring and active mind he gained a 
great deal of practical knowledge which he 
could not have acquired at school, and became 
a thoroughly successful farmer and sound busi- 
ness man. He married Catherine Ruby, who 
was born in Virginia, and who was a daughter 
of Jacob Ruby, who came to Montgomery 
county at about the same time with the 
Rhoades family. The children of Jacob Ruby 
were as follows: Jacob, John, Samuel, Sarah, 
Rebecca and Catherine. 

John Rhoades settled on the land upon 
which his son William now lives, about 126 
acres, which he purchased of his brother 
George. About twenty acres of this land had 
been cleared. The rest of it Mr.. Rhoades 
cleared, and erected upon it some of the best 
buildings then to be found anywhere in that 
part of the country. He was industrious and 
of sound judgment, and consequently pros- 
pered and aided all his children to get a start 
in the world. These children were as follows: 
Barbara, Mar}', John, Jacob, Catherine, Sarah, 
George, Anna, Peter, William and Lydia. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades were members of the 
Reformed church, and aided to erect the 
original log building in which this organization 
worshiped, and also its present brick structure. 
Politically Mr. Rhoades was a democrat, and 
was always a strong supporter of his part}'. 

William Rhoades, the subject of this sketch, 
was born on the old homestead farm, February 
4, 1840. Having been educated as well as 
could be in the common schools, he began 
early to work on the farm, to ride the horse in 
tramping out grain on the barn floor, and to 
perform other kinds of labor, then familiar to 
all but now superseded by improved methods. 
When he was thirty-two years of age he mar- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1159 



ried Matilda Stiver, the ceremony being per- 
formed December 15, 1872, and his wife being 
a daughter of Henry and Sophia (Rickle) 
Stiver. For fuller mention of Henry Stiver 
the reader is referred to his biography pub- 
lished elsewhere in this volume. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rhoades 
settled on the old homestead upon which they 
have ever since resided. They are the parents 
of the following children: Amanda A. , Charles 
E., John H., William F., Perry M., Matilda 
C. and Forrest L. Mr. Rhoades is a member 
of the German Reformed church, and Mrs. 
Rhoades of the Lutheran church, Mr. Rhoades 
being a liberal supporter of religious work. 
He has an excellent farm of 126 acres, which 
he has greatly improved. Politically he is a 
democrat, and he is a man that has made his 
own way in the world by means of integrity of 
purpose and action. 



Vt^ONATHAN SCHELL, one of the old- 
■ est and most respected residents of Jef- 
/• 1 ferson township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, was born in Berks county, Pa., 
December 10. 18 10, a son of Henry and Mar- 
garet (Lesherj Schell. who were also natives 
of Berks county and of Revolutionary ante- 
cedents. Peter Schell and John Lesher, re- 
spectively the paternal and maternal grand- 
fathers of Jonathan Schell, were born in 
Germany, came to America in their young 
manhood, and both became soldiers in the war 
for American independence, Mr. Lesher hav-. 
ing command of a company and having fought 
in the battles of the Brandywine and of Bun- 
ker Hill. Both these grandfathers finally be- 
came permanent settlers of and farmers in 
Berks county. Pa., where they passed the re- 
mainder of their days. 

Henry and Margaret (Lesher) Schell, par- 
ents of Jonathan, came from Pennsylvania to 



Ohio in 1820, and located in Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, where the father at first 
followed his trade of cooper; but farming was 
his principal occupation through life, although 
in his latter years he engaged in the manufac- 
ture of plow points. His death took place in- 
1864, and that of his wife in 1866, leaving to 
mourn their loss the following family of chil- 
dren: John; David; Catherine, now Mrs. An- 
thony Emert; Jonathan; Molly, now Mrs. 
Fred Yaukey; Sarah, now Mrs. Israel Staley; 
and Martha, now Mrs. Joseph Kutz. 

Jonathan Schell, it will be seen, passed the 
first ten years of his life in Pennsylvania. His 
later youth and earlier manhood were spent in 
Miamisburg, Ohio, in learning and in working 
at the cabinetmaker's trade, but later he en- 
gaged in farming near that town, and there 
lived until 185 1, when 'he moved to the farm 
he now occupies in Jefferson township, on 
which he has made many substantial improve- 
ments, including all the buildings, and which 
he has brought to a most excellent condition 
of productiveness. In his early youth, Mr. 
Schell helped to break the first furrow for the 
Miami canal. 

The marriage of Mr. Schell was solem- 
nized, in 1 83 1, with Miss Elizabeth Gebhart, 
daughter of George and Elizabeth (Cramer) 
Gebhart, the union being blessed with ten 
children, of whom eight are still living, viz: 
Peggy (Mrs. Amos Weaver), Henry, George, 
Martin, Jonathan, David, William and Sam- 
uel. Since the age of fifteen years, Mr. Schell 
has been a member of the Lutheran church — 
a period of over seventy years — and his seven 
sons and son-in-law worship in the same faith; 
in politics, they all are democrats. 

David P. Schell, son of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth (Gebhart) Schell, was born in Miami 
township, April 19, 1850, and grew to man- 
hood in Jefferson township, where he was ed- 
ucated in the public schools, and at the age of 



1160 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



twenty began farming on his own account. 
Since 1872 he has lived on his present farm of 
eighty-six acres in Jefferson township, part of 
which he cleared from the forest and all of 
which he has improved and placed under cul- 
tivation. The buildings, which are modern 
and substantial, have been erected by him, 
and the farm, as a whole, will compare favor- 
ably with any other of its size in the township. 
Mr. Schell was united in marriage Decem- 
ber 23, 1870, with Miss Mary M., daughter of 
George and Margaret (Beachler) Stine, of Jef- 
ferson township, and this union has been 
blessed by the birth of six children, viz: Cora 
(wife of Charles Brown), Jemima (Mrs. Will- 
iam Hartzell), Clara, Edna, Mary and George. 
The family are all members of the Lutheran 
church and enjoy a very high social standing 
among their neighbors. 



OWEN G. SHIVELEY, one of the old- 
est and most respected farmers of 
Jefferson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born here on the old 
Shiveley homestead, November 3, 1815, and 
was reared among the pioneers of the county. 
Christian Shiveley, Sr., his grandfather, 
was born near Hagerstown, Md., of German 
descent. He was married in his native state, 
and there were born to him children in the fol- 
lowing order: Jacob Christian, Daniel, David, 
Susannah and Elizabeth. Mr. Shiveley came 
to Ohio in the old pioneer days, settled in Jef- 
ferson township on 160 acres of land, and 
cleared up from the woods a comfortable 
home, and on this farm passed the remainder 
of his days, dying a highly honored citizen and 
a member of the Baptist church. 

Christian Shiveley, Jr., son of above and 
father of Owen G. , was also born near Hagers- 
town, Md., but moved thence to Pennsylvania, 
where he married Miss Susannah Gripe, who 



was born in Huntingdon county, that state, a 
daughter of John and Susannah (Rench) Gripe. 
The father of Mrs. Shiveley was a prosperous 
farmer and a minister in the German Baptist 
church. His children were named William, 
John, Joseph, Elizabeth, Susannah, Hannah 
and Catherine. Mr. Gripe came from Penn- 
sylvania as a pioneer to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and settled in Madison township, where 
he purchased a considerable body of land, and 
at his death was able to leave 160 acres to each 
of his children. After marriage Mr. Shiveley 
first located on a farm in Huntingdon county, 
Pa., and there eight children of his were born. 
Of these children, Christine and John died 
when young; David is also deceased; Owen G. 
is the subject of this sketch; Samuel; William 
died in Peru, Ind. ; Elizabeth and Susan are 
also deceased. The father of this family set- 
tled on a farm in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
some time prior to 18 10 — probably about 1804 
or 1805 — as may be inferred from the fact that 
he erected a two-story stone house in Madison 
township in 181 1; his original farm contained 
160 acres, which he cleared from the woods 
and subsequently increased to 400 acres. He 
was a member of the German Baptist church 
and died in that faith when about sixty-six 
years of age. 

Owen G. Shiveley was reared to farming 
among the pioneers of Montgomery county, 
there being but one house in Dayton — and that 
a log one — when his father settled in the coun- 
ty. He was permitted to attend the old-fash- 
ioned log school-house of his district as much 
as possible and received a very fair education. 
On the first day of January, 1845, he married 
Miss Hannah Ullery, a native of Madison 
township and a daughter of Joseph and Cath- 
erine (Gripe) Ullery. Her father, Joseph Ul- 
lery, was born in Huntingdon county, Pa., 
was a pioneer of Madison township and settled 
on a farm on Wolf creek, but later moved to a 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1161 



farm near South Bend, Ind. His children 
were born in the following order: Samuel, 
Stephen, John, Joseph, Jacob, David, Susan, 
Elizabeth, Catherine, Hannah (Mrs. Shiveley), 
Barbara and Esther. 

After his marriage, Mr. Shiveley occupied 
a part of the home farm for a year, and then 
came to his present place in Jefferson town- 
ship — then all in the forest — where he has 
carved out a pleasant home. Mrs. Shiveley 
here died, January 26, 1890, a member of the 
German Baptist church, and the mother of the 
following children: Christian R., Joseph U., 
Noah H., Francis M., Aaron V., JohnD., 
Susannah, Elizabeth and Esther. In politics 
Mr. Shiveley is a democrat and has served in 
several public offices. For more than twenty- 
five years he was assessor of Madison town- 
ship; he was also decennial land appraiser, was 
trustee of Jefferson township eight years, and 
United States enumerator of census one term. 
He was also treasurer of the Dayton & West- 
ern Turnpike company for over thirty years. 
He has filled every position with honor and 
credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction 
of the people, and no man to-day stands high- 
er than he in the esteem of the citizens of 
Montgomery county. 



>-j»AMES W. SMITH, a retired farmer of 
a Harrison township, was born within 
(• 1 four miles of Dayton, on the Troy pike, 
north of the city, November 17, 1843. 
He is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Deardorf) 
Smith, the former a native of North Carolina 
and the latter of Berks county, Pa. They 
were the parents of ten children, six sons and 
four daughters, as follows: Hannah, widow 
of James W. Lowry; Jacob, John; Margaret, 
wife of S. M. Foote; Benjamin, deceased; 
Mary J., widow of John S. Protsman; Martha, 
wife of S. W. Massey, of Osborn, Ohio; 



Franklin, deceased; William H. and James 
W. Henry Smith was by occupation a farmer, 
and at an early day settled near Springboro, 
Ohio. After living there a short time he re- 
moved to Dayton, where he remained for sev- 
eral years, and then bought a farm four miles 
north of Dayton, to which he removed, and 
added to it until at the time of his death he 
had about 700 acres of land. He was largely 
engaged in hauling wood to Dayton, and 
thereby became widely known as "Wood 
Smith." He and his wife were members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church; in fact, they 
were among the founders of Ebenezer Method- 
ist church, which many remember to the 
present day. His death occurred January 14, 
1 86 1, in his sixty-sixth year, while Mrs. Smith 
died December 9, 1878, at the age of seventy- 
seven years. 

The paternal grandfather of James W. 
Smith was a native of North Carolina. The 
maternal grandfather, Jacob Deardorf, was a 
native of Pennsylvania, came to Ohio in 1801, 
and settled near Springboro. He made the 
journey down the Ohio river by flatboat, 
landed at Cincinnati, and came thence direct 
to Springboro. Here he engaged in farming 
and in running a saw-mill for a number of 
years, reared a family of five children, and 
died upon his farm. 

James W. Smith was reared on the farm 
in Harrison township, and received a good 
education in the common schools. At the 
breaking out of the war he enlisted in the 
Eighty-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
served three months. After the war had closed 
be began farming and has followed that calling 
ever since, with the exception of about two 
years spent in Osborn. 

Mr. Smith was married March 5, 1872, to 
Miss Susanne Neff, daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Doan) Neff. To them have been born 
no children. They are members of the First 



1162 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Reformed church of Dayton, and Mr. Smith is 
a member of Reed Commandery, No. 6, K. T. 
He is also a member of the Old Guard post, 
G. A. R., and in politics is a republican. 

In 1895 Mr. Smith retired from farming 
and is now living free from care and responsi- 
bility, enjoying the results of his early labors, 
and the confidence and esteem of his fellow- 
men. He owns forty-six acres in his home 
place, and seventy-four acres in a farm in Har- 
rison township. He has' always been a pro- 
gressive farmer, and has taken great interest 
in forwarding the prosperity of the county and 
city. His beautiful home is on the new Troy 
pike, two and a quarter miles from the court 
house in Dayton. 



^y^V OAH SWANK, farmer, of Montgom- 
m ery county, Ohio, and now residing 
[ in Clay township, is a native of this 
county and was born in Perry town- 
ship, as was his father before him. 

John Swank, his grandfather, was the 
founder of the family in Montgomery county. 
He was a farmer and cleared up a tract of 160 
acres from the woods of Perry township. He 
was twice married, and had born to him the 
following children: Jacob, George, Aaron, 
Jabez, Joseph, John, Moses, Elizabeth, Sarah, 
Fannie, Susannah and Mary — Joseph being 
the only child by the first marriage. The fa- 
ther of these children died from the effects of 
an accident when about fifty years of age — a 
most respected pioneer. 

John Swank, sixth of the above sons and 
father of Noah, was reared on the home farm 
in his native township of Perry. He married 
Miss Barbara Nicewonger, a native of Clay 
township and a daughter of George Nice- 
wonger, a pioneer, who settled here when the 
Indians roamed the country at their own free 
will. John Swank and wife settled on a small 



farm in Clay township, which by hard work 
he cleared up and increased to eighty acres, 
and on this farm his son, Jabez Swank, now 
lives. John Swank was a minister in the 
church of the Brethren in Christ, and for 
thirty years preached in Perry, Clay and the 
surrounding townships, continuing in the min- 
istry until his death, which occurred in August, 
1878, when he had reached his fifty-sixth year. 
His children were five in number, and were 
named Noah, Jabez, Levi, Frances and Sarah, 
the last named of whom died in infancy. 

Noah Swank was born January 6, 1849, 
was reared a farmer and received a good com- 
mon-school education. October 30, 1873, he 
married, in Fairfield county, Ohio, Miss Sarah 
Huddle, who was born September 7, 1850, a 
daughter of Daniel and Barbara (Beery) Hud- 
dle. The father of Mrs. Swank, Daniel Hud- 
dle, was a son of Abraham, a native of Vir- 
ginia, who early settled in Fairfield county, 
cleared up a farm, and was the father of 
the following children, beside Daniel: Cath- 
erine, Rebecca, Barbara, Elizabeth, John, 
Sallie, Mary, Joel and Abraham. He was a 
sturdy pioneer, a member of the United 
Brethren church, and lived to an advanced age. 

Daniel Huddle was born in Fairfield county, 
Ohio, in 181 5, was a farmer, and married in 
his native county, becoming the father of the 
following children: Eli, John, Abraham, 
Noah, Daniel, Samuel, Solomon, Catherine, 
Elizabeth, Sarah and Lydia. He owned a 
nicely-cleared-up farm of 180 acres, and died 
in 1877, at the age of sixty-two years, a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Noah Swank have had born 
to their marriage seven children, viz: Theo- 
dore, Agnes, Charles E-. , Minnie and Ella, and 
Ira and Irving, twins, who died at the age of 
five months. The family are members of the 
United Brethren church, in which Mr. Swank 
is a trustee and steward. In his church work 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1163 



Mr. Swank has always been active and ardent, 
and has contributed largely to the erection of 
two houses of worship. In politics he is a re- 
publican, and has held the office of township 
trustee. He has a finely cultivated farm of 
165 acres, well improved in all respects, and is 
one of the most substantial and respected cit- 
izens of Clay township. 



aALEB THOMAS, one of the leading 
farmers and veterinary surgeons of 
Montgomery county, sprang from an 
old colonial family, which was of 
English origin. Isaac Thomas, his grandfa- 
ther, tame from South Carolina. He had two 
brothers, John and Abel, the latter of whom 
walked from South Carolina to Ohio with his 
family, having a pack horse to carry his effects. 
Isaac Thomas married Sarah Perkins, by whom 
he had the following children: John, William, 
Edward, Nehemiah, Ebenezer, Isaac, Eliza- 
beth and Mary. Isaac Thomas removed with 
his family to Montgomery county in 18 17, set- 
tling at Phillipsburg, his boys all securing land 
and settling near him. His daughters had 
married in South Carolina. Elizabeth married 
John Farmer, and Mary married Absalom 
Leeper, both families settling near Phillips- 
burg. At that time the country was a wilder- 
ness. Isaac Thomas entered part of the land 
on which Phillipsburg now stands, and cleared 
a farm of eighty acres, upon which he lived for 
many years and died an aged man. In relig- 
ion he was a Quaker, and assisted to build the 
Quaker church at Phillipsburg, in which the 
Friends or Quakers worshiped for many 
years. He was a man of weight and influence 
and his family owned many acres of land in the 
vicinity in which he lived. 

Isaac Thomas, son of the above Isaac, was 
born in South Carolina, February 25, 1804. 
He was of ancient Quaker stock and came with 



his parents to Ohio, settling in Montgomery 
county, at Becky Springs, near Dayton. In 
1 8 1 7 the family removed to Phillipsburg. In 
religion he was a Friend, by occupation a 
farmer, and married, October 26, 1827, Tamar 
Mendenhall, who was born September 9, 1802, 
being the first white child born in Union town- 
ship, Miami county, Ohio. She was a daugh- 
ter of Caleb and Susannah (Gardner) Menden- 
hall, the former of whom was born in Guilford 
county, N. C. , in which county he married 
Susannah Gardner. Both families were of 
English ancestry and Quakers in religion. 
Caleb Mendenhall and wife had the following 
children: Miriam, Griffith, William, Caleb, 
Susan, Grace, Tamar, Gardner, Christy, 
Rhoda, Kirk, eleven in all, and all lived to 
mature years. 'Caleb Mendenhall removed 
from North Carolina to Miami county, Ohio, 
settling in Union township. He cleared up 
a farm of 102 acres and built a brick dwell- 
ing upon his farm in 18 16, which was one of 
the first brick houses, if not the first, in his 
township. In his latter days he moved to 
Richmond, Ind., and there bought a farm, 
upon which he died when eighty years of age. 
His wife died when about seventy-three years 
old. Mr. Mendenhall removed from the south 
on account of slavery, he being a lover of free- 
dom and an abolitionist. 

In 1 82 1 Isaac Thomas entered ninety-two 
acres of land in Clay township, adjoining the 
present farm of his son Caleb, cleared the land 
and made a good home for his family. This 
farm he greatly improved by the erection of 
good build'ngsand in many other ways. Upon 
this land he never placed a mortgage, and it 
was still in the possession of his widow, Mrs. 
Tamar Thomas, at the time of her death, Oc- 
tober 3, 1896. Their children were as follows: 
Permelia, Harriet, Milo, Caleb, Seth, Susannah 
and Irvin, twins, and Elam. Permelia married 
Isaac Goodyear, of Miami county; Harriet mar- 



1164 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ried H. Jones, of Darke count}', Ohio. Isaac 
Thomas and his wife were Friends in religion, 
and he lived to be seventy-six years old, dying 
September 17, 1880, as the result of an acci- 
dent. He was a man of steady habits, of strong 
character, and prospered by thrift and industry. 
He possessed where he lived 262 acres of land, 
and in addition thereto eighty acres in Miami 
county. He was a widely and well known 
man, and it may be said of him that he lived a 
truly conscientious life. In politics he was a 
republican. His aged widow is now ninety- 
four years of age, and is yet in the possession 
of her mental faculties. 

Caleb Thomas, the subject of this sketch, 
was born February 23, 1834, on his father's 
farm. Receiving the customary ccmmon- 
school education of his time, he became well 
qualified to take care of himself, and to man- 
age any business affairs that might fall into his 
hands. On June 23, 1859, he married Har- 
riet Coffman, who was born October 16, 1837, 
and is a daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Hoover) Coffman, the former of whom was of 
Pennsylvania-Dutch descent, and whose chil- 
dren were as follows: Jane, John, George, 
Sarah, Susan, Eliza, Rebecca, Harriet, Cath- 
erine and Ellen. Mr. Coffman was a wagon- 
maker by trade and settled near Little York, 
Montgomery county, afterward removing to 
West Milton, Miami county, and at length to a 
farm near Phillipsburg, where he died at the 
age of seventy-two years, his wife dying when 
seventy-eight years old. Both were members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. 
Coffman was an exhorter and class leader. He 
was a man of fine character and well known 
for his high standard of conduct. 

Caleb Thomas, when a young man, went 
to Iowa, where he bought and ran a saw-mill 
in Jefferson county. After his marriage he re- 
turned to the farm, and 1863 removed to Clay 
township, and lived on his father's farm for 



three years. In 1865 he removed to a farm of 
his own, a fine tract of seventy-five acres, 
whose value he has greatly increased by the 
addition of excellent buildings and many other 
improvements. For the past thirty years he 
has practiced veterinary surgery, and has a 
large practice. In politics he is a republican 
and is an excellent citizen. He and his wife have 
had nine children, as follows: Charles W., 
who died when five years old; George J., who 
died at the age of thirteen months; John E., 
who died at the age of eight months; Adam 
S., who died at the age of twenty-seven years; 
Ellen E. ; Ora M. ; Ward, who died when sev- 
enteen years old; Tiffin A. and Alva P. Since 
Mr. Thomas has lived in Montgomery he has 
belonged to the Christian church, assisting to 
erect the church at Phillipsburg. 



^"^•AMUEL TEETER, farmer, of Madi- 
•^K* son township, Montgomery county, 

h\^_y Ohio, is a native of this county and 
was born August 10, 1834, a son of 
Abraham and Esther (Paulus) Teeter, natives 
of Bedford county, Pa., and of German de- 
scent. John Paulus, father of Mrs. Esther 
Teeter, was born in Bedford county, Pa., in 
1779, and died in 1835; his w ^ e was born in 
1782, and died in 1843. Abraham Teeter, 
father of Samuel, was a shoemaker and also a 
farmer, and early after his marriage came to 
Ohio and settled in Montgomery county, at 
Little York, whence he removed to Elkhart 
county, Ind., in 1835, and located on a farm 
of 160 acres near Goshen, where he passed 
the remainder of his life, he and his wife, 
strange to relate, dying almost at the same 
moment, in the same year, 1839. Their chil- 
dren, in order of birth, were named John, 
David, Daniel, Andrew, Samuel and Jacob. 

Samuel Teeter, the fifth of this family, was 
but a year old when taken to Indiana by his 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1165 



parents, and at their death he, David, Daniel 
and Andrew were brought back to Ohio to live 
with their maternal grandmother, in Madison 
township, Montgomery county. With her 
Samuel resided until he was ten years of age, 
when he went to live with David Brumbaugh. 
Mr. Brumbaugh died a year later, and Samuel 
continued to live with his widow, Catherine 
Brumbaugh, who was a daughter of John Van- 
imen, the pioneer of Madison township, until 
he was twenty-three years of age, in the mean- 
time learning the blacksmith's trade. At the 
age of twenty-three Mr. Teeter married, Feb- 
ruary 25, 1858, Miss Mary Vanimen, who was 
born January 4, 1838, a daughter of Jacob 
and Mary (Bowman) Vanimen. Two years 
after marriage Mr. Teeter bought eighty acres 
of land in Madison township, upon which he 
lived for about twelve years, when he moved 
to Osborn, Greene county, and bought a farm 
of 121 acres. In 1874 he returned to Madison 
township, and settled on his present farm of 
156 acres, where he has since lived and greatly 
prospered. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Teeter have been born 
the following children: George W. , William 
P., Charles E., Mary Martha, Albert and Ida 
Lizzie (twins), Barbara E., John, Jessie, 
Laura, Annie and Maud. Of this family, 
George W\, a farmer of Randolph township, 
is married to Mary Flory and has one child; 
William P. is a carpenter and builder of 
Springfield, Mo., is married to Martha Reed, 
and has two children; Charles E. , also a car- 
penter and builder, married Jennie Dishman, 
and has one child; Mary M. is married to Uxiah 
Keener, of Madison township, and has one 
child; Ida Lizzie is married to Ambrose Landis, 
a school-teacher of Madison township, and 
has one child; Barbara E. is the wife of Isaac 
Brumbaugh, a farmer near Brookville, Ohio, 
and has two children; John is in a rolling-mill 
at Saint Louis, Mo., married Flora Meckley, 



and has one child. The remainder of Mr. 
Teeter's children are still unmarried and reside 
with their parents. Mr. and Mrs. Teeter are 
devout members of the German Baptist church 
and have reared their children in the same 
faith. In politics Mr. Teeter is a democrat, 
and is in all respects a good and useful citizen. 



fft 



ILLIAM UMBENHAUER, ofWen- 
gerlawn, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
an ex-soldier of the late Civil war, 
was born in Schuylkill county, Pa., 
May 14, 1 841. He is a son of Daniel and 
Catherine Hinebaugh Umbenhauer. Reared 
at home, he received the ordinary common- 
school education of the day, and when twenty 
years of age, on July 20, 1S61, enlisted at 
Harrisburg in company G, First Pennsylvania 
light infantry, under Capt. West, to serve 
three years or during the war. Re-enlisting on 
January 2, 1864, at Mountain Creek, Va., he 
enrolled the next day, and served in company 
F, same regiment, until finally discharged, 
June 10, 1865, at Harrisburg, Pa., John F. 
Campbell being his captain during his second 
period of enlistment. The entire period of his 
service was three years and eleven months. 

Mr. Umbenhauer was in the hardest-fought 
battles of the campaigns before Richmond; 
among them the Seven Days' battle, the battle 
of James river, the second battle of Bull Run, 
of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 
Bristow Station, and Gettysburg, the battles of 
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House and 
Cold Harbor, and in front of Petersburg. Thus 
he participated in the hardest-fought battles of 
the Potomac, and was in the fierce artillery 
duel at the battle of Gettysburg, when four 
hundred gunners, two hundred on each side, 
were in action at once, this being one of the 
hottest engagements he was in during the en- 



1166 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



tire war. In 1864 he was promoted to cor- 
poral for meritorious service, and was a cor- 
poral when discharged. He was fortunate 
enough not to be wounded or taken prisoner 
during his entire period of service, but was 
sick in hospital of typhoid fever for a short 
time in 1861, before he had participated in any 
battle, being in Washington City and in Balti- 
more while in hospital. Mr. Umbenhauer was 
in all the battles, campaigns and marches in 
which his regiment engaged, and was always 
an active soldier, performing promptly and 
cheerfully the duties laid upon him. 

After the war was over he returned to 
Schuylkill county, Pa., locating at Pine Grove, 
and there married Catherine Fry, who was 
born in that county April 20, 1847, and was a 
daughter of Henry and Sarah (Wren) Fry. 
The Fry family was of German origin. To 
Henry Fry and his wife there were born the 
following children: Harriet, William, John, 
Sarah C, Rebecca and David. John was in 
the Civil war, and served three years in the 
western army. 

After his marriage Mr. Umbenhauer settled 
in Pine Grove, but removed to Miamisburg, 
Ohio, in 1869, finally removing to Wenger- 
lawn in 1879. Here he has been engaged in 
various kinds of business and has purchased val- 
uable residence property. He is a member in 
good standing of Parmalee Horn post, G. A. 
R., of Lewisburg and West Baltimore. In 
politics Mr. Umbenhauer is a republican, and 
is a member of the United Brethren church. 

The family of Mr. Umbenhauer is of Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch stock. Daniel Umbenhauer, 
his father, was the father of the following chil- 
dren: Francis, Mary, Sarah, William, Chris- 
tian and Catherine. Daniel Umbenhauer came 
to Ohio vvith his son William, and died in Mi- 
amisburg at the age of sixty-nine. The chil- 
dren of William Umbenhauer are as follows: 
Sarah L. , Francis H., George Clayton, Ger- 



trude C, Amanda C, Emma and Ida M. 
The family is of excellent standing and reputa- 
tion among the citizens of the county. 



<a 



'ILLIAM WAGNER, a prominent 
farmer of Mad River township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born in Dayton township, now Mad 
River township, Montgomery county, Decem- 
ber 15, 1822. He is a son of Phillip and Es- 
ther (Bowman) Wagner, the former of whom 
was born in Rockingham county, Va. , near 
the natural bridge, and the latter in Pennsyl- 
vania. Philip Wagner settled in 1809 on the 
farm on which his son William now lives, pur- 
chasing originally 300 acres, paying therefor $5 
per acre. He had been for five years with 
Col. Johnson as his assistant, distributing sup- 
plies and rations among the Miami Indians. 
When the war of 18 12 broke out he enlisted 
in the American army under Gen. Hull, and 
was with that commander when he surrendered 
Detroit to the British. The British set their 
prisoners free, to find their way home through 
the wilderness as best they could, and to be 
hunted down and massacred by the Indians; 
but Mr. Wagner was among the fortunate 
ones, and found his way back to his farm. His 
military services being no longer required, he 
began clearing his farm and lived there until 
his death in 1851, when he was sixty-eight 
years of age. His wife survived him nine 
years, and died in her sixty-ninth year. She 
was a member of the Dunkard church, her 
father being a Dunkard preacher. Mr. Wag- 
ner was a prominent man in his day, holding 
various township offices. He was for some 
years largely engaged in stock raising, as well 
as in farming. 

Philip Wagner and his wife were the parents 
of eight children, five sons and three daugh- 
ters, as follows: John, Benjamin, William, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1167 



Philip, Jacob, Sarah, Mary and Catherine. 
Three of the eight are still living, viz: Will- 
iam, Philip and Jacob. 

The paternal grandfather of William Wag- 
ner was Philip Wagner, a native of Rocking- 
ham county, Va., and a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war. In 1794 he went down the Ohio 
river from Pittsburg to Cincinnati on a flat 
boat, Cincinnati then containing few buildings 
except the barracks. Not being able to find 
shelter in that city, he went to Newport, Ky. , 
and after remaining there a few months went 
up the Miami river to the mouth of Tom's 
%Run, near Middletown, and there bought a 
farm. This farm he sold in 1804 or 1805, 
and bought another just west of the present 
location of the soldiers' home, upon which he 
lived until his death, in 181 5, when he was 
about seventy-five years old. He was a man 
of unusual physical strength, and of great de- 
termination. He and his wife reared a family 
of eight children. 

The maternal grandfather of William 
Wagner was named John Bowman. He was 
a native of Pennsylvania, a farmer by occupa- 
tion, and a Dunkard in religious belief. About 
1794 he came to Ohio, settling in 1805 near 
Salem, where there had already collected quite 
a colony from Pennsylvania. Upon the farm 
he purchased there he lived the remainder of 
his life, dying when eighty years of age. 

William Wagner, the subject of this sketch, 
has lived on his present farm all his life. The 
place of his birth was at the cross-roads just 
east of his present house. In his youthful 
days he was accustomed to see all kinds of wild 
game roaming the woods, deer being frequent- 
ly seen in groups. He received his early edu- 
cation in the old-fashioned subscription school, 
and in the first school-house in the district, 
which was built on his father's farm. Re- 
maining at home until September 10, 1848, 
he was on that day married to Miss Mary Eliza 



Thorp, daughter of Veniah and Jane (Van 
Cleve) Thorp. To this marriage there was 
born one child, Esther, who died when she 
was fifteen years of age. Mrs. Wagner died 
October 12, 1895, at the age of sixty-eight, 
she and her husband having lived together 
forty-seven years. She was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, a most excellent' 
woman and a devoted wife. Mr. Wag- 
ner is a member of the order of Odd Fel- 
lows, and as a republican he served many 
years as trustee of his township, before, during 
and after the war. For the last thirty years 
he has entrusted the active management of his 
farm to a tenant, and during this long time 
Mr. Wagner has been engaged in dealing in 
real, estate. Beside the farm upon which he 
lives he also owns a fine farm of 250 acres in 
Van Buren county, Iowa, where his two 
brothers are now living. 



^^•AMUEL WAITMAN, one of the pio- 
*^^KT neer farmers of Clay township, Mont- 

h\^_J gomery county, Ohio, was born in 
Washington county, Pa., January 27, 
1 Si 5, and is of German descent. 

Jacob Waitman, his father, was born in 
the Keystone state in 1768, was reared a farmer 
and weaver, and was married in his native 
state to Miss Margaret Gelsinger. He brought 
his family to Ohio in 1827, and settled in 
Randolph township, Montgomery county, on 
ten acres of land, built a log house and cleared 
up his farm, but his life thereon was but short, 
as he died in 1831, a member of the Lutheran 
church. To Mr. and Mrs. Waitman were 
born the following named children: Margaret, 
Kate, John, Susan, Elizabeth, Lydia, Jacob, 
Benjamin, Samuel, Mary and Rose Ann. 

Samuel Waitman was about twelve years 
of age when he came from Pennsylvania to 
Ohio with his father's family, of whom the 



1168 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



male members walked all the way, young 
Samuel trudging manfully along with the 
others, and crossing the Alleghany mountains 
in November through a raging snowstorm. 
Being now arrived in Montgomery county and 
being one of the youngest of the pioneers, he 
had the privilege of attending the subscription 
school of Randolph township for the period of 
two weeks, the work of clearing away the 
forest calling him from his studies. Of this 
kind of work he did a great amount, as he 
assisted in clearing up many acres for the 
neighbors, working by the day or month. At 
the- age of twenty years he married, April 30, 
1835, in Clay township, Montgomery county, 
Miss Esther Linda Snell, a native of German- 
town, Montgomery county, born February 18, 
1 8 14, a daughter of George and Kate (Swank) 
Snell. George Snell was born in Pennsylvania 
and was a pioneer of Warren county, Pa. ; was 
a cooper by trade, and to him and his wife 
were born the following children: Esther 
Linda, Elizabeth, John, Eli, Lorenzo Dow, 
Henry, William, Julia A., Samuel, Franklin 
and Ellen J. 

After marriage, Samuel Waitman located 
near Arlington, Montgomery county, where he 
worked out one year, and then for eight years 
for Jacob Overholser, in Randolph township; 
he then bought two acres in the woods, built 
a log house, cleared off the place, worked in- 
dustriously, and prospered, adding to his farm 
from time to time until he now owns a fertile 
farm of fifty-five acres, with a comfortable 
dwelling. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Waitman sixteen children have been born, 
most of whom lived to reach maturity, and of 
whom seven are still living. Their births oc- 
curred in the order following: Harriet, Henry, 
Catherine, Lorenzo Dow, who died at the age 
of forty-seven; Susan, Caroline, Elizabeth 
(deceased) and Sarah, twins; Margaret, who 
died young; Mary Ann, who died when twenty- 



seven years old; Lydia A., who died in infancy; 
Amy R., who died at the age of two years; 
John and Maria, twins, both of whom died in 
infancy; Salomie, also deceased, and another, 
not named. The progeny of the parents of 
this family has been further increased by the 
birth of twenty-nine grandchildren and twenty- 
one great-grandchildren. The mother of this 
large family was called from earth March 25, 
1 89 1, a devoted member of the church of the 
Brethren in Christ, of which Mr. Waitman 
also has long been a member. In politics Mr. 
Waitman was first a democrat, then became 
a whig, and after the formation of the repub, 
lican party united with its ranks. He is one 
of the trustees of the Worman cemetery. He 
certainly deserves well of his fellow-citizens, 
as he has done as much as any man in the 
community toward clearing away the dense 
growth of forest and in bringing his township 
up to its present fruitful condition. 



>-j > OHN O. WARNER, farmer, of Clay 
M township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
(• 1 was born February 18, 1835, and de- 
scends from one of the old pioneer 
families of the county. 

John Warner, his grandfather, was born in 
Pennsylvania, there married, and had a family 
of nine children, viz: John, Conrad, Jacob, 
George, Mary, Catherine, Susan, Margaret 
and Elizabeth. In 1808 he came to Ohio, 
settled in Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, on the land now occupied by David 
Stoner, cleared the tract of the timber and 
wrought out a good farm. He was a sturdy 
pioneer, of exemplary character, lived to be 
quite an aged man, and died a member of the 
German Baptist church. 

George Warner, son of John and father of 
John O. Warner, was also a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, born in 1804, and was a lad of four 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1169 



years when brought to Ohio by his parents. 
He grew to manhood on his father's farm, 
which he largely assisted in developing as his 
own strength developed. His schooling was 
necessarily a matter of delay, as neither 
schools nor teachers were to be had in the 
wilderness where his lot was cast, and not 
until after marriage did he find a school in 
which to acquire the art of penmanship. But 
he became a thorough farmer, and at maturity 
married Miss Catherine Olinger, a native of 
Maryland and a daughter of John Olinger, 
then residing in Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Mr. Warner, on marrying, first located in 
Randolph township, then moved to Clay town- 
ship and settled on 121 acres, adjoining on 
the west, the farm now occupied by his son, 
John O. This tract Mr. Warner cleared up 
from the woods and converted into a produc- 
tive farm, on which he passed the remainder of 
his life. He died at the age of sixty-five 
years, a member of the German Baptist 
church, an honored man and the father of 
three children — Annie, Samuel and John O. 

John O. Warner, son of George, was 
reared on his father's farm and enjoyed very 
fair advantages for an education. March 10, 
1856, he married, in Miami county, Miss Eliza- 
beth Gump, a native of that county, born in 
1S36, a daughter of Daniel and Margaret 
(Karn) Gump. The father, Daniel Gump, was 
a native of Pennsylvania, was married in that 
state, and had born to him the following chil- 
dren, beside Mrs. Warner: Daniel, David, 
George, Jeremiah, John, Henry, Jacob and 
Mary. On coming to Ohio Mr. Gump settled 
on 200 acres of land in Miami county, cleared 
it from the woods, made a good home, and 
later bought sufficient land in Indiana to pre- 
sent each of his children with 160 acres. He 
lived to the age of seventy-two years and died 
a member of the German Baptist church. 

After his marriage Mr. Warner lived a year 



or so on the farm of his father-in-law in Mi- 
ami county, then bought 121 acres of said 
farm, to which he later added tracts of forty 
acres and twenty acres, across the county line, 
in Clay township, Montgomery county, his 
present homestead. Mrs. Elizabeth Warner 
was called from earth in 1880, leaving behind, 
to sorrow for her death, three children, Ida, 
George and Annie. In 1882 Mr. Warner 
married Mrs. Susan Shelby, widow of Chris- 
tian Shelby, and daughter of Andrew and 
Susan (Gibble) Horner. This lady, by her 
first marriage, was the mother of one child, 
John, who died at the age of eight years. Mr. 
and Mrs. Warner are devout members of the 
German Baptist church and enjoy a high po- 
sition in the regard of their neighbors. 



A~V*AMUEL H. WEAVER (deceased) 
*^^^kT was born on his father's farm in 

K s ^_ - / Jackson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, September 7, i860, a son 
of Daniel and Mary (Heineke) Weaver, and 
was baptized in the Lutheran church November 
30, i860. 

Daniel Weaver, his father, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, of German descent, and came 
to Ohio a young man. Here he was first mar- 
ried, in Montgomery county, to a Miss Rep- 
nogle, who bore him one son, Philip. After 
her death Mr. Weaver married Miss Mary 
Heineke, and this union was blessed with two 
children — Lewis A. and Samuel H. Daniel 
Weaver was a substantial farmer of Jackson 
township, and, being an early settler, cleared 
up from the wilderness the farm on which 
Mrs. Samuel H. Weaver now lives. He died 
in March, 1878, a member of the Lutheran 
church and an esteemed citizen. 

Samuel H. Weaver passed his earlier years 
on his father's farm, receiving a good com- 
mon-school education, which he supplemented 



1170 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



by extensive reading. He became a well- 
informed man, well prepared for mercantile 
life, and later entered upon various branches 
of business. On reaching his majority he 
married, December 25, 1881, at Miamisburg, 
Ohio, Miss Mary J. Smith, who was born July 
16, 1857, in Montgomery county, a daughter of 
Jacob and Elizabeth A. (Hennemyer) Smith. 

Jacob Smith, father of Mrs. Weaver, was 
a native of Maryland, where he early lost his 
father through death, and was yet a boy when 
he came to Montgomery county, Ohio. Here 
he grew to manhood and prospered, and first 
married Susan Loman, to which union were 
born three children — Sarah A., Nancy J. and 
Martin C. His second wife, Elizabeth A. 
Hennemyer, blessed him with six children — 
Henry, George C, John F., Celia E., Mary 
J. and Samuel E. 

After marriage, Mr. Weaver and his wife 
lived for a few years on the Weaver home- 
stead, and he then engaged in other industries, 
becoming proprietor of a saw-mill, and having 
also an interest in a cider-mill and a tile fac- 
tory. He was quite successful in these lines, 
developing a marked faculty for business. As 
a democrat Mr. Weaver served as township 
trustee for two terms, and was a member of 
the school board for five years. He and his 
wife were members of the Lutheran church, of 
which he was a deacon , and for two years super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school. He was en- 
ergetic and efficient in all his undertakings, 
especially active in church work, and was 
chairman of the building committee on the 
erection of the new Slyfer church edifice, for 
which he drew the plans. He was a member 
and the secretary of the Masonic lodge at Farm- 
ersville, and was also a member of Oak lodge, 
No. 625, I. O. O. F., at New Lebanon. His 
lamented death occurred July 31, 1896, of 
typhoid fever, contracted while on a visit to 
Alabama, and his loss waS" deeply deplored by 



the entire community in which he had lived. 
He left a wife and four children — Cora L. , 
Harry H., Emma C. and Orpha J. 



>-j*OHN J. WEAVER, a well-known farm- 
K er and esteemed citizen of Jackson 
/» 1 township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
is a descendant, paternally, of an old 
colonial German family, and of an equally 
old German family on the maternal side. 

Jacob Weaver, his paternal grandfather, 
was born in Germany, and became a farmer 
and distiller in Shenandoah county, Ya., where 
his death took place. Of his children the 
names of the following are remembered: John, 
Michael, Jacob, and Mrs. Hickel. Of these, 
Jacob, the father of John J., was also a native 
of Germany, and married in Shenandoah 
county, Va., Catherine Jordan. He served in 
the war of 1812, and he and his wife, after 
their marriage, lived in Shenandoah count}', 
at Hawkinstown, until 18 16, when they came 
to Ohio, and for about fifteen years lived on a 
farm in Greene county. In the winter of 
1834-5, they moved to Madison township, 
Montgomery county, where Jacob Weaver 
bought 140 acres of land, of which but a small 
portion was cleared. He devoted himself, 
with steady industry, to the improvement and 
development of his land and converted it into 
one of the best farms in the township. He 
died here at the age of seventy-eight years, 
honored and respected throughout the entire 
community. His children were named, in or- 
der of birth, John J. , George (deceased), Eliza, 
Martin, Preston, Levi, Jacob and Sophia. 

John J. Weaver was born in Shenandoah 
county; Va. , June 23, 1 S 1 6, and was but four 
months old when brought by his parents to 
Ohio. He was early inured to the toil of the 
frontier farm, and his education was secured 
by attendance at the old log school-house of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1171 



his district during three months in winter from 
the age of twelve until nineteen years old. In 
those primitive days oats in bulk brought six 
cents per bushel, corn eight cents on the 
ground, or ten cents when hauled to Xenia, 
five miles away, and hogs, when dressed, one 
and one-half cents per pound. Young Weaver, 
when a boy, wore buckskin garments, and the 
traveling cordwainer made the shoes for the 
family, while many other articles of apparel 
were improvised to meet exigencies. Never- 
theless, pioneer life had its pleasures and was 
greatly enjoyed by the old settlers. Farm life 
was health-giving and its toil contributed to the 
development of sturdy sinew and muscle and 
of clear and active brain. 

The marriage of Mr. Weaver took place 
March 29, 1838, at New Lebanon, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, with Miss Elizabeth Brouse, 
who was born in Canton, Stark county, Ohio, 
June 5, 1 82 1, the ceremony being performed 
by Rev. Elijah Kuhns, of the Reformed 
church. Mr. Weaver, after marriage, lived 
one year on his father's farm in Madison town- 
ship, then removed to Perry township, bought 
a lot of two acres and a cooper shop, and 
there followed that trade for three years; he 
then engaged in the same business in New 
Lebanon for ten years, and finally settled in 
Jackson township. Here he bought a farm of 
176 acres, which he improved and successfully 
cultivated until 1871, when he came to his 
present farm of 104 acres, in the same town- 
ship. On this he has erected substantial farm- 
buildings, and in 1881 built a modern and con- 
venient residence, his farm being in itself a 
model and unsurpassed by any other farm of 
its proportions in the county. To the mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver have been born 
the following-named children: Mary O, 
Eliza J., George W. (deceased), John Hamil- 
ton, Jacob Ladan, William, Elizabeth A., 
Preston P., Levi L. (deceased), Otto M., 



Clara B. (deceased) and Dora Etta. Mr. and 
Mrs. Weaver are members of the German Re- 
formed church, of which Mr. Weaver has been 
a deacon and elder for many years. 

Mrs. Weaver is a daughter of John and 
Mary (Adams) Brouse, and John Brouse was a 
son of Michael and Elizabeth Brouse, of Ger- 
man descent. Michael was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war. He settled in Chippewa, 
Stark (but now in Summit) countv, Ohio, on 
the then frontier, and lived to the patriarchal 
age of 102 years, dying at Chippewa. His 
children were named John, Michael, Philip, 
William, Elizabeth, Rachel, Polly and Leah. 
The father of Mrs. Weaver, John Brouse, was 
born in Shenandoah county, Va., was reared 
in New Market, that county, was a potter by 
trade, and married Man' Adams, a native of 
Maryland, of German parentage. From Vir- 
ginia Mr. Brouse came to Ohio, conducted a 
pottery at Canton, then at Xenia, and in 1827 
settled in New Lebanon, Montgomery county, 
where he also established his trade. He after- 
ward lived in Lewiston, Ohio, and for a short 
time in Indiana, but ended his days in New 
Lebanon, at the age of seventy-seven years, a 
member of the Lutheran church. His chil- 
dren were named Elkanon, Theresa C, John 
A., Sarah C, Mary C. , Henry A., Elizabeth, 
William and George. 



l^y^ILLIAM S. WELSH, one of the 
MM best-known farmers of Clay town- 

\jL/l li p, was I' in i\ miles north of 
Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
December 1 5, 1826, and received his educa- 
tion in the old-time public or district schools. 
James Welsh, his father, was a native of 
Perry county. Pa. , of Irish parentage, and 
married, in his native state, Margaret Hann, 
daughter of Peter Hann, of German descent. 
To James Welsh and wife were born the fol- 



1172 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



lowing children: Eliza, born in Pennsylvania; 
Mary, William S., Margaret, Sarah (who died 
young), Esther (who died at the age of fourteen 
years), Elizabeth, James and Catherine, all 
born in Ohio. In 1823 Mr. Welsh brought his 
wife and eldest child to Ohio, using a wagon 
team as a means of conveyance, stopped a 
year in Warren county, and then came to 
Montgomery and settled on fifty acres six 
miles north of Dayton. The year following, 
he sold this property and bought ninety-five 
acres a mile and a half west of Union, in Ran- 
dolph township, also bought eighty acres in 
Miami county, and 120 acres in Wells county, 
Ind. He died in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
at the age of fifty-five years, a member of the 
United Brethren church, well-to-do as to 
worldly goods, and left an unsullied reputation 
for honesty and charitable disposition. 

William S. Welsh was reared a farmer, 
and on November 21, 1850, married Miss Eliz- 
abeth Wenger, who was born in Randolph 
township, Montgomery county, in September, 
1 83 1, a daughter of Christian and Mary (Klep- 
inger) Wenger. They first located on the 
Welsh homestead, where they resided for three 
years; then moved to the Wenger homestead, 
lived there about eight months; then went to 
Monroe township, Darke county, and remained 
there about eighteen months. Returning to 
Montgomery county, they bought the farm in 
Clay township then occupied by Levi Gilbert, 
on which they lived four years; then lived near 
Laura four and a half years, and finally bought 
and settled on the farm of 172 acres formerly 
owned by Henry Limbert, of which they took 
possession in 1865. Here they lived until 
February, 1890, when they moved to. a farm 
near Phillipsburg, on which Mr. Welsh has 
erected modern buildings. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Welsh 
have been born the following children, in the 
order here given: Mary C. , born January 26, 



1852 — died an infant on the Welsh home- 
stead in Randolph township; John H., born on 
the same homestead June 21, 1853; Martha A., 
born in Darke county July 20, 1855; Sarah E., 
born in Randolph township, Montgomery 
county, August 26, 1857; Eliza J., born Octo- 
ber 11, 1862 — died at the age of eleven years 
in Miami county; Maggie A., born November 
10, 1864, in Clay township, Montgomery 
county, where the three following were also 
born: William W., February 25, 1867; James 
F., January 17, 1871, now married to Rettie 
Good; and Floy L., November 16, 1874. Of 
this large family, John H. married Alice Bink- 
ley, who died September 28, 1890, leaving one 
child; the husband then married Minnie Ella 
Eckman, and is now in the hardware business 
at Dayton; Martha A. is married to Newton 
Binkley, a farmer, and is the mother of four 
children; Sarah E. was the wife of Michael 
Weist, a farmer, but died without issue; Mag- 
gie A. is married to George Smoot, a farmer, 
of Brookville, and has four children; William 
W. , a farmer, married Salomie Peffley, and is 
the father of one child. The Welsh family 
have a fine record in Montgomery county, as 
well as elsewhere, for usefulness and public 
spirit, and their standing as citizens and mem- 
bers of society is unexcelled. 



T^yr--9ILLIAM WENGER, a thrifty farm- 
m m er of Clay township, Montgomery 

\JLyl and a son of one of 

the township's pioneers, is native 
here, and was born March 4, 185 1, on the old 
Wenger homestead near Harrisburg, a son of 
Christian and Mary (Klepinger) Wenger. He 
received a very good common-school training, 
but a still better training in agriculture, as he 
was reared to manhood on his father's farm. 
He married, in Clay township, Miss Mary Ann 
Baker, who was born in this township May 9, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1173 



1858, a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Niswonger) Baker, well-known neighbors and 
early settlers. 

Samuel Baker, the father of Mrs. Wenger, 
was a son of Michael Baker, a pioneer who 
settled in Clay township in 1805; Samuel was 
born on the Baker homestead, was reared to 
farming, and to his marriage with Miss Eliza- 
beth Niswonger were born ten children, viz: 
Catherine, Lucinda, Oliver, Warren, Cyrus, 
Zachariah, Elizabeth, Winfield, Emma, dead, 
and Mary A. (Mrs. Wenger). The father of 
this family, Samuel Baker, was a man well-to- 
do, and lived on the old homestead until his 
death in the faith of the German Baptist 
church, of which he had been a member for 
many years. He had also served as a school 
director for several terms, and had the confi- 
dence of the entire community. 

At his marriage, Mr. Wenger settled on his ! 
present farm, which then comprised but 110 
acres, but, as has been said, he was a skillful 
farmer, and well knew how to handle his land. 
He soon had his original farm all under a high 
state of cultivation, making it profitable in 
every direction, carefully attended to every 
detail of its tillage, and added to it until he 
now owns 300 acres of as good land as may 
be found in the township, improved with a ] 
modern dwelling and substantial and conve- 
niently arranged farm buildings. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wenger have had born to their marriage 
twochildren — Stanley C. andBessie E. — whom 
they have educated in the best possible man- 
ner, and have reared in their own religious 
faith, that of the German Baptist church. In 
politics Mr. Wenger is a democrat, and is now 
serving as a member of the school board. He 
is a man of strong mental endowment and 
great force of character, and has made the im- 
press of his mentality on the community in 
which he lives. He is respected for his un- 
bending integrity and is commended for his 

52 



public spirit, as he is ever ready to aid liber- 
ally with his means both church and school 
and all public enterprises calculated to pro- 
mote the general welfare and to advance the 
prosperity of his township and county. 



« w ■ * ENRY WESSEL, a leading business 

|f\ man of Farmersville, Montgomery 

r county, Ohio, and also a prominent 

politician and prosperous farmer, was 

born in Oldenburg, Germany, August 15, 1843, 

a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Taper) 

Wessel, also natives of Oldenburg. 

Benjamin Wessel was born in 1812, was a 
gilder by trade, and in 1865 came to America, 
whither his surviving children had preceded 
him, these children being Henry, Joseph and 
Benjamin. Mr. Wessel settled in Cincinnati, 
where he worked at his trade for many years 
and became a well-to-do citizen. In religion 
he is a Catholic, and is a trustee and council- 
man in his church, and in politics he is a 
democrat. As a citizen he enjoys the respect 
of all who know him, and is now passing his • 
days in quiet retirement. 

Henry Wessel left the parental roof in 
Germany at the age of eight years and learned 
the carpenter's trade. At the age of eighteen 
years he embarked on a sailing vessel at the 
port of Alkaman, in Holland, bound for Amer- 
ica, and after a voyage of five weeks landed in 
Baltimore in August, 1861. From this city 
he came to Ohio at once, located in Cincin- 
nati, and there worked at his trade until 1872, 
when he went to Texas and thence to Mis- 
souri, and for two years worked in the car- 
shops of Saint Louis. In 1876 he located in 
Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged in the saloon 
business. In 1892 he removed to Farmersville, 
where he bought business and residence prop- 
erty, and for four years was again engaged in 
the saloon business. He now employs his 



1174 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



time in the improvement of his farm in Ger- 
man township. 

Mr. Wessel has been twice married — first, 
in Cincinnati, in 1865, to Caroline Hineagor, a 
native of that city, who bore him three chil- 
dren, who were named Benjamin, Josephine 
and Joseph. Mrs. Wessel died in her native 
city in 1869, and Mr. Wessel 's second mar- 
riage was celebrated in Dayton with Miss 
Elizabeth Heffner, a native of the Gem City 
and a daughter of Frederick Heffner, a well- 
known citizen. 

In politics Mr. Wessel is strongly demo- 
cratic, and on the money question is an advo- 
cate of free silver. He cast his first presiden- 
tial vote, in 1864, for George B. McClellan, 
and has always been active in advancing the 
interests of his party. He is a factor of no 
small importance in the political affairs of the 
township and county, and his influence is 
always felt in party councils and at the polls. 



/^yAMUEL WIGGIM, a leading farmer 
«^^^> of Mad River township, was born 

k^^ April 26, 1823, at Centerville, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, and is a son 
of Andrew and Elizabeth (Lytle) Wiggim, 
both natives of county Tyrone, Ireland. An- 
drew and Elizabeth Wiggim were the parents 
of seven children, as follows: John, Ann 
(wife of John Watson), Hugh, Robert, Andrew, 
Lytle and Samuel. The last two are the only 
ones that are now living, though all but Robert 
lived to be more than sixty years of age, and 
the daughter, at the time of her death, was 
eighty-one. 

Andrew Wiggim in early life worked at any 
employment that came to his hand, and grew 
to manhood thus occupied. He married in 
Ireland, and in that country his three eldest 
children were born. He had a common- 
school education, and when he carne to the 



United States, in 18 17, he settled in Lancas- 
ter county, Pa., working there, as in his native 
county of Tyrone, at various occupations. In 
1 82 1 he came to the state of Ohio, living for 
a short time in Piqua, removing thence to 
Montgomery county, and settling at Center- 
ville. Living in the vicinity of that place un- 
til 1834, he then removed to the farm upon 
which his son Samuel now lives, and upon that 
farm he spent the remainder of his life. He 
died August 10, 1858, at the age of seventy- 
five. His wife was born in 1782 and died 
November 18, 1864. They were members of 
the Presbyterian church. 

The paternal grandfather of Samuel Wig- 
gim was also a native of county Tyrone (Tir 
Eogain, Tir Owen, Owen's country, finally 
Tyrone), was a farmer in his native county 
and died therein. The maternal grandfather 
was also a native of Ireland, and died there. 

Samuel Wiggim was born in Van Buren 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, or rather 
in what afterward became Van Buren town- 
ship, for at that time the county had not been 
divided into townships. His birthplace was 
near the present site of Centerville, and he 
lived there until he was eleven years of age. 
He has lived in Mad River township ever since 
1834, a period of sixty-two years, and has been 
a resident of the county for seventy-three years, 
or ever since he was born. After his father's 
death, he bought the interests of the other 
heirs and has since then kept the home place 
in his possession. 

On November 9, 1854, he was married to 
Miss Mary Ann Hawker, daughter of Frederick 
and Sarah Hawker. To this marriage there 
were born five children, as follows: Margaret, 
Mary Belle. Effie May, Clark and North, only 
the last two of whom are now living. Clark 
married Miss Eudora Neibel, of Shelby county, 
Ind. , and North lives at home, unmarried. Mrs. 
Mary Ann Wiggim died February 9, 1875, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1175 



Mr. Wiggim married for his second wife Miss 
Susan Elizabeth Neibel, on April 25, 1878. 
He and his wife are members of the First Re- 
formed church of Dayton, which was organized 
in 1833. As a democrat, Mr. Wiggim served 
as township trustee a number of years and as 
assessor three years. His farm contains 100 
acres of land and lies about four miles north- 
east of the court house, on the Valley pike. 
The parents of Mrs. Wiggim were among 
the first settlers of the county, locating in Miami 
township, and her father's parents settled there 
in 1 8 10, when her father was only five years 
old. William and Susan (Hammaker) Neibel, 
her father and mother, were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, the latter having been born in Har- 
risburg. They were the parents of six chil- 
dren, four sons and two daughters, four of 
whom are still living, viz: Daniel W., David 
L. , Joseph H. D. and Susan Elizabeth. For 
a number of years William Neibel held the 
office of trustee of the township in which he 
lived, and also of justice of the peace. His 
father, John Neibel, was a native of Germany, 
came to the United States early in the pres- 
ent century, and served in the war of 18 12. 



^"V'TEPHEN WYSONG, farmer of Perry 
*\^^fcT township, now retired, is a descend- 

h\_J ant of one of the early pioneers, and 
springs from German ancestry, who 
came early from Virginia. Jacob Wysong, 
his grandfather, was born in Franklin county, 
Va. , and by his wife had eleven children, as 
follows: Stephen, Charles, John Jacob, Henry, 
Valentine, Joseph, Matthew, Robert, Lewis, 
who died at the age of ten years; Elizabeth 
and Lydia. In religious faith Jacob Wysong 
was a Dunkard, or German Baptist, and a 
man of most exemplary character. He came 
to Ohio in 1818 by means of a four-horse team 



and wagon, and settled on 200 acres of land 
in Perry township, which he cleared up from 
the woods. He was a successful farmer and 
an honorable citizen, and died when sixty-four 
years of age. 

Charles Wysong, father of Stephen, was 
born October 25, 1802, in Franklin county, 
Va. , and was sixteen years of age when brought 
to Ohio by his parents. He married Margaret 
Gustin, daughter of Elkahana Gustin, who 
was one of the pioneers of Warren county, 
Ohio, and lived for a short time in Perry 
township, Montgomery county, and then re- 
turned to Warren county. He was a member 
of what was called the New Light or Disciple 
church. Charles Wysong, after his marriage, 
lived a few years on the Wysong homestead. 
At length he purchased a farm containing 
eighty acres in Preble county, cleared it of its 
timber, and lived on it until 1873, dying in 
West Alexandria in 1889, at the age of eighty- 
six years. He was very strong in body, 
and of an equally vigorous, mental and moral 
character. In religious belief he was a Ger- 
man Baptist, and contributed liberally of his 
means to the church. He followed in the 
footsteps of his father, and the meetings of his 
religious brethren were in the early days held 
in his house. Mr. Wysong was a hardwork- 
ing and industrious man, and made and laid 
brick for eighteen years. He was a natural 
mechanic, and made his own tools, plows, etc. 
He for a time followed pump-making in Alex- 
andria, and also made wagons and other im- 
plements. He was held in high regard by his 
neighbors, and it may be truly said of him that 
his word was as good as his bond. His chil- 
dren were as follows: Hannah, Harrison, 
Jemimah, Stephen, Dorothea, Lydia, Rachael, 
Margaret, Jacob and Annie. From his father, 
Jacob, and Jacob's brother, Valentine, and 
from Capt. Joseph, descended all the Wysongs 
of Montgomery county. 



117C, 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Stephen Wysong, whose name opens this 
sketch, was born November 3, 1 831, on the 
Wysong homestead in Perry township, and 
was one year old when his parents removed to 
Preble county and settled in Twin township. 
Brought up on the farm, he received but little 
education, and this little in the old-fashioned 
subscription schools. He married, November 
15, 1856, when twenty-five years of age, in 
Perry township, Susan King, who was born 
October 25, 1837, in that township, a daugh- 
ter of William and Lydia (Baker) King. 

William King came from Virginia, was of 
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, and had children as 
follows: Annie, John, James, Elizabeth, Jane, 
Sarah, Susan, Catherine, William and Lydia. 
William King settled in Perry township after the 
birth of his second child, John, cleared up a 
farm of fifty acres, which he sold, and pur- 
chased 100 acres in the same township, upon 
which he lived until his death. He was a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church, one of the 
hardy and much-respected pioneers, and died 
in 1863, aged sixty-two years. His widow 
died July 20, 1896, in her ninety-second year. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wysong, after their mar- 
riage, settled on eighty acres of land in Perry 
township, and a few years later Mr. Wysong 
rented this farm and located on a place on 
Wolf creek, where they lived for about eleven 
years, when they removed to their present 
property, in 1886. Mr. Wysong has been a 
member of the German Baptist church for 
about thirty-five years, and has been a trustee 
of his church almost as long. He and his 
wife united with the church in the same year, 
1862. He has prospered through his indus- 
try, and has earned a place among the most 
esteemed citizens of the community in which 
he lives. Mr. and Mrs. Wysong reared Annie 
C. Aucherman from the time she was four 
months old, her mother having died; brought 
her up as if she were their own child and gave 



her a good education. She became the wife 
of W. H. Riley, of Vandalia, Ohio, and died 
July 26, 1896. 



>Y*ESSE ARNOLD, a resident of Phillips- 
m burg, Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
A I an ex-soldier of the Civil war, was born 
in this county, May 20, 1845, and is a 
son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Andrews) Arnold, 
the former of whom came from Rockingham 
county, Va. , and was of ante-Revolutionary 
German descent. 

Jesse Arnold was reared to farming and 
was educated in the common schools. At the 
age of eighteen years and seven months, he 
enlisted at Dayton, Ohio, January 1, 1864, in 
company C, Sixty-third Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, to serve three years, but was honorably 
discharged at Camp Dennison, Ohio, July 28, 
1865, owing to the close of the war. He 
fought through the great Atlanta campaign — 
at Resaca, Kingston, Dalton, Tunnel Hill, 
Kenesaw Mountain, Dallas, Atlanta and Jones- 
boro; he was also at Sugar Creek Gap and 
Crystal Springs, and at the latter place he was 
sent to the rear for disability. He rejoined 
the regiment at Goldsboro, N. C, and served 
until the close of the war. He was always a 
good soldier and performed his full duty. 

After the war, Mr. Arnold returned to 
Ohio and married Miss Rebecca J. Walker, 
who was born in Preble county in 1846, a 
daughter of Thomas and Phebe (Wikle) Walk- 
er, the parents of the former having been of 
Pennsylvania-German descent and old set- 
tlers of Preble county. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Arnold has been blessed with one 
child, Dora. Mr. Arnold is a member of 
Phillipsburg lodge, No. 594, I. O. O. F. , in 
which he has passed all the chairs, including 
that of noble grand; he is also an honored 
member of Foster Marshall post, G. A. R., of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1177 



Brookville, and in politics is a republican. 
Both as a citizen and as a soldier he has am- 
ply earned the high esteem in which he is held 
by his friends and neighbors. 



>-j*ACOB ANSPACH, of Chambersburg, 
J Ohio, is an old settler of Butler town- 
/• 1 ship, Montgomery county, and a native 
of Pennsylvania. On both sides of his 
family he springs from German stock. His re- 
mote ancestors were among the early colonial 
settlers of Pennsylvania. 

George Anspach, his father, was born in 
Berks county, Pa., in 1764, was a farmer by 
occupation, and married Magdalena Peter, by 
whom he had the following children: John, 
Jonathan, Joseph, Daniel, Jacob, Elizabeth, 
Catherine, Magdalena, Sarah and Lydia. In 
1833 Mr. Anspach came to Ohio, settling in 
Montgomery county. He made the journey 
with teams' and was three weeks on the way. 
Upon arriving in Montgomery county he 
bought, in company with John Balleman, a 
farm consisting of 200 acres of land. On this 
farm he lived one year, and then sold his in- 
terest to Mr. Balleman, and bought a farm of 
120 acres in Miami township. This farm he 
greatly improved by clearing it of its timber. 
He was a democrat in politics and while living 
in Pennsylvania held several minor offices, 
among them being that of assessor. He was a 
man of integrity and stood well in the estima- 
tion of all. He and his wife were members of 
the Lutheran church, and he lived to be sev- 
entv-seven years of age, dying in 1864. 

Jacob Anspach was born March 19, 1822, 
in Berks county, Pa. Receiving but a limited 
education, he grew up on the farm, learned all 
the details of farm work and adopted that vo- 
cation for life. He was eleven years old when 
brought to Ohio by his parents, and well re- 
members the long journey. When he was 



twenty-seven years old he married Elizabeth 
Breahm, the ceremony being performed June 
20, 1848. She was a daughter of Henry and 
Mary (Lies) Breahm, the former of whom was 
born in Berks county, Pa., and was a weaver 
by trade. He married in Pennsylvania, and 
his children were George, Henry, John, Re- 
becca, Wilhelmina, Mary, Catherine, Eliza- 
beth and Martha. Mr. Breahm removed to 
Ohio in 1838, settling two and a half miles east 
of Miamisburg, on a good farm of 100 acres, 
to which he subsequently added thirteen acres. 
He was a hardworking, pioneer citizen, and in 
old age retired to the village of Miamisburg, 
where he died in May, 1885, aged eighty-five 
years. He and his wife were members of the 
German Reform church, and he was an elder 
of his church for many years. He was a man 
of excellent character and was highly esteemed. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Anspach 
lived for two years on his father's farm, and 
then rented a farm near Centerville, on which 
they lived for three years. In 1856 they 
bought eighty-seven and a half acres in Butler 
township, which Mr. Anspach improved with 
good buildings and made a good home. Upon 
this farm he lived until 18S3, when he removed 
to his present homestead, which consists of 
thirteen acres, on which stands an attractive 
residence. Mr. and Mrs. Anspach are the 
parents of the following children: George, 
Mary, Franklin, Lucetta, John, Albert, Joseph, 
Emma, Ida. The parents are members of 
the Lutheran church, and Mr. Anspach has 
been a deacon for many years. For the past 
ten years he has been an elder in his church. 
He assisted largely to erect the present edifice 
and ever since the church was established has 
been a liberal supporter thereof. 

In politics Mr. Anspach has been and is a 
prohibitionist, and has always been an honored 
and respected citizen, whose probity of char- 
acter and good qualities have given him the 



1178 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



confidence of the community where he has 
lived so many years. 



*V^V OAH BAKER, one of the best known 
m citizens of Brookville, Ohio, is a 
r descendant of an early pioneer fam- 
ily of Montgomery county, his an- 
cestors having been among the first settlers in 
Clay township. Michael Baker, his grand- 
father, was a native of Somerset county, Pa., 
a farmer by occupation and married Catherine 
Smucker, a native of the same county. The 
children of Michael and Catherine Baker were 
Susan, Jacob, Ann, Mary, Elizabeth, Cather- 
ine, John, Michael, Benjamin and Samuel, the 
first two born in Pennsylvania, and the others 
in Montgomery county, Ohio. 

It was in 1805 that Michael Baker with his 
wife and two children, Susan and Jacob, came 
from Somerset county, Pa., to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, shipping all their goods at Pitts- 
burg on a boat to be thus taken down the 
Ohio river, and on the way down the river they 
were all spoiled by water. Mr. Baker settled in 
the woods one mile northeast from the present 
site of Brookville, near a good spring of water, 
and also near the camp of a tribe of Miami 
Indians. These Indians he found very peace- 
able and friendly, and on one occasion when 
he heard a rumor of war he took his family to 
Weaver Mills on Beaver creek for the winter, 
leaving his corn in rail pens in charge of the 
Indians, who cared for it, and expressed much 
delight at his return in the spring. Mr. Baker 
found these Indians honest and good neighbors. 

When Mr. Baker settled in the locality de- 
scribed above it was in the midst of the pri- 
meval forest, and two and a half miles to the 
Rohrer settlement to the northward and eight 
miles to the Hay farm. He entered a section 
of land, and immediately set himself to work 



to clear it. For a time, however, the pros- 
pects were extremely discouraging, and he 
would have returned to Pennsylvania but for 
the fact that his horses died from some un- 
known cause. Thus he was compelled to re- 
main in this new country, and endure all the 
hardships and privations incident to pioneer 
life, but by industry and pertinacity he at last 
overcame all obstacles, erected a good log 
cabin, and cleared up 160 acres of his land. 
His nearest market and depot of supplies was 
Cincinnati, sixty miles away. At that time 
there were but a few log houses in Dayton, 
and no stores. Mr. Baker was a man of ex- 
ceedingly strong constitution, and, notwith- 
standing the severities of frontier life, he lived 
to be nearly ninety years old, dying on his farm 
August 21, 1854. His wife reached nearly the 
same age. They were devout members of the 
Dunkard church, and were among the earliest 
members of this denomination to settle in 
Montgomery county. 

Benjamin Baker, one of the sons of Mi- 
chael, and the father of Noah Baker, was born 
in 1 8 10, on the old Baker homestead in Clay 
township. Having received the ordinary edu- 
cation given to country boys at that time, he 
married Frances Neiswonger, who was born in 
18 12, in Clay township, and who was a daugh- 
ter of John and Elizabeth (Circle) Neiswonger, 
the former of whom, though of German ances- 
try, was a native of Virginia. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Baker there were born eleven children, as fol- 
lows: Saty, Melinda, Noah, Levi, Mary, Cy- 
rus, Simon, Amanda, Sarah A., Sylvester and 
Minerva. Benjamia Baker settled on the Salem 
road one and a half miles from Brookville on 
land given him by his father, 104 acres, all in 
the woods. This land he cleared, improved 
and made into a good farm and home, thriftily 
adding thereto until at last he owned about 700 
acres. An excellent farmer, a good business 
man and a progressive citizen, he became not 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1179 



only popular but also prosperous. He was the 
first grain buyer in Brookville, carrying on that 
business for many years, and when the Pan 
Handle railroad was constructed through the 
place the company built a side track to his 
warehouse. As the first postmaster in Brook- 
ville he held the office for many years. He 
and his wife were members of the German 
Baptist or Dunkard church. 

Noah Baker was born April 11, 1834, on 
his father's farm, and attended common school 
until he was nineteen years of age. While he 
was sufficiently well educated to teach school, 
yet he preferred labor and business, and be- 
came a saw-mill proprietor. August 31, 1854, 
he married Catherine Litten, who was born 
September 11, 1834, and was a daughter of 
James and Sarah A. (Blair) Litten, the former 
of whom was an old citizen of Montgomery 
county, living near Dayton. While Mr. Lit- 
ten was a native of Maryland, he moved early 
to this county with his wife. His children 
were named as follows: John. Samuel, David, 
Frances, Elizabeth, Grace, Delilah, Prudence 
and Catherine. 

Mr. and Mrs. Baker, shortly after their 
marriage, settled on a farm of eighty acres. 
He soon engaged in the saw-mill business on 
the same spot where his mill now stands. He 
prospered in this enterprise and now owns 
valuable property in Brookville, and is still 
engaged in milling. Mr. Baker is a trustee in 
the Methodist church, of which both himself 
and wife are members. Politically he is a re- 
publican, and has served as a member of the 
corporation council. To Mr. and Mrs. Baker 
there have been born eleven children, two of 
whom died young; Arthur was killed at the age 
of twenty-three in an accident on the Cincin- 
nati, Hamilton & Dayton railroad, near Car- 
rollton, Ohio, and the remaining children are 
as follows: Cornelia, Fidelia, Ambrose, 
Frances, Granville, Carrie, Orville and Emer- 



son. Mr. Baker's sterling character and per- 
sonal worth have made him one of the most 
widely-esteemed citizens of Brookville and 
that vicinity. 



■^"t'AMES M. CUSICK, a prosperous busi- 
■ ness man of Brookville, Ohio, and an 
A 1 ex-soldier of the Union army, was born 
in Montgomery county, one mile south 
of the town of Pyrmont, February 24, 1840. 
He is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Johnson) 
Cusick. The Cusick family come of Scotch- 
Irish stock, and were early settlers in Virginia. 
The grandfather of the subject served as a sol- 
dier in the war of 18 12, and saw the burning 
of the capitol building at Washington, D. C, 
during that war. 

James M. Cusick was well educated in the 
public schools, and when a young man worked 
on the farm. On October 24, 1861, at West 
Baltimore, Montgomery county, Ohio, he en- 
listed as a private soldier in company B, Sev- 
enty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, for three 
years or during the war, and served not only 
throughout his full period of enlistment, but 
also two months more. When his time ex- 
pired he was with his regiment engaged in the 
siege of Atlanta, and the regiment was held 
until after that city fell, and also after the bat- 
tle of Franklin, which occurred November 30, 
1864. Mr. Cusick was honorably discharged 
at Nashville, Tenn., December 4, 1864. He 
was on guard duty at Fort Donelson in Febru- 
ary, 1862, was in the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing, in the great battle of Atlanta, and also in 
those of Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station. 
With his regiment he was on the march to 
Nashville when the hard-fought battle of 
Franklin occurred, which in many ways was 
one of the severest of the war. 

Mr. Cusick was always an active soldier, 
had no furlough home during his entire period 



1180 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



of enlistment, was sick in hospital only four 
weeks, and was in all the battles, skirmishes, 
campaigns and marches in which his regiment 
was engaged. 

After the close of the war Mr. Cusick re- 
turned to Montgomery county, and in 1865 
married Annie Cassell, who was born Decem- 
ber 15, 1846, at Maytown, Lancaster county, 
Pa., and is a daughter of Jacob and Mary 
(Engle) Cassell. To Mr. and Mrs. Cusick 
there have been born two children, viz: Der- 
mott H. and Imogene. After his marriage 
Mr. Cusick kept what is now the Reiley House, 
at Brookville, Ohio, for two years, and after- 
ward kept hotel at Covington, Miami county, 
Ohio. He was also engaged in the lightning 
rod business for sixteen years, and at the ex- 
piration of this period bought a farm near 
Brookville, and was postmaster at this place 
under the Harrison administration. In 1893 
he engaged in the grocery business, in which 
he has been successful. As a republican, he 
served as trustee of Clay township twelve 
years, and is a member of Foster Marshall 
post, No. 587, G. A. R. , of which he is now 
senior vice-commander. He is also a member 
of the Knights of Pythias and of the Order of 
American Mechanics, having been the first 
treasurer of his lodge. 

Mr. Cusick is a man well known for many 
miles around his home, and enjoys the repu- 
tation of an able business man and a public- 
spirited member of the community. 



HMOS J. COOVER, one of the most 
substantial farmers of Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
of old pioneer stock, is a son of Jacob 
and Eve (Beard) Coover, and was born on the 
old homestead March 22, 1851. He was edu- 
cated in the common school, was trained to 
farming, and also learned the carpenter's trade. 



At Dayton, Ohio, December 25, 1879, he mar- 
ried Miss Martha V. Shriver, who was reared 
in Dayton, was graduated from the Central 
high school of that city, and is a daughter of 
Dr. John William and Mary (Cassell) Shriver. 
After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Coover lived on 
the Coover homestead until 1891, when Mr. 
Coover bought and removed to his present 
handsome farm of 120 acres, which has since 
been their home. To this marriage have been 
born the following children: John W., Eva 
S., Robert and Helen M. In politics Mr. 
Coover is an ardent republican, and both he 
and his wife are members of the Yandalia 
United Brethren church. Mr. Cooper is a 
thoroughly practical farmer and an excellent 
business man and is universally respected. His 
children are being well educated, and he is 
progressive in his views regarding educational 
affairs and public improvements. 

Dr. John William Shriver, father of Mrs. 
Amos J. Coover, but now deceased for some 
twenty years past, was one of the most emi- 
nent of the physicians of the city of Dayton. 
He was a native of Chester county, Pa., and a 
son of William and Sarah (Williams) Shriver, 
the former of German and the latter of Welsh 
descent. He was graduated from the Phila- 
delphia Medical college, began practice in Cen- 
treville, Pa., and there married Miss Mary A. 
Cassell, a native of Carroll county, Md. , and a 
daughter of Isaac and Eleanor (Gibson) Cas- 
sell — the Cassells being of colonial Pennsyl- 
vania-German descent and the Gibsons of 
Kentucky-Irish extraction. Mr. Cassell was a 
merchant of Spring Mills, Pa., lived to the age 
of eighty-two years, and died a member of the 
Methodist church, and the father of one child, 
now Mrs. Dr. Shriver. To the doctor and 
wife were born nine children, viz: Sarah E., 
Adeline, Laura E., Margaret E., Martha Vir- 
ginia (Mrs. Coover), John M., Charles A., 
Katie E. and Cliff M. After coming to Day- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1181 



ton, Ohio, the doctor attained great promi- 
nence in his profession and died in the faith of 
the Methodist church. 

Mrs. Eve (Beard) Coover, mother of Amos 
J. Coover, is a daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (Fox) Beard, and was born January 15, 
1 8 14, in Warren county, Ohio. John Beard, 
her father, was born in Maryland during the 
Revolutionary war, and in early manhood came 
to Ohio. He married, in Warren county, Mrs. 
Elizabeth Robb, a widow, and the daughter of 
Michael and Susannah Fox. The Fox family 
came from Hagerstown, Md., were among the 
earliest settlers of Stark county, Ohio, and 
both the Beard family and the Fox family 
were of German descent. John Beard and 
family came from Warren county to Mont- 
gomery county in 1820, and settled in Butler 
township on 100 acres of land on the National 
road; he also owned land in Shelby county, 
and was a well-to-do citizen. The children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. Beard were named Sal- 
lie, Polly, Betsey, Susannah, Mary, Eve, Sam- 
uel, John, Jacob, George and Nancy. The 
parents belonged to the United Brethren 
church, in which Mr. Beard was a trustee, 
and in politics he was a democrat. He served 
in the war of 1812, and lived to be eighty- 
seven years of age. His mother died at the 
age of 100 years, and his wife at 101 years. 
Of the children here enumerated, Eve, whose 
name opens this paragraph, was reared in the 
wilderness of Warren county, and at twenty 
years of age, December 18, 1834, was married, 
in Butler township, Montgomery county, to 
Jacob Coover. 

Jacob Coover, father of Amos J. Coover, 
was born in Cumberland county, Pa., Decem- 
ber 7, 1809, a son of Michael and Elizabeth 
(Shoup) Coover. Michael Coover was born 
near Harrisburg, Pa., a son of Jacob Coover, 
and there were born to him and his wife, 
Elizabeth Shoup, the following children: John, 



Jacob, George, Michael, Samuel, Isaac, Sarah 
and William — the last, a physician. Michael 
Coover brought his family to Ohio by wagon 
and settled in Butler township on the land oc- 
cupied by J. Q. A. Coover, about 1828, and 
here died, a member of the United Brethren 
church. Jacob Coover, after his marriage 
with Eve Beard, worked in his father's saw- 
mill until he purchased a farm for himself, and 
on which he reared his children, who were 
named as follows: Henry (died at forty-nine 
yearsof age), Michael J. , Anna, Rosannah, Jacob 
(died a young man), Filda, Zachariah (died 
young), Amos J., and Mary C. Mr. Coover pros- 
pered in his farming and became the owner of 
226 acres of good arable land. For many years 
he was a trustee of the United Brethren church 
he had aided to build in Vandalia. In poli- 
tics a republican, he was for a long time a 
township trustee. He was a man of high 
character and noted for his industry and pub- 
lic spirit. He gave his children every school 
advantage, and died February 23, 1874, at the 
age of sixty-five years. His venerable widow, 
now eighty-three years old, retains her facul- 
ties to a remarkable degree, and is beloved by 
all who know her. Of their children, named 
above, Henry married Adaline Johnson; Ros- 
annah was married to Samuel Keplinger; 
Amos married Martha V. Shriver; Mary mar- 
ried Horace D. Hutchin, and Michael J. mar- 
ried Lucy Collins. Michael J. and Jacob (de- 
ceased) were soldiers in the three-months' serv- 
ice in the late Civil war, and both were in 
the same company. 

Michael J. Coover, the eldest of the living 
children born to Jacob and Eve Coover, was 
born May 19, 1832, in Butler township, was 
reared a farmer, and in 1863, at Dayton, en- 
tered the 100-day service as corporal of com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Thirty-second Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and did duty at Washing- 
ton, D. C, Arlington Heights, White House 



1182 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Landing, Richmond, Petersburg, Fortress 
Monroe and Norfolk, but his active service 
under fire was confined to skirmishes at Ar- 
lington Heights and White House Landing. 
At the end of four months he was honorably 
discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio. He mar- 
ried, in Dayton, October 3, 1883, Miss Lucy 
Collins, who was born in Dayton January 31, 
1847, a daughter of Wilber Collins, a pros- 
perous business man, now deceased. Mrs. 
Lucy Coover died December 6, 1885, leaving 
one child, Edwin J., born January 10, 1885. 
In politics Mr. Coover is a republican and is a 
member of the G. A. R. post at Vandalia. 
He is now engaged in farming in Butler town- 
ship, growing large quantities of small fruits 
on a part of the old homestead, which he owns 
and upon which he built a handsome dwelling 
about a year after his marriage, having passed 
the first year of his married life in Dayton. 
He is one of Butler township's most valued 
and public-spirited citizens. (For further in- 
formation respecting the Coover family, the 
reader is referred to the biography of J. Q. A. 
Coover, on another page). 



aHRISTOPHER GISH, M. D., the 
oldest medical practitioner in Mont- 
gomery county, a man of learning and 
a venerated and honored citizen, was 
born in Franklin county, Pa., March 20, 181 5, 
and is a son of Mathias and Frances (Hama- 
ker) Gish. 

His grandfather, Abraham Gish, emigrated 
from Switzerland to America a short time after 
the close of the Revolutionary war, and in 
Lancaster county, Pa., married a Miss Shock, 
by whom he had ten children, as follows: 
Jacob, John, Abram, David, Elizabeth, Cath- 
erine, Susan, George, Christopher and Mathias, 
all of whom were born in Lancaster county, 
Pa. Abraham Gish brought money with him 



from Switzerland, and upon arriving in this 
country purchased 500 acres of land near 
Elizabethtown, became a wealthy farmer, and 
there passed the remaining years of his life. 
He was an industrious man, of high moral 
character and a member of the United Breth- 
ren church. He lived to be eighty years of 
age. His family was noted for longevity and 
the combined ages of his children were over 
900 years. They were all intelligent and tem- 
perate people, as well as prosperous. 

Mathias Gish, the youngest son of Abra- 
ham, was born in Lancaster county, Pa., May 
8, 1788, received a common-school education 
and became a farmer, beside learning the mill- 
ing business of his brother David in Franklin 
county. Pa. In Cumberland county, Pa., he 
married Frances Hamaker, who was born 
April 24, 1791, in that county. After their 
marriage Mathias Gish and wife settled in 
Franklin county, Pa., moving thence soon 
afterward to Juniata county, where he bought 
a mill, which he ran for many years. In 1835 
he removed to Shelby county, Ohio, where he 
bought land, and in 1838 he removed to Mont- 
gomery county, where he bought a house and 
lot and there died, in 1S72, at the age of 
eighty-five. He was a member of the United 
Brethren church, and was well known for his 
integrity of character and much esteemed for 
his qualities as an exemplary citizen. To him 
and his wife there were born the following 
children: John, Abraham, Christopher, Eliz- 
abeth, Frances and Mathias. 

Dr. Christopher Gish, the subject of this 
sketch, received the rudiments of his educa- 
tion in Pennsylvania, and when eighteen years 
of age, in 1834, removed with his brother 
Abraham to Montgomery county, Ohio. He 
worked for some time in Union, Montgomery 
county, and also in Preble county, as a mill- 
wright, and for some time attended the Day- 
ton academy, a famous school in its day. In 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1183 



1839 he began the study of medicine at Day- 
ton under Dr. Jacob Bosler, one of the pioneer 
physicians of Dayton. Dr. Gish attended the 
Ohio Medical college at Cincinnati in 1840 
and 1841 and again in 1850 and 1851, gradu- 
ating in the latter year. He began the prac- 
tice of medicine at Dayton in 1840, and re- 
moved during that year to Salem, Montgomery 
county, where he built up a large and profita- 
ble practice, riding many miles in all directions 
through the woods and over all kinds of roads, 
for nearly twenty years, most of his riding 
being on horseback. For some years he was 
in partnership with Dr. James F. Hibbard, 
who became an eminent physician, and is still 
living at Richmond, Ind., at the great age 
of eighty-one years. 

Dr. Gish located in Brookville in [860, 
and there he has been engaged in the practice 
of his profession ever since, a period of thirty- 
six years, and has thus been in practice con- 
tinuously during the last fifty-six years. He 
is a man of the widest general information, 
and has taken great interest in scientific mat- 
ters, especially in geology, having been a close 
and persistent student of this fascinating science 
for the past thirty years. He has made a 
large and valuable collection of geological 
specimens, having traveled extensively through- 
out North America in pursuit of knowledge 
pertaining to this branch of learning. In this 
country he has visited the Rocky mountains, 
California, New Orleans, New York and Phil- 
adelphia, all the time adding to his collection. 
The doctor is a man of extensive reading and 
information outside of his special study of geol- 
ogy, and possesses a most valuable store of 
varied knowledge. He is a man of unusually 
liberal views and well known everywhere for 
his independent thought and honest character. 

Dr. Gish in 1842 married Mary Fiet, who 
was born in Chester county, Pa., in 18 19, and 
was a daughter of Charles and Catherine 



(Share) Fiet. Mrs. Gish died in 1892, a 
woman of many virtues. In 1893 the doctor 
married Fannie Eyer, who was born in Lan- 
caster county, Pa., March 4, 1842, and is a 
daughter of John and Fannie (Engle) Eyer. 
John Eyer, her father, was a miller by occu- 
pation, and died at the age of eighty-four, his 
wife dying at the age of eighty-six. Mrs. 
Gish is a member of the River Brethren 
church. Her grandfather came from Switzer- 
land at the same time as the grandfather of 
her husband. Dr. Gish, through his long and 
active life, has gained a large store of expe- 
rience as well as of knowledge, and his career 
is an evidence of the value of intellectual in- 
dustry and temperate habits in the prolonging 
of human life. 



m 



RS. JOSEPH DAVIDSON, of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, is a de- 
scendant of the Macy family, whose 
history is published elsewhere at 
some length in this volume. She is a daugh- 
ter of Thomas and Jane (Wagoner) Macy, and 
was born December 8, 1846, on the old Macy 
homestead in Miami county, and bore the 
maiden name of Celina Macy. On October 
2, 1868, she was married, at the residence of 
her father, to Joseph Davidson, and they set- 
tled on the farm where she now lives after 
passing the first year of their married life on 
the old homestead. The farm then contained 
eighty acres of land, which Mr. Davidson, aided 
by his wife, greatly improved, adding to it un- 
til he owned 120 acres — a fine farm, now in 
excellent condition and a pleasant home. Mr. 
Davidson was born June 13, 1838, in But- 
ler township, on the old home farm. He was 
a son of William and Hepzibar (Pierson) 
Davidson, the former of whom was born in 
Norway, March 5, 1800, and ran away from 
home and came to America when he was quite 



1184 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



young. On the way over he was shipwrecked 
and finally landed in Montreal, Canada. He 
married Hepzibar Pierson on the ioth of Oc- 
tober, 1830, she being a daughter of Joseph 
and Margaret Pierson. William and Hepzibar 
Pierson had nine children, eight sons and one 
daughter, of whom Solomon, George, William 
and Margaret C. are still living. William 
Davidson settled on and cleared up from the 
woods the eighty acres of land on which Mrs. 
Joseph Davidson now lives, and which, as 
stated before, has been increased to 120 acres. 
He was a shoemaker by trade and died Febru- 
ary 3, 1869. 

Politically Joseph Davidson was a republi- 
can. He and his wife were members of the 
Disciples' church. They were the parents of 
five children, as follows: Alonzo Ohmer, 
Ward B., Howard O.. Myrtle and Carry. Mr. 
Davidson was an excellent citizen of high 
character, was careful, prudent and success- 
ful. The farm which he left is one of the 
best in Butler township, and is now managed 
by Mrs. Davidson, aided by her sons. 

Joseph Davidson was a member of com- 
pany G, Twenty-fifth Ohio national guard, 
and entered the service of the government dur- 
ing the war as a private soldier of company 
G, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, was enrolled May 2, 1864, 
and served 100 days. He was mustered out 
of service August 30, 1864, at Camp Dennison, 
Ohio. He died July 13, 1892. Mrs. David- 
son is one of the excellent women of Mont- 
gomery county, patient, industrious and a 
good manager. 



>t*OHN KNEE, an ex-soldier of the Civil 

■ war and an old resident of Phillipsburg, 

A J Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 

March 15, 1843, in Miami county, and 

is a son of David and Catherine iFolkerth) 



Knee, who were of Pennsylvania-Dutch ex- 
traction, and whose children, born in Ohio, 
are named Philip, Samuel, Susan, Mary, Da- 
vid, Sarah, John, Lewis, Hettie, William and 
Ernestine. Of this family, three of the sons, 
Philip, David and John, served in an Ohio 
regiment during the Civil war. 

John Knee in his youth had only the ordi- 
nary district-school advantages, and is largely 
a self-educated man. When but little past 
nineteen years of age he enlisted in company 
H, Sixty-third regiment, Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, at Dayton, Ohio, August 28, 1862, to 
serve three years, veteranized January 1, 1864, 
at Prospect, Tenn., and served until honora- 
bly discharged, July 8, 1865, at Camp Denni- 
son, Ohio, on account of the close of the 
war. During this period of almost three years 
he participated in the battles of Parker's Cross 
Roads, Corinth, Holly Springs. Iuka, Miss.; 
Decatur, Ala.; the great Atlanta campaign; 
the battles at Dallas, Resaca, Big Shanty, 
Pumpkinvine Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Chat- 
tahoochie River, the battle in front of Atlanta 
and that at Jonesboro; he was with Sherman 
in the famous march to the sea, being then in 
the commissary department; was at Goldsboro 
and Raleigh, N. C. , and on the home march 
via Washington, D. C, where he took part in 
the grand review, and for a short time after- 
ward served in Kentucky. The engagement 
in front of Atlanta was the most severe in 
which he shared, and his hardest marching 
was in the pursuit of Forrest through Missis- 
sippi, in which he endured much suffering from 
cold and exposure. 

After the war Mr. Knee came to Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, and here married, August 
25, 1866, Miss Sarah E. Lewis, who was born 
December 24, 1845, in Henry county, 111., a 
daughter of Hiram and Nancy (Stevenson) 
Lewis. Hiram Lewis came from New Jersey 
with his parents, who settled on the White 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1185 



river, when the Indians were still roaming the 
prairies and forests of the state. The children 
born to Hiram and Nancy Lewis were named 
Benjamin, William L., James, Walter (who 
died when small), Sarah E., Lucinda, Arthur 
L. and Nathan P. Of these, James served in 
the Thirty-sixth Indiana volunteer infantry, 
and was badly wounded at the battle of Chick- 
amauga, but recovered and served until the 
close of the war. 

In 1874 John Knee and wife settled in Phil- 
lipsburg, where Mr. Knee engaged in farming, 
which industry he still pursues with much suc- 
cess. To Mr. and Mrs. Knee have been born 
the following children: Frank L., Albert (who 
died at the age of two years), Omer, Otto (de- 
ceased), Ira and Harvey. Mr. and Mrs. Knee 
have long been members of the Christian 
church, of which Mr. Knee is a trustee, and in 
this faith they are rearing their children. In 
politics Mr. Knee is a stanch republican, and 
as a citizen he is respected for his industry, 
integrity and usefulness. 



*y-» OUIS KUNNIKE, of Chambersburg, 
j Ohio, one of the substantial farmers 
_^J of Butler township, but now retired 
from active labor, was born at Celle, 
or Zell, as it is sometimes called, a town in 
Hanover, on the Aller, twenty-three miles 
northeast of the city of Hanover, October 11, 
1 83 1. He is a son of Christian and Annastine 
(Ebeling) Kunnike, the former a prosperous 
miller of Celle, owning both a grist-mill and an 
oil-mill. The children of Christian and An- 
nastine Kunnike were August, Theodore, Earn- 
est, Louis and Herman. Christian Kunnike 
lived to be fifty-eight years old and died in 
Germany. He was a member of the Lutheran 
church, and was everywhere respected for his 
industrious habits and his high character. 
After his death Mrs. Kunnike married Henry 



Sheverling, who was born in Hanover, in 
1805, and was a miller by trade. By this 
marriage she had one daughter, Alvina. Au- 
gust and Theodore Kunnike came to the United 
States, the latter in 1840, the former in 1842. 
Both of them settled in Dayton, Theodore be- 
ing a millwright by trade and August a miller. 
In December, 1843, Mr. and Mrs. Sheverling 
came to the United States, sailing from Bre- 
men in the good ship Goethe, a sailing vessel, 
and were six weeks and three days on the sea. 
They landed in Baltimore and came at once to 
Dayton, settling in Butler township, Montgom- 
ery county, on a farm on which the subject of 
this sketch now lives. This farm contained 
sixty-six acres, but since then there have been 
sold all but about ten acres, which is retained 
as a homestead. Mr. Sheverling died in 1884, 
aged seventy-nine years. From his fourteenth 
year up to his death he was a consistent mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Sheverling 
lived to be sixty-nine years of age, dying in 
1864. She was a woman of many virtues and 
a member of the Lutheran church. In 1853 
she paid a visit to her native land, taking with 
her her daughter, Alvina, remained a year and 
then returned to the United States, living here 
until her death. 

Louis Kunnike, the subject of this sketch, 
was well educated in his native country, at- 
tending school until he was eleven years old, 
and then coming with his mother to the United 
States. After reaching Ohio he attended 
school at Chambersburg, becoming a farmer 
in early life, and has followed that vocation 
ever since. He now owns 140 acres of land, 
and is a prosperous man. Like his father and 
mother, he is a member of the Lutheran 
church, having united with that church when 
fourteen years of age. In politics he was a 
democrat until Abraham Lincoln's time, and 
since then has been a republican. Mr. Kun- 
nike is a man of undoubted honesty and up- 



1186 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Tightness of character, of correct morals, and 
has always stood high in the estimation of his 
neighbors and friends. 

Miss Alvina Sheverling was born February 
1 6, 1838, and hence was five years old when 
she came to the United States with her par- 
ents. She was fifteen years of age when she 
went on a visit to Germany with her mother. 
She is a member of the Lutheran church, hav- 
ing united therewith when fifteen years of age, 
and with the exception of the one year spent 
in Germany has lived in Butler township ever 
since 1848. She is a woman of excellent 
business ability, and by judicious management 
and investment has largely increased her in- 
heritance, having now 177 acres of good farm 
land, well improved. 

Herman Kunnike was a soldier in the late 
Civil war, a private in company G, Eighth 
Ohio regiment, and was killed in battle. 



>y»OHN M. LANDIS, whose post-office is 
J Clayton, Ohio, is one of the old settlers 
(|1 of Randolph township. His father, 
Abraham Landis, was one of the original 
pioneers of Madison township, and was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa. In that county he was 
married to Mary Miller, who was born in the 
same county, and both -were of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock. Abraham Landis was a farmer 
and removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
not long after 1805, settling in the woods in 
Madison township, a little clearing having 
already been made on his land. The rest of 
the farm he himself cleared and made himself 
a good home. He was a hard-working pioneer, 
and respected by all. His children are be- 
lieved to have all been born in Montgomery 
county. They were as follows: Sallie, who 
died young; Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, Polly, 
Elizabeth, Nancy, Leah, Susan, Abraham, 
John M., Lydia and Michael. In religious 



belief Mr. Landis was a German Baptist, and 
was a man of high character. He died on his 
farm when seventy-seven years of age. 

John M. Landis, the subject of this sketch, 
was born July 8, 1832, on his father's farm, in 
Madison township. Having received his edu- 
cation, he became a farmer from choice, and 
when twenty-three years of age, on April 15, 
1856, married Elizabeth Ann Weaver, who 
was born May 26, 1837, and was a daughter of 
James and Nancy (Hayes) Weaver, the former 
of whom was a farmer. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Landis there were born 
the following children: Alice, Nannie Bell; 
Edward, who died young; Charles; Emma, 
who died in infancy; and Clarence W. After 
marriage Mr. Landis settled on Wolf creek, 
afterward removing to Darke county, and re- 
turning to Montgomery county in 1870, buying 
eighty-three and a half acres of land, upon 
which he has since lived. This farm he has 
greatly improved and has erected new and 
tasteful buildings. Mrs. Landis, who died 
March 25, 1893, was a most excellent woman, 
and a member of the Christian church. She 
was fifty-five years old at the time of her 
death. Politically, Mr. Landis is a democrat. 
He has always been an active citizen, and is 
esteemed for his strong and exemplary char- 
acter and industrious habits. 

Clarence W. Landis married Dora Geist, 
who was born March 13, 1870, in Madison 
township, Montgomery county, and is a daugh- 
ter of Erb and Rickie (Clapper) Geist, and of 
Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Landis there have been born two children, 
Artie and Alice. Clarence W. Landis was 
well educated in the common schools and is 
now living on the Ananias Frantz farm. Nan- 
nie Bell Landis married Preston Weaver, of 
the National Cash Register company of Day- 
ton, and has had three children, only one of 
whom is living. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1187 



kS~\ ENJAMIN MECKLEY, one of the 

l(^^ thriving farmers of Jackson township, 

J^J Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 

here on his father's farm August 30, 

1835, an d ' s OI Pennsylvania-German descent. 

Christian Meckley, his father, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., December 19, 1805, 
and was a son of Melchor Meckley, a farmer, 
who died at the age of forty-eight years, the 
father of eight children, viz: Christian, Henry, 
Isaac, Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, John and 
Nancy. Christian was about twelve years old 
when his father died, and at the proper age 
was apprenticed to a weaver. At the age of 
twenty-one years he came to Ohio, walking, 
with ten companions, all the way to Montgom- 
ery county. Later, he made several trips to 
Pennsylvania, driving a team one way and 
walking the other; altogether, and in various 
ways, he made seventeen trips between the 
two states. He finally located in Hamilton, 
Butler county, where he carried on weaving 
for some time. He then came to Jackson 
township, Montgomery county, and married 
Nancy Keener, who was born in Pennsylvania 
within three miles of his own birthplace, and 
about 1830 settled on the farm next north of 
that on which his son Benjamin now lives. 
The farm was in the woods and comprised 
100 acres, and here were born his six children: 
Catherine, John, Benjamin, Henry, Michael 
and Mary. He prospered through life, and at 
one time owned 460 acres of land, most of 
which he disposed of to his children without 
interest, but, as a lesson in industry and 
economy, insisted on their paying for it. He 
was a democrat in politics, and for two terms 
served as township trustee. His death took 
place April 10, 1884, in his seventy-ninth year. 

Benjamin Meckley was reared on the home 
farm and had the advantage of the common 
schools three months each winter from early 
boyhood until nineteen years old. April 3, 



1862, he married Miss Catherine Barbara Kay- 
ler, who was born five miles north of Eaton, 
Preble county, Ohio, October 1, 1S35, on tne 
homestead of her parents, Benjamin and Eliza- 
beth (Ozias) Kayler. 

Benjamin Kayler was born in Rockingham 
county, Va., October 22, 1803, a son of John 
F. and Catherine (Haynes) Kayler. John F. 
was descended from an old German family of 
Virginia, and brought his wife and children to 
Ohio in 181 5. They settled four and a half 
miles north of Eaton, where Mr. Kayler 
cleared up a farm from the woods, and at one 
time owned about 400 acres of land, of which 
he gave 120 acres to each of his children — 
John, Benjamin and William. He died in 
1857, at the age of eighty-two years, having 
become one of the most prominent citizens of 
his township. Benjamin Kayler came to Ohio 
with his father and was reared to manhood on 
the farm in Preble county. His wife was a 
daughter of Peter and Catherine (Cristman) 
Ozias, natives of North Carolina and of Ger- 
man extraction, and Rev. Jacob Cristman, the 
maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Meckley, 
was the first German Reform preacher in the 
state of Ohio — both families having come to 
this state in 1803. Benjamin Kayler and wife 
settled on a tract of land in the woods near 
his father's farm, where he cut down the trees 
from which he obtained the logs for his cabin, 
cleared up a fine farm, and increased his origi- 
nal tract of 120 acres to 660. He was an 
elder in the Lutheran church, a man of unim- 
peachable character, and died in the faith, in 
1S80, at the age of seventy-eight years, the 
father of six children — William, Catherine B., 
Phebe, Sarah, Mary and Amanda. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Meck- 
ley settled on their present farm, which then 
consisted of 1 50 acres. He has been indus- 
trious and thrifty and has added 130 acres, now 
owning a compact and well-cutivated farm of 



1188 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



280 acres, one of the best in Jackson township. 
Mr. and Mrs. Meckley are members of the 
German Reformed church, Mr. Meckley hav- 
ing united with the Slyfer congregation when 
sixteen years of age, while Mrs. Meckley be- 
came a member of Zion's Lutheran church con- 
gregation, north of Eaton, when seventeen 
years old. Mr. Meckley has held the office of 
deacon and elder for twenty-six years, and is 
at present an elder in the church. The lives 
of both have been filled with benevolence and 
charity. In the absence of children of their 
own, they have reared, as their own child, 
from girlhood to womanhood, Annie Gephart, 
now the wife of William Allen Leise, of Day- 
ton. In politics Mr. Meckley is a democrat, 
but has never been an aspirant for office. He 
has led a busy and useful life, and he and wife 
bear an honored .name throughout the town- 
ship of Jackson and surrounding country. 



WOHN C. HEIDINGER, present post- 
■ master of Brookville, springs from Ger- 
/• 1 man ancestry. He was born in Brak- 
enheim, Wurtemberg, Germany, April 
29, 1830, and is a son of Jacob and Katherine 
(Fisher) Heidinger. John C. Heidinger re- 
ceived his education in the excellent schools of 
Wurtemberg, and came to the United States 
in 1848, when he was eighteen years old, sail- 
ing from Antwerp, Belgium, and landing in 
New York. He first went to Newark, N. J., 
where he remained a few months, and thence 
to Pennsylvania, where he resided two years. 
Here he worked on a farm and also learned the 
painter's trade. In 1853 he came to Ohio, 
living for a time at Cincinnati and at College 
Hill, in Hamilton county, and in 1855 removed 
to Dayton, Ohio, following his trade all this 
time. In the same year, 1855, he went to 
New Lebanon, Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
in 1856 married Mary A. Adams, who was 



born in Fairfield county, at New Lancaster, in 
1830, and was a daughter of Jacob and Sabina 
(Henkle) Adams. The Adams family were 
originally from Maryland, and the Henkles 
from Virginia. 

Mr. Heidinger resided at New Lebanon un- 
til 1862, and then removed to Johnsville, 
Montgomery county, where he engaged in mer- 
cantile business. From Johnsville he removed 
to Van Wert, and thence to Franklin, Ohio, 
in 1867, and in 1869 to Farmersville, finally 
coming to Brookville in 1871. In each of 
these places he was engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits, but upon reaching Brookville he entered 
the hotel business as proprietor of the Central 
House, which he conducted for sixteen years, 
retiring at the end of this period. 

In 1884 he was elected a member of the 
board of infirmary directors, serving three 
years, and proved a capable and humane offi- 
cial, his efforts being directed to the benefit of 
the public. In 1893 he was appointed post- 
master of Brookville under President Cleve- 
land's administration, and holds this position 
at the present time (1897). Mr. Heidinger 
has engaged in the fire insurance business for 
the past sixteen years, representing only stand- 
ard companies. In politics a democrat, he has 
held several minor offices of his party, such as 
township clerk of Brookville, and he is one of 
the popular citizens of this thriving place. He 
has also served as a member of the corpora- 
tion council and is well known for his integrity 
of character and correct business methods. 
Under his administration the post-office is well 
managed and the service excellent. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Heidinger there have been 
born eight children, as follows: Three that 
died young; Salina, who died after her mar- 
riage; Luther F., deceased; Edward C, 
William and George A. Mr. Heidinger is an 
honored member of the Odd Fellows order. 
He has passed nearly all his active life in the 





C ?^^c£J*<^9~£^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1191 



United States, and is in every way a thorough 
American citizen. While living at New 
Lebanon and at Johnsville he was post- 
master under President Lincoln's administra- 
tion. He is a genial and pleasant gentleman 
and is deservedly popular with all classes 
of the people. 



>-r* ACOB C. POTE, one of the old citizens 
M and farmers of Clay township, Mont- 
/• 1 gomery county, Ohio, is a native of 
Pennsylvania and was born in Indiana 
county, January i, 1823, a son of Adam and 
Magdalen (Coy) Pote. 

Michael Pote, grandfather of Jacob C, 
was born in Germany, and when a young man 
came to America, served in the war of the 
Revolution, and was one of those who passed 
the terrible winter of 1777-8 with Washing- 
ton at Valley Forge. Mr. Pote married a 
Mrs. Wise, the union resulting in the birth of 
the following children: Michael, Jacob, Adam, 
Elizabeth, Sophia, Magdalena and Catherine. 
He settled down to farming in Bedford county 
on a tract of 300 acres of land, realized a 
competency, and died an aged and respected 
citizen — his descendants still owning the old 
farm, which some of them occupy. 

Adam Pote, son of Michael, was born in 
Bedford county, Pa., in 1795, was there mar- 
ried to Magdalen Coy, and in 1824 came 
with his wife and four children to Montgomery 
township, Ohio. He first located in Randolph 
township, but later moved to Clay township 
and entered eighty acres of land, the deed 
being signed by the then president of the 
United States, John Quincy Adams. This 
land he cleared up from the wilderness and 
transformed into a comfortable home, and here 
passed the remainder of his days, dying in 
1867, the father of eleven children. They 

were named Magdalene, Elizabeth, Samuel, 
53 



Jacob C, Mary, Dolly, Michael, Barbara, 
Susannah, Daniel and John. Of these, three 
of the sons — Jacob C, Daniel and John — 
served in the late Civil war, the latter two in 
the three years' service and as veterans of 
company B, Seventy-first Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry. In politics, Mr. Pote was at first a 
whig, but went into the ranks of the repub- 
lican party on its organization. He and wife 
were members of the German Baptist church, 
and both were noted for their integrity. 

Lewis Coy, father of Mrs. Magdalen Pote, 
was a native of Bedford county, Pa., and was 
extensively engaged in farming, owning 600 
acres of land. He lived to be an aged man, 
and was the father of four sons, viz: Lewis, 
Henry, Michael and John — Mrs. Pote being 
the only daughter. 

Jacob C. Pote, whose name opens this 
biographical notice, was but one year old when 
he was brought to Montgomery county. Here 
he was reared to farming, receiving in his 
youthful days such an education as could be 
acquired in the pioneer schools, and on April 
18, 1847, married Miss Elizabeth Wagoman, 
a daughter of Joel Wagoman and a native of 
Montgomery county. To this union were born 
five children, viz: Mary A., Catherine, Ellen 
J., Susannah and Emma. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Pote died in 1858, and on March 7, i860, Mr. 
Pote married Miss Mary Whisler, daughter of 
Peter and Mary (Spitler) Whisler, and this 
union was blessed by the birth of seven chil- 
dren, who are named Edward, David L. , Alice, 
Jessie, Ida, Orvilla and Cora. 

Mr. Pote enlisted in the United States vol- 
unteers, first, for the Mormon war, but was 
not called out for actual service; he next en- 
listed in the Ohio national guards for five 
years, was commissioned captain of company 
F, Second regiment, was called out May 2, 
1864, and his company merged with company 
K, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio vol- 



1192 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



unteer infantry. He was mustered in as first 
lieutenant, for ioo days, and was stationed at 
Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Md., but was de- 
tached for provost duty in the city, served i 17 
days, and was honorably discharged at Camp 
Chase, Ohio, August 22, 1864. 

Mr. Pote, before enlistment, had purchased 
a tract of 140 acres of land in Clay township, 
and after his return from the service settled on 
this property and made of it an excellent farm. 
He was bereft of his second wife in 1875. 
She was a devout member of the United 
Brethren church. In politics Mr. Pote was, 
in his earlier manhood, a Henry Clay whig, 
and cast his first presidential vote for that 
famous statesman; on the formation of the 
republican party, he became one of its mem- 
bers, and has ever since been identified with 
it. Mr. Pote has been successful in his voca- 
tion, and is now one of the most respected of 
Clay township's citizens. 



8X 



ILLIAM S. MUNDHENK, M. D., 
a leading physician of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and for the last twenty 
years a successful practitioner of 
Brookville, springs from German ancestry. 

His grandfather, Daniel G. Mundhenk, 
was a native of German}'; married Louisa 
Sprengel in 1803, and in 1807 emigrated from 
Pyrmont, a small country in the northwest of 
Germany, landing in Philadelphia. When a 
young man Mr. Mundhenk was a sailor in serv- 
ice upon whaling vessels, and visited the Arc- 
tic ocean and Greenland. After retiring from 
a seafaring life he became a farmer and a me- 
chanic. By his first wife, who died shortly 
after reaching Philadelphia, Mr. Mundhenk had 
two children, August and Louisa. For his 
second wife he married Maria Hagerman, by 
whom he had eight children, as follows: 



Daniel, Henry, Mary A., Michael, Joseph, 
Charles, Frederick and John. Mr. Mundhenk 
settled in Montgomery county in 1817, and 
founded the town of Pyrmont, laying it out 
on his own land, of which he had from 500 to 
600 acres. Upon this farm his second wife 
died, and for his third wife he married Mar- 
garet Hubler, by whom he had one child, 
Caroline. Early in his life Mr. Mundhenk was 
a Quaker, but after reaching Ohio he joined 
the United Brethren church. He died in Pyr- 
mont in 1859, at the age of eighty-one. He 
was one of the well-known and popular men 
of pioneer days, a man of sterling character 
and a valued citizen. He was engaged in both 
farming and milling in Pyrmont, erecting both 
saw and grist-mills early in the history of 
Montgomery count} 1 . 

Frederick Mundhenk, father of Dr. Mund- 
henk, was born July 4, 181 8, at Pyrmont, 
being the first child born in the settlement. 
His education was received in tho common 
schools, and early in life he learned the busi- 
ness of miller, operating both saw and grist- 
mills. November 3, 1843, he married, at Pyr- 
mont, Mary C. Hook, who was born in Rock- 
ingham county, Ya., November 11, 1823, and 
who was a daughter of John and Ann (Chand- 
ler) Hook, the former of whom was born in 
Rockingham county, Va., and was on his fa- 
ther's side of English descent, on his mother's 
side of German ancestry. He was the son of 
Robert Hook. 

John Hook was a soldier of the war of 
1S12, being stationed for a time at Norfolk, 
Va. To him and his wife there was born one 
child, Mary C. For some years he followed 
the harness and saddlery business in Harrison- 
burg, Ya., and at an early day emigrated to 
Missouri, and returning from that state located 
at Pyrmont, Ohio, about 1830. After the 
death of his first wife he married a second 
wife, by whom he had two children, Uriah 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1193 



and Sarah. His death occurred in 1869, when 
he was seventy-six years old. 

Frederick Mundhenk resided at Pyrmont 
the greater portion of his life. He was an in- 
dustrious, hard-working and prosperous man, 
owning some 500 acres of land. For many 
years he was engaged in milling at Pyrmont, 
where he was a well and widely known and 
honored citizen, a republican in politics, and a 
liberal supporter of the United Brethren 
church, of which he was a member. He had 
one son, James, in the Civil war, a member of 
the One Hundred and Eighteenth Ohio volun- 
teer infantry. His children were as follows: 
William S. and Minnie by his first wife, and 
Frederick by his second marriage. 

William S. Mundhenk, M. D., was born 
August 19, 185 1, in Pyrmont, was educated 
first in the public schools, and began the study 
of medicine with Dr. J. R. Conner, a promi- 
nent physician of Montgomery county for thirty 
years. Afterward he graduated from the Ohio 
Medical college at Cincinnati, in 1876, and 
immediately began the practice of medicine at 
Brookville, soon establishing himself in a large 
and lucrative practice, which extends through- 
out the surrounding country. In 1872 he 
married Emma Conner, born in 1853, and a 
daughter of Dr. J. R. Conner and his wife, 
Mary Cusick. Dr. Conner was born in Mary- 
land, and when a young man removed to Clin- 
ton county, Ohio, and in 1S51 to Montgomery 
count}', locating in Pyrmont, where he was en- 
gaged in the practice of medicine until 1872. 
For the last ten years of his life he was en- 
gaged in practice in Brookville, dying there in 
18.82, at the age of fifty-six years. His chil- 
dren are Emma, Eberle, Flora and Rose. Dr. 
Conner was of prominence in the medical pro- 
fession, and held a high place in the general 
estimation of his fellow-men. 

Dr. William S. Mundhenk keeps fully 
abreast of the progress of his profession, in 



which he has always maintained an enviable 
standing. He is a member of the Ohio state 
Medical association, of the Montgomery coun- 
ty Medical society, of the Knights of Pythias, 
and in politics is a republican. To Dr. and 
Mrs. Mundhenk there has been born one son, 
Herbert C 
Ohio State universitv. 



now a diligent student at the 



HLBERT QUANCE, of Brookville, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, an hon- 
ored citizen, and one of the ex-soldiers 
of the Civil war, springs from an old 
American family of the state of New York, and 
is of England and German ancestry. He is a 
son of Stephen S. and Mary Ouance, and was 
born February 26, 1848, in Lenawee county, 
Mich. Having received a good common-school 
education, when fifteen years old he enlisted 
February 26, 1863, at Camden, Hillsdale 
county, Mich., in company B, First Michigan 
sharpshooters, for three years or during the war. 
While in Judiciary Square hospital, Washing- 
ton, D. C, he was honorably discharged, 
January 20, 1865, on account of wounds re- 
ceived in battle. He participated in the battles 
of the Wilderness, of Spottsylvania Court 
House, of Cold Harbor and the siege of Peters- 
burg, in the latter battle being shot in the left 
leg by a musket ball, which struck about the 
middle of the thigh, shattering the bone. Be- 
ing taken to the field hospital it was found 
necessary to amputate the leg near the body. 
For some time he was in the Army Square 
hospital at Washington, D. C, and later was 
transferred to the Judiciary Square hospital, 
from which he was in due course of time dis- 
charged, having been in the different hospitals 
about six months in all. The wound above 
mentioned was the second he received, the 
first being at Spottsylvania Court House, when 
a piece of shell struck him on the knee cap of 



1194 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the left leg, disabling him for some time. He 
was also struck in the groin by a spent ball at 
Petersburg. He was an unusually strong boy, 
was never sick, performed his duty cheerfully, 
and was throughout a faithful soldier. 

After the war he returned to Michigan, 
and remained at home with his father for 
some time, attending school. About 1871 he 
removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, and for 
a short time was an inmate of the soldiers' 
home. In 1S75, having purchased a small 
piece of land near Bachman, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, he married Annie M. Schlosser, 
who was born in Jay county, Ind., November 
6, 1857, and is a daughter of Samuel and 
Mary (Beechler) Schlosser. Mr. and Mrs. 
Quance lived at Bachman until 1886, when 
they removed to Brookville, and there Mr. 
Quance bought his present property, consist- 
ing of -five town lots and a good residence, 
pleasantly situated. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Quance there have been 
born four children, as follows: Nellie, who 
died at the age of five years; Laura, born 
February 6, 1881; Lewis, born June 16, 1885, 
and Flora, born May 17, 1890. Mr. Quance 
is a member of Foster Marshall post, No. 
587, G. A. R. , and has held the office of adju- 
tant. He is a republican in politics, and both 
he and his wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

Stephen S. Quance, father of Albert, was 
born in the State of New York, became a 
farmer and mason, and was married the first 
time in his native state. Removing to Michi- 
gan about 1845, he there worked at his trade 
as a mason, and later removed to Steuben 
county, Ind., but died in Illinois in 1896. 
His children were George, Charles E., Mary, 
Juliette, Nettie, Albert and Stephen. He had 
two sons in the Civil war, Charles E. and 
Albert, the former being in the Sixty-first 
Illinois volunteer infantry. Mr. Quance was 



a member of the Christian church, and his 
first wife, the mother of Albert Quance, a 
woman of many virtues and excellent qualities, 
died in Michigan about 1848. Mr. Quance 
married the second time, by this union having 
one child, Alice. His second wife having died 
he again married, but had no children by his 
third marriage. 

Samuel Schlosser, father of Mrs." Albert 
Quance, was a soldier in the war of the Rebel- 
lion. His children are Harry C. ; Frances M. ; 
Nancy and Annie M. He is a citizen of Bach- 
man, and a sketch of his life will be found 
elsewhere in these pages. 



^ ^»v w * ILLIAM PIATT, an honored citizen 
MB of Brookville, Ohio, and an ex-sol- 

\jL>l 1 i the ( ivil war. is of French 

Huguenot descent and of an old 
colonial family of the state of Virginia. He 
was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, July 
9, 1 841, and is a son of James and Eliza 
(McWhiney) Piatt. Having received the com- 
mon-school education of his youthful days, he 
was reared to farm life and labor. His mother 
having died in 1849 he was bound out to labor, 
but received such severe treatment that his 
father secured a writ of habeas corpus, by means 
of which young Piatt became again a free boy. 
He then worked for Daniel Frantz on the farm 
for nine years. 

November 15, 1 861, he enlisted at Poast- 
town, Madison township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, as a private soldier in company E, Sev- 
enty-first Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. 
W. H. Callender, for three years or during 
the war. He served until he veteranized in 
that organization at Gallatin, Tenn., Febru- 
ary 14, 1864, and continued to serve until 
honorably discharged at Camp Chase, Ohio, 
January 6, 1866. He participated in many 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1195 



skirmishes and battles, among them those of 
Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station, his regiment 
having joined Gen. Sherman on the march to 
Atlanta in time to take part in the closing 
battles of that great campaign. For fourteen 
months he was engaged in fighting guerrillas, 
his company being mounted, and afterward he 
was engaged in protecting the Louisville & 
Nashville railroad. After the fall of Atlanta 
Mr. Piatt returned to Nashville, taking part on 
the way in the great battle of Franklin, which 
in many respects was one of the hardest-fought 
battles of the war, the rebels making as many 
as nine separate and desperate charges on the 
Union lines, so determined were they to con- 
quer on that day, knowing that on their suc- 
cess depended the possibility of their being 
able to capture Nashville. After the battle of 
Franklin Mr. Piatt was on the skirmish line 
near Nashville on December 14, 1864, was 
shot in the right wrist, and was in the hospital 
in Nashville for six weeks. Rejoining his regi- 
ment at Huntsville, Ala., he went to Green- 
ville, east Tennessee, where he remained until 
after the surrender of Lee. Then with his 
regiment he went to Nashville, remaining there 
two months, and then went to Texas to watch 
Maximilian in Mexico, finally reaching San 
Antonio, Tex., where he was mustered out. 
He was always an active soldier, and prompt 
in the discharge of his duty. Now, however, 
he is much broken down, which fact he attrib- 
utes to the hardships and exposures of the 
war. At Clarksville, Tenn. , he, with about 
300 others, was taken prisoner, paroled the 
next day, sent to the Union lines, and was 
soon exchanged. One of the most severe 
marches in which he took part was that from 
Matagorda Bay, Tex., to Green Lake, Tex., 
his suffering on this march being caused by the 
intense July heat and the want of water. 

After the close of the war Mr. Piatt re- 
turned to Ohio, and engaged in farm work and 



also in buying and selling tobacco, in which he 
has been very successful for the past twenty- 
five years. On March 9, 1882, he married 
Miss Alva Kepler, who was born in Montgom- 
ery county, June 7, 1859, and is a daughter of 
William and Hannah (Willie) Kepler. William 
Kepler was born in Dayton, Ohio, and was a 
son of Jesse Kepler, who settled in Montgom- 
ery county many years ago and who died near 
Dayton, Ohio, in 1895, at tne a ge °f eighty- 
six years, his wife dying at the same age. 
Prior to her marriage she was Maria Hendrick- 
son, of New Jersey. William Kepler and his 
wife were the parents of the following children: 
Alva, Herbert, Altie, Lutie F., Lottie L. , 
Harry N., Charles J. and Maud A. Mr. Kep- 
ler is now an honored citizen of Brookville. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Piatt 
settled near New Lebanon, Montgomery coun- 
ty, resided there five years, and then removed 
to Brookville in 1887. They have one child, 
Estus E. Piatt. Mr. Piatt is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church and has served as 
one of its trustees, while Mrs. Piatt is a mem- 
ber of the United Brethren church. Mr. Piatt 
is a member of Foster Marshall post, No. 
587, G. A. R., of Brookville. Politically, he 
is a republican and has served as a member of 
the town council. He is a member of Oak 
lodge, No. 265, I. O. O. F., and has passed 
all the chairs, including that of noble grand. 
Mr. Piatt is well known as a competent and 
honorable business man and a good citizen. 
He has recently received a commission from 
the Ohio department of the Grand Army of 
the Republic as colonel on the staff of the 
quartermaster-general. 

James Piatt, father of William, was first 
married to a Miss Olinger, and by her had the 
following children: Rebecca, Jacob and John. 
By his second wife he had the following chil- 
dren: William, David, James and Eliza. 
Jacob, John, William and David were all in 



1196 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the Civil war. John was in the same regiment 
with William. Jacob served one year, dying 
March 14, 1S63, at Fort Donelson. 



a APT. BENJAMIN F. SHOE, a vet- 
eran of both the Mexican and Civil 
wars and a respected citizen of Clay 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was born near Dayton, January 13, 1824, a 
son of John and Prudence (Hewey) Shoe, re- 
spectively of German and Irish extraction. 

Shortly after reaching his majority, Mr. 
Shoe enlisted for five years, or during the 
Mexican war, August 27, 1845, m company 
H, Fifth infantry, at Newport, Ky., and on 
reaching the front took part in the battles of 
Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, 
Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Molina del Rey, 
Castle of Chapultepec, the Gate of San Cosmo 
and Cherubusco ( where he was slightly 
wounded). He served under Gens. Worth, 
Taylor and Scott until peace was declared, 
after which he served out his term of enlist- 
ment, and was honorably discharged at Fort 
Washita, August 27, 1851, with the rank of 
sergeant, having been promoted for meritori- 
ous conduct in the field. He then returned to 
Montgomery county and found employment at 
farm labor. November 20, 1859, Mr. Shoe 
was united in marriage, in Clay township, with 
Miss Sarah Louisa Kennard, a native of Miami 
county, Ohio, born July 29, 1840, and to this 
union ten children have been born, viz: One 
who died in infancy. Alice S., Charles R., John 
B., William A., James M. , Ella J., Benjamin 
F. , Jesse W. and Carrie B. 

John Shoe, the father of the captain, was 
a native of Maryland and settled in Dayton, 
Ohio, when that now populous and beautiful 
city was merely an Indian trading post. To 
him and his wife were born the following chil- 



dren: David, John, Elihu, Sarah, Philip, El- 
hannon, Jacob, Deborah, Massie and Benja- 
min F. John Shoe lived to reach the age of 
seventy-nine years, and died in the faith of 
the German Baptist church. Benjamin Ken- 
nard, father of Mrs. Shoe, a tanner by trade, 
came to Montgomery county, Ohio, from Indi- 
ana, and was the father of the following-named 
children: Mary J., Richard, Catherine, Ellen, 
Kesiah, Susannah, William, Thomas R., Sarah 
L. and Elizabeth. Of these, Richard, Will- 
iam and Thomas R. served in the Civil war, 
in which their brothers-in-law, Isaac Webster, 
Thomas Wright and Noah Tucker also took 
an active part. 

On marrying, Mr. Shoe settled on his pres- 
ent farm and was engaged in the peaceful pur- 
suit of agriculture until the alarm of war was 
again sounded. In the meantime he had or- 
ganized a company of militia in Clay township, 
denominated the Clay Guards, of which he was 
commissioned captain by Gov. Chase, who 
complimented him on having the best drilled 
company in the state — Mr. Shoe having availed 
himself of his experience in the regular army, 
which had made him a competent drill-master. 
Nevertheless, when the Civil war opened 
Capt. Shoe entered the volunteer service as a 
private, enlisting in October, 1861, in com- 
pany H, Seventy-fourth Ohio infantry, for 
three years, unless sooner discharged by reason 
of the close of the war, and served until hon- 
orably discharged at Murfreesboro, Tenn., in 
March, 1S63, on account of disability. Dur- 
ing this enlistment he was in the battle of Stone 
River, and for four months of his term per- 
formed all the duties of a first lieutenant, al- 
though not commissioned. On being dis- 
charged, he returned to Montgomery county, 
but did not remain long, as he re-enlisted, and 
on May 22, 1864, was mustered in at Camp 
Chase for 100 days, as drill-master of com- 
pany K, One Hundred and Thirty-first Ohio 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1197 



volunteer infantry, from which service he was 
honorably discharged at Camp Chase, August 
26, 1864, having at this time served 1 17 days. 
He thus has a record of military service ex- 
tending over a period of more than eight years. 
In politics Capt. Shoe is a republican. As a 
citizen he is respected for his upright life and 
his public spirit, and as a defender of his coun- 
try's rights is most deservedly honored. 



•"V* AMU EL SCHLOSSER, a farmer of 
•^^^k* Clay township, Montgomery county, 

h^_J Ohio, also a practical shoemaker and 
an ex-soldier in the late war, is a son 
of Moses and Sarah (Fleagle) Schlosser, and 
was born in Preble county, Ohio, June 24, 1835. 
John Schlosser, his grandfather, was born 
in Pennsylvania, was of German descent, and 
in 1 816 removed with his family from Lancas- 
ter county, that state, to Preble county, Ohio, 
his children being John, Jonas, Moses and 
Samuel. The journey to Ohio was made in a 
four-horse wagon, and settlement was made in 
the woods on a 160-acre tract near West So- 
nora. There he succeeded in making a good 
home, and there died at the age of eighty years, 
a member of the Lutheran church and a 
worthy citizen. Of his children, Samuel 
served in the Union army five years and one 
month, passing all through the late Civil war. 
Moses Schlosser, son of John and Mary 
(Reiner) Schlosser, was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., March 23, 1808, and consequently 
was eight years of age when brought to Ohio 
by his parents. He was brought up among 
the pioneers of Preble county, received a good 
common-school education and was reared to 
farming. He was married in Preble county to 
Sarah Fleagle, who was born in Maryland in 
1812, a daughter of Abraham and Isabella 
(Dutch) Fleagle, the father, Abraham, being 



one of the earliest settlers of Preble county. 
Moses Schlosser, after his marriage, farmed 
for some little time in Preble county, Ohio, 
then moved to LaSalle county, 111., and pur- 
chased eighty acres of land, on which he 
farmed until 1879, when he moved to Butler 
county, Kans. , where he made his home with' 
his son, William, until his death, which oc- 
curred February 23, 1892. His children were 
named in order of birth, Samuel, Jacob, Isabella, 
William, Margaret, Sarah, Levina, and Phisbie 
and Almina (twins). Of these, William was a 
private in the Indiana cavalry, served three 
years, and lost his eyesight in the battle at 
Athens, Tenn., while his elder brother, Jacob, 
served two years in the One Hundred and 
Twenty-fourth Illinois infantry. Both Mr. 
and Mrs. Schlosser were consistent members of 
the Lutheran church. Abraham Fleagle, ma- 
ternal grandfather of subject, served in the 
British and Indian wars. 

Samuel Schlosser was educated in the old- 
time subscription schools, was thoroughly 
trained to farming, and at the age of twenty- 
one years, on September 11, 1856, married, 
in Montgomery county, Miss Mary Beachler, 
who was born August 5, 1834, a daughter of 
Frederick and Annie Beachler. The father, 
Frederick Beachler, was a native of Germany; 
and, to avoid military duty in that country, 
came to the United States while he was still a 
young man, located in Montgomery county, 
Ohio, where he was married, and bought 
eighty acres of land, on which he lived until 
his death, in middle age, in 1855, and in the 
faith of the Lutheran church. To Mr. Beach- 
ler were born eight children, viz: Henry, 
Jacob, John, Leonard, Michael, George, Lewis 
and Mary. Of these children Leonard was in 
the One Hundred and Thirty-first Indiana vol- 
unteer infantry, and served 100 days during 
the late war. 

Samuel Schlosser, after his marriage, lived 



1198 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



on a farm in Montgomery county for a short 
time, and then moved to Jay county, Ind., 
where he farmed for eighteen months. Re- 
turning to Montgomery county, Ohio, he set- 
tled on a tract in Clay township. December 
24, 1863, he enlisted at Dayton, in company 
I, Ninety-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
served until honorably discharged at Saint 
Louis, Mo., December 26, 1865. He took 
part in the battles of Loudon and Clinton, 
Tenn., was all through the famous Atlanta 
campaign, then in the battles of Rocky Face 
Ridge, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain and again 
in the front of Atlanta; took part in the fights 
at Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Spring Hill, 
Columbia, and at the first battle at Franklin, 
where, on the night of the retreat, he was run 
over by a mule team and so badly injured 
that he has never fully recovered. After a 
short confinement in hospital at Nashville, 
Tenn., and Saint Louis, Mo., Mr. Schlosser 
was transferred to Jefferson barracks, in the 
latter city, and assigned to the Second bat- 
talion veteran reserve corps, in which he 
served until his final discharge. With the ex- 
ception of the above-mentioned hospital treat- 
ment he was never laid up, save for four 
weeks with chronic rheumatism, and at all 
other times was an active and willing soldier, 
who took part wherever his regiment was en- 
gaged or did duty. Since the war Mr. Schlos- 
ser has followed his trade of shoemaking and 
has also been engaged in the cultivation of his 
farm, which he had purchased before the war. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Schlosser have been born 
four children, viz: Ann M., Nancy J., Fran- 
cis M. and Harry C. The family are members 
of the German Baptist church, and Mr. Schlos- 
ser belongs to the Foster Marshall post, No. 
587, G. A. R. , of Brookville. Mr. Schlosser 
is respected as an industrious and honorable 
citizen and as a devoted friend of the country 
he has served so well. 



'^-j'AMES SUNDERLAND, of Vandalia, 
m Ohio, one of the most prominent and 
/• 1 substantial farmers of Butler township, 
Montgomery county, is of sterling 
Scotch-Irish ancestry, and was born on the 
old homestead of his father, August 31, 1823. 
He is of the third generation of Sunderlands 
in Ohio, and now occupies the farm on which 
he was born. He is a son of William and 
Margaret (Miller) Sunderland, for fuller men- 
tion of whom the reader is referred to the 
biography of Richard Sunderland, elsewhere 
to be found in this volume. 

James Sunderland, when a boy, attended 
school in one of the old-fashioned school- 
houses, made of large, round logs, with 
greased paper for windows, with a large fire- 
place at one end and a stick and clay chimney. 
Here he received the little education that fell 
to his share. Brought up on the farm, he be- 
came a farmer, and was married when he was 
twenty-one years of age, April 18, 1844, to 
Miss Mary Wells, who was born November 12, 
1828, on the Wells homestead. She was a 
daughter of Samuel and Mary (Johnson) 
Wells, for fuller mention of whom the reader 
is referred to the biographical sketch of Rich- 
ard Sunderland. 

After their marriage they immediately set- 
tled on the old homestead and have lived there 
ever since. To them have been born the fol- 
lowing children: Matilda J., Malinda E., 
Winfield S., Francis M., Emma F., Delia A., 
Bista A. and Mary R. Malinda E. died when 
nineteen years of age; Winfield S. died July 
18, 1878; Francis M., May 10, 1872, when 
nineteen years old; Emma F. at the age of 
three years; Bista A. at the age of seven, and 
Mary R. when three years of age. 

In politics Mr. Sunderland is a republican, 
but is in no sense a seeker after office. He 
inherited 100 acres of the old homestead, and 
by thrift and industry he has added to it until 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1199 



he now has 800 acres of as fine land as can be 
found in this rich valley. It extends a mile 
and a half on the Miami river and is most 
fertile land, being developed by skillful culti- 
vation and improved by the erection of excel- 
lent buildings. Seventy-five acres of this farm 
are still in their primitive state, covered over 
with noble timber. 

Mr. Sunderland is a practical and success- 
ful farmer, and is a man who stands high in 
the community for the sterling worth and 
strength of his character. Winfield S. Sun- 
derland married Alice N. Brentlinger, by whom 
he had one son, Walter E., still living. Ma- 
tilda J. married H. H. Cassell, and they are 
living on the Sunderland farm. Delia A. mar- 
ried John K. Booker, and they have four chil- 
dren, as follows: James A., Harry O., Raleigh 
and Mary E. 

The Sunderland family descends from early 
pioneer stock, as does also the Wells family. 
Mary Johnson, the maternal grandmother of 
Mrs. Sunderland, was born in North Carolina, 
and lived to be ninety-three years old. When 
she came to Ohio she was a widow, and her 
children were, Jesse, John, David, Mary, Re- 
becca and Nancy. Mrs. Johnson settled on 
land in Montgomery county, and with the aid 
of her children made a good home in the woods. 
She was a woman of wonderful mental ability 
and was a pioneer of Butler township, settling 
here in 1804. 



*-|-» EWIS R. SMITH, an honored citizen 
L of Brookville, and one of the old sol- 
^^^ diers of the Civil war, was born in 
Stark county, Ohio, October 24, 1828. 
He is a son of Peter and Catherine (Richard) 
Smith, the Smith family being of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock and from an old colonial family. 
On the mother's side, the grandfather of the 
subject came from Germany, and the mother 



was born on the ocean during the voyage of 
the family to America. 

Lewis R. Smith was taken by his parents 
to Montgomery county, they settling on the 
present site of Phillipsburg, when he was but 
six years of age, in 1834. He received the 
rudiments of his education in the common 
schools, and later went to Indiana, where he 
learned the wagon and carriagemaker's trade, 
afterward mastering the carpenter's trade. 
When he was twenty-eight years old he mar- 
ried Lydia Davis, daughter of George Davis, a 
native of England. After his marriage he 
settled at Phillipsburg, where he worked at 
his trade, that of carpenter. The war of the 
Rebellion having broken out, Mr. Smith en- 
listed at Dayton, Ohio, on August 15, 1 861 , 
as a member of company D, Eighteenth United 
States infantry, and while on the way to Pitts- 
burg Landing was transferred to company B, 
of the same regiment, and made orderly ser- 
geant. He was honorably discharged August 
15, 1864, at Columbus, Ohio. In October, 
1 864, he enlisted in company F, Seventh United 
States veteran volunteers (called Hancock's 
veteran United States volunteers) for one year, 
and served his time, thus giving four full years 
to his country's cause. He was in the battles 
of Perryville, Stone River, Pittsburg Land- 
ing, the siege of Corinth, the battle of Chick- 
amauga, beside many skirmishes and several 
raids. He received no gunshot wounds, but 
was struck on the right wrist by a ball and 
slightly wounded at the battle of Stone River. 
At this battle his captain had both legs shot 
off by a cannon ball and the lieutenant of his 
company was killed. During the remainder of 
the engagement Sergt. Smith was in command 
of the company, most of whose members were 
killed, so severe was the fighting. 

Sergt. Smith was sick for a short time in 
hospital No. 13, Nashville, Tenn., and was 
made a commissary sergeant. He was placed 



L200 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in the convalescent camp at Nashville, Tenn., 
was ordered before the board of transfer, and 
made clerk of said board, in which capacity he 
served for two months. After this board was 
disbanded, Sergt. Smith was sent to Colum- 
bus, Ohio, where he served at headquarters as 
clerk until discharged. Always an earnest sol- 
dier, he was in all the battles, skirmishes, 
marches, campaigns and raids of his regiment. 
The severest engagements in which he took part 
were those of Stone River and Chickamauga, 
in which the regular troops performed very 
efficient service. The battle of Stone River 
lasted nearly all of one week, from the first 
skirmish to the end of the fighting. Sergt. 
Smith was at the time of the war in the prime 
of life, vigorous and hardy, and endured all 
the hardships of a soldier's life with fortitude 
and courage. After the close of the war he 
returned to Phillipsburg, Ohio. 

His first wife died previous to his entering 
the army in i 86 1. By her he had two children, 
both of whom died young. On January 31, 
1865, he married Mary Thomas, a widow, who 
was born in Montgomery county, March 26, 
1 74 1 , and was a daughter of John and Nancy 
(Warner) Johns. She was the widow of Seth 
Thomas, who was a soldier in the Sixty-third 
Ohio volunteer infantry, and who died in hos- 
pital at Memphis, Tenn., September 31, 1S62. 

John Johns was of Welsh descent and a 
pioneer of Montgomery county, and a substan- 
tial farmer. He and his wife were the parents 
of the following children: Elizabeth, Lydia, 
Lewis W., Samuel W. , Ephraim, Hettie A. , 
David, Sarah, Mary and Susan. Mr. Johns 
lived to be seventy-nine years old, and died on 
his farm, a respected citizen. Politically, he 
was a republican. He had one son in the 
Civil war, Lewis W. Johns, who was a member 
of the Sixty-third Ohio volunteer infantry, and 
who participated in several battles. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith resided in Phillipsburg 



until 1880, when they removed to Brookville. 
To them there have been born two sons, 
George B. , now of Dayton, Ohio, and head 
bookkeeper for a large manufacturing firm, and 
Sylvester deceased — and one daughter, Ollivia, 
deceased. Mr. Smith is an active republican, 
and was postmaster under President Hayes for 
two years. He served as mayor of Brookville 
three terms and as a member of the council 
one term. He has also held the office of 
justice of the peace six years, and of notary 
public twenty-nine years. As a member of the 
school board he has rendered valuable service 
to his fellow-citizens. 

His father, Peter Smith, lived for a long 
time in Lancaster county, Pa., in which county 
he was born. He served in the war of 1812. 
He and his wife were the parents of seven chil- 
dren, as follows: John R., Mary, Peter, Re- 
becca, Lewis R., Henry and Samuel R. Peter 
Smith came to Ohio about 1829, was a miller 
by trade, but settled on a farm near Canton, 
Stark county, Ohio, removing with his family 
to Montgomery county in 1834. Here he 
cleared a farm of ninety-six acres, and became 
a leading and substantial citizen. He was a 
republican in politics, and had three sons in 
the Civil war, viz: Lewis R. , Henry and Sam- 
uel R., the two former in the same regiment, 
and Samuel R. in the Sixty-third Ohio volun- 
teer infantry. He died on his farm at the age 
of seventy-three. 



Sr* EVI H. TURNER, of Clay township, 

r Montgomery county, Ohio, an ex- 
I A soldier of the late Civil war, and a 
prosperous farmer, was born in Lib- 
erty, Jefferson township, this county, on the 
1 8th of October, 1S44. His parents, Daniel 
and Elizabeth (Hoffman) Turner, were natives 
of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and were 
early settlers in Montgomery county, Ohio. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1201 



Levi H. Turner was educated in the com- 
mon schools, but continued his studies at home 
until some time after he was married. He was 
reared to farming and was noted for his in- 
dustry as a young man. At the age of twenty 
years he enlisted in the Ohio national guards, 
under Capt. John Nicholas, for five years. In 
May, 1864, he was mustered into the United 
States service, at Columbus, Ohio, under the 
call for 100-day men, was assigned to company 
F, One Hundred and Thirty-first regiment, 
Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. Daniel 
Holderman, and was on guard duty at Fort 
McHeniy, Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md., until 
his honorable discharge in August, 1864. He 
then resumed farming, and on October 24, 
1867, married Miss Annie Baker, who was 
born December 2, 1848, the daughter of Ben- 
jamin and Frances (Niswonger) Baker, to whom 
reference is made in the review of the life of 
Levi Baker elsewhere in this volume. 

After marriage, Mr. Turner farmed in Clay 
township for a short time, then removed to 
Jefferson township and lived on the old Turner 
homestead for about nine years. In 1877 he 
bought the farm of seventy-five acres in Clay 
township on which he still resides, and which 
he has converted into one of the finest places 
of its size in the township. Mr. and Mrs. 
Turner also resided in Dayton for about six 
years, Mr. Turner being during this time in- 
terested in a stone quarry. To the union of 
Mr. and Mrs. Turner have been born four chil- 
dren, viz: Ettie A., who is married to Oliver 
F. Dillman, a hardware merchant in Brook- 
ville, and is the mother of three children: 
Lillie M., now a young lady; Clara L., who 
died at eight years of age, and Chester H., 
now a young man and making his home with 
his parents. In politics Mr. Turner is a dem- 
ocrat, and he and his wife and children are 
members of the United Brethren church. 

Daniel Turner, the father of Levi H., was 



a son of David Turner, who died on his farm 
near Lewistown, Pa., and who was the father 
of the following named children: John, James, 
Robert, David, Sarah and Daniel. Of these, 
John and Daniel settled in Dayton. Daniel 
was a cabinetmaker and for many years worked 
at his trade in Liberty. He first married 
Miss Sallie Birch, the union resulting in the 
birth of six children, viz: Harrison, Mary, 
Sarah, Elizabeth, William and Jacob. Mrs. 
Sallie Turner having died, Daniel Turner mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Hoffman, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth Hoffman, and to this marriage 
were born Margaret, Malinda, Levi H., Ella, 
John, Samuel, Minerva, Josie, Manass, and 
one that died in infancy. Daniel Turner, after 
a residence of many years in Liberty, finally 
purchased a farm of 237A acres near the town, 
on which he passed the remainder of his days, 
dying in December, 1877, at the age of sev- 
enty-eight years, in the faith of the United 
Brethren church. 



'^-r'EREMIAH WEST, an esteemed citizen 
a of Brookville, Ohio, and an ex-soldier 
(% 1 of the Civil war, was born October 22, 
1844, in Warren county. He is a son 
of Joseph and Mary ( Kelkner ) West, the fam- 
ily on his father's side being an old American 
family of Scotch descent. Having received a 
good common-school education he was begin- 
ning to learn the carpenter's trade when the 
war of the Rebellion broke out, he being one 
of the first to respond to his country's call, 
enlisting April 16, 1S61, at Dayton, Ohio, for 
three months, as a private soldier in company 
D, First Ohio volunteer infantry. Under this 
enlistment he served four months, and was 
honorably discharged August 16, 1861. Dur- 
ing this short period of service he was in a 
slight skirmish at Vienna, and in the first bat- 
tle of Bull Run. 



1202 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Returning to Montgomery county, Ohio, 
he enlisted September 19, 1862, in company 
G, Eleventh United States infantry, under 
Capt. \V. B. Lowe, but served under Capt. J. 
K. Lawrence. This enlistment was for three 
years, or during the war. He was honorably 
discharged at Richmond, \'a. , September 19, 
1865, at the expiration of his full term of serv- 
ice. The battles in which he took part were 
those of Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, 
Laurel Hill, Spottsylvania Court House, and 
North Anna, beside many smaller engagements 
and skirmishes. At Cold Harbor, June 2, 
1864, he was taken prisoner, with about 500 
others of his command, on a flank movement 
of the rebels, was taken to the infamous Libby 
prison, confined there eight days, and then 
taken to the still more infamous prison at An- 
dersonville, arriving there June 15, 1864 
Here were confined 15,000 miserable, starving 
Union soldiers, and during that summer their 
numbers were increased to about 35,000. 
Owing to the terribly close crowding of the 
stockade, the want of shelter from the fierce 
rays of the southern sun, the filth, bad water, 
and exceedingly poor and scanty food, the sol- 
diers died off with frightful rapidity. It was 
estimated that about 8,000 died during the 
months of July and August. Mr. West's im- 
prisonment lasted four and a half months, dur- 
ing which long period thousands of Union 
soldiers starved to death. When he entered 
the prison Mr. West weighed 172 pounds; 
when he left it he weighed 108 pounds. 

From Andersonville he was taken to 
Charleston, and was there confined in the race 
course, receiving about the same treatment as 
in Andersonville. He was transferred thence 
to the Florence bull pen, from which he was 
paroled December 17, 1864, and sent direct to 
the Union lines. For some time he was in 
the hospital at Annapolis, Md., and at length 
joined his regiment at Richmond, Va. For 



some time afterward he was on detached duty 
on the police force until discharged. 

Having left the army on his honorable dis- 
charge Mr. West returned to Dayton, Ohio, 
learned the iron molder's trade and worked 
thereat until 1872. In 1871, however, he re- 
moved to Brookville, and in September of that 
year married Hester A. Mcllroy, daughter of 
Jacob and Roberta ( Bloom ) Mcllroy. Mr. 
and Mrs. West are members of the Lutheran 
church, in which he has held the office of dea- 
con. He is a member of Foster Marshall post, 
No. 587, G. A. R., of Brookville, Ohio, and 
of Libanus lodge. No. 80, F. & A. M. , of 
Lewisburg, Ohio. Politically he is a repub- 
lican. He was one of the best soldiers, served 
with patience and fortitude, and takes justifi- 
able pride in the time he spent in the service 
of his country. 



^y^V AVID L BOOHER, one of the rep- 
I resentative citizens of Butler town- 
/^^J ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
a descendant of one of the original 
pioneers of the county, was born on his fa- 
ther's homestead, July 11, 1841. 

John Booher, grandfather of David L. , 
was born in Washington county, Md., of Ger- 
man descent, and from Maryland moved to 
Washington county, Pa. He married Eliza- 
beth Croll, and reared a large family of chil- 
dren, of whom the names of the following are 
remembered: John, Bartholomew, Samuel, 
Levi, Daniel, Sarah, Margaret and Elizabeth. 
In 1 803 Mr. Booher brought his family to 
Ohio and settled four miles north of Dayton in 
the wilderness, where Indians were numerous 
and often came to trade with the white men. 

Samuel Booher, father of David L. , was 
born in Washington county, Pa., and when a 
child was brought to Ohio by his parents, and 
was reared a pioneer farmer. He first mar- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1203 



ried Mary Beardshear, and to this marriage 
were born George, Maria, Lizzie, Mary and 
Kate. After the death of his first wife he mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Combs, daughter of Sam- 
uel and Elizabeth Combs, and to them were 
born the following children: William, Eliza, 
Martha J., David L., Jacob, William (who 
died at the age of thirty-five years) and John 
K. In religion Mr. Booher was a member of 
the United Brethren church and Mrs. Booher 
of the German Baptist church. After his first 
marriage Mr. Booher settled on a farm of 160 
acres, and by his skillful management in- 
creased his estate until he owned about 900 
acres in Montgomery county, Ohio, and about 
900 acres in Adams county, Ind. He lived to 
be seventy-seven years of age and died univer- 
sally respected as one of the most progressive 
as well as upright men of the county. 

David L. Booher received a good common- 
school education and was reared to farming on 
the old homestead. At the age of twenty-five 
years he married, in Dayton, December 13, 1866, 
Annie M. Smith, born February 18, 1843, a - 
daughter of James and Sarah (Snyder) Smith. 
He occupied a part of his father's old home 
farm, where he lived until 1879, when he 
came to his present place of 507 acres, where 
he is engaged in general farming and stock 
raising. In politics Mr. Booher is a republican. 
The only child born to Mr. and Mrs. Booher 
was named George W., whose lamented death 
occurred at the age of twenty-two years. He 
was a young man of great promise, and his 
death was deeply felt by his devoted parents. 

James Smith, the father of Mrs. Booher, was 
born in England about 1802, came to America 
when eighteen years old, and settled in Day- 
ton in 1820, when that city contained few 
houses and but one store. He passed some 
years working in distilleries in different parts 
of the county, and finally bought a farm of 
200 acres in Mad River township; subsequently 



he purchased another farm of 160 acres, and 
still later another of 160 acres, thus owning 
520 acres at the time of his death, which took 
place on his original farm in 1870, at the age 
of sixty-eight years. He was in religion a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and in 
politics a republican. His children were named 
William, James, Alvin, Annie (deceased), Jennie, 
Edith, Anna M. (now Mrs. Booher), Elizabeth, 
Lottie and Louie. Mrs. Smith, his widow, is 
now a resident of Dayton, and is seventy-seven 
years of age. Her maiden name was Sarah 
Snyder, and she was born in Pennsylvania in 
18 19, a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth 
(Crum) Snyder, who came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, in 1820. 



^yy»ILLIAM WELLS, whose post-office 
Mm is Vandalia, Ohio, is one of the 

\_\_/l most substantial farmers of Butler 
township, Montgomery county. His 
father, Samuel Wells, was born in Virginia, 
and became an orphan in early life. From 
his seventh year, in which he lost his parents, 
he was reared by his uncle, Samuel Wells, 
who came to Ohio when his nephew Samuel 
was still quite a small boy. This uncle settled 
near the north line of Montgomery county, and 
here young Samuel grew up among the pio- 
neers. Receiving only a limited education, he 
became a farmer at an early age. He married 
Mary Johnson, and they settled in Butler 
township, on seventy-three acres of land, then 
covered over with woods. This land Mr. 
Wells cleared and made a good home and pro- 
ductive farm. His children were as follows: 
Rebecca, Mary, Nancy, Sarah and William. 
Mr. Wells took a deep interest in religious 
matters, and was a member of the Christian 
church. He was a highly-respected citizen, 
and lived to the good old age of eighty-seven. 
William Wells, the subject of this sketch, 



1-204 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



was born May 16, 1830, on the Wells home- 
stead in Butler township. Receiving the usual 
common-school education of his day, he was 
brought up a farmer, an occupation which he 
has followed all his life. On May 22, 1850, 
he married Nancy Sunderland, who was born 
March 25, 1832, in Butler township, on the 
old Sunderland homestead. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wells 
settled on the farm on which they have since 
lived, beginning on twenty-seven acres of land, 
all of which was covered with timber. This 
farm Mr. Wells cleared up, and, by continued 
hard labor and thrift, at length added thereto 
until to-day he owns a farm of 327 acres, all 
of which is in an excellent state ot cultivation. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Wells are members of the 
United Brethren church, and in politics Mr. 
Wells is a republican. He is one of the most 
practical and able farmers of Butler township, 
as is shown by the growth of his possessions. 
He is emphatically a self-made man, and, 
aided by his faithful wife, he has achieved de- 
served success. Their children are as follows: 
Ellis E., William S. and Charles H. 

Ellis E. married Emma Clemmer. Will- 
iam S. married Laura Brentlinger, and has 
one child, Irene. Charles H. married Cora 
Beeson, and has one child, Ralph. The three 
brothers are all farmers upon the home place. 

The Wells family is one of the pioneer 
families of Butler township, and stands high 
in the community. By industry they thrive, 
and by right living they win the respect of all 
their neighbors. 



<S~\ EV. AARON ZEHRING, a retired 

1 /^ minister of the United Brethren 

P church, with his residence at Brook- 

ville. Clay township, Montgomery 

county, Ohio, is of Pennsylvania-German de- 



scent and was born in Warren county, Ohio, 
near Lebanon, September 22, 1830. 

Christian Zehring, his great-grandfather, 
was the first of the family to come from Ger- 
many to America and was one of the pioneers 
of Pennsylvania, where he was apprenticed 
until his passage money and that of his family 
was paid in full to the ship owners who had 
brought them across the ocean, when he be- 
came a farmer and prospered. His son Chris- 
tian, the grandfather of our subject, was but 
a small boy on arriving in this country, and, 
like his father's, his services and time were 
sold, but he fell into good hands and was 
taught blacksmithing and iron working. In 
due course of time he married a Miss Rough, 
who bore him the following children: Samuel, 
Henry, David, and a daughter whose name 
cannot be remembered. After the death of 
Mrs. (Rough) Zehring, Christian again married, 
and to this union were born John, Christian, 
Henry, Philip, David, Barnheart, Peter, Polly 
and Susannah. Having amassed considerable 
money, Christian Zehring brought all his 
family, with the exception 'of his son John, 
to the Buckeye state, as early as 1818, settled 
in the woods of Warren county, near Lebanon, 
and also purchased in Warren and Montgom- 
ery counties farms for each of his sons. On 
his new farm in Warren county he passed the 
remainder of his days, and, although he had 
been a member of the German Reformed 
church in Pennsylvania, he died in the faith 
of the United Brethren church. 

Barnheart Zehring, facher of Rev. Aaron 
Zehring, was born in Lebanon, Pa., in July, 
1798, and came to Ohio with his parents in 
1818, the family journeying in wagons. He 
had been taught wagonmaking by his father, 
who, on that account, presented him with but 
eighty acres of land, while he gave to his other 
sons 160 acres each. Barnheart worked at 
his trade in Warren county for a number of 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1205 



years, and then took possession of his land and 
began farming. In 1823 he married, near 
Carlisle, Montgomery county, Elizabeth Swart- 
zel, who was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 
1800, a daughter of Philip Swartzel. 

Philip Swartzel was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, of German descent, and was one of the 
earlier pioneers of Warren county, Ohio, who 
endured all the hardships of frontier life, build- 
ing, on his arrival here, a cabin of round sap- 
lings, with neither door nor windows. He 
had been inured to hardships in the war of 
18 1 2, and was well prepared for the life of a 
pioneer, which he perhaps found to be con- 
genial, as he lived to an advanced age. To 
himself and wife were born ten children, as fol- 
lows: Jacob, George, Abraham, Katie, Sophia, 
Elizabeth, Susan, Mar} - , Rachael and Lina. 

After his marriage BarnheartZehringcleared 
a piece of wild land, on which he lived for seven 
years, and then resided on the Swartzel home- 
stead for quite a number of years. He next 
bought 160 acres six miles north of German- 
town, on which he made his home for some 
time, when he sold this and bought another 
tract of 1 60 acres in Montgomery county, where 
he passed the remainder of his life. He was 
a member of the United Brethren church, in 
which he was a trustee, and to the support of 
which he contributed liberally. In politics he 
was first a democrat, and voted for Andrew 
Jackson for the presidency of the United States, 
but later changed his political affiliations and 
became a republican, and sent one of his sons, 
John, to fight for the Union in the late Civil 
war. He and his wife were the parents of 
seven children, born in the following order: 
Maria, Catherine, Susannah, Aaron, Abraham, 
Sophia and John. He died in his religious 
faith, and was an honored and valued citizen. 
His widow lived to reach the advanced age of 
eighty-nine years, and died May 11, 1889. 

Rev. Aaron Zehring, whose name opens 



this biographical memoir, received a very good 
preliminary education in the common schools, 
and later attended the Otterbein university for 
five years, entering the ministry of the United 
Brethren church and preaching for nine months 
at New Hope. After his ordination in i860 
he first settled in Montgomery county, and for 
two years filled the Mount Zion circuit; he was 
then transferred to the New Haven circuit in 
Hamilton county, where he preached two years, 
and then for two years officiated in Butler, when 
he was disabled by sickness. Soon after that 
event he temporarily returned to the Zehring 
homestead in Montgomery county, where he re- 
mained one year, then moved to Darke county, 
where he had charge of the Mount Zion circuit 
for about two years, after which he passed a 
few months in Hamilton county, and then for 
three years lived in Germantown, Montgomery 
county; he next lived on a farm for seven years, 
then bought eighty acres two miles east of 
Brookville, improved the place and resided on 
it three years. He then purchased the old 
Zehring homestead of 160 acres, on which he 
lived until he retired to Brookville, when he 
placed his son Charles in charge of the farm, of 
which he still owns 110 acres. 

Mr. Zehring was united in marriage in 
Preble countv, October 10, 1861, with Miss 
Sallie Burtner, who was born in Montgomery 
county, February 11, 1838, a daughter of 
Jacob and Catherine (Kemp) Burtner, the for- 
mer of whom was born in Cumberland county, 
Pa., August 1, 1808, and was of German de- 
scent. Mr. Burtner came with his parents to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1828, and set- 
tled five miles north of Dayton. He married 
\ Catherine Kemp in Germantown, and to their 
union were born Julien, Lucinda, Sallie, Abra- 
ham, Joseph, Jacob, Joshua and Francis M. 
Directly after his marriage, Jacob Burtner set- 
tled on a farm of 160 acres, four miles from 
Enterprise, Preble county, and there lived for 



1206 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



many years. He and his wife are members of 
the United Brethren church, and in this faith 
Mr. Burtner expired at Germantown, Mont- 
gomery county, aged seventy-eight years. 

Rev. Aaron Zehring inclines to republican- 
ism in his political opinions, and is also a 
strict prohibitionist. In his church work he 
has ever been ardent and energetic, and his 
life has been one of great usefulness. He and 
his wife have a family of three children — 
Charles W., Lizzie C. and William O. 



>-j*ACOB SEYBOLD, a prosperous farmer 
m of Mad River township, Montgomery 
A 1 county, Ohio, was born in Harrison 
township, same county, April I, 1842. 
He is a son of John George and Jacobina 
(Fulmer) Seybold, both natives of Wurtem- 
berg, Germany. They were the parents of 
twelve children, seven sons and five daughters, 
six of whom are still living, as follows: John 
G. ; Frederick; Mary Ann, wife of Abram 
Prugh; Jacob, the subject of this sketch, and 
William. 

John George Seybold, father of these chil- 
dren, was a baker by trade in his native coun- 
try, came to the United States and settled two 
miles north of Dayton, where he lived until 
his death. He owned 360 acres of land at the 
time of his death, which is evidence of his 
industry and economy. He died when sixty- 
two years of age. His wife survived him until 
April 11, 1893, when she died at the age of 
ninety-one years and nine months. Both 
were members of the Lutheran church, and 
were most excellent people in every respect. 
Mr. Seybold was a quiet, unobtrusive man, 
strictly attentive to business, and strongly in 
favor of temperance, theoretically and prac- 
tically. The paternal grandfather of Jacob 
Seybold died in Germany. He was a promi- 



nent man in his day, and a soldier in the Ger- 
man army. The maternal grandfather also 
died in Germany. 

Jacob Seybold was reared in Harrison 
township, Montgomery county, attended the 
district school, and remained at home until he 
was twenty-one years of age. He then began 
the battle of life on his own account, by work- 
ing for his father for $160 per year, using only 
ten dollars of that sum during the entire year. 
Then, buying a team, he began farming and 
lost nearly $300 the first year. His brother 
then offered him employment, which he de- 
clined, but continued to work on the farm, to 
buy stock, and has since accumulated a hand- 
some property, his first year's experience hav- 
ing been of great value to him. 

Mr. Seybold was married, February 23, 
1 88 1, to Miss Maggie E. Null, daughter of 
John and Elizabeth (Walts) Null, the former 
of whom was born in Berberia and the latter 
in Montgomery county, Ohio. No children 
were born to this marriage. Mrs. Seybold 
was a good woman, and a member of the Re- 
formed church. She was of a happy and 
lovable disposition, and made friends of all 
with whom she came in contact. She died 
April 26, 1894. Their home was a mansion 
in its dimensions, there being twenty-two 
rooms therein, and the hospitality of Mr. and 
Mrs. Seybold was well known to a great circle 
of friends. Mrs. Seybold was always of a 
cheerful disposition, carrying brightness and 
sunshine into the lives of those about her. 

Mr. Seybold is of a peculiarly frank and 
generous disposition. As a farmer he is in- 
dustrious and successful, has one of the best of 
farms, finely improved, and is an intelligent 
and well-informed citizen. As an independent 
democrat he has held the office of township 
supervisor for fifteen years. Few men, if any, 
in the county stand higher in the estimation of 
the people generally than does Jacob Seybold. 





Os& 




OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1209 



>Y*ACOB DETWILER, one of the most 
■ venerable citizens of Montgomery coun- 
(• / ty, Ohio, was born in Montgomery 
county, Pa., September 6, 1814. He 
is a son of John and Catherine (Jones) Detwil- 
er, who were of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. 
Jacob Detwiler, the grandfather of the subject, 
was a farmer of Montgomery county, Pa. 
He owned a farm of 100 acres, upon which he 
lived until his death, which occurred in Penn- 
sylvania. His eldest son, John Detwiler, fa- 
ther of Jacob, was born in Montgomery county, 
Pa., and was by occupation a farmer. To him 
and his wife there were born, beside Jacob, 
the following children: James, Amos, John, 
Abraham, George, Abel, Benjamin, Catherine, 
Elizabeth and Sarah. John Detwiler was a 
Mennonite in religion, and lived to be sixty-six 
years old, dying on his farm. He was one of 
the successful farmers of his day and an up- 
right citizen. 

Jacob Detwiler, whose name opens this 
sketch, was reared to hard work on the farm, 
received a good education in the common 
schools, and learned the wagonmaker's trade. 
He was married March 9, 1848, in Montgom- 
ery county, Pa., to Elizabeth Rittenhouse, who 
was born April 24, 1824, and was a daughter 
of Jacob and Mary (Riner) Rittenhouse. Her 
grandfather and great-grandfather were both 
named Martin Rittenhouse. Martin Ritten- 
house, the grandfather, was of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock, and was of the third generation 
from the original founder of the family in 
America. The family were Quakers in religion 
and Rittenhouse Square was named for David 
Rittenhouse, the first director of the United 
States mint in Philadelphia. Martin Ritten- 
house lived near Germantown, Pa., in what is 
now included in the town of Rittenhouse. He 
was an extensive land holder, and now lies 
buried in the old cemetery at Germantown, 

near where once stood the old Penn treaty 
54 



tree. He married Susan Detwiler, by whom 
he had the following children: Jacob, Nicho- 
las, Joseph, Martin and William. He was a 
prosperous citizen, a prudent man and his long 
life was fruitful of good to his generation. He 
died of old age. 

Jacob Rittenhouse, the father of Mrs. Det- 
wiler, was born in Germantown, was married 
in Montgomery county, Pa., to Mary Riner, 
daughter of Henry and Susan (Guispart) Riner, 
and was a substantial farmer. He and his 
wife reared the following children: Henry, 
David, Martin, Jacob, William, Samuel and 
Elizabeth. In religious views and opinions he 
was unusually liberal for the day andage in which 
he lived. He died when sixty-one years old. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Det- 
wiler settled at Evansburg, Pa., and after living 
there one year came to Ohio, locating in Mont- 
gomery county, near Dayton, where Mr. Det- 
wiler worked at his trade, that of wagonmaker, 
which he had began to learn when he was 
eighteen years old in Pennsylvania. After 
working in Dayton five years he bought a farm 
of ninety-three acres near Brookville, lived 
upon it one year, and then went to Nebraska, 
but not long afterward returned to Montgom- 
ery county, and engaged in the saw-mill busi- 
ness near Amity. Then removing to Brook- 
ville he bought eighty-seven acres of land in 
Clay township, living upon it five years, after 
which he bought a farm of upward of ninety 
acres, which he occupied for one year. He 
then removed to a farm of 130 acres north of 
Brookville, which he still owns, as well as four 
acres in Brookville. Mr. Detwiler has been 
an honorable and industrious man, has reaped 
the reward of his energy and thrift. He has 
lived a retired life for the last thirteen years, 
and for the past seven years has been confined 
to the house. In politics he is a republican. 
His children are Malinda, Elizabeth, Medora, 
Jeanette, Theodore and Franklin. 



1210 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



%S~\ EV. JOHN H. BRUMBAUGH, Clay 
I <^ ton post office, one of the successful 
P farmers of Randolph township, and 
a minister in the German Baptist 
church, is of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. His 
grandfather, Daniel Brumbaugh, was a brother 
of the father of the original pioneer of Ran- 
dolph township, Samuel Brumbaugh, who was 
the father of John R. Brumbaugh, whose sketch 
appears on another page. 

Daniel Brumbaugh owned a farm in what 
is now Lincoln township, Huntingdon county. 
Pa., in Woodcock valley. In religious belief 
he was a German Baptist and was a deacon in 
his church for many years. He married Nancy 
Bowers, by whom he had the following chil- 
dren: John, Abraham, Daniel, Isaac, Eliza- 
beth and Nancy. Daniel Brumbaugh lived to 
be eighty years old, and throughout his entire 
life was a strong, rugged man. He was one _ 
of the first settlers in his neighborhood, and, 
owning several farms, he gave to each of his 
children land. A hard-working, industrious 
man, he was much respected by all for his ex- 
emplary christian character. 

Daniel Brumbaugh, third son of the above, 
and father of John H., was born on his father's 
farm in Huntingdon county, Pa., and lived on 
the old homestead all his life. He married 
Mary Hoover, who was born in Blair county, 
Pa. , and was a daughter of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth iPuterbaughj Hoover. To this marriage 
there were born nine children, as follows: 
Elizabeth, David, Levi, Nancy, John H., Mary, 
Daniel, Kate and Samuel. Mr. Brumbaugh 
was a member of the German Baptist church, 
a devout Christian and an upright man. His 
death occurred on his farm when he was sixty- 
eight years old. 

Rev. John H. Brumbaugh was born July 
20, 1848, on the old Brumbaugh homestead. 
His education was limited to that obtainable 
in the district school, and he was reared a farm- 



er, though by assiduous private reading and 
study he has become one of the best informed 
men of his day. At the age of twenty-one he 
came to this county and went to work for his 
brother David, in Randolph township, and for 
this brother he worked for two years. On No- 
vember^, 1 87 1, he married Miss Sophie Book- 
miller, who was born July 2, 1848, and is a 
daughter of Frederick Bookmiller. Frederick 
Bookmiller was born in Germany and married 
there. By his first wife he had three children, 
Augustus, Sophie and Minnie. The mother of 
these children died and he married again, also 
in Germany, came to the United States with 
his family, and is now living in Toledo, Ohio. 
Rev. Mr. Brumbaugh and wife settled in Clay 
township, lived there two years, and then re- 
moved to Randolph township, where they 
rented land of Samuel K. dinger, who was a 
member of the German Baptist church. Mr. 
dinger's wife having died, he left his farm of 
ninety-nine acres to Mr. Brumbaugh,, with the 
exception of a bequest to the church. Mr. 
Brumbaugh has since lived on this farm. 

To the Rev. and Mrs. Brumbaugh there 
have been born the following children: Addi- 
son, Loida, Effa, Delia, Martha and John. 
Mr. Brumbaugh has always been a devout 
member of the German Baptist church, having 
been made deacon in 1881, and in November, 
1887, having been ordained minister. He has 
served his church in that capacity ever since, 
to the acceptance of the members of the church. 
He is a man of high character and of extensive 
reading, and is well qualified for the position 
which he so acceptably fills. 



^"^EORGE HORNER, of Lewisburg, 
■ ^\ Ohio, springs from Pennsylvania- 
\^J Dutch stock. He is a son of Will- 
iam and Ellen (House) Horner, and 
was born April 9, 1836, in Perry township, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1211 



Montgomery county, Ohio, received a good 
common- school education, and was brought 
up a farmer. He married, November 13, 1854, 
in Darke county, Ohio, Elizabeth Norris, who 
was born November 23, 1836, and was a 
daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Ireland) Norris. 
After his marriage Mr. Horner settled on the 
old homestead, and to himself and wife there 
have been born eight children, as follows: 
Lydia E., Ida M., Florence, Minnie, Charles, 
Flora, Ettie and Frank E., their names being 
given in the order of their birth, and all of 
whom are now living. 

On August 8, 1862, Mr. Horner enlisted at 
Lewisburg, Preble county, Ohio, in company 
H, Ninety-third regiment, Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, under Capt. Matthias Desher, to serve 
three years or during the war, and going to 
the front left his wife on the farm with three 
small children. He served his country faith- 
fully for nearly three years, being honorably 
discharged by reason of the close of the war, 
May 24, 1865, at Camp Dennison, Ohio. 
After a service of one year he was promoted 
to corporal for meritorious conduct. He was 
in the battles of Chickamauga and of Mission- 
ary Ridge; in a hard shirmish at Dandridge, 
Tenn. ; in the battle of Chattanooga; on the 
Atlanta campaign, being in the battles of Dal- 
las, Resaca, Buzzard Roost Mountain and 
Kenesaw Mountain. In the last named en- 
gagement he had one finger of his left hand 
shot off, and beside was shot through the right 
shoulder by the same ball as he was loading 
his gun. He was then in the field hospital 
until taken back to Chattanooga, where he 
was in the hospital for some time, and was 
then transferred to Nashville and placed in 
hospital No. 1. After a month spent there 
he was furloughed home, remained ninety days i 
and then returned to the same hospital. After 
a stay here of two months he was transferred 
to Louisville, and thence to Madison, Ind., 



where he remained two months, being then 
transferred to Camp Dennison, Ohio, where 
he remained until discharged. Mr. Horner 
lost his hearing at the battle of Chickamauga. 
Beside the battles mentioned, Mr. Horner was 
in many skirmishes and on many hard marches, 
always performing his duties as a soldier with 
promptness and faithfulness. He was sick 
with typhoid fever in Kentucky, and was cared 
for in a private house for two months. He 
participated in all the battles, skirmishes, 
marches and campaigns of his regiment, and 
after the war was over returned to his home, 
and has ever since lived on the same farm. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Horner have been 
members of the United Brethren church since 
1856, and he has held the office of steward, 
and assisted to build the church at Lewisburg, 
contributing liberally toward its support. Po- 
litically he is a sound republican, though in 
early life he was a democrat. He has taken 
an active part in public affairs, has been for 
sixteen years a member of the school board, 
and is in every respect an excellent citizen. 
He is a member of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, and a gentleman of public spirit 
and enterprise. 

His grandfather, George Horner, came 
from Pennsylvania, and was the father of the 
following children: George, Henry, Michael, 
Jacob, John, William, Catherine, Susan, Eliza- 
beth and Dorothy. George Horner removed 
with his family to Montgomery county as one 
of the early pioneers, settling in the woods of 
Perry township. His death occurred when he 
was yet quite a young man, and his wife and 
boys cleared the farm. Mrs. Horner was a 
woman of great force of character and an ex- 
cellent manager. The family were members 
of the Lutheran church. 

William Horner, father of George, was 
born in Perry township, Montgomery county, 
about 1 8 14, was reared on the farm, and mar- 



1212 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ried Ellen House, daughter of George and 
Catherine House. They settled on the farm 
now occupied by the subject of this sketch, 
containing eighty acres of land, where William 
Horner died a few years later, at the age of 
twenty-six. He was the father of two chil- 
dren, George and Sarah, the latter of whom 
died at the age of twelve. Mrs. Horner lived 
to be fifty-eight years of age, dying on the 
home place in 1873. She was a woman of 
many excellent traits of character, and had 
many warm and admiring friends. 

Samuel Norris, the father of Mrs. George 
Horner, came at an early day with his family 
from Canada, and settled in Hamilton county, 
Ohio. He was the father of nine children, as 
follows: Thomas; Mary and Louisa, twins; 
Rachaeland Elizabeth, twins; Maggie, Almira, 
Andrew and Lydia Jane. Mr. Norris removed 
to Darke county, Ohio, and cleared a farm of 
eighty acres, upon which he lived until he was 
eightv-five years old, and died in Lewisburg. 
One of his sons served in the Civil war, 
and was killed in the battle of Chickamauga. 



>*j*ESSE L. JACKSON, a well-known 
J farmer of Butler township, Montgom- 
A 1 ery county, Ohio, was born in Fulton 
county, Pa., December 6, 1843, and is 
a son of Stiles and Anne (McLoughlin) Jack- 
son, both natives of the Keystone state. 

Stiles Jackson came of colonial ancestry 
and was a farmer in Fulton county, Pa., where 
he was born and reared and where he married 
Miss McLoughlin. To them were born the 
following children: Elizabeth, Samuel, John, 
Charles W., Stiles H., James R., Jesse L. , 
and one child who died young. Mr. Jackson 
and his wife were members of the Methodist 
church, and in politics he was a republican. 
He lived to be seventy-nine years of age. Two 



of his sons, Charles W. and Stiles H., were 
soldiers in the Civil war — the former for four 
months, and the latter, as an officer, for over 
three years. Stiles H. Jackson is now a county 
commissioner of Coffey county, Kans. 

Jesse L. Jackson received a very good com- 
mon-school education and remained on the 
home farm until nineteen years of age, when, 
August 22, 1862, he came to Ohio and settled 
in Montgomery county, and married, March 
22, 1866, in Miami county, Miss Catherine 
Smith, born August 7, 1848, a daughter of 
John and Catherine (Yount) Smith. Mr. Smith 
was descended from one of the pioneers of 
Montgomery county, and was twice married, 
his first wife, Catherine Yount, becoming the 
mother of two children — Catherine (Mrs. Jack- 
son) and Ira; by his second wife, Mary Ide- 
miller, he became the father of nine children, 
viz: George, John, Elizabeth, Alexander, 
Peter, Jane, Ida, Leo and Esther. Both pa- 
rents are now deceased. 

Mr. Jackson and wife lived for a year after 
their marriage near Dayton, and then bought 
land in Butler township, but shortly afterward 
went to Darke county, where Mrs. Jackson 
died April 24, 1872, the mother of the follow- 
ing children: Ira, Charles, Frederick and Re- 
becca, the last of whom died in infancy. Mr. 
Jackson's second wife was Mary E. Tobias, 
whom he married in Darke county September 
28, 1873. She is a daughter of Daniel and 
Elizabeth (White) Tobias, and was born near 
Vandalia, Montgomery county, Ohio, January 
1 1, 1850. 

Daniel Tobias, a retired farmer, is a native 
of Ohio, of German descent, and was married 
March 18, 1847, :o Elizabeth White, daughter 
of Barney White. Beside Mrs. Jackson, Mr. 
and Mrs. Tobias have had born to them six 
children, viz: Jonathan, Sarah, Laura, Amelia, 
Walter, and one who died in infancy named 
David. Mr. Tobias, as a farmer of Butler 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1213 



township, was both successful and prominent, 
but has now retired to private life. He and 
his family are members of the Lutheran church. 
After his second marriage, Mr. Jackson 
lived for a year in Darke county; and then re- 
turned to Butler township, Montgomery county, 
where he permanently settled, in 1875, on ms 
present farm, which then consisted of but 100 
acres, but now comprises 360, beside which he 
owns too acres near Vandalia. Mr. Jackson 
has been prosperous in all his undertakings, 
and is now reaping the reward so justly due to 
his early industry and economy. In politics 
he is a republican, but has never been an 
aspirant for public office. The ten chil- 
dren born to Jesse L. Jackson and Mary E. 
(Tobias) Jackson are named Flora, Annie, Mar- 
tin, Laura, Harry, Samuel, Bertha, Mamie, 
Arthur and Edith. Of the children born to 
Mr. Jackson's first marriage, Ira married Min- 
nie Idemiller, and is a farmer in Miami county; 
Charles, also a farmer in Miami county, mar- 
ried Dora North; Frederick, engaged in the 
same vocation in the same county, married 
Lillie Idemiller. Of the children born to the 
second marriage, Flora is married to Joseph 
Hartley, who lives on the home farm, and has 
one child; Annie is the widow of Luther Heid- 
emyer, and has one child, a school-teacher. 



QISS SARAH SOPHIA MUNGER, 
who lives in Mad River township, 
was born in Dayton, Ohio, and is a 
daughter of Warren and Elizabeth 
(Shoup) Munger, the former of whom was a 
native of Washington, Litchfield county. 
Conn., and the latter of Hagerstown, Md. 
Warren and Elizabeth Munger were the par- 
ents of six children, two sons and four daugh- 
ters, as follows: Elizabeth, wife of Thomas 
J. Whyte; Sarah Sophia; Alice M., wife of 



William F. Gebhart; Edmund Grove, Warren 
and Harriet E. Elizabeth and Sarah Sophia 
are the only ones now living. 

In his early life Warren Munger, the father 
of the subject, was a lawyer, and followed this 
profession for some years, but on account of 
failing health he adopted farming as a voca- 
tion, purchasing a farm of between 400 and 
500 acres in Mad River township in 1S32, and 
moving upon it in 1840. Here he passed the 
remainder of his life, dying in January, 1877, 
when he was nearly ninety years of age. His 
widow died in January, 1880, at the age of 
seventy-six. Both were members of the Prot- 
estant Episcopal church. During his resi- 
dence in Dayton, Mr. Munger was county 
recorder for fourteen years. 

The father of Warren Munger was Edmund 
Munger, and was known as Gen. Munger. He 
was a native of Connecticut, and in 1799 re- 
moved to Marietta, Ohio, and to Dayton in 
1800. In April, 18 12, when President Madi- 
son issued orders calling out a force of 1,200 
Ohio militia for one year's service, Gen. Mun- 
ger was ordered to raise a company in Dayton. 
Soon after the arrival of Gen. Meigs in Day- 
ton, on May 6, 1 8 12, Gen. Munger was sent 
by him to Greenville to inquire into the situa- 
tion of the frontier settlements. Edmund 
Munger settled on a farm twelve miles south 
of Dayton, on what is called Yankee street, on 
which he lived the rest of his life. His prop- 
erty, which was of considerable value, he 
divided among his children, of whom he had 
ten. He was a Presbyterian in religion, his 
house being the home of the pioneer preachers 
of the day. He was a most popular man, of 
a genial and pleasant disposition, and had 
hosts of friends. His death occurred when 
he was eighty-six years old. His wife sur- 
vived him, and lived to the remarkable age of 
100 years. Both lie buried at Centerville. 
The Munger family are noted for their iongev- 



1214 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ity, a brother of the general living to be ninety- 
four years of age. 

The maternal grandfather of Miss Munger 
was named Shoup, and his wife was a Miss 
Dorothy Groff, which name afterward came to 
be spelled Grove. He was of English descent 
but a native of Maryland, while she was a 
native of Germany, or of German descent. 
Mr. Shoup came to Ohio about 1812, and 
bought the mills now known as the Harris 
mills, which he operated for a short time only 
before his death. 

Miss Sophia Munger, or "Aunt Sophia," 
as she is familiarly called by her neighbors 
and friends, was reared and educated in Day- 
ton. She lived at home until the death of her 
parents, when the large farm was divided into 
three parts — she and her brother Grove living 
in the old home place until her brother's 
death in 1889. Her sister Harriet also lived 
there until her death, which occurred in 1893. 
Neither of these sisters ever married. The 
old home is now occupied by Miss Sarah 
Sophia Munger. She is a member of Christ 
Episcopal church, of Dayton, which was or- 
ganized in 1819. She personally manages her 
farm, which consists of 132 acres. Miss Mun- 
ger has always taken great interest in the wel- 
fare of the city of Dayton and of Montgomery 
county, by whose people she is held in the 
highest esteem. 



^VOHN MYERS, a representative farmer 
fl of Montgomery township, one of the 
/• ■ oldest settlers of Clay township, and a 
son of one of the early pioneers, was 
born July 29, 1828, about thirty miles west of 
Columbus, Ohio. He is a son of Martin and 
Eva (Besecker) Myers, the former of whom 
came from Virginia to Ohio with his father, 
and was of Dutch stock. 

Martin Myers, who was a son of John and 



Margaret Myers, married in Columbus, Ohio, 
and settled on a farm. He and his wife were 
the parents of the following children: Barbara, 
John, Catherine, Margaret, Elizabeth and 
Susannah. Mr. Myers removed to Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, about 1834, and settled on 
an eighty-acre tract of land, then covered 
with timber, and now owned and occupied by 
his son John. Upon this tract he erected his 
log cabin, and by continuous hard work for 
many years cleared up his farm. His wife was 
a good woman, skillful with the distaff and the 
loom, and spun and wove wool and flax, in 
this way materially aiding her husband in the 
long struggle for existence. He made shingles 
from the large oak and poplar trees, thus 
managing until times had gradually improved. 
He was a strong and hardy pioneer, working 
with great industry and perseverance to make 
a home for himself and family. He lived to 
be fifty-five years old, and died on his farm in 
1854. Mr. Myers was well known to all the 
settlers in his part of the country as a man of 
honesty and high character, and at his death 
had many friends who mourned his loss. 

John Myers was about six years of age 
when he came with his father to Montgomery 
county. His education was from necessity ex- 
ceedingly limited, and he was brought up to 
the laborious life of the farm. He married, 
December 17, 1 851, in Clay township, Mary 
Ann Ganger, of Jackson township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, who was born November 
22, 1834, and was a daughter of George and 
Elizabeth (Richard) Ganger. George Ganger 
was born September 5, 181 1, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and was the son of John and Barbara 
( Redmond j Ganger, the former of whom came 
to Ohio and settled in Montgomery county as 
one of the earliest of the pioneers, locating in 
Jackson township. His children were as fol- 
lows : John, Samuel, Jacob, Joseph, Chris- 
tina, Mary and Fannie. John Ganger settled 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1215 



in the woods, cleared up a farm, and lived to 
be eighty-six years old. 

George Ganger came to Montgomery 
county with his father, and here married Eliza- 
beth Richard, by whom he had the following 
children: Mary Ann, Joseph, Katirann, Will- 
iam, George, Levi and Elizabeth. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ganger settled on land two miles south of 
Brookville, afterward moving to Bachman, 
Clay township, Montgomery county, where he 
bought eighty-six acres of land, clearing most 
of it of its timber, making a good home, and 
later purchasing forty acres more near Bach- 
man. Mr. Ganger lived to seventy-nine years 
of age and died on his farm. He was a man 
of excellent character, and earned the appro- 
bation and confidence of neighbors and friends. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
lived in Clay township, and in 1854 settled on 
the Myers homestead. Here they have re- 
sided ever since, and the well-directed labor of 
Mr. Myers has resulted in his possession of a 
fertile, finely improved and beautiful farm. He 
and his wife lived many years in the old log 
house, which stood for half a century. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Myers areas follows : 
Sarah A., John H., Susannah, Samuel, Eliza- 
beth, Mary E., Charles and Ambert M. — the 
last a school-teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Myers 
are members of the United Brethren church. 
Mr. Myers is a democrat in politics, and is a 
citizen of standing and influence. He and his 
wife have reared a large family, of which both 
are very proud. Sarah A. married Daniel 
Boose, a farmer of Preble county, and by him 
has three children : John H. married Sarah 
A. Gebhart, of Clay township, and has three 
children ; Lizzie married Joseph Havermale, 
a farmer of Montgomery county, and has two 
children ; Mary E. married Clarence Rasor, a 
farmer of Clay township, and has two chil- 
dren ; Samuel married Kate A. Hamel, is a 
farmer of Clay township, and has one child ; 



Ambert M. married Clara Leis, and has one 
child ; Charles married Cora B. Leis, and 
Susannah is at home. 

Elizabeth (Richard) Ganger, the mother 
of Mrs. Myers, was a daughter of Joseph and 
Mary ( McPherson ) Richard. She lived to be 
seventy-four years old, dying March 4, .1891. 
Mr. Myers' mother lived to be eighty-six years 
old, dying in 1890. 



t/^VETER RASOR, one of the oldest and 
1 ■ most respected farmers of Clay town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, is 
also descended from one of the oldest 
pioneer families of the county, as will be seen 
by the following record. 

John Rasor, his grandfather, was the orig- 
inal settler of Clay township. He was born in 
Dauphin county, Pa., and married a Miss 
Forney, the union resulting in the birth of 
eight children, viz: Daniel, John, Barbara, 
Sarah, Annie, Fannie, Elizabeth and Katie. 
He came with his family to Ohio in 1805 or 
1806, and settled in Clay township on the land 
on which Jesse Kinsey now lives, but which 
was then all woodland and peopled only by 
Indians. He built a log cabin, cleared his first 
farm of 160 acres, and also entered nine other 
farms in the vicinity, of 160 acres each, com- 
prising, in all, nearly 1,500 acres. He became 
homesick, however, and made a trip on foot 
back to the Keystpne state, and on his return 
to Ohio died at the age of about sixty-three. 

Daniel Rasor, son of John, had preceded 
his father to Montgomery county and had found- 
ed the town of Union, in Randolph township, 
where he built a grist-mill and distillery. He 
had examined the land in Clay township, and 
through his reports the father was induced to 
immigrate to this locality. 

John Rasor, the second son of John, the 
pioneer, and father of Peter Rasor, was born 



ii'if. 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



in Dauphin county, Pa., in 1790, and was 
about sixteen years of age when he came 
to Clay township with his father. He was 
reared on the homestead among the Indians, 
for protection against whom the settlers built 
a block house on the present site of Salem, in 
which "they were several times compelled to 
take refuge. In 181 5 Mr. Rasor married Miss 
Hannah Michael, who was born in Lancaster 
county, Pa., in 1797, a daughter of Jacob and 
Mary (Myers) Michael. 

Jacob Michael was also one of the early 
pioneers of Montgomery county, and first lo- 
cated on Bear creek, but finally settled at 
Salem, Clay county, about 1809, on a tract of 
640 acres, of which he induced John Rasor, 
the original pioneer, to purchase 276 acres, 
which constitutes the present John Rasor 
homestead. Mr. Michael was a capital marks- 
man and a mighty hunter, but nevertheless 
cleared up a large farm and became a prosper- 
ous and influential citizen. He lived to reach 
eighty-six years, and was the father of the fol- 
lowing children: Hannah, Polly, Henry, Sal- 
lie, Elizabeth, Katie and Jacob. 

To the marriage of John Rasor were born 
eleven children, viz: Peter, John, Elizabeth, 
David, Daniel, Jacob, Henry, Samuel, Cather- 
ine, Mary and Noah. Mr. Rasor was an ex- 
cellent manager and accumulated 1,600 acres 
of land, with which he endowed all his chil- 
dren. He was a prominent and influential 
factor in the affairs of his tpwnship for more 
than half a century, and died January 19, 1869, 
a member of the United Brethren church, his 
widow surviving until June 26, 1875, when she 
also expired in the same faith. 

Peter Rasor, whose name opens this bio- 
graphical memoir, was born on the Rasor 
homestead, in Clay township, April 15, 18 17, 
the eldest of the children born to John and 
Hannah (Michael) Rasor. His opportunities 
for an education were limited, there being but 



few schools in the neighborhood, and they of 
the class known as subscription. But he be- 
came an excellent farmer, and May 23, 1839, 
he married, in Clay township, Miss Ann Maria 
Limbert, who was born in Pennsylvania, Sep- 
tember 20, 1 82 1, a daughter of Henry and 
Catherine (Wagner) Limbert. 

Henry Limbert was born in Perry county, 
Pa., in 1787, a son of Henry Limbert, a farm- 
er, born in Lancaster county, Pa., of German 
parentage, and a founder of the United Breth- 
ren church in Pennsylvania and of Otterbein 
college. Henry, the father of Mrs. Rasor, had 
born to him thirteen children, viz: John R. , 
Barbara, Lewis, Henry, Catherine, Peter, 
Ann M., George, Levi, Adam, Susan, Eliza- 
beth and Sarah. Mr. Limbert came to Mont- 
gomery county in 1823 or 1824, and settled on 
a tract of 172 acres in Clay township, which 
he transformed into a profitable farm. He 
was a member of the United Brethren church 
in high standing and assisted to erect the edi- 
fice at Arlington and that in Clay township, he 
being a founder of the denomination in the lat- 
ter place. He died June 27, 1869, a truly 
good man, honored and venerated by people 
of all creeds and of all conditions of life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Peter Rasor, immediately 
after marriage, settled on the farm they still 
occupy, which comprises 160 acres and was 
then covered by the forest; but this he has 
changed by hard and diligent work, and, with 
the assistance of his faithful wife, has made a 
home equal to any in the township. The mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Rasor has been blessed 
with a family of thirteen children, who were 
born in the following order: John H., Will- 
iam F., Samuel M. , Joseph, Adam S., Sal- 
oma E., Hannah C. , Ezra M. , Martha A., 
Edward G., Marietta, Ira N. and Clarence L. 
Mr. and Mrs. Rasor are devoted members of 
the United Brethren church and are active and 
liberal in its support, and also take much in- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1217 



terest in educational matters. Mr. Rasor 
ranks among the best and most trusted citizens 
of the community, enjoying the confidence 
and esteem of all. 



lS~\ AVID RASOR, one of the oldest na- 
I tive-born residents of Clay township, 
/^^J Montgomery county, Ohio, was born 
on the old homestead, January 17, 
1 82 1. John Rasor, his grandfather, was born 
in Lancaster county. Pa., was a farmer by oc- 
cupation, and married Miss A. Showers. They 
were the parents of the following children: 
Daniel, John, Lizzie, Barbara and Fannie, all 
of whom were born and reared in Lancaster 
county, Pa. He was a member of the Amish 
church and was descended from the ancient 
stock that came from Germany in the early 
history of the state of Pennsylvania. About 
1805 Mr. Rasor moved with his family to Ohio, 
and when they passed through Dayton there 
was in that place but one log cabin. David 
Rasor settled on the land where Jesse Kimer 
now lives. At that time the country was all 
woods, and Mr. Rasor entered a large tract of 
land, giving to each of his children a farm. 
He lived to be sixty-two years of age, dying 
two years after locating in Clay township, and 
lies buried on the farm. 

John Rasor, his son, and the father of 
David Rasor, was born in Lancaster county, 
Pa., and when he came to Ohio with his par- 
ents was fifteen years old. He was brought 
up among the pioneers, amid primitive sur- 
roundings and conditions, which did not per- 
mit of much educational culture, but he was 
always a reading man, and was well informed. 
He married Hannah Michael, who was born in 
Pennsylvania and was a daughter of Jacob and 
Mary Michael, pioneers of Clay township. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Rasor there were born eleven 
chilren, who grew to mature years, as follows: 



Peter, Elizabeth, John, David, Daniel, Jacob, 
Samuel, Henry, Noah, Polly and Katie. John 
Rasor, the father of these children, was reared 
on the land that his father entered, and cleared 
up a large farm, there being 280 acres in the 
homestead, beside which he owned a large 
tract which he gave to his children. He and 
his wife were members of the United Brethren 
church. He was one of the sturdy pioneers, 
and a man of unflagging industry. During the 
early days of the settlement he was accustomed 
to drive a four-horse team before a large 
wagon twice a year, taking a load of produce 
sixty-two miles to Cincinnati to market, and 
returning with a load of supplies, thus making 
himself of great use to the early pioneers. 

David Rasor, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared on the farm, receiving but a lim- 
ited education in the old-fashioned log school- 
house. But he learned to read and write at 
school, and, upon this knowledge as a basis, 
has built up an education that is thoroughly 
practical, and has always been a well-informed 
man on all subjects of general interest, being 
specially well-versed in all subjects connected 
with agriculture. In July, 1843, he married 
Delilah Swenk, who was born in Perry town- 
ship, in 1820, and was a daughter of John 
Swenk, a biographical sketch of this family ap- 
pearing elsewhere in this volume. After their 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rasor settled in Salem, 
where they remained two years, and in 1846 
located on 120 acres of land, which he had 
received from his father, all covered with tim- 
ber except a small clearing. By dint of patient 
industry — the only means in those days of get- 
ting on in the world — he cleared his land and 
added to it until at length he owned 245 acres 
in his home farm, beside other lands in Brook- 
ville. To him and his wife there were born 
seven children, who grew to maturity, as fol- 
lows: Henry, Ephraim (who died at the age of 
twenty-one), Mary A., Jane, Sarah A., Amanda 



1218 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and Susannah. The parents were members 
of the United Brethren church, and Mrs. Rasor 
died March 4, 1894, aged seventy-three years, 
a woman of many virtues. Mr. Rasor was 
one of the original republicans of the county, 
and has always belonged to that party. All 
his long life has been passed in Montgomery 
county, where his family has been reared, and 
where he stands high in the esteem of all as a 
citizen of integrity and worth. 

Henry Rasor, son of David, was born in 
1846 on his father's farm. He was well edu- 
cated in the common schools of the day, and 
when nineteen years of age enlisted at Day- 
ton, Ohio, in February, 1865, in company B, 
Eighty-first regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, 
to serve six months, under Capt. Fanch. His 
services were rendered in South Carolina, 
North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. 
In July, 1865, he married Susan Shelt, of Pre- 
ble county, and a daughter of Amos and Eliza- 
beth Shelt. Mr. Rasor, from his youth, has 
worked upon the home farm, but is now living 
in West Baltimore. Politically he is a repub- 
lican, and is one of the public-spirited, pro- 
gressive citizens of the county. 



m 



'ILLIAM H. REYNOLDS, an ex- 
soldier of the late Civil war, and 
a citizen of Montgomery county, 
springs from Irish and Pennsylvania- 
Dutch ancestry. 

William H. Reynolds, Sr. , his father, was 
born in Pennsylvania January 26, 1817, and 
was the son of a soldier of the war of 1812. 
He was a millwright by trade, and came to 
Ohio about 1831, settling at Salem, Mont- 
gomery county. He married Elizabeth Rasor, 
who was born December 8, 1820, and was a 
daughter of John and Hannah (Michael) Rasor, 
a biographical sketch of the former of whom 
appears elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Rey- 



nolds and wife a few years after their marriage 
settled on an eighty-acre tract of land given to 
Mrs. Reynolds by her father. This land was 
covered with timber, and upon it he built a 
log cabin, cleared away the forest and made a 
good home. Mr. Reynolds was for many 
years a class leader in the United Brethren 
church, of which he and his wife were mem- 
bers. They were the parents of the following 
children : John W., George F. , William H., 
James R., Andrew J., Susannah, Daniel R., 
Mary E. and Hannah C. Politically Mr. 
Reynolds was a strong republican, and three 
of his sons served as soldiers in the Civil war. 
Joseph was a member of company B, Seventy- 
first regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, veter- 
anized, served four years and seven months, 
and participated in many battles. He was 
promoted to second lieutenant for meritorious 
conduct at the battle of Nashville, and was 
killed in the last battle in which his regiment 
was engaged. George F. was a member of 
company C, One Hundred and Thirty-first 
Ohio volunteer infantry, and William H. was 
also a good soldier in the war. Mr. Reynolds 
in 1872 removed to Jay county, Ind. , and set- 
tled in Red Key, where he bought 146 acres 
of land south of town, upon which he passed 
his remaining days. He was an industrious 
man and an honored citizen, serving as town- 
ship trustee and as clerk of his township sev- 
eral times. 

William H. Reynolds, the subject of this 
sketch, was born February 8, 1845, on his 
father's farm. Receiving the common-school 
education of the day, he became well prepared 
to struggle with the world, and has been un- 
usually successful. Enlisting in company B, 
Eighty-first regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, 
at Dayton, Ohio, February 4, 1865, "when he 
was about twenty years of age, he served until 
July 13, of the same year, when he was mus- 
tered out and discharged, on account of the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1219 



closing of the war. He served under Capt. 
Ira Foutz, and was on the hardest march in 
history, from Savannah to Washington, D. C, 
his regiment joining Sherman at Raleigh, N. C. , 
and often marching thirty-six miles per day. 
He participated in the grand review at Wash- 
ington, D. C. , which took place May 24 and 
25, 1865. 

After the war he returned to Montgomery 
county, and on December 7, 1865, married 
Rachael Werts, who was born March 28, 
1846, in Preble county, Ohio, and is a daugh- 
ter of David and Elizabeth (Piles) Werts. 
David Werts was of Pennsylvania-Dutch de- 
scent, and his father, Jacob Werts, was a 
pioneer settler of Preble county, Ohio. David 
Werts was a carpenter, a cooper and a miller, 
and lived many years at West Baltimore, 
Ohio, where he was a prominent citizen. He 
was a republican in politics. His children 
were as follows: Rachael, Corilla, Amanda, 
Martha J., Joseph D., Perry D. and Eliza- 
beth. He lived to be about sixty-five years 
old, and died at West Baltimore, Ohio, in 
August, 1 891. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Rey- 
nolds settled on his father's farm, living there 
one year, and have ever since lived in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, with the exception of 
twelve years, when they were in Jay county, 
Ind., and in Kansas, where Mr. Reynolds 
worked at his trade, that of carpenter and 
housebuilder, from 1872 to 1883, returning to 
their present farm in the latter year. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are members of the 
United Brethren church, in which Mr. Rey- 
nolds is a trustee. Politically he is a republic- 
an, and is a member of the Grand Army of 
the Republic. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds are the 
parents of the following children: Marley, 
Ulysses S., Elizabeth E., Alice L., Corilla 
A., Perry A., Nora J. and William O. These 
children have been brought up with the great- 



est care, and given a good education. Ulysses 
S. married Lena Heartenstein, of Salem, is a 
butcher by occupation, and has three sons and 
one daughter; Elizabeth married Lewis Oaks, 
a farmer of Dayton, and has three sons; Alice 
married Charles Kress, a farmer of Miami 
county, and has one son. Corilla married 
Ezra Sarber, a farmer of Darke county, Ohio, 
and has three sons. All are prosperous and 
well-to-do people, and stand high in the es- 
teem of their respective communities. 



»-j*OHN SAYLER, whose post-office is 
■ Clayton, Ohio, is one of the leading 
/• 1 farmers of Clay township. He sprang 
from Swiss ancestors, who settled in 
Maryland in old colonial times. His grandfa- 
ther, Jacob Sayler, was born in Maryland, and 
was a son of Daniel Sayler, whose father came 
from Switzerland. The family belonged to the 
German Baptist, or Dunkard, church. 

Jacob Sayler was a farmer of Frederick 
county, Md., and a Dunkard preacher, follow- 
ing both callings during his life. The farm 
upon which he always lived lay in Frederick 
county, Md. He married Hannah Garber, by 
whom he was the father of the following chil- 
dren : Reuben, Mary, Catherine, Betsey, 
Sarah, Jacob, Henry and William. Mr. Say- 
ler was one of the substantial farmers and 
most prominent citizens of his county. He 
was a consistent member of the German Bap- 
tist church. 

Reuben Sayler, father of John Sayler, was 
born July 4, 18 18, in Frederick county, Md. , 
was self-educated and followed successfully the 
occupation of a farmer. He married Hannah 
Smith, who was born in 1 821, in Frederick 
county, Md., and who was a daughter of Sam- 
uel and Catherine (Linn) Smith, the Smith and 
Linn families being of German ancestry. Mr. 
and Mrs. Sayler settled on a 160-acre farm in 



1220 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Frederick count}', Md., and there passed the 
period of their active lives. They then retired 
to Union Bridge, in Carroll count}', where, 
after twenty years, Mr. Sayler died in 1878, 
at the age of sixty-eight. In his younger days 
he was a hard-working and industrious man, 
and was always prosperous. When he died 
he left a valuable estate, in farming lands and 
in city property. He served as a member of 
the council of Union Bridge, and also as mayor 
of the town. Politically, he was a democrat, 
and was an unusually intelligent and useful 
citizen. He was a reader of history, a patron 
of the best literature, and took an active inter- 
est in educational and religious affairs. 

John Sayler, the subject of this sketch, was 
born June 18, 1842, in Frederick county, Md., 
and was reared a farmer's boy on his father's 
farm. His education was such as was then 
supplied by the common schools. Removing 
to Dayton, Ohio, in 1862, a young man, he 
became engaged in the flour-mills, and contin- 
ued to work therein for tvvo years. On April 
18, 1865, he married Harriet E. Wampler, who 
was born in Harrison township, Montgomery 
county, four miles north of Dayton, June 15, 
1845. She is a daughter of Jesse and Cath- 
erine (Puterbaugh) Wampler, the former of 
whom was born January 5, 1820, in Carroll 
county, Md. In 1827 Jesse Wampler removed 
with his parents to Montgomery county, his 
father, Philip, being an original pioneer set- 
tler in this county, locating on Still Water 
river. Philip Wampler was of Swiss origin, 
of an old colonial family, and a soldier in the 
war of 1812. He married Catherine Rogers, 
of Carroll county, Md., and by her had the fol- 
lowing children: Edward, Jesse, William, 
John, Samuel, David, Joseph, Mary A., Han- 
nah, Elizabeth, Catherine and Anna. When 
he removed to Montgomery county in 1827 it 
was with horses and wagon, and upon his ar- 
rival he bought 160 acres of fine farming land, 



paying therefor $14 per acre. Afterward he 
purchased other lands, up to the number of 
300 acres, all in one body. He died in 1878 
at the great age of ninety years. He was a 
prominent member of the German Baptist 
church for many years, and was well known 
far and wide as an honorable and upright man. 

Jesse Wampler, his son, and the father of 
Mrs. Sayler, settled on a farm after his mar- 
riage, at which time he received from his father 
250 acres of land in one body, which he later 
divided among his children upon his retirement 
to a homestead on which he has lived ever 
since. He has long been a member of the 
German Baptist church. His children are as 
follows: Harriet, William, Louisa, and Laura, 
deceased wife of David Klepinger, who was at 
the time of her death thirty-two years of age. 
Mr. Wampler is one of the progressive men of 
the county, a constant reader of the best cur- 
rent literature, and thus keeps himself fully 
abreast of the times. The Wampler family is 
one of the best in the county, noted for many 
sturdy and valuable traits of character and for 
safe and reliable qualities of citizenship. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sayler 
settled in Harrison township, and lived there 
six years, removing to their present farm De- 
cember 14, 1 87 1. It contains 104 acres of 
land, and has been greatly improved by Mr. 
Sayler. He is now carrying on dairying on an 
extensive scale, and is also engaged in the 
manufacture of native wine. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Sayler there have been 
born the following children: Jessie, Charles, 
Lloyd, Dr. Howard and Milton. The children 
have all been well educated and Dr. Howard 
Sayler is a practicing physician at Union, 
Montgomery county, Ohio. Mrs. Sayler is a 
member of the German Baptist church. Mr. 
Sayler is a democrat in politics, has served as 
school director, and is among the best and 
most useful citizens of Montgomery county. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1221 



K^\ ARTHOLOMEW WILSON, one of 

l/**^ the oldest business men and farmers 

J^J of Wayne township, Montgomery 

county, Ohio, was born here, on his 

father's farm, July 26, 1826, and is of remote 

Scottish extraction. 

Israel Wilson, father of Bartholomew, was 
born in Loudoun county, Va., May 24, 1798, 
but at the age of three years was left an orphan 
and was bound out to Moses Miller, of the 
same county. In 1812, when Israel was four- 
teen years of age, Mr. Miller came to Ohio, 
bringing with him his family, young Wilson 
included, and settled in the woods of Wayne 
township. Israel here began learning black- 
smithing under Mr. Miller, but, disliking the 
trade, was permitted to learn millwrighting 
under a Mr. Staley. In March, 1824, Mr. 
Wilson married, in Wayne township, Miss 
Elizabeth Booher, who was born in Washing- 
ton county, Pa., August 16, 1804, a daughter 
of John and Elizabeth (Crull) Booher. John 
Booher was a native of Washington county, 
Md., whence he moved to Pennsylvania, and 
in 1807 brought his family to Wayne town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, and settled 
on a tract of 160 acres, the title to which he 
received from the government in 18 14. His 
children were named John, Margaret, Cather- 
ine, Samuel, Elizabeth, Bartholomew, Mary, 
Daniel, Anna, Sarah and Levi. Mr. Booher 
died on his farm at the age of eighty-six years, 
a member of the German Baptist church; his 
widow lived to reach the great age of ninety- 
three years and seven months, and died at the 
residence of her son Daniel, in Harrison town- 
ship, her descendants numbering eleven chil- 
dren, eighty-six grandchildren, 1 18 great-grand- 
children, and one great -great-grandchild. 

After his marriage Mr. Wilson settled on 
seventy acres of wooded land in Wayne town- 
ship, and this farm he increased to 201 acres. 
He and his wife were members of the United 



Brethren church, of which he was a steward 
and trustee for many years. In politics he was 
at first a whig and then became a republican, 
and for several years served as township treas- 
urer. His death look place January 16, 1874, 
in his seventy-sixth year, and he left behind 
him a spotless name. The children born to 
Israel Wilson and wife were named Bartholo- 
mew, John, Ephraim, Isaiah and Mary J. The 
mother of this family died August 17, 1872, at 
the age of sixty-eight years, and was a woman 
of many estimable qualities. 

Bartholomew Wilson, at the age of twenty 
years, in 1846, began burning lime on his 
father's farm. He furnished lime for the old 
stone court house in Dayton and for many 
other large buildings in the city and elsewhere, 
and carried on the business for forty-eight years, 
when he retired with a competency. October 
25, 1846, he married Miss Margaret A. Bren- 
ner, who was born in Wayne township June 
2, 1828, a daughter of Jacob S. and Sarah A. 
(Mathews) Brenner, and went to housekeeping 
on the Wilson homestead, where they lived for 
three years. They then moved to a farm three 
miles south of the Miami river, where they 
lived seven years, when Mr. Wilson bought a 
farm in company with John L. Brenner, at 
present a member of congress from the Day- 
ton district. This farm contained 163 acres, 
and here Mr. Wilson lived for three years, 
when he built the first house in Sulphur Grove, 
where he resided for ten years. In 1880 he 
moved to Dayton, where he made his home 
until 1893, when he retired to his present 
place. The marriage of Mr. Wilson was 
blessed with six children, viz: Henry, Sarah 
E., Dr. Isaiah B. , Levina, Laura and Mary. 
Mrs. Wilson was called from earth April 3, 
1893, in the faith of the United Brethren 
church, and on December 7, 1895, Mr. Wil- 
son married Miss Catherine Brenner, who was 
born in Wayne township October 10, 1846, a 



1222 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



daughter of Elias and Barbara (Detrick) Bren- 
ner. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are members of 
the United Brethren church, in which Mr. 
Wilson has served as steward, choir. leader 
and trustee. In politics he is a republican, 
and served as township treasurer for ten years 
from i860; fraternally he is a member of Os- 
born lodge, No. 414, I. O. O. F. Mr. Wilson 
is a man of enterprise, liberality and public 
spirit, and enjoys the confidence and esteem 
of the entire community. He has done much 
toward the development of Wayne township, 
and the product of his industry is scattered 
throughout the county as a component part of 
many a substantial building. 



ISAIAH WILSON, a prominent citizen 
of Wayne township, is a son of Israel 
and Elizabeth (Booher) Wilson, of 
whom mention is made in detail in the 
biography of Bartholomew Wilson, published 
above. 

Isaiah Wilson was born on the Wilson 
homestead in Wayne township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, August 6, 1835, received a good 
common-school education, and for thirty-five 
years was in the lime business. At the age of 
twenty-eight years he married, in Montgomery 
county, January 23, 1863, Miss Elizabeth 
Brenner, who was born on her father's farm in 
Wayne township, December 9, 1833, a daugh- 
ter of Michael and Mary (Booher) Brenner. 

Michael Brenner, father of Mrs. Wilson, 
was a native of Fauquier county, Va., a son 
of Lewis and Dorothy (Reprogel) Brenner, and 
was a mere boy when he came with his father 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1 808. He 
here grew to manhood and married Miss Mary 
Booher. 

After marriage, Isaiah Wilson settled on 
the Wilson homestead, and this has ever since 
been his place of residence. He has consid- 



erably improved the farm and has a substan- 
tial modern dwelling, containing every feature 
essential to a pleasant home. Mr. Wilson is 
a member of the Odd Fellows' lodge at Day- 
ton, and socially stands with the best citizens 
of the county. In politics he is a republican, 
for three years was treasurer of Wayne town- 
ship, and has always held the confidence of 
his fellow-townsmen. He is very fond of the 
chase, and has made many trips to the woods 
of Michigan and Minnesota for the purpose of 
gratifying his taste for that exciting sport. 



BRANK WILHELM, a native-born 
farmer of Butler township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, descends from a 
wealthy colonial family of Pennsyl- 
vania, and was born July 19, 1840. 

Jacob Wilhelm was the first of the family 
to come from Germany to America, brought 
with him considerable means and settled in 
Lancaster county. Pa. His grandson, also 
christened Jacob, was the great-grandfather of 
Frank, the subject of this biographical notice, 
and early kept a hotel in Harrisburg. He also 
owned forty acres of land immediately east of 
the state house, and this ground is now cov- 
ered with costly buildings. He died about 
the year 1830, at the age of ninety-three years, 
a member of the German Reform church. He 
served in the Revolutionary war, and had been 
twice married, and by his first wife was the 
father of four children, viz: John, Peter, 
David and Catherine; to his second marriage 
no children were born. 

John Wilhelm, the grandfather of Frank 
Wilhelm, was born in Harrisburg, Pa., was a 
tanner by trade, and married Anna Longe- 
necker, who bore him ten children, viz: 
Benjamin, Daniel, Mary, Samuel, Elizabeth, 
Joseph, Catherine, Sarah, Sophia and John. 
In 1820 he brought his family to Ohio, and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1223 



for one year lived in Red Lion, Warren coun- 
ty; in 1 82 1 he came to Montgomery county 
and bought a farm of 160 acres, eight miles 
north of Dayton, on the Covington pike, in 
Randolph township. He developed a fine 
farm, and finally retired to Vandalia, where 
he passed his declining years until his death, 
at the age of eighty-seven years, in the faith of 
the German Baptist church. 

Daniel Wilhelm, the second son of John 
and father of Frank Wilhelm, was born in 
Harrisburg, Pa., in 1802, and was about 
eighteen years of age when brought to Ohio 
by his parents. He received a good common- 
school education and was reared on his father's 
farm. In 1825 he married Miss Barbara 
Stouder, daughter of David Stouder, a native 
of Pennsylvania, whose children were named 
John, Barbara, David, Sarah and Daniel. 
After their marriage, Daniel Wilhelm and wife 
settled, in 1826, on the farm of 160 acres now 
owned by their son Frank. This land was at 
that time covered with timber, but Mr. Wil- 
helm cleared away the primeval forest, placed 
the land under cultivation, and eventually had 
one of the best-improved farms in the town- 
ship. The children born to Daniel and Bar- 
bara Wilhelm were named Hester (died in 
1850), Levina, Mary, Joseph (died in 1885), 
George, Martha, Sarah, Frank, Catherine 
(died in infancy) and Zimri (who also died an 
infant). Mr. and Mrs. Wilhelm were mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church and in 
politics Mr. Wilhelm was a democrat. The 
death of Mr. Wilhelm took place on his farm 
November 2, 1882, at the age of eighty years, 
and his name stands to-day as a synonym of 
integrity. 

Frank Wilhelm was reared on his father's 
farm, now his own, and was well educated in 
the district school. In 1859 he crossed the 
plains to Pike's Peak, Colo., whence he went 
to Denver, where he remained one year, and 



then returned to his farm in Ohio, on which 
he remained until 1865. He then joined a 
United States survey party and again went 
west, overland, to Des Moines, Iowa, down to 
the Indian Territory, and over to Julesburg, 
Colo.; to Denver; to Salt Lake City, Utah; 
to Montana (where he was a member of the 
vigilance committee), and on to British Colum- 
bia, encountering Indians at various points in 
hostile struggles, and enduring all the hard- 
ships of winter travel over the plains. He 
did considerable gold mining, met with good 
fortune, and in 1869 returned to Ohio, where 
he has since passed his days in farming, enjoy- 
ing the well-deserved respect of all who know 
him and being equally as successful in his agri- 
cultural pursuits as he was in his search for a 
fortune in the west. 



^YOLOMON WORMON, one of the 
*^^KT most venerable residents of Clay 

h<_y township, Montgomery county, is of 
Swiss ancestry, and was born on his 
father's homestead, south of Dayton, Septem- 
ber 23, 181 1, being thus, also, one of the old- 
est native-born citizens of this township. 

Henry Wormon, grandfather of Solomon, 
was a child aged but one year when brought 
from Switzerland to America by his parents, 
who first located in Pennsylvania and after- 
ward removed to Maryland and settled in 
Washington county. There Henry was reared 
to manhood, married Miss Magdalena Cour, 
and had born to him nine children, viz: 
George, Mary, Henry, David, Anna, Jacob, 
Margaret, Eva and Barbara. Of this family, 
David, who was born in Washington county, 
Md., married Mrs. Mary Shonk, who was born 
in Maryland, May 15, 1780, and at the time 
of her marriage with Mr. Wormon was the 
widow of Henry Shonk, and by her first mar- 



1224 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



riage was the mother of one child, Elizabeth, 
who married John Schroyer. 

David Wormon and wife came to Ohio in 
1806 and settled in Montgomery county, Oc- 
tober 1 1, near the then hamlet of Dayton, and 
found shelter in a log cabin on what is now 
known as the Lebanon turnpike, but was then 
a mere wilderness. Here he bought a tract of 
160 acres, which was improved only with this 
log cabin and two acres of cleared land. The 
remainder, however, he cleared up, and bought 
or entered other tracts until he owned 700 
acres, which, at his death, he distributed 
among his children. They were six in num- 
ber, and were named Sarah, who was born 
December 26, 1805, in Maryland; Mary, born 
in Ohio in September, 1807; Lydia, Solomon, 
Margaret and David — these four also born in 
Ohio. David Wormon and wife were mem- 
bers of the United Brethren church and ardent 
promoters of the faith, aiding liberally in the 
support of the local congregation, and in the 
pioneer days threw their hospitable doors open 
to the itinerant ministers, and contributing to 
the erection of the first United Brethren edi- 
fice in Montgomery county. The death of 
Mr. Wormon occurred May 7, 1854, at the age 
of seventy-nine years. Mrs. Mary Wormon 
died December 22, 1854, in her seventy-fifth 
year, having lived to see thirty-two grandchil- 
dren and seven great-grandchildren. 

Solomon Wormon, son of David and Mary 
Wormon, was reared on the home farm and 
received such education as the limited facilities 
of the pioneer schools afforded. In March, 
1849, he married Miss Lydia Spitler, who was 
born in Montgomery county December 13, 1823, 
a daughter of Jacob and Susan (Wise) Spitler. 
Jacob Spitler was born in Botetourt county, Va. , 
came to Ohio in 1804, settled in Montgom- 
ery county, and here died February 11, 1857, 
the father of the following children: John, 
Elizabeth, Sarah, Jacob, Lydia, Mary, Joseph, 



Esther, Daniel and Ann. For several years 
after marriage Mr. Wormon lived on his fa- 
ther's farm, but March 10, 1856, moved to his 
present farm, then consisting of 182^ acres, 
which he has since increased to 280 acres. He 
destroyed the old double log house that occu- 
pied the premises when he first took possession, 
erected a modern farm dwelling, and has now 
one of the best farms in the county. The 
marriage of Solomon and Lydia Wormon was 
blessed with five children, named William, 
Sarah S., Julia, Emma and Jane. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wormon were long members of the 
United Brethren church, which they liberally 
supported with their means, and in the faith of 
which they reared their children. In politics 
Mr. Wormon was a republican, and at the age 
of eighty-five years had a clear apprehension 
of his duty to his party and to his country. 
Mrs. Lydia Wormon died February 11, 1895, 
aged about seventy-one years, and Mr. Wor- 
mon died December 11, 1896. 

Of their children, Emma is now the widow 
of Jordan Falkner, and has three children — 
Ward W., Olive M. and Beatrice P.; Sarah S., 
deceased, was the wife of Henry Binkley, an 
architect of Dayton, and the mother of two 
children — Edwin W. and Edith B. ; William 
married Caroline Binkley, is a stock dealer in 
Clay township, and has five children — Howard, 
Clark, Carrie, George and Earnest; Julia was 
married to Aaron Mummert, a farmer, and has 
two children — Florence and Hayes; Jane mar- 
ried Alonzo M. Campbell, of Brookville. Of 
the survivors, all maintain an excellent stand- 
ing in the esteem of the members of their 
respective communities. 

Edith Binkley, daughter of Henry and 
Sarah S. (Wormon) Binkley, married Allen 
Howard November 4, 1894, and is the mother 
of one child, Lowell E., who was born March 
23, 1896, and is the only great-grandchild of 
Solomon Wormon. 





^0\£f<_ 



J# 



vli-&x_ 




MRS. GEORGE BIXLER. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1229 



^^EORGE BIXLER, now living in re- 
■ ^\ tirement in Brookville, Clay town- 
^iW ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born in Carroll county, Md., Decem- 
ber 1 8, 1820. His great-great-grandfather 
came from Germany and settled in Maryland 
in the old colonial days. Peter Bixler, grand- 
father of George, was born in Frederick 
county, Md., but located in Carroll county 
early in life, married a Miss Vance, and had 
born to him the following children : John, 
Polly, Samuel, Elizabeth, Sallie, Benjamin 
and Joel. The father died in Carroll county, 
aged eighty-two years, a well-to-do farmer. 

Samuel Bixler, son of Peter and father of 
George Bixler, was born in Carroll county, 
Md., October 6, 1799, and in his youthful 
days learned milling, which he followed for 
ten years. He married, in Carroll county, 
Miss Leah Maus, who was born in 1802, 
daughter of George and Mary (Kittsmitter) 
Maus, and to this marriage were born seven 
children, viz : George, Savilla, Eliza, Mar- 
garet (who died at two years of age), Kate, 
Mary and David. Samuel Bixler, after work- 
ing for several years in his father-in-law's mill 
in Maryland, came to Ohio in 1828, and for 
three months lived in Lewisburg. Preble 
county ; then moved to what was then known 
as Fisher's mill, on Twin creek, remained 
there a year and a half, and then, in 1830, 
came to Montgomery county and bought a 
160-acre farm in Perry township, about ten 
miles west of Dayton, at $5 per acre, sixty 
acres being cleared and improved with a good 
log house and barn. This farm he paid for in 
silver — $800; of this sum he borrowed $500 
from his father, in Maryland, making the trip 
thither on horseback. He stowed the silver 
in his saddle-bags, and was twelve days in 
crossing the mountains on his return. At 
night he would stop at some old-fashioned inn 

and trust his saddle-bags to the safe-keeping 
55 



of the landlord. Mr. Bixler succeeded in clear- 
ing up his farm and in making an excellent 
home, where he died in 1859, aged nearly 
sixty years. He and his wife were members 
of the New Lutheran church, and in politics 
Mr. Bixler was a democrat. He reared his 
family in respectability, and he himself died 
an honored man. 

George Bixler was reared to hard farm 
labor, and aided his father in clearing the 
home farm on coming to Ohio, he being then 
but eight years of age. He attended school 
two months each winter until seventeen years 
old, and at the age of twenty-seven, February 
22, 1847, in Perry township, Montgomery 
county, married Miss Rachael A. Clemmer, 
who was born December 20, 1827, a daughter 
of John and Phebe (Nevins) Clemmer. John 
Clemmer was a native of Virginia, married in 
Rockingham county, that state, and brought 
his family to Ohio, about 18 12, and settled on 
Twin river, in Perry township, Montgomery 
county, cleared a farm of 160 acres, and there 
died at the age of eighty-one years. He was 
the father of ten children: Fannie, Mary, 
Jane, John, George, William, Rachael A., 
Martha, Silas and Catherine. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bixler, just after marriage, 
located on a farm of eighty acres in Perry- 
township, of which fifteen acres had been 
cleared. Mr. Bixler lived here but one year, 
having in the meantime built a log house. He 
then moved upon his father's farm, where he 
lived for a year, going thence to a farm of 148 
acres in the same township, which he still 
owns. To this he added until he owned 250 
acres in Montgomery county and 380 acres in 
Darke county, and finally retired from his farm 
residence to Brookville, February 28, 1895, 
having given each of his children sufficient 
means to start them well in life. In politics 
Mr. Bixler was first a democrat, but was early 
imbued with republican ideas, and was one of 



1230 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



the organizers of that party in Montgomery 
county, voting for its first nominee for the 
presidency of the United States, John C. Fre- 
mont. He and his wife are members of the 
New Lutheran church, in which faith they 
have reared their seven children, who were 
named, in order of birth, Phebe, Samuel, John, 
Mary, David, William and Jesse F. The fam- 
ily are held in high esteem throughout the 
township and in all parts of the county, where 
the name is widely known. 



WOHN F. BEARDSHEAR, a well-known 
m farmer of Harrison township, Mont- 
hs 1 gomery county, Ohio, was born on the 
farm on which he still resides, August 
23, 1838, and is a son of Isaac and Sarah 
(Booher) Beardshear, also natives of Mont- 
gomery county, and who were the parents of 
three children, viz: Levi; Sarah Ann, wife of 
Ezra Bimm, and John F. The father was a 
skillful and thriving farmer, accumulated con- 
siderable land, and in 1850 erected the dwell- 
ing in which his son, John F. , now lives. He 
died June 5, 1882, at .the age of seventy-six 
years, in the faith of the Baptist church, while 
his wife, who was a Methodist, survived until 
September 20, 1888, when she died at the age 
of seventy-two years. 

George Beardshear, the paternal grand- 
father of John F. Beardshear, was a Pennsyl- 
vanian by birth, and at a very early day came 
to Ohio, bought or entered several tracts of 
land in what is now Harrison township, reared 
a large family, and here died somewhat past 
middle life. John Booher, the maternal grand- 
father of John F. Beardshear, was born near 
Baltimore, Md., and was also an early settler 
of Ohio. 

John F. Beardshear was reared on the farm 
of his birth, received a good common-school 
•education, and at the death of his parents 



bought out the interest of the other heirs to 
the home place, upon which he has since re- 
sided. He owns eighty-two acres of excellently 
cultivated land, improved with every modern 
convenience. He has never married, and his 
pleasant home is under the care of his aunt, 
Mrs. Catherine Booher, widow of Daniel 
Booher. Politically, Mr. Beardshear is an 
independent democrat. 



£~V AMUEL BRUMBAUGH, a farmer of 
*^^KT Perry township, Montgomery county, 

^ ^ J Ohio, is descended from Pennsyl- 
vania-Dutch stock, the founder of the 
family in America having come from Germany. 
He was Conrad Brumbaugh, and was the 
grandfather of Samuel Brumbaugh. It is be- 
lieved that he was married in Germany. Two 
of his brothers also came to America, but the 
date of their coming is not now known. From 
these three brothers sprang all the Brum- 
baughs of Pennsylvania. 

Conrad Brumbaugh settled in Lancaster 
county, Pa., probably before 1761, as it is be- 
lieved that all of his large family were born in 
Pennsylvania, and the youngest of his thirteen 
children was born in 1787. After a part of his 
children were born he removed to Morrison's 
Cove, Bedford county, Pa., but the Indians 
becoming troublesome he returned to the more 
thickly settled portion of the state. When he 
reached Morrison's Cove he found the Indians 
in possession, and that they had destroyed 
everything he had left behind, and had killed 
all the remaining settlers. After the Indian 
t oubles ceased, Conrad Brumbaugh returned 
to this place with his family, made a home 
and lived there for some time. Then remov- 
ing to Allegheny county, Pa., he made a home 
for his family there in the wilderness, and be- 
came one of the pioneers of that section of the 
state. His children were John, Daniel, Jacob, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1231 



William, Conrad, David, George, Elizabeth 
and Christiana. Mr. Brumbaugh was well ed- 
ucated in Germany, and after reaching this 
country taught school and became a minister 
in the German Baptist church, being one of 
the first ministers of that church in America. 
George Brumbaugh, father of Samuel, was 
born April 2, 1788, at Morrison's Cove, Pa., 
and received the meager education of the 
times in which he lived. Brought up on the 
farm, he himself became a farmer, served in 
the war of 1812, and in 181 5 married Eliza- 
beth Vaniman, who was born in Pennsylvania, 
September 15, 1789. She was a daugh- 
ter of John and Catherine (Martin) Vani- 
man, the former of whom was born in Eng- 
land, but came to America at a very early day, 
lived for many years in Pennsylvania, and 
then removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 
1805. John Vaniman settled in Madison town- 
ship and entered a full section of government 
land. He erected a log cabin three miles 
south of the present home of Samuel Brum- 
baugh. In those early days he was surrounded 
by Indians, who were, however, friendly, and 
frequently went to his cabin for food. Mr. 
Vaniman put in a piece of corn on the Mad 
River bottoms, had a good crop, and during 
the first winter he and his family lived on corn 
bread, turnips, and wild game, the latter being 
then quite plentiful. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Vaniman 
were John, Jacob, Catherine, Elizabeth, Pol- 
ly and Hannah, all of whom lived to become 
men and women. Mr. Vaniman was a Ger- 
man Baptist in religion, and lived to a good 
old age, dying on his farm. He was well 
known for miles around as one of the sturdy, 
honest and industrious pioneers. By his con- 
stant and well-directed efforts he accumulated 
considerable property, gave to each of his chil- 
dren 160 acres, and left to his widow 320 
acres of land. 



George Brumbaugh settled on 160 acres of 
land which his wife had received from her fa- 
ther. He cleared the entire tract of its tim- 
ber, excepting four acres, which had already 
been cleared, and made it into a good farm. 
He lived on this farm until March, 1848, when 
he died, leaving the honored name of a good, 
useful and upright citizen. His children were 
Samuel and Catherine. 

Samuel Brumbaugh was born February 4, 
1823, on his present farm, and received the 
usual common-school education of the day. 
He was reared a farmer, and at the age of 
twenty-two, on September 11, 1845, married 
Miss Mary Rife, who was born February ii, 
1823, in Rockingham county, Va. She is a 
daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Barker) 
Rife. Jacob Rife came to Perry county about 
1837 and lived there until his death, which 
occurred when he was sixty-eight years old. 
His children were as follows: By his first 
wife: Daniel, Annie and Catherine, and by 
his second wife, Jacob, Sarah, Elizabeth, Mary 
and Frances. 

Samuel Brumbaugh has always lived on 
his present farm, upon which his father settled 
in 181 5, eighty-two years ago. To the origi- 
nal 160 acres of land he has added twenty-six 
acres, so that his farm now contains 186 acres, 
and is well improved with excellent buildings, 
and under a high state of cultivation. Mr. 
Brumbaugh is a member of the German Bap- 
tist church, and stands high among his fellow- 
citizens. To him and his wife have been born 
the following children: George. Jacob, Eman- 
uel, Catherine, Elizabeth, Sarah and Isaac. 



^-VESSE GILBERT, a well-to-do farmer 

A of Jackson township, Montgomery 

nt 1 county, Ohio, is a native of Frederick 

county, Md., and was born July 18. 

1826, of remotely German ancestors, who, on 



1232 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



coming to America, made their home in the 
wilderness of Frederick county, Md., where 
many of the family name reached distinction. 
The Ohio family may be traced back to George 
Gilbert, whose children, Adam, David, James 
and Isaac, were all born in Maryland, where 
George himself lived and died. 

Adam Gilbert, son of George Gilbert, and 
the father of Jesse, was born in Frederick 
county, Md., February 5, 1800, was reared a 
farmer, and married Catherine Diffenbaugh, a 
native of the same county, and a daughter of 
Henry and Catherine Diffenbaugh, also of Ger- 
man origin. To Adam Gilbert and wife were 
born ten children, viz: Jesse, Eleanor, John, 
Jane, Nelson, Mary, Joshua, Julia A., Louisa 
and Rebecca. The farm of Adam Gilbert was 
situated in Carroll county, Md., which county 
was cut off from Frederick and Baltimore 
counties after the birth of his son Jesse. He 
owned about 200 acres of land, located near 
Westminister, and there he died in 1865, a 
member of the Reformed church. In the later 
years of his life he was a strong republican in 
politics and a stanch supporter of the Union 
during the Civil war. 

Jesse Gilbert received a fair common- 
school education, was a strong and rugged boy 
and did a great deal of useful work on the 
home farm. When about twenty-two years of 
age, in 1848, he came to Ohio, and located in 
Jackson township, Montgomery county. He 
here married Mrs. Hannah Mullendore, who 
bore the maiden name of Swinehart, and was a 
daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Swinehart. 
Peter Swinehart was of German descent, a na- 
tive of Washington county, Pa., and came to 
Jackson township among the early pioneers, 
entering the land upon which Jesse Gilbert now 
lives, the tract consisting of 160 acres. Mr. 
and Mrs. Swinehart were the parents of eight 
children and were strict members of the Dun- 
kard or German Baptist church and worthy 



members of the community in which they 
lived. Hannah Mullendore (Mrs. Gilbert), by 
her first husband, Daniel Mullendore, was the 
mother of five children — Anna Maria, Josiah 
(who died young), Leona, and two others (who 
also died young). 

Jesse Gilbert and wife, at their marriage, 
settled on the Swinehart homestead, and here 
Mr. Gilbert has since lived. Mr. Gilbert has 
done much toward clearing up and improving 
this homestead, working long and industriously 
to bring it to its present condition of fertility 
and productiveness. He has been very pros- 
perous, being expert in his calling, and is now 
the owner of 300 acres of excellent farming 
land. To the marriage of Jesse and Hannah 
Gilbert were born two children — Adam and 
Alice — the latter deceased. Mrs. Gilbert was 
called away February 13, 18S0, dying in the 
faith of the Dunkard church, of which Mr. 
Gilbert is also a member. The son, Adam, 
was born on the homestead July 18, 1854, 
married Miss Elizabeth Moyer, and has two 
children, Jesse and Pearl. In politics Jesse 
Gilbert was formerly an old-line whig, but of 
recent years he has affiliated with the demo- 
cratic party. He is public-spirited and disposed 
to aid all undertakings designed for the public 
good, and he enjoys the sincere respect of all 
his fellow-citizens and neighbors. 




HOMAS GILBERT, farmer of Perry 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
sprang from sterling English ancestry 
on his father's side and from German 
stock on his mother's side of the family. George 
Gilbert, his father, was born in Maryland, Oc- 
tober 2, 1786. He was a carpenter by trade, 
and married Catherine Wampler, January 27, 
1825. To them were born the following chil- 
dren: James, born November 23, 1825; Sam- 
uel, born September 10, 1827; Thomas, born 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1233 



January 18, 1829. The mother of these chil- 
dren died, and Mr. Gilbert married a widow 
named Mary Wampler, whose maiden name 
was Brown. To this marriage there were born 
George and Gideon. Mr. Gilbert and family 
settled three-fourths of a mile east of Liberty, 
in Jefferson township, on 160 acres of land, 
which was at the time partly cleared of its tim- 
ber. To this he added until at length he owned 
300 acres of excellent land, which he improved 
both by intelligent cultivation and by the erec- 
tion of good buildings. He was an unusually 
prosperous man, and was well known for many 
miles around as a straightforward, honorable 
citizen. Mr. Gilbert was a democrat in poli- 
tics and was honored by his fellow-citizens with 
election to the offices of township trustee and 
township treasurer, beside several other minor 
offices of trust. He died in 1862, at the age 
of seventy-six, a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. 

Thomas Gilbert, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio. He received the education then 
given to the country-bred children, in a sub- 
scription school, and upon arriving at a suita- 
ble age was put to learning the carpenter's 
trade, at which he subsequently worked for 
many years. He married, when he was twen- 
ty-seven years of age, July 4, 1855, Miss Ellen 
E. Colliflower, who was born in Maryland and 
was a daughter of Peter and Mary Colliflower. 
Peter Colliflower was born in Maryland, of 
German extraction, and lived and died in his 
native state. His widow then brought her 
family to Ohio and settled in Liberty in 1848. 
The children were William, Joel, Abraham and 
Ellen E. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert 
settled east of Liberty on three acres of land, 
he working at his trade for fifteen years. He 
then purchased forty acres of land in Jackson 
township, where he lived until 1866, when he 



removed to Perry township, having purchased 
here ninety-eight acres of land, partly cleared. 
This farm he has greatly improved, and in 
1872-3 erected his present commodious resi- 
dence. He is a most careful and practical 
farmer, and now has his farm under a high 
state of cultivation. 

The eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. Gil- 
bert was Leroy, who educated himself and 
graduated from the high school of Trumbull 
county, Ohio, attended Oberlin college, also a 
college in Tennessee and the college at Dela- 
ware, Ohio. He was professor in an eastern 
college, and iater was vice-president of a col- 
lege at New Orleans. Then going to Wash- 
ington, he became superintendent of the public 
schools at Tacoma, where he died, leaving a 
reputation for high character and fine scholar- 
ship. He married Miss Harriet Faulkner, of 
Trumbull county, Ohio, by whom he had two 
children. The second child of Thomas Gil- 
bert is Charles, who married Margaret Lamkin. 
He is a farmer of Jackson township, and has 
three children. Emma lives in Cincinnati, 
Ohio. Nettie married John Bowman, a farmer 
of Jackson township, and has two children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. In politics Mr. 
Gilbert is a democrat and as such he has been 
elected a school director of his district. In 
private as well as in public life he has always 
been looked upon as a man of integrity and of 
honorable character. 

Mr. Gilbert learned his trade as carpenter 
very thoroughly, serving two years as an ap- 
prentice and two years as journeyman, acquir- 
ing all the knowledge necessary for a first-class 
mechanic, and has erected many business build- 
ings and residences. 

The great-grandfather of Thomas Gilbert 
came from England, settled in Maryland, and 
married a German woman. He had two chil- 
dren, Jeremiah and Susan, to the former of 



1234 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



whom he gave a farm. On May 9, 1779, Jere- 
miah married Catherine Weaver, whose father 
was a soldier of the Revolution, and the chil- 
dren of this marriage were Thomas, Elizabeth, 
Catherine, George, Hannah, Jeremiah, Sophia 
and one that died in infancy. The mother of 
these children having died, Mr. Gilbert married 
for his second wife Miss Powell, August 27, 
1793, and by her he had the following chil- 
dren: Reuben, Jeremiah, William, Isaac, 
James, Sarah, Rhoda, Mary, John, Joseph, 
Lydia, Benjamin, Elizabeth and Solomon. 
In all he was the father of twenty-three chil- 
dren, two of whom died when quite young. 
Jeremiah Gilbert was a prosperous farmer, a 
good citizen, and died in 1822, when sixty-one 
years of age. He was a member of the Ger- 
man Baptist church. 



<^~\ EV. SAMUEL HORNING, one of 

I /«^ the present preachers of the German 
P Baptist church in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, and also a progressive and 
successful farmer, came from excellent Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch ancestors. His remote ances- 
try came from Germany, and were among the 
early German Baptists to settle in Pennsyl- 
vania. His great-grandfather, Ludwig Horn- 
ing, was born in Germany in 1708. Among 
his children were Peter, Samuel and John, the 
last named of whom was born in 1755, lived 
on the old homestead in Skippack township, 
Montgomery county, Pa., and was married to 
Elizabeth Hall, May 11, 1780. Their chil- 
dren were Jacob, Lewis, Catherine, John, 
Mary, Ann, Samuel, Henry, William and Isaac. 
William Horning, the father of Samuel, 
was born in Montgomery county, Pa., Febru- 
ary 16, 1801, and received a common-school 
education in his native state. Being of a me- 
chanical turn of mind he learned the mill- 
wright trade and in many ways showed that 



he was possessed of rare ability in this direc- 
tion. He married in his native state, August 
12, 1826, Hannah Price, who was descended 
from one of the oldest of the German- Baptist 
ministers of the country. 

Jacob Preisz was the original founder of 
the Price family in America, and was born in 
Wetzenstein, Prussia, about the beginning of 
the eighteenth century. He came to this 
country in the fall of 17 19, being one of the 
many who were persecuted on account of their 
religious principles in their native land. After 
reaching America he remained for a time at 
Germantown, Pa., and about 1721 settled at 
Indian Creek, Lower Salford township, Mont- 
gomery county, Pa. He was a preacher of 
great power and influence. Jacob Preisz died 
and his remains lie buried on the old home- 
stead now occupied by his great-great-grand- 
son, Abraham Price. He had one son, John, 
who was also a minister, and who wrote poetry 
of considerable merit, a collection of which 
was published by Christopher Sam in 1753. 
John Price married young, and was the father 
of two sons, Daniel and John. Daniel Price, 
of the third generation from the founder of the 
family in America, was the father of thirteen 
children, of whom the following married and 
reared families. These children were John, 

George, Henry, Daniel, , Elizabeth and 

Hannah. George Price, who was of the fourth 
generation, was the father of eight children, 
of whom the names of six are remembered, 
viz: Mary, Sarah, Daniel, George, Hannah 
and John. John became a minister of the 
gospel so young that he was known far and wide 
as "Johnny Price, the boy preacher." Wher- 
ever he went to preach people of all denomi- 
nations flocked to hear him. He originated the 
Sunday-school in Coventry, not without much 
opposition. In his early life he kept a store in 
the house now occupied by John Ellis, and 
while thus engaged he changed the name to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1235 



Price to correspond with its pronunciation. 
When he died the entire church mourned his 
loss, for " Lo, a great man is fallen in Israel." 
John Price was the father of twelve children, 
ten of whom lived to marry and rear families 
of their own. These ten were Isaac, George, 
Rebecca, Mary, Hannah, Sarah, Elizabeth, 
Lydia, Anna and John R. The Price family 
have long been prominently identified with the 
progress and prosperity of Pennsylvania. They 
appear to have been a priestly race as far back 
as we have any knowledge of them, as Jacob 
was a noted preacher in Europe, and his son, 
John, was a preacher and poet. Daniel, son 
of John, was also a preacher, and had two 
sons who were preachers, while in every gen- 
eration since there have been one or more 
ministers of the gospel. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. William 
Horning settled in Montgomery county, Pa., 
and there he ran a grist-mill and a clover- 
mill on his farm. He and his wife had seven 
children born to them, as follows: John P., 
Elhanan, Daniel, Elizabeth, Mary, Jonas and 
Samuel. In the fall of 1840 Mr. Horning 
moved from Pennsylvania, settling in Perry 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, where 
he purchased 160 acres of land, to which he 
later added 100 acres. To him and his wife 
there were born the following children: Re- 
becca, Lydia and Samuel. Mr. and Mrs. 
Horning were members of the German Bap- 
tist church. Mr. Horning was an ingenious 
mechanician, having built a threshing machine 
in Pennsylvania and also a feed-cutter, which 
he himself invented. In Ohio he invented the 
force-feed grain-drill, which was constructed 
on the same fundamental principle as those 
now in most general use. He also invented a 
horse hay-rake and a horsepower for thresh- 
ers, and a two-roller cane-mill, beside several 
minor implements He was both skillful and 
industrious, and was known far and wide for 



his integrity of character and for his genial 
disposition. He was one of the early advo- 
cates of the temperance cause and among the 
first who undertook the suppression of the use 
of intoxicating liquors as a beverage in his 
neighborhood. 

Rev. Samuel Horning, the subject of this 
sketch, was born March 5, 1848, on the old 
homestead in Perry township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio. He was educated in the public 
schools, was reared a farmer and learned of 
his father the trade of blacksmith, thus becom- 
ing familiar with the use of all kinds of tools. 
When he was twenty-three years of age he 
married Anna Matilda Eversole, who was born 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, September 11, 
1850, and who is a daughter of Abraham Ev- 
ersole and his wife, who was Margaret Fol- 
krath. The father of Mrs. Horning was born 
December 8, 1804, in Shepherdstown, Jeffer- 
son county, Va. , and was a weaver and a 
farmer. He located in Hagerstown, Md., and 
there married Mary Logue, removing to Ohio in 
1832, and settling in Greene county, where his 
first wife died. He afterward married Marga- 
ret Folkrath in 1834, and by this second mar- 
riage had ten children, as follows: Daniel, 
Catherine, Maria, Henry C, Elizabeth, Julia, 
Anna M., Sarah F., John C. and Laura L. 
He is a most excellent neighbor and an hon- 
ored member of the community. While a 
member of no church, yet he is a supporter of 
religious work, giving the ground for the build- 
ing of the Eversole church, which is located 
on his farm. Mr. Eversole is the last living 
member of his father's family, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Roop, another member, having recently died. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Horning 
settled on the farm and moved into the ancient 
mansion, remaining there three years, then 
bought part of the old homestead and erected 
excellent modern buildings, where they still re- 
side. Their children are as follows: John, 



1236 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Jr., who died at the age of twenty years; Ed- 
win L. and Clara. Rev. Samuel Horning 
has been a minister of the German Baptist 
church for the past fourteen years, or since 
August 31, 1882, and has worthily followed in 
the footsteps of his ancestors. He is possessed 
of a broad and liberal education, and so highly 
appreciates the advantages of educating the 
youth, that he has given his children the best 
education within his means, and the best the 
facilities of the present day permit. He is a 
man of wide and careful reading, informed on 
all current topics, and well versed in ancient 
and modern history and theology. He and 
his wife have been members of the church 
since 1872, their children also uniting with the 
church in early life. 



HBRAHAM NEFF, of Perry township, 
one of the oldest and most respected 
native-born farmers of Montgomery 
county, Ohio, is a native of Jefferson 
township, was born June 7, 181 8, and is re- 
motely of German descent. 

Leonard Neff, his grandfather, was a na- 
tive of Virginia, and when a young man re- 
moved to Somerset county, Pa., where he 
married Elizabeth Miller. He went thence to 
Kentucky, where he was a compatriot of the 
famous Daniel Boone, and at one time found 
shelter in the same fort with him during an In- 
dian raid. Mr. Neff cleared a plantation in 
Jessamine county, Ky., and there died at the 
age of about seventy-six years, the father of 
the following children: John, Peter, Eliza- 
beth, Mary, Michael, Jonathan, Joseph and 
Margaret. 

Michael Neff, father of Abraham, was born 
in Kentucky in 1794. He was reared to farm- 
ing in Jessamine county and also learned the 
blacksmith trade. He came to Ohio in 181 5 



and was married in Montgomery county, in 
1 8 1 6 or 1 8 1 7, to Esther Weaver, who was 
born in Pennsylvania in 1795 or 1796, a daugh- 
ter of Peter and Elizabeth (Heistand) Weaver, 
the latter a native of Pennsylvania and of 
German extraction. 

Peter Weaver was born in Germany, came 
to America when a young man, and first made 
his home in Pennsylvania, married in that 
state, later brought his family to Ohio, and 
was a pioneer of what is now Jefferson town- 
ship, Montgomery county, and at one time 
owned a section and a half of land, which at 
the present time is divided into eight farms. 
His children were named John, Jacob, Henry, 
Elizabeth, Barbara, Esther, Peter and Abra- 
ham. He was for many years a faithful mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church, lived to the 
great age of ninety-four years, and died in 
Elkhart county, Ind., at the home of his eld- 
est son, John. 

Michael Neff and wife, after their marriage, 
settled on the Peter Weaver farm in Jefferson 
township, and here were born their four chil- 
dren — Abraham (the subject of this memoir), 
Margaret, Michael and Elizabeth, and here, 
also, Mrs. Esther Neff was called from earth 
about 1824. Mr. Neff next married Miss 
Barbara Floro, daughter of Joseph Floro, and 
this union resulted also in the birth of four 
children — Sarah, Joseph, Eve and Jonathan — 
all probably born in Perry township, whither 
after his second marriage Mr. Neff removed 
about 1827 or 1828, and settled on 160 acres 
in the woods, of which tract, however, twenty 
acres had been cleared. This land had been 
entered by Peter Weaver in 18 12, the deed 
being signed by President Madison; the parch- 
ment is still preserved by Abraham Neff, who 
now lives upon the farm. Michael Neff 
thoroughly developed this place and lived upon 
it until failing health called a respite from la- 
bor, when he made a visit to Charleston, W. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1237 



Va., in hope of recuperating, but there died 
July 10, 1 85 1 , at the age of fifty-seven years. 
He was a whig in politics, an unswervingly 
honest man, and honored universally as a 
useful citizen. 

Abraham Neff, with whose name this biog- 
raphy is opened, was reared to farming and 
was educated in an old-fashioned log school- 
house. He learned from his father the black- 
smith's trade, also, and, when of a little over 
twenty-two years old, was married January 9, 
1840, in Jefferson township, to Tracy Bellmier, 
who was born in Washington county, Md., 
December 15, 1S17, a daughter of Gabriel and 
Margaret (Toby) Bellmier, the former of whom 
was a Marylander by birth, but of German de- 
scent. He was a farmer and came to Mont- 
gomery county in 1827 or 1828, settling on 160 
acres of land in Jefferson township, but about 
1850 removed to Ogle county, 111., where he 
died at the age of sixty-four years, the father 
of the following children: Catherine, Susan, 
Elizabeth, Mary, Tracy, John, Charity, Mar- 
tin, Harrison, Caroline, Ruan and Thornton. 

Abraham Neff and wife, after their mar- 
riage, lived for four years on an eighty-acre 
farm in Defiance county, and then returned to 
the old Neff homestead in Montgomery county, 
their present home. To this farm Mr. Neff has 
given much intelligent labor, improving it with 
modern and convenient buildings, and bringing 
it under a high state of cultivation, so that it 
now ranks among the best places in the town- 
ship. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Neff are 
John, Miranda, Allen, Mary, Maggie, Amelia 
and Althea (twins), Peter, Hettie and Minnie. 
The family are members of the old-school Ger- 
man Baptist church. Mr. Neff is very popular 
with his fellow-citizens and has served them 
as town trustee for ten terms and as a member 
of the school board for seventeen years. He 
has always been a promoter of good schools, 
has liberally aided other churches beside his 



own, and has done all in his power to promote 
good roads and other essential public improve- 
ments in his township. 



ISAAC C. HAINES, farmer, of Mad- 
ison township, Montgomery county, 
Ohio, sprang from German and Irish 
ancestry, his paternal ancestors being 
from Germany and settlers in Pennsylvania. 
Three brothers named Haines came from Ger- 
many at an early day. 

Allen Haines, the father of Isaac C, was 
born in Lancaster county, Pa., was a shoe- 
maker by trade, and married, in Lancaster 
county, Nancy Lemmon, who was brought 
from Ireland by her parents when she was 
seven years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Haines 
were the parents of the following children: 
Lemmon, Frank, Catherine, Caroline, Isaac 
C, Cyrus, Levi, Israel, Henry, Samuel and 
John. In 1826 Mr. Haines came to Ohio, set- 
tling in Clay township, near Phillipsburg. 
Later he removed to Miami county, where he 
passed the remainder of his days, dying at the 
age of sixty-seven years. His wife was a 
member of the Lutheran church and lived to a 
good old age. 

Isaac C. Haines was born October 9, 
1826, in Lancaster county, Pa., and was 
brought to Montgomery county, Ohio, by his 
parents when he was about six months old. 
Receiving a common-school education, he was 
reared a farmer, and when twenty-one years 
of age he married, August 17, 1846, Miss Bar- 
bara Alice Teetor, who was born December 
17, 1829, in Washington county. Pa. She is 
a daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Donson) 
Teetor. Her grandfather, Francis Teetor, 
came from Germany with his family. His 
wife, Catherine Donaldson, was born in Ger- 
many. Their children were as follows: John, 
George, Catherine, Barbara, Susan and Jacob. 



1238 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Francis Teetor settled on the Ohio river at an 
early day, and was a member of the German 
Baptist or Dunkard church. 

Jacob Teetor, the father of Mrs Haines, 
was born December I, 1S05, on the Ohio 
river, and was reared a farmer's boy, though 
losing his father when he was but two years of 
age. He grew to manhood and married in 
Washington county, Pa., the maiden name of 
his wife having been Elizabeth Donson. She 
was born in Maryland, and was a daughter of 
Thomas and Barbara (Garber) Donson. Thom- 
as Donson was a wealthy man, one of the orig- 
inal pioneers of Union and Randolph town- 
ships, and owned saw-mills and distilleries in 
the early days. 

Jacob Teetor came to Ohio in 1827 with 
his family and first settled in-Union, Randolph 
township, where he purchased a farm of 160 
acres of land. Later he purchased 160 acres 
of land in Madison township, upon which he 
lived for a time, afterward removing to Weaver 
station. Here he bought a tract of fifty acres, 
and later removed to Stringtown, Madison 
township, where he purchased seventy-five 
acres, upon which he remained until his death, 
reaching the great age of eighty-five years. He 
was always an active man and held several im- 
portant positions of honor and trust, such as 
superintendent of the Montgomery county in- 
firmary for five years, and also that of town- 
ship trustee for some time. Politically he was 
a republican and in religion he belonged to the 
German Baptist church. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Barbara Alice, 
Thomas, George, Henry, Elizabeth and Daniel. 

Mr. and Mrs. Isaac C. Haines, after their 
marriage, settled in Madison township near 
Trotwood. In 1 85 1 or 1852 Mr. Haines pur- 
chased land in this township and lived upon it 
for some years. In 1879 he was appointed 
superintendent of the Montgomery county in- 
firmary, a position which he held with credit 



for seven years. In 1886 he purchased his 
present farm, which contains 155 acres in Mad- 
ison township, and which is well improved. 
Politically Mr. Haines is a democrat and as 
such has served the people as township trustee 
for some years. As a man of character he 
stands high in the community, and enjoys gen- 
eral confidence and respect. His children are 
Eva, Webster, Sallie, Birdie Emma, Walter 
and Clarence. Mr. Haines had three brothers 
in the late Civil war — Henry, Samuel and 
John. Henry was a member of the Fifteenth 
U. S. infantry, and the other brothers served 
in Ohio regiments. 

Eva Haines married Charles Winters, a 
hardware merchant of Braidwood, 111., and has 
two children — Pearl and Amy. Sallie married 
Charles Hoffman, of Little York, Montgomery 
county, and has three children, Claudie, Ethel 
and Roscoe. Walter, who is clerk of Mad- 
ison township, married Laura Stauffer; Clar- 
ence married a Miss Mumma, and is a car- 
penter, but living on a farm. 



>Y* AC0B A HEPNER, a farmer of Perry 
M township, and a grandson of one of the 
/• 1 original pioneers of Montgomery county, 
springs from German ancestry. His 
great-grandfather, George Hepner, was born in 
Hanover, Germany, in r 73 1 , and came to this 
country a young man, accompanied by a 
brother, in 1757. He settled in Lancaster 
county, Pa., and in 1760 married Nellie Kline. 
Their children were Henry and Catherine. 
Later he removed to Rockingham county, Va., 
where he settled on a farm. Still later he 
came to Ohio with his son Henry, who settled 
in Jackson township in 1806. Here the old 
man died in 1S08, when he was seventy-seven 
years of age. He was a member of the Lu- 
theran church, a man of strong character, and 
the founder of the Hepner family in America. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1239 



He was buried in the woods one and a quarter 
miles southeast of New Lebanon, his last rest- 
ing place being on what is now the farm of 
Henry Schoenfeld, but formerly the farm of 
Henry Hepner. 

Henry Hepner, the grandfather of Jacob 
A., was born in Lancaster county, Pa., in 
1762, was reared a farmer and learned the 
blacksmith trade. In his native county he 
married Mary Hyser, and by this marriage he 
became the father of the following children: 
George and Polly, twins; John; Sophia; Lydia 
and Leona, twins; the first four being born in 
Virginia, and the last two in Ohio. Henry 
Hepner brought his family to America in 1806, 
and located on the line between Jefferson and 
Jackson townships, entering 160 acres of land 
in the latter township and forty acres in the 
former township. Selecting a huge oak tree, 
he cut it down and built his cabin round the 
stump. This stump trimmed and dressed to 
bring it into proper shape, served for a table 
for a number of years. Mr. Hepner was well 
known among the pioneers in all that region as 
a man of safe and reliable judgment and was 
unusually influential in his neighborhood. Be- 
ing a vigorous and energetic worker, he pros- 
pered and became a substantial farmer. He 
was a member of the German Baptist Church. 

John Hepner, father of Jacob A., was born 
in Rockingham county, Va., in 1797, and was 
therefore but nine years old when brought to 
Ohio by his father. Educated principally in 
the German tongue, yet he acquired a sufficient 
knowledge of the English to enable him to 
read and converse in this language. His 
father being a blacksmith as well as a farmer, 
young Hepner was trained in both callings. 
He married Elizabeth Diehl, who was born 
November 29, 1800, in Bedford county, Pa., 
and was a daughter of Jacob Diehl, for fuller 
mention of whom the reader is referred to the 
biography of the Diehl family, published else- 



where in this volume. Mr. Hepner settled on 
section 34, Perry township, on 110 acres of 
land in the woods, which had been entered by 
Jacob Diehl. This land Mr. Hepner cleared 
and upon it built his home. In his earlier life, 
in this then wild country, he was accustomed 
to do a great deal of hunting, killing many 
deer, wolves and wild turkeys, wildcats and 
panthers. He was a most industrious man on 
his farm, and by thrift and careful manage- 
ment of his affairs he came to own 271 acres 
of excellent land in Montgomery county, and 
also 150 acres in Lake county, Ind. Relig- 
iously he was a member of the German Baptist 
church, and was noted for his strong, upright, 
christian character. Politically he was an 
old-line whig. Mr. Hepner lived to be forty- 
four years of age, and died on his farm. His 
children were George, Jacob A., Elizabeth, 
Rosanna, John and Lydia. His wife died 
when she was forty-nine years of age, a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church. 

Jacob A. Hepner was born May 24, 1828, 
on his father's farm. Obtaining the common- 
school education of his day, he was reared a 
farmer, and on September 19, 1852, married 
Miss Eve Neff, who was born February 6, 
1836, in Perry township, and was a daughter 
of Michael and Barbara (Floro) Neff. For 
fuller mention of Miss Eva Neff the reader is 
referred to the biography of Abraham Neff. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hepner 
settled on the homestead farm, on which they 
lived until 1857, when they removed to their 
present farm of 107 acres. Of this Mr. Hep- 
ner cleared about forty acres, which he ma- 
terially improved. Adding other acres to its 
original number, he at length became possessed 
of 136 acres of good farming land. He and 
his wife reared the following children: Mary 
C, born August 22, 1853, died March 26, 
1854; Minerva, born September 23, 1854; 
Sarah A., born April 22, 1856; Amanda, born 



1240 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



October 9, 1858; Elizabeth, born December 
23, 1860, died a married woman; Emma, born 
April 7, 1862, died in April, 1893; Clara, born 
March 22, 1865; George W. , bom January 4, 
1867; Jacob A., born April 12, 1870; William 
A., born January 14, 1872; Morris, born Jan- 
uary 3, 1876, and died January 10, iS76;and 
Omar V., born February 27, 1877. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hepner are members of the German Bap- 
tist church, and Mr. Hepner has been an active 
politician for many years, being an excellent 
speaker and an efficient worker. Politically 
he was in early life an old-line whig, but has 
been a member of the republican party since 
its organization. He has always taken an act- 
ive interest in educational matters, and exer- 
cises his influence in the direction of good 
schools. He has for this reason served as a 
member of the school board for many years. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hepner mar- 
ried as follows: Minerva married John H. 
Wehrly, of Dayton, Ohio, and has one son; 
Sarah A. married Samuel Fasnacht, a farmer 
of Sumner county, Kans., and has one child; 
Amanda R. married Martin B. Fasnacht, a 
farmer of Sumner county, Kans., and has five 
children; Elizabeth married James L. Weaver, 
of Boulder county, Colo., had three children, 
and is now deceased; Emma married David C 
Cloppart, a farmer of Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and has one child; Clara married for her 
first husband Lucien Berk, by whom she had 
one child, and after the death of her first hus- 
band Mrs. Berk married William T. Ninning- 
er, of Johnson county, Mo. ; George W. mar- 
ried Clara Bowser, of Montgomery county, 
and has two children; Jacob A. married Hattie 
Bowser, is living on the home farm and has 
one child, and William A. married Bessie Sly- 
der, is a farmer of Montgomery county, and 
has one child. The Hepner family is one of 
the most respected in Montgomery county, and 
comes from good, old pioneer stock. 



ISAAC MILLER, whose post-office is 
Chambersburg, Ohio, is one of the old 
soldiers of the Civil war and a highly- 
respected citizen. He was born in But- 
ler township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
March 7, 1828, and is a son of Isaac and Eliz- 
abeth (Sunderland) Miller. Isaac was a son 
of James Miller, who came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, from Kentucky, in 1794, settling 
in Butler township. "His children were John, 
James, Mary, Martha and Isaac. When he 
came to Ohio in 1794 James Miller settled on 
140 acres of land, being the first settler within 
the limits of Butler township. His farm con- 
sisted of an unbroken forest, which he cleared 
as fast as possible, in the meantime making a 
part of his living by hunting. Later he left 
Butler township and settled on the Wabash 
river near Lafayette, Ind. He was a typical 
pioneer, and lived to a great age, dying in 
the last-named state. 

Isaac Miller, father of the subject, was born 
in 1790, and came with his parents from Ken- 
tucky to Ohio in 1794. Growing up in the 
wilderness among the pioneers, his education 
was necessarily limited. He married in 181 1, 
when he was twenty-one years old, Elizabeth 
Sunderland, who was born in 1794, in Penn- 
sylvania, and who was a daughter of Richard 
and Nancy Sunderland, for fuller mention of 
whom the reader is referred to the biography 
of Richard Sunderland, in this volume. After 
their marriage Isaac Miller and his wife settled 
on the old Sunderland homestead, and lived 
there the remainder of their lives. He was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and was stationed 
at Greenville about eight months. He and his 
wife had the following children: Nancy, Mar- 
tha, Pattie, Massie, Richard, Martin, William, 
Isaac, Benjamin, John and Elizabeth. Mr. 
Miller lived to be seventy-nine years old. He 
was a member of the German Reformed 
church, and in politics was first an old-line 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1241 



whig and became a republican upon the for- 
mation of that party. Four of his sons were 
in the Civil war, viz: Richard, Martin, Ben- 
jamin and Isaac. Martin was a private soldier 
in company H, Thirty-fifth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, served his full time and was in many 
battles. Benjamin was in an Illinois regiment, 
served three years and veteranized, and partici- 
pated in many engagements. 

Isaac Miller, the subject of this sketch, was 
born March 7, 1828, in Butler township, and 
was educated in the common schools. Reared 
on the farm he naturally became a farmer. On 
October 14, 1833, was born Martha Wester- 
man, whom Mr. Miller married in Butler town- 
ship. She was a daughter of Henry and Ellen 
(Harrison) Westerrnan, the former of whom 
was of English ancestry, and married his wife 
in Maryland. His children were as follows: 
Mary, Martha, Elizabeth, Thomas, Lafayette, 
William, and one that died in infancy. Henry 
Westerrnan came as a pioneer to Butler town- 
ship and purchased a good farm of 100 acres. 
He lived to be eighty-two years old, an hon- 
ored citizen and an upright man. 

Mr. and Mrs. Miller settled on the old Sun- 
derland homestead, upon which they lived for 
thirty years, and then moved to Henry West- 
erman's farm in Butler township, upon which 
they lived ten years. They then removed to 
their present home in Chambersburg. Mr. 
Miller now owns a farm of fifty-six acres and 
is in comfortable circumstances. Mr. and 
Mrs. Miller have had the following children: 
Ellen, Henry, who died at the age of eleven 
years, and Elizabeth. The parents are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, and Mr. Miller 
has been a trustee of his church for twenty- 
five years. In politics he is a republican. 

Mr. Miller enlisted in the army, leaving his 
wife and three little children at home. At 
that time he was thirty-five years old. He be- 
came a member of company F, Seventy-fourth 



Ohio volunteer infantry, and enlisted to serve 
three years, or during the war. He served 
until he veteranized at Chattanooga in 1864, 
in the same organization, and served until 
mustered out at Camp Dennison, July 17, 
1865, thus serving his country faithfully three 
years and nine months. He was in the states 
of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, 
and North and South Carolina. The principal 
battles in which he took part were Stone River, 
Dalton, Buzzard's Roost Mountain, Peachtree 
Creek, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, the 
battle of Atlanta, in which McPherson was 
killed, and Jonesboro. Mr. Miller was also in 
many minor battles and skirmishes, and went 
with Sherman to the sea, taking part in the 
battle of Savannah. He was in all the battles, 
marches and skirmishes in which his regiment 
was engaged. He is a member of Milton 
Weaver post, No. 594, G. A. R. , and has held 
the offices of junior and senior vice-com- 
mander. Mr. Miller is now a hale and hearty 
man, and is a splendid specimen of the veteran 
American soldier and the true and worthy 
American citizen. 



>-j*OHN R. PEIFFER, one of the most 
J expert mechanics of Miamisburg, Ohio, 
/• 1 was born in Newmanstown, Lebanon 
county, Pa., March 14, 1850, a son of 
John and Catherine (Rabold) Peiffer, also na- 
tives of the Keystone state, and of German 
descent. 

John R. Peiffer received an excellent edu- 
cation, both common-school and academical, 
in his native town, and then served two years 
as an apprentice to a miller. He followed 
this calling until he reached his majority, and 
then, in March, 1871, came to Miamisburg, 
Ohio, which has since been his place of resi- 
dence. Here he entered the employ of the 
Bookwalter Wheel company, starting as a day- 



lL'42 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



man, and was so attentive and faithful in the 
performance of his duties that he was pro- 
moted, from time to time, until he was finally 
placed in charge of the bentwood department. 
After filling out the long period of twenty years 
with the Bookwalter company, he accepted a 
position with the Acme Folding Boat com- 
pany, as general mechanic, and this place he 
has most creditably filled. 

Mr. Peiffer was united in marriage, Decem- 
ber 25, 1870, with Miss Alice C. Fidler, a 
a daughter of Augustus and Catherine (Treon) 
Fidler, of Womelsdorf, Berks county, Pa. 
To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Peiffer have 
been born three children, viz: Catherine (Mrs. 
Ira C. Koehne), Edward and Luella. The 
family worship at the German Reformed 
church. In politics Mr. Peiffer is a republican, 
serving at present his first term as a member 
of the city council. He is fraternally an Odd 
Fellow, a Knight of Pythias, a Forester and a 
Knight of Honor, and is held in high regard as 
a public-spirited and useful citizen. 



>^OHN RIEGEL, one of the old and sub- 
t stantial farmers of Jackson township, 
A 1 Montgomery county, Ohio, and a resi- 
dent of the county since six years of 
age, was born in Berks county, Pa., July 12, 
1826, of German ancestors. 

John Riegel, his grandfather, also a native 
of Berks county, was there married and had 
born to him the following children: Samuel, 
Adam, Jonas, Joseph, Susan, Rebecca, Han- 
nah, David, Lydia, Polly and Sallie. John 
Riegel came to Ohio in 1832 and settled in 
Perry township on 160 acres of land that had 
been cleared only in small part, and here he 
built a log house and in course of time cleared 
all his land and made a comfortable home. 

David Riegel, son of John, the pioneer and 
the father of subject, was also born in Berks 



county, Pa., and there married Elizabeth 
Koucker. He followed farming and milling 
until 1832 in his native county, and then came 
to Ohio, lived for a short time in Germantown, 
Montgomery county, and then bought a tract 
of 160 acres in Perry township, all in the 
woods, but which he subsequently converted 
into a fertile and profitable farm. He also 
purchased an additional tract of 301 acres, and 
became one of the most respected and solid 
men of the township. The children born to 
David Riegel and wife were named Mary (who 
died at the age of thirteen years), John, Leah, 
Franklin J. and Harry. The parents were 
long members of the United Brethren church, 
and contributed largely toward the erection of 
the house of worship belonging to that denomi- 
nation in Perry township. In politics Mr. Riegel 
was a democrat, but never sought public office. 

John Riegel, the subject of this memoir, 
grew to manhood on his father's farm. Feb- 
ruary 15, 1849, he married, in Jackson town- 
ship, Miss Rebecca Leis, who was born in 
Berks county, Pa., June 9, 1832, a daughter 
of Henry and Rebecca (Fidler) Leis. 

Peter Leis, grandfather of Mrs. Riegel, was 
of German descent and came from Berks 
county, Pa., to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 
1831 or 1832, bought a farm of 160 acres and 
lived to an advanced age. His wife, who bore 
the maiden name of Kalbough, bore him nine 
children, viz: Henry, John, Adam, Polly, 
Peggy, Sallie, Katie, Leah and Hannah. The 
family were all devoted members of the 
Reformed church. 

Henry Leis, father of Mrs. Riegel and also 
a native of Berks county, Pa., came to Ohio 
when his father came, brought his family with 
him, settled on 160 acres of land near Slyfer's 
church in Jackson township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, and cleared up an excellent farm. His 
children were named Israel, Peter, John, Adam 
(who died at the age of twenty years), Henry 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1243 



(who died at thirteen years) and Rebecca. 
This family also were members of the Reformed 
church, and in politics Mr. Leis was a demo- 
crat. He lived to be about seventy-five years 
of age and died a well-to-do farmer and an 
honored citizen. 

John Riegel, the subject of this memoir, at 
his marriage, settled on his present farm, which 
he bought from his father, and which com- 
prised 177 acres, all in the woods with the ex- 
ception of about fifteen acres. Through per- 
severing industry he cleared up the entire tract, 
improved it with substantial buildings and all 
the accessories proper to the success of hus- 
bandry, and has now as fine a farm as there is 
in the township of Jackson. To his marriage 
there have been born eight children, in the 
following order: David, William H., John A., 
Franklin, Mary A., Amanda, Emma K. and 
Rebecca E. The parents are members of the 
United Brethren church, and in this faith have 
reared their family. They freely contribute 
of their means toward the support of their de- 
nomination, and Mr. Riegel was largely in- 
strumental in causing the erection of the Johns- 
ville church edifice, to the construction of 
which he also freely contributed. In politics, 
Mr. Riegel is a democrat. Of the children born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Riegel, David is a farmer of 
Jackson township, married Belle Fulse, and 
has five children; William, also of Jackson 
township, married Mary A. Minderman, and 
has four children; John A., living on the home 
farm, married Lucy Dechant, and has eight 
children; Franklin, farmer of Jackson town- 
ship, married Mary Sheppard, and has two 
children; Mary A. is married to Peter Leis, 
and has two children; Amanda (deceased) was 
married to Benjamin Comar (deceased), and 
had five children; Emma K., married to Theo- 
dore Dechant, has one child, and Rebecca E. 
is married to Oliver Patterson and has four 
children. Mr. and Mrs. Riegel, now nearly 



half a century married, have had eight chil- 
dren, have thirty-one grandchildren and one 
great-grandchild. They have resided for forty- 
seven years on their present homestead and 
have so lived as to have been able to confer 
many benefits upon the community and in turn 
to win the respect and esteem of the residents 
of the country all around them. 



■p-VOSHUA SWARTZEL, farmer of Jack- 
■ son township, Montgomery county, 
(• 1 Ohio, comes of Pennsylvania-Dutch an- 
cestors, his grandfather haying been 
Matthias Swartzel, who came from Germany 
and settled in Pennsylvania. His children 
were Abraham, Henry, Philip, Matthias and 
one that died in infancy. These children he 
brought with him from Germany, beside a sis- 
ter of his, who afterward married a Boomer- 
shine and settled in Montgomery county, Ohio. 
Matthias Swartzel came to Jackson town- 
ship after his son, Abraham, had settled here. 
While he married three times, all his children 
were by his first wife, who came with him 
from Germany. He lived to be seventy years 
of age and died on the farm adjoining that on 
which Joshua Swartzel now lives. He was a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war, and served as 
fifer under Gen. Washington. 

Abraham Swartzel, father of Joshua, was 
born in Pennsylvania, and there married Eliz- 
abeth Izor, also a native of that state. Their 
children were as follows: Annie, Matthias, 
Philip, John, Elizabeth, Sarah, Abraham, 
Henry, Daniel, Polly, Joshua, Susan and one 
that died in infancy. In the year 1800 they 
came to Ohio, living for about one year in 
Franklin, Warren county, and removing in 
1 801 to Jackson township, where they settled 
on the section on which Joshua Swartzel now 
lives. Abraham Swartzel was, in fact, the 
second man to settle in the township, the first 



1244 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



having been a man by the name of Stoner, who 
lived on the south line of the township. 

Mr. Swartzel was the second man north of 
Germantown, there being no one in the count}' 
to the north or west of him, and the country 
being literally a howling wilderness, filled by 
wolves, panthers, deer, bear, and many other 
kinds of wild animals. Erecting a small log 
cabin, Mr. Swartzel cleared up a portion of his 
farm. He entered an entire section, 640 
acres, and made a comfortable home for him- 
self and family, putting up good buildings, and 
continuing to buy land, so that he was able to 
give each of his children a farm. The land on 
which Farmersville now stands he sold to his 
brother Henry, all of his brothers being set- 
tlers in Montgomery county. Mr. Swartzel 
was a member of the German Reformed 
church, and aided in the erection of several 
church buildings in Montgomery county. 
He was one of the most prominent mem- 
bers of Stiver church, assisting to erect the 
building, and afterward liberally supported the 
organization, and filled the offices of deacon 
and elder for many years. Politically he was a 
Jackson democrat. He died in 1840, at the 
age of sixty-one. 

Joshua Swartzel, the subject of this sketch, 
was born May 7, 1819, on the farm which ad- 
joins his present farm on the west. Brought 
up among the pioneers, he learned their habits 
of industry and simple living, and cleared up 
a considerable body of land. On May 7, 
1840, he married Catherine Miller, who was 
born March 3, 18 19, in Warren county, Ohio. 
She was a daughter of Jacob Miller, who was 
one of the pioneers of that county, and whose 
father was Christian Miller. Beside Catherine, 
the children of Jacob Miller were John, Eliza- 
beth, Susannah, Joseph, Mary A., Rose Ann 
and Adam. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Swart- 
zel lived on the old home farm for about ten 



years, and in 1851 moved to his present farm, 
which then contained 128 acres, nearly all of 
which he cleared. By quiet and persistent in- 
dustry he made his farm one of the best in 
Montgomery county. His children by his first 
wife were as follows: Elizabeth, Jefferson, 
who died in infancy; John J., Joshua D., Jos- 
eph F., Manassa W., Orange O, Cordelia C. , 
Rosette M. and Lucy. 

Mrs. Swartzel died in August, 1873, when 
about fifty-three years of age, and Mr. Swart- 
zel married for his second wife Sarah Albaugh, 
a widow, whose maiden name was Michael. 
Mr. Swartzel is now living on the old farm, 
his children having all married and gone to 
homes of their own. He is a new-school 
Lutheran, and a democrat. He has always 
been liberal in his support of his church, as 
well as public-spirited in relation to enterprises 
designed to benefit the general community. 
While he is now seventy-eight years of age he 
is yet hale and vigorous, and has probably 
many years of usefulness and influence yet be- 
fore him. 



^yj»ILLIAM DUCKWALL, a pioneer 
mm of Ohio, and one of the most ven- 

\jLJI erable ol the citizens oi Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, was born in 
Berkeley county, Va. , August 15, 1808. His 
parents were Henry and Rosanna (Lingerfel- 
ter) Duckwall, both of German descent. 

Henry Duckwall was a native either of 
Maryland or Virginia, and was a son of Lewis 
Duckwall, a local Methodist preacher, who, 
about 1804, settled in Highland county, Ohio, 
and died at the advanced age of ninety-seven 
years, the father of the following-named chil- 
dren: Henry, Mary, John, Frederick, Eliza- 
beth, Jacob, Samuel, Lewis and Daniel, to each 
of whom he, being the owner of a large estate, 
gave a home. Henry Duckwall came to Ohio 




rffq~± Q^< ccyi^^^c^c 




x^Cp ^^v^X^-L-t- C&--^C^&T*^rsljC' 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1249 



in 1 812, lived in Clinton county two years, 
and in 18 14 came to Montgomery county and 
bought 320 acres in the woods in German 
township, which land, with the assistance of 
his sons, he cleared and converted into a fer- 
tile farm. He was a man of considerable im- 
portance in his township, and in the early 
days his house was a place of entertainment 
for the pioneer land-seeker. In politics he 
was first a whig and later a republican, and 
filled the office of justice of the peace for 
many years. He died at the age of about 
seventy-three years, a member of the Method- 
ist church, of which his wife was also a com- 
municant. To his marriage there were born 
the following children: William, Mary, Lewis, 
Elizabeth, Henry, John, Susan, Daniel, Jacob 
and Sarah. 

William Duckwall, the subject, was but 
four years of age when he was brought to 
Ohio by his parents. Here he was reared — as 
were all other backwoods lads in the pioneer 
days — to the hard work of clearing and de- 
veloping the primitive farm. He was first 
married, July 8, 1834, in Middletown, Butler 
county, Ohio, to Miss Eleanor Bake, who was 
born January 8, 1813, but died May 25, 1836, 
themotherof one child — Edwin. The second 
marriage of Mr. Duckwall was with Miss Caro- 
line Bruner, who was born in Virginia, Jan- 
uary 27, 1820, a daughter of Daniel and Ellinor 
(Custard) Bruner. 

Daniel Bruner, whose father came from 
Bingen on the Rhine, Germany, was born in 
Virginia, but for some time lived near Fred- 
erick, Md., and came to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, in 1826. He reared a family of five 
children, viz: Elizabeth, Caroline, Margaret, 
Ellen and Mary Jane. His death took place at 
the age of eighty-six years in the faith of the 
Methodist church, of which his wife was also a 
member. He was first a whig in politics and 
later a republican, an influential and well-to- 

56 



do farmer, and left to each of his children a 
comfortable competence. 

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. Duckwall 
first located on a farm of eighty acres, but 
later moved to a farm of 116 acres near 
Brookville, which farm Mr. Duckwall improved 
with good buildings and cultivated until 1893, 
when he retired to Brookville to pass in com- 
fort his remaining years, but still owns his 
farm. In politics he was in his early days a 
whig, and voted for Henry Clay for president, 
but on the disintegration of that party he as- 
sisted in founding the republican party, voted 
for John C. Fremont, and still adheres to that 
organization. He and his wife have long been 
consistent members of the Methodist church, 
and are the parents of the following children: 
Sarah A., John William, Mary J., Laura, 
Charles, Francis, Clayton, Clara (who died at 
seven years of age) and Elmer E. Of these 
Francis is a physician of Dayton; Laura has 
been a teacher within the county for the past 
twenty-five years, of which five years were 
passed in Brookville; John was a soldier for 
four years during the Civil war in the Sixty- 
third Onio volunteer infantry, was a veteran, 
and served with Sherman through his famous, 
campaigns. The Duckwall family is widely- 
known in Montgomery county, and its venera- 
ble head, William Duckwall, who has fourteen 
grandchildren and one great-grandchild, stands 
high in the esteem of its citizens. 



a LARK YOUNT, one of the old-time 
farmers and citizens of Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, de- 
scends from an old pioneer family and 
is himself a native of the Buckeye state, of re- 
motely German ancestry. 

George Yount, his great-grandfather, was 
a native of Hanover, Germany, and, in com- 
pany with three brothers and one sister — 



1250 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



William Henry, Jacob, John and Catherine 
— came to America many years prior to the 
opening of the Revolutionary war, landed in 
Philadelphia, Pa., and thence went to North 
Carolina, some years later, where they all 
founded their homes, close to Deep river. In 
1801, however, George Yount brought his 
family to Ohio and located in Warren county, 
near Lebanon, but later moved to a farm on 
the east side of the Stillwater, near Union, 
Montgomery county, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying April 23, 18 10, a 
Quaker in religion. His wife bore the maiden 
name of Rosanna Waymire, was born in Ger- 
many, and died August 16, 1814. They were 
the parents of the following children: John, 
George, Frederick, Rebecca, Rachel, Polly, 
Milly and Rosa. 

John Yount, grandfather of Clark Yount, 
■was born in Pennsylvania September 23, 1768, 
and there married Mary Low, who was born 
March 28, 1 77 1 , and to this union were born 
Henry, Delilah, Rebecca, Solomon and Fred- 
erick. John Yount moved with his family to 
North Carolina, probably about the year 1799. 
About two years later the family went to Ken- 
tucky, and a year afterward, in 1802, came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and settled on a 
tract of 156 acres in the wild woods, for which 
Mr. Yount paid $2 per acre. The Younts, 
Hoovers and Marts, who all came at the same 
time, are thought to have been the first white 
men to tread the wilderness of this part of the 
•county. They had to cut a wagon road 
through the woods to Dayton — the first in this 
part of the township. Indians were numerous, 
game abundant, and the hardships and toil un- 
remitting. But industry conquered all things, 
and Mr. Yount died a wealthy man, at the age 
of about fifty years, in the faith of the Society 
of Friends, December 1, 1822. His widow, 
first a (Quakeress and later a Dunkard, died 
July 22, 1842. 



Frederick Yount, father of Clark, was born 
in North Carolina, July 30, 1799, and was 
brought to Ohio by his parents in 1802. He 
grew to manhood on his father's farm, which, 
as he grew in years, he aided in clearing, and 
also worked in his father's saw-mill on Dry 
Branch creek. At the age of twenty-two 
years, in February, 1821, he married Miss 
Catherine Engle, who was born in February, 
1802, a daughter of Michael Engle, a pioneer 
of Covington, Miami county, Ohio. Mr. 
Engle was of German descent and had a family 
of ten children, viz: John, Michael and Philip 
(twins), Adam, Henry, Matthew, Catherine, 
Sallie, Eve and Abraham. The sons were 
all great hunters, and one, Abraham, acci- 
dentally shot himself while engaged in the 
chase. They were all patriots and served in 
the war of 1812. To Frederick Yount and 
wife were born the following children : Enos, 
born November 17, 1821; Sarah A., January 

16, 1823 — died February 7, 1823; Clark, born 
July 10, 1824; Henry, born February 7, 1826; 
Eve, July 1, 1827 — died April 5, 1850; Solo- 
mon, born March 28, 1829; Emily, born Sep- 
tember 11, 1830; Elizabeth, March 10, 1832; 
Johanna, May 12, 1834 — died February 7, 
1889; Ira, born January 2, 1836 — died Sep- 
tember 27, 1837; Mary A., born December 

17, 1838 — died in 1 841 ; Oliver, born March 
2 9- 1837 — died March 11, 1838; Eli, born 
September 24, 1840; Rebecca, born January 
4, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Yount 
passed all their days on the old homestead, 
and no family in the county stood higher in 
the esteem of their fellow-citizens. They 
were faithful in their adherence to the Quaker 
faith and were endowed with all the good 
qualities for which the Society of Friends are 
so justly famous. 

Clark Yount was reared on the homestead 
of his parents near Fredericksburg, Ohio, 
which was named in honor of his father. The 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1251 



original Yount homestead, entered by John 
Yount, covered the site of that village — ex- 
tending, as it does, from Mongomery count)' 
into Miami county, in the latter of which 
counties Fredericksburg is situated. Clark 
received a good education in a select school, 
and at the age of twenty-one years married, in 
Dayton, June 8, 1845, Miss Mary Smith, who 
was born November 12, 1825, a daughter of 
David and Elizabeth (Whitehead) Smith. 
David Smith was a pioneer farmer of Mont- 
gomery county, and to him and wife were 
born the following children: Susan, Jacob, 
Mary, Esther, John, Solomon, Samuel and 
Levina. Mr. Smith was the owner of two 
good farms and he and his wife were members 
of the German Baptist church. His death 
took place at the age of forty-eight years. 

After marriage Clark Yount lived on his 
father's land for a year, then for a year east of 
Union, and in 1848 moved to his present farm, 
which consisted of 1 57 acres and was but partly 
cleared. He now has a model home of 172 
acres, improved with a modern dwelling and 
giving evidence of thrift and prosperity. To 
the union of Mr. and Mrs. Yount have been 
born the following children: Oliver F., Eliz- 
abeth C, Catherine, Emily, Rebecca A., Le- 
vina and Eli. Mr. Yount and all the family 
are members of the German Baptist church, of 
which Oliver F. was an elder and minister for 
sixteen years prior to his death in 1888. 

David P. Sollenberger, who married Miss 
Rebecca A. Yount, October 10, 1875, is a son 
of John W. and Catherine (Peffley) Sollen- 
berger. John W. is a son of Jacob, who was 
born in Lancaster county, Pa., there married 
Annie Wenger and came to Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, in 1827. He settled two miles west 
of Dayton, and died on his farm the same 
year, leaving two children — John W. and Eliz- 
abeth. His widow married John Miller. John 
W. Sollenberger was born in Pennsylvania 



March 10, 1823, and came to Ohio with his 
parents. Here he was reared by his mother 
and step-father, and March 7, 1843, married 
Catherine Peffley, who was born November 6, 
1824, in Montgomery county. He then moved 
to Elkhart county, Ind., bought 160 acres of 
land, lived there eight years, then returned to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and settled on 100 
acres in Randolph township, and there died 
March 22, 1892, aged sixty-nine years, his wife 
having died on February 7, 1876, at the age 
of fifty-two. Mr. Sollenberger was for many 
years a minister in the German Baptist church, 
and was greatly respected. His children are 
named Jacob, John, David, Aaron, Moses, 
Elizabeth, William and Henry. 

David P. Sollenberger was born November 
14, 185 1, in St. Joseph county, Ind., and his 
wife was born on the Yount homestead Janu- 
ary 13, 1854; they are now the parents of six 
children — John J., Mary. E., Phebe C, Oliver 
C, Isaac J. and David Laurel. Mr. Sollen- 
berger has been a deacon in the German 
Baptist church for nineteen years, and for two 
years a minister. He is the owner of a fine 
farm of 117 acres in Miami county, and is an 
esteemed and useful member of society. 



'Jrj'OHN R. BRUMBAUGH, Union post- 
M office, Ohio, a farmer of Randolph 
(Q J township, Montgomery county, is a 
grandson of one of the original pio- 
neers of the county. His remote ancestor 
came from Germany, four or five brothers of 
the family corning across the sea together, and 
settling in Pennsylvania. They were among 
the first of the German Baptist pioneers that 
came to this country on account of religious 
persecutions in their native land. 

Henry Brumbaugh, the grandfather of John 
R., was a son of Jacob Brumbaugh and was a 



1252 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



farmer in Woodcock valley, Pa. While still 
living in Pennsylvania he married Elizabeth 
Fulk, who was reared at Morrison's Cove, in 
that state. He and his wife had the following 
children: Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, George, 
Henry, Esther, Nancy, Susan, Elizabeth, 
Catherine and Mary. In 1 8 14 Mr. Brumbaugh 
moved to Montgomery county with his family, 
floating down the Ohio river in a boat and 
thence coming by wagon across the country to 
Dayton. Entering land in Randolph town- 
ship, 160 acres covered with timber, he built a 
log cabin on it, and proceeded as rapidly as 
possible to clear up the land. In the course 
of time he added other acres and became a 
prosperous farmer. He was one of the hardy 
and successful pioneers, a man of great 
strength, and lived to a good old age. He 
assisted in the founding of the German Baptist 
church in Randolph township. 

Samuel Brumbaugh, son of Henry, and 
father of John R., was born April 12, 1806, in 
Huntingdon county, Pa., and was a boy of 
eight years of age when he came to Montgom- 
ery county. Reared on a farm he became a 
farmer, and, in Preble county, Ohio, married 
Elizabeth Rhinehart, who was born in Vir- 
ginia, and was a daughter of Jacob and Susan 
(Brower) Rhinehart. Mr. and Mrs. Brum- 
baugh settled on ior> acres of land in Clay 
township, which was then in the woods, and 
this tract Mr. Brumbaugh cleared of its tim- 
ber and made productive. Afterward he re- 
moved one mile south of where his son, John 
R., now lives, settling on a good farm of 240 
acres, upon which he lived the remainder of 
his days. He was in religious belief a Ger- 
man Baptist and for many years a deacon of 
his church. His children were as follows: 
John R., Hannah, Mary, deceased; Lydia, 
Sarah, Jacob and one that died in infancy. 
Mr. Brumbaugh lived to be eighty-nine years 
of age, was well known to all the old settlers, 



and enjoyed the well-earned esteem of the 
community. 

John R. Brumbaugh, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Clay township, December 
24, 1829. Reared on the farm, he early be- 
came inured to hard work. On August 21, 
1852, he married Elizabeth Heckman, who 
was born October 6, 1832, in Clay township, 
Montgomery county, and who was a daughter of 
William and Mary A. (Brandenburgh ) Beck- 
man. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Brumbaugh settled on his present farm of 112 
acres. Their children were born as follows: 
Clara, Mary A. and Simon, the latter of whom 
died at the age of nine years. Mrs. Brumbaugh 
died April 21, i860, a woman of many excel- 
lent qualities of character and disposition and 
a member of the German Baptist church. Mr. 
Brumbaugh was married the second time, in 
October, 1861, to Nancy J. Heckman, who 
was born September 6, 1837, and is a sister of 
his first wife. The children by this second 
marriage are Harriet, Amanda, Martha, Enos 
and Jessie. Mr. Brumbaugh has continuously 
lived on the same farm, and by his thrift and 
toil has added thereto until at the present time 
he owns 350 acres, and has also given 139 
acres to his children. He has been a life-long 
member of the German Baptist church and is 
one of the most prominent citizens of his town- 
ship. Politically he is a republican. 



'g' 



QUIRE HENRY CUPPY, a native 
of Wayne township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born on the farm 
on which he still lives, July 4, 1825, 
and descends from ancestors who came to 
America prior to the Revolutionary war. 

John Cuppy, his grandfather, was a native 
of Prussia, came to America a young man and 
landed in New York in 1750. He went to 
Canada as a soldier in the French and Indian 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1253 



war of 1754, and after his return married 
Elizabeth Devore. He then settled in New 
Jersey, near Morristown, where he combined 
his trade of stonemason with the vocation of 
farming. His children were named Abraham, 
Benjamin, Elizabeth, Catherine, John and 
Ann. From New Jersey Mr. Cuppy moved to 
Hampshire county, then in Virginia, but now in 
West Virginia, and settled near Romney, 
where he died at the age of eighty-six years, 
and where he had been a substantial farmer 
and, for a number of years, served as a justice 
of the peace. 

John Cuppy, his son, and father of 'Squire 
Cuppy, was born in New Jersey March 11, 
1761. He received as good an education as 
the common schools of that early day afforded, 
and was reared a farmer. He grew to man- 
hood in Virginia and there married, in Hamp- 
shire county, Rachel Caxton, the union result- 
ing in the birth of Abraham, Benjamin, Daniel, 
Elizabeth, Catherine and Hannah. The mother 
of these children died in Virginia in 1820, and 
Mr. Cuppy again married, his second wife be- 
ing Miss Lydia Oilar, whom he married in 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in October, 1823. 
She was born in Greenbrier county, Va. , Feb- 
ruary 8, 1798, a daughter of Henry and Eliz- 
abeth (Hanks) Oilar, her maternal grandmother 
being a relative of the mother of Abraham 
Lincoln. Henry Oilar was of German de- 
scent, was a carpenter and farmer, came to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1808, and set- 
tled on Mud creek, but died, at the age of sev- 
enty-eight years, in Lafayette, Ind. To the 
second marriage of Mr. Cuppy were born three 
children — Henry, Fletcher and John A. 

John Cuppy, father of 'Squire Cuppy, when 
a young man, was a soldier in the Revolu- 
tionary war and served under Gen. Greene; 
also fought at the battle of the Brandywine 
and afterward was a scout for Gen. Wayne on 
the Ohio river, and had many encounters with 



the Indians. He was later captain of a Vir- 
ginia militia company, and took part in the 
famous whisky rebellion in Pennsylvania in 
1794. The same year he passed the spot 
where Dayton now stands, being at that time a 
bearer of dispatches from Cincinnati to Gen. 
Wayne, who was encamped on Mad river, near 
where the town of Osborn now stands. Simon 
Kenton, the famous Indian fighter, scout and 
backwoodsman, was a frequent visitor to Mr. 
Cuppy in his old age in Ohio. On coming to 
the Buckeye state Mr. Cuppy bought 320 
acres of land from Daniel Sunderland, in 
Wayne township, Montgomery county, a small 
spot only being cleared; but he brought eighty 
acres under cultivation and made a comforta- 
ble pioneer home, and this land now belongs 
to Henry Cuppy. Mr Cuppy also bought 
tracts of land in Tippecanoe, Wabash and 
Dearborn counties, Ind., and at his death was 
able to give all his children farms. Mr. Cuppy 
was converted and baptized by the eccentric 
pioneer preacher, Lorenzo Dow. In politics 
he was successively a Jackson democrat, a 
whig and a republican. He voted for Wash- 
ington for president, and thereafter voted at 
each presidential election until the time of Fre- 
mont, in 1856. He was awarded a section of 
land for his services as scout, which he located 
in Virginia, on the Ohio river, and in his old 
age he received a land warrant for his services 
in the Revolution, which he located in Wapello 
county, Iowa. He reached the patriarchal 
age of 100 years, three months and seventeen 
days, dying June 8, 1861. 

Henry Cuppy received the usual instruction 
to be obtained in the pioneer schools of Ohio, 
and was reared a farmer. While still young 
he taught school in Wayne township for seven 
months, and among his pupils were the now 
famous Gen. Geo. W. Crook and his brothers, 
Capt. Walter Crook and Chas. Crook. He 
married in Dayton, in 1878, Sarah A. Cuppy, 



1254 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



a very distant relative, who was born near 
Mount Pleasant, Jefferson county, Ohio, a 
daughter of Abraham and Susan (Perrin) 
Cuppy. Abraham was a farmer and coal 
miner on his own land; he was a son of Abra- 
ham Cuppy, who was a son of John, the 
founder of the family in America. To the 
parents of Mrs. Henry Cuppy were born seven 
children, viz: John, William, Caroline, Mary, 
Sarah A., Elthiza and Margaret. To 'Squire 
Cuppy and wife were born three children, the 
only survivor being Emma, a teacher in the 
public schools. Mrs. Cuppy died June 18, 
1887, a member of the Protestant Methodist 
church, and Mr. Cuppy married for his second 
wife Mary Griffin. In politics Mr. Cuppy is 
an independent democrat and was elected a 
justice of the peace three years ago. This 
office he has administered to the entire satis- 
faction of the public and with much credit to 
himself. He is hale and hearty at the age of 
seventy-two years, has lived an honorable, 
upright and useful life, and stands to-day 
among the most respected of the citizens of 
Wayne township. 



>-j*OSEPH M. HENDRIX, a well-known 
M farmer of Madison township, Montgom- 
A 1 ery county, is of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
ancestry. The founder of the family in 
this country was Adam Hendrix, his great- 
great-grandfather, who came from Germany 
and settled in York county, Pa., where for 
many years he followed farming. His sons 
were William and Joseph. The eminent 
statesman, Thomas Hendricks, of Indiana, 
was a member of this family, different branches 
thereof spelling the name in different ways. 
Several members of the family served the 
cause of the patriots in the Revolutionary war. 
William Hendrix, eldest son of Adam, set- 
tled in South Carolina, and from him sprang 



the southern branch of the family. Joseph 
Hendrix, who was the great-grandfather of 
Joseph M. , was, like his father before him, a 
farmer of York county, Pa. In that county 
he lived and died, leaving two children, Joseph 
and Isaac. The elder of these two sons, 
Joseph, was the grandfather of the subject. 
A native of York county, Pa., and a farmer, 
he married Miss Agnes McDonald, by whom 
he had the following children: Adam, Isaac, 
John, Daniel, Washington, Sarah A., and 
Joseph, the latter of whom was a physician of 
Oxford, Pa. The father of these children was 
a man of wonderful constitution and health, 
and lived to be eighty-three years of age. He 
was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist 
church, and a man of great strength of char- 
acter as well as of body. 

The third son of Joseph Hendrix, John, 
was the father of Joseph M. Hendrix. He 
was born in York county January 4, 18 14. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca 
Murray, was born in Carroll county, Md., near 
Baltimore, and was a daughter of John Mur- 
ray', who was of Scotch descent. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hendrix came from Pennsylvania to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1841, lived there 
a year and then removed to Preble county, 
Ohio, locating near Winchester. By continu- 
ous labor and thrift Mr. Hendrix increased his 
landed possessions until he owned some 400 
acres, and became a most prosperous man. 
He and his wife had the following children: 
Joseph M., Sarah A., Agnes J., Virginia R. , 
John E., Delos F. , Franklin D., Edwin and 
Clara. In politics Mr. Hendrix was a demo- 
crat, as such serving as township trustee sev- 
eral terms. 

Joseph M. Hendrix was born in 1842 in 
Montgomery county, near Farmersville. While 
yet an infant he was taken to Preble county, 
Ohio, where he received a common-school edu- 
cation and was reared on a farm. On Janu- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1255 



ary 24, 1874, he was married in Harrison 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, to Re- 
becca A. Wampler, who is a daughter of Will- 
iam and Mary (Roop) Wampler, and was born 
in Harrison township. After their marriage 
Mr. and Mrs. Hendrix settled on their present 
farm, and to them were born the following 
children: Elmer D., Edith R. and Nora A. 
Mr. Hendrix has always been a successful 
farmer and a man of principle and sterling 
character. Politically he is a democrat, and 
religiously a devoted member of the German 
Baptist church. 

David Wampler, great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Hendrix, was of German ancestry, and came 
to Ohio from Carroll county, Md. He married 
in Maryland, and upon arriving in Montgom- 
ery county, settled on Wolf creek and cleared 
up a farm. His children were Philip and 
David. Philip was the grandfather of Mrs. 
Hendrix, was a native of Maryland, and mar- 
ried Catherine Royer, by whom he had the 
following children: Mary A., Edwin, Jesse, 
David, William, Maria, Elizabeth, Catherine, 
Samuel, Annie, John and Joseph. Philip 
Wampler settled in Harrison township, cleared 
up a farm of 162 acres, was a valued member 
of the community, and lived to be seventy-nine 
years old. He was a member of the German 
Baptist church. 

William Wampler, the father of Mrs. 
Hendrix, was born in Carroll county, Md., on 
Sunday, February 29, 1824. When three 
years of age he was brought by his parents to 
Montgomery county. Receiving the usual 
common-school education of the times, he 
grew to manhood upon the farm, and upon at- 
taining his majority married Mary Roop, 
daughter of David and Rebecca (Grimm) Roop. 
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wampler 
settled on a farm in Harrison township con- 
sisting of 162 acres of land, to which he added 
until he ultimately owned 459 acres in Ohio, 



besides 1,000 acres in Missouri. He was 
known for his probity of character no less 
than for his thrift and success in business. He 
and his wife had the following children: Re- 
becca A., Catherine, Elizabeth, David and 
William. Politically he was a republican, re- 
ligiously a member of the German Baptist 
church, and in every respect a useful and 
most worthy citizen. 



HARON KIMMEL, one of the oldest 
settlers of Montgomery county, sprang 
from Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. His 
grandfather was Daniel Kimmel, 
from Berks county. Pa., a farmer and a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church. He mar- 
ried Barbara Kroner, by whom he had the 
following children: Susan, John, Daniel, 
Jonas, Lewis, Michael, Mattie and Hannah. 
He made several journeys to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, on horseback, and one trip to 
southern Illinois, in the same manner. This 
was at a very early day, and on his journeys 
he was accustomed to camp out wherever night 
overtook him. About 18 10 he removed his 
family to Montgomery county, settling five 
miles west of Dayton in the woods, on 160 
acres of land. Clearing this land of its timber, 
he made of it a fine farm, and in course of 
time bought more land. He lived to be about 
sixty years old. 

Michael Kimmel, son of Daniel and father 
of Aaron Kimmel, was born in Berks county, 
Pa., in January, 1810. He received the usual 
common-school education of the times, and 
was reared a farmer's boy. He married Cath- 
erine Armantropt, who was born in Ohio, 
March 15, 181 5, and was a daughter of Peter 
Armantropt, of Maryland. Peter Armantropt 
was one of the pioneers of Warren county, 
Ohio, settling there at a very early day. In 
religion he was a Lutheran. His children 



1256 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



were as follows: Volumtin, Jeremiah, Philip, 
Jesse, Elias, Catherine and Elizabeth. Mr. 
Armantropt died in Warren county at a com- 
paratively early age, though his wife lived to 
be over ninety years old. 

After his marriage, Michael Kimmel settled 
in Jackson township, in the woods, on 172 
acres of land. This farm he cleared and im- 
proved and set out upon it one of the finest 
orchards in that part of the country. In 1855 
he sold this farm and removed to Jefferson 
township, where he bought 196 acres, upon 
which he died in 1889 at the age of sixty-eight. 
He and his wife are members of the German 
Baptist church. They reared the following 
children: Henry S., Aaron, Mary, George W., 
Michael C. , Sarah, David O. and Susan. 

Aaron Kimmel was born May 2, 1835, ' n . 
Jackson township, Montgomery county, and 
was fairly well educated in the district schools. 
On June 1, 1858, he married Elizabeth Wal- 
lace, who was born May 18, 1839, in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio. She is a daughter of 
William and Margaret (Brown) Wallace. Mr. 
Wallace was of sterling Scotch ancestry, a son 
of Andrew and Elizabeth (Brough) Wallace, 
and was of an old Virginia family. 

William Wallace was a merchant of Liber- 
ty, coming to Ohio directly after his marriage. 
By trade he was a hatter, but became a mer- 
chant. He died in 1849 of cholera, when he 
was thirty-nine years of age, his wife having 
died seven years before. They left the follow- 
ing children: Sarah, Eli, John, Elizabeth and 
Mary A. After the death of his first wife Mr. 
Wallace married Mary Beck. To this mar- 
riage there were born three children, viz: 
James A., Samuel and Margaret. Mr. Wallace 
was a member of the United Brethren church, 
and a man of strong character, and stood high 
in the community in which he lived. 

After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Kimmel 
settled a short distance north of Liberty, and 



lived on the Kimmel homestead five years, 
moving thence to Jackson township, where 
they settled on fifty-three acres of land. In 
1865 Mr. Kimmel sold this farm and moved to 
Crawford county, 111., where he bought a farm 
of ninety acres. Returning to Montgomery 
county in the same year, he bought his present 
farm of eighty-one acres, which he has greatly 
improved by judicious cultivation, by the plant- 
ing of orchards, and by the erection of good 
buildings. To him and his wife there have 
been born the following children: Jonathan 
P., Althea, Emma, Harvey M., Mary A., Les- 
lie B., Jessie D. and Carl W. Mr. and Mrs. 
Kimmel have been members of the United 
Brethren church for twenty years. Politically 
Mr. Kimmel is a prohibitionist. He is an un- 
affiliated member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, 
Randolph lodge, and is in all ways an excel- 
lent man and citizen. 



m. 



'ILLIAM N. KINSEY, whose post- 
office is Kinsey, is the proprietor of 
the oldest and one of the largest of 
the nurseries of Montgomery county, 
it having been established by his father in 1 852. 
He springs from Virginia ancestry, his great- 
grandfather having come from Virginia to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, by horses and 
wagons, in the early days. He was a brother 
of the grandfather of Jesse Kinsey, a German 
Baptist minister, whose biography is published 
elsewhere in this volume. The maiden name 
of his wife was Miss Beckener, and by her he 
had the following children: Levi, Mathias, 
Joel, Levina and Judah. Mr. Kinsey, upon ar- 
riving in Montgomery county, settled in the 
woods, on what is now the Truxel farm, one 
and a half miles east of Salem. This farm he 
cleared of its timber, lived upon it until he 
reached old age, and then removed to Whitley 
county, Ind., where he died at the age of sev- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1257 



enty years. He was a member of the German 
Baptist church, and a deacon thereof for many 
years and a man of fine mind and high 
moral character. 

Joel Kinsey, grandfather of William N., 
was born in Virginia, and came with his par- 
ents to Ohio when a boy. He was the eldest 
child, was reared on the farm and married, in 
Randolph township, Elizabeth Brumbaugh, 
who was from Morrison's Cove, Pa. After 
their marriage Joel and Mrs. Kinsey settled 
near Covington, Miami county, Ohio, and he 
there died when but thirty-three years of age. 
He was a member of the German Baptist 
church, and his children were Samuel, Lydia, 
Noah and David, the latter of whom died when 
quite young. 

Samuel Kinsey, father of the subject, was 
born near Covington, Ohio, May 26, 1832, re- 
ceived a good common-school education, and 
learned the carpenter's trade. He married at 
the age of twenty years, on the farm on which 
William N. Kinsey now lives, on April 23, 
1852, Barbara Nead, who was born December 
19, 1832, and was a daughter of Peter and 
Elizabeth (Yount) Nead. Peter Nead was born 
in Maryland in 1796, near Hagerstown, and 
was a son of Daniel Nead, a farmer and slave- 
owner, who also owned a large tannery. He 
was a member of the Lutheran church. Peter 
Nead married in Virginia, managed a tannery 
near Broadway, Rockingham county, Va., mov- 
ing later in life to Augusta county, where he 
engaged in farming. In 1846 he came to Ohio, 
when his daughter Barbara was fourteen years 
old. Settling near Trotwood on ninety acres 
of land partially cleared, he cleared the re- 
mainder of the farm, improved it and made of 
it an excellent home for his family. He and 
his wife were parents of the following children: 
Samuel, Daniel, Mary and Barbara. Mr. Nead 
was first a Lutheran, then a Methodist, and 
later a member of the German Baptist church. 



He was an elder and a minister of the last- 
named church for many years, and was distin- 
guished by being among the first ministers of 
that church to preach in English. He lived to 
the great age of eighty-one years, and died on 
his farm. His wife died when she was seven- 
ty-seven years old. 

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Kinsey lived on In- 
dian lands in Indiana for a year or two after 
their marriage, and then settled on the farm 
adjoining the Nead farm. Of this Mr. Kinsey 
cleared up fifty acres, and by degrees added to 
it until he had 185 acres of good land in one 
body, besides seventy-five acres in Indiana and 
eighty acres in Kansas. Mr. Kinsey established 
his nursery in 1S52, and was exceedingly pros- 
perous in the business, being a practical and 
skillful nurseryman. Both he and his wife 
were members of the German Baptist church, 
in which he was an elder and a minister for 
many years. They had born to them the fol- 
lowing children: Almira J., Mary E., Cyn- 
thia A., Clarinda, William N., Lydia L. , Sallie 
C. , Ellen B., Charles P., Jesse E., Allen V. 
and two that died young. Mr. Kinsey was a 
man of great industry and attended to his busi- 
ness with the closest application. He was a 
man of sterling integrity of character, and died 
in 1883, at the age of fifty-one years. 

William N. Kinsey was born July 17, 1859, 
on the old homestead, on which he now lives. 
Receiving a good common-school education, 
he afterward attended the Northwestern Nor- 
mal academy at Ada, Ohio, and also the 
Miami Commercial college, at Dayton, Ohio. 
When thirty years of age he married, July 30, 
1889, Nettie B. Seiber, who was born July 25, 
1872, in Montgomery county, Ohio, and is a 
daughter of Ephraim and Sarah J. (Leighton) 
Seiber. Ephraim Seiber came from Pennsyl- 
vania, and is of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. 
Marrying in Ohio, his children are Susan, 
Amanda, William, John (who died a young 



1258 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



man), Aldebal, Nettie B. and Lottie. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey have been born two 
children, Roy H. and Isabel, the latter of 
whom died at the age of four years and seven 
months. 

Mr. Kinsey is a deacon in the German 
Baptist church, a man of ability, and has all 
his life been engaged in the nursery business. 
He was thus employed with his father for 
many years, which thoroughly qualified him 
for the successful management of the enter- 
prise, and at his father's death he took it up 
and has since carried it on. Mr. Kinsey was a 
member of the County Agricultural society for 
several years, and thus became widely and 
well known in this part of the state. His nur- 
sery contains about lOO acres, and in it he 
grows all kinds of fruit trees, shrubbery, and 
small fruits of many leading varieties. 



<a 



*ILLIAM KREITZER, farmer of 
Jefferson township, Montgomery 
county, Ohio, was born in Berks 
county, Pa., May 24, 1836, and is 
of German descent. 

Peter Kreitzer, his grandfather, was born, 
reared and married in Berks county, became 
the father of four children — Jacob, John, 
Elizabeth and Catherine — and died in his na- 
tive county. Jacob Kreitzer, son of Peter 
and father of William, was also born in Berks 
county, and there married Catherine Deckler; 
he was the owner of two farms in Pennsyl- 
vania, one of which he sold in 1838, when he 
came to Ohio and settled in Perry township, 
Montgomery county, on a tract of 120 acres. 
Here he resided the remainder of his days, dy- 
ing at the age of sixty-seven years, the father 
of the following children: Jacob, Catherine, 
Mary, Henry, Kate, John, Rebecca, Isaac, 
William, Sarah and Lydia. Mr. Kreitzer was 



a member of the Lutheran church, in politics a 
democrat, and a citizen of good repute. 

William Kreitzer, whose name opens this 
biographical memoir, was aged but two years, 
when brought by his parents to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, in the spring of 1838. Oppor- 
tunities for schooling were somewhat meager 
in his boyhood days, but he made the most of 
them. At the age of thirty-three years, he 
married, in Madison township, Miss Martha 
Heeter, a native of the township, born August 
12, 1847, a daughter of Samuel and Ruhama 
(Nation) Heeter. Her paternal grandfather, 
Sebastian Heeter, was born in Pennsylvania, 
of German descent, and married Elizabeth 
Rarick, who was born in Philadelphia county, 
Pa., February 25, 1777, and was eighteen 
years of age when she was married to Mr. 
Heeter, August 11, 1795. She was a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Katie Rarick. The children 
born -.to Sebastian Heeter and wife were born 
in the following order: Henry, Frederick, 
Catherine, Abraham, Daniel, Polly, Jacob, 
Samuel, Sarah, Sebastian and David. 

Sebastian Heeter was an early settler of 
Madison township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and made his home on the farm on which his 
daughter-in-law, Ruhama Heeter, now dives — 
the widow of his son, Samuel. For this farm 
of 160 acres he traded four horses and a wagon, 
the land being located in a dense forest, through 
which ran an old Indian trail. Forest and 
trail were soon annihilated, yet with a great 
expenditure of labor, and a productive farm 
substituted in their place. Sebastian Heeter 
was an ardent Lutheran, and contributed liber- 
ally toward the erection of the first edifice 
devoted to worship by that denomination in 
Gettysburg. 

Samuel Heeter married Ruhama Nation, 
and by her became the father of the following 
named children — Mary M., Jacob, Paulina 
and Catherine — who grew to maturity. There 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1259 



were two others who died in infancy. Mr. 
Heeter was a democrat in politics; in religion 
he was a Lutheran, and died in that faith at 
the age of sixty-six years. His widow is now 
eighty-three years old. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Kreitzer 
settled for the time being on a farm of eighty- 
eight acres which he had purchased in Jackson 
township, but three years later Mr. Kreitzer 
bought his present farm in Jefferson township, 
comprising 160 acres. He has added materi- 
ally to his lands since residing here, and now 
owns three good farms, comprising, in all, 
389^ acres. The children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Kreitzer were named Samuel J.; William 
A., who died at the age of nine months; John 
D.; Ruhama C. ; Jacob H., who died at the 
age of six years; Mary M., who died when 
three years old ; and Noah, who died in infancy. 
Mr. and Mrs. Kreitzer are members of the 
Lutheran church, in which Mr. Kreitzer is a 
trustee, having taken the place of Samuel 
Heeter at the death of the latter; in politics 
he is a democrat. He is a self-made man, and 
all he possesses he has made through his own 
good management, assisted only by his wife 
and elder children. 

Elizabeth (Rarick) Heeter, maternal grand- 
mother of Mr. Kreitzer, lived to be ninety years, 
eleven months and twenty-two days of age. 
Catherine Rarick, great-grandmother of Mrs. 
Kreitzer, died in September, 1829, aged sev- 
enty-four, and her remains are interred at Aller- 
ton, in Montgomery county. Henry Rarick 
died January 18, 18 17, aged sixty-two years. 
Ruhama (Nation) Heeter was born April 8, 
1 8 1 3, in Campbell county, Tenn., a daughter 
of Thomas and Elizabeth (Moser) Nation; 
Thomas Nation was a son of Joseph and Je- 
retta (Vickroy) Nation; Joseph Nation was a 
native of North Carolina, of English parent- 
age, and was a soldier of the Revolutionary 
war. Mrs. Jeretta (Vickroy) Nation was a 



daughter of Marmaduke Vickroy, also a Revo- 
lutionary soldier and, with his wife, a native 
of England. The children born to Joseph 
Nation and wife were named Isaac, Labar, 
Samson, Girten, Joe, Elizabeth, Rebecca and 
Charity. Joseph Nation eventually settled in 
Tennessee, where he bought a farm of 160 
acres, on which he passed the remainder of his 
useful life. 

Thomas Nation was born in North Caro- 
lina, and on moving to Tennessee married 
Elizabeth Moser, daughter of Jacob and Dor- 
cas (Hunnicut) Moser, of Germany. Thomas 
Nation and wife, prior to 1S13, came from 
Tennessee to Montgomery, now Preble county, 
Ohio, but later returned to Tennessee; finally, 
in 1828, Mr. Nation came back to Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, bringing a four-horse wagon 
and settling in Eaton, where he became a 
teamster. Mr. Nation was twice married, and 
to his first union were born six children, viz: 
Ruhama, Elizabeth, Joseph, Hamilton, Re- 
becca and Jacob. The mother of this family 
died in Tennessee, and Mr. Nation next mar- 
ried, in the same state, Annie Lay. This 
second union resulted in the birth of thirteen 
children, who were born in the following order: 
Isaac, Charlotte, Emeline, Franklin, Freeland, 
Tabitha, Celie, Paulina, Alfred, Emily, Pliny, 
Henry and Marks. The father of this large 
family died in Eaton, Ohio, at the age of 
sixty-six years, a life-long member of the 
Methodist church. The children born to 
Ruhama Heeter were named in the following 
order: Mary Martha, married to William 
Kreitzer; Jacob, who married Mary A. Bow- 
man, and has three sons — John, Joseph and 
Charles; Pauline, who was married to Charles 
Watson, but is now deceased, having left two 
children — Samuel and Joseph; Catherine, who 
was married to Adam Krull, and is the mother 
of the following children: Silas F. , Esta C. 
and Ada C. 



1260 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Jeretta (Vickroy) Nation, the wife of Jos- 
eph Nation, came to Ohio when a child, her 
father having been a soldier of the war of the 
Revolution and having lived to be 105 years 
old. Joseph Nation took a valiant part in the 
battle of the Horseshoe. 



X) 



ANIEL LONG, a grandson of one of 
the original pioneers of Montgomery 
county, sprang from Pennsylvania- 
Dutch ancestors. Lewis Long, his 
grandfather, was born in Pennsylvania, and 
was the son of Lewis Long, who came from 
Germany and settled in that state. Lewis 
Long followed farming in his native state, 
and married Miss Mary Hestand, afterward 
removing to Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
settling in Madison township. He was among 
the very earliest of the pioneers of this county, 
to which it is certain that he came previous to 
1806, though the precise year is not now known. 
Lewis Long and his wife were the parents of 
the following children: Reuben, Elizabeth, 
Christina, Barbara, Isaac, John, David and 
Jacob, twins, and Catherine. After residing 
for one year on the farm upon which he first 
located, Mr. Long purchased a tract in Jeffer- 
son township containing 200 acres of woods, 
which he cleared and converted into a good 
farm. Upon this land he lived the remainder 
of his life, dying when ninety years of age. 
He was a man of vigorous constitution, was 
widely known as a sturdy pioneer, as a man 
of great kindness of heart, and had many 
friends among both whites and Indians, the 
latter being then still quite numerous in the 
southern part of the state. 

Isaac Long, son of Lewis and the father 
of Daniel Long, was born on the farm May 
1, 1806, was reared a farmer among the pio- 
neers, and received as good an education as it 
was possible to secure in those early days. 



Upon arriving at mature years he married 
Esther Miller, who was born in Huntingdon 
county, Pa., in 1803 or 1804, was a daughter 
of Daniel and Susan (Bowman) Miller, and 
was but six months old when brought to Mont- 
gomery county by her parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Long, after their marriage, 
settled on a farm of 166 acres in Harrison 
township, land given them by her father, 
which he had entered from the government. 
Her father, Daniel Miller, and her husband 
cleared the farm, cutting up the timber into 
cord wood and selling it in Dayton. Sufficient 
clearing having been done, Mr. Long then oc- 
cupied himself in improving the farm, and 
buying other lands. He had one farm in Mad- 
ison township containing 160 acres; one in 
Perry township consisting of 160 acres; one 
in Miami county of eighty-two acres; and one 
in Jefferson township containing 104 acres, 
beside a lot in Taylorsburg containing seven 
acres, making his entire landed possessions 
aggregate 683 acres, or thereabouts. From 
all this it will be seen that he was a most suc- 
cessful manager. During his whole life he 
lived on his home farm, dying April 1, 1886, 
aged seventy-nine years and eleven months. 
His estimable wife died May 29, 1888, aged 
eighty-five years. 

Mr. Long and his wife were members of 
the German Baptist church. Mr. Long was 
many times honored by his fellow-citizens by 
election to office. In politics he was a demo- 
crat, and was much interested in all public 
questions, and always ready to perform his 
duty either in public or private station. He 
and his wife had the following children: Dan- 
iel, John, Elizabeth, Susan, Samuel, Isaac, 
Mary, Henry, Joseph and Hattie. 

Daniel Long, the subject of this sketch, 
was born in Harrison township, December 26, 
1829, received the customary common-school 
education of the times, and was brought up to 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1261 



farm labor. When yet young he went to Day- 
ton and there attended market for some time. 
He was married in Wayne county, Ind., Feb- 
ruary 19, 1857, to Miss Salome Crull, who 
was born May 8, 1836, in that county, and is 
a daughter of Henry and Nancy (Bowser) 
Crull, now deceased. 

Henry Crull was born in Huntingdon coun- 
ty, Pa., December 26, 1804, and was a son of 
John and Salome Crull, the maiden name of 
Mrs. Crull being Booker. John Crull moved 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1805, and 
settled in Jefferson township, on 160 acres of 
wooded land, which he cleared and improved. 
He and his wife reared the following children: 
Mary, John, Jacob, Christina, Henry, Samuel, 
Elizabeth and Margaret. John Crull lived to 
a good old age, was a prominent member of 
the German Baptist church, and a most ex- 
cellent citizen. 

Henry Crull, father of Mrs. Long, was 
married to Nancy Bowser, who was born Oc- 
tober 6, 1808, in Montgomery county, and 
was a daughter of George Bowser, a prominent 
pioneer of that county. After living here un- 
til 1S32 he removed to Wayne county, Ind., 
and there cleared a farm of eighty acres, to 
which he later added eighty acres more. Here 
he lived many years, a consistent member of 
the German Baptist church. He and his wife 
reared the following children: Mary, Will- 
iam, Salome, Elizabeth, Susannah, George 
and David. Mr. Crull lived to be seventy- 
nine years of age, dying August 17, 1883, on 
his farm in Wayne county, Ind. 

Mr. and Mrs. Long, after their marriage, 
settled on the paternal homestead, purchasing 
half of the Miller estate, consisting of 104^ 
acres of land, which they greatly improved by 
cultivation and by the erection of modern build- 
ings. Their children were as follows: George, 
who died at the age of eighteen years; Dr. 
Webster D., dentist of Dayton, a graduate of 



the Ohio Normal university; Joseph F. ; Hettie 
and Sylvester. Hettie is a graduate of Mount 
Morris college, 111., Sylvester also being a. 
graduate of that institution. Politically Mr. 
Long is a republican and religiously a mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church. He takes 
great interest in the schools of his neighbor- 
hood and has served as school director for sev- 
eral years. He is a thoroughly practical 
farmer and a public-spirited and useful member 
of society. 



^~V OLOMON SPITLER, one of the pio- 
*^^KT n eer settlers of Montgomery county, 

\^_y descended from an old colonial family 
of Virginia, and originally from Ger- 
man stock, was born January 1, 1830. John 
Spitler, the pioneer of this family in Mont- 
gomery county, was born in Rockingham 
county, Va. , February 6, 1785. He was a 
son of Jacob Spitler, whose log cabin was still 
standing a few years ago. John Spitler set- 
tled in Montgomery county when twenty years 
of age, in 1S05, in company with his sister, 
who was named Mrs. Barntrayer, Joseph 
Limert and Jacob Franz and wife. All trav- 
eled on horseback, a distance of 500 miles, 
through the woods and over mountain ranges. 
They stopped near Gunckel's mills, where Ger- 
mantown now stands, and remained there one 
year. Mr. Barntrayer concluded to move to 
Covington and he and Mr. Spitler built a house 
there. Remaining only a short time, Mr. 
Spitler removed to Brookville, where he cleared 
four acres of land for Daniel Cripe, and while 
there married Barbara Rohrer, in 1807, theirs 
being the first wedding in Clay township. 
Barbara Rohrer, born in 1788, was the first 
white child born west of the Miami river, and 
was a daughter of Joseph Rohrer and his wife. 
They were married by Rev. Jacob Miller, the 
first German Baptist or Dunkard minister to 



1262 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



labor in the state. The newly married couple 
settled, in 1808, on a quarter-section of land 
.belonging to Mrs. Spitler's father, and here Mr. 
Spitler cleared up his farm and built his log 
cabin, continuing to improve and add to his 
farm until he owned 1.100 acres. Upon this 
farm he and his wife lived sixty-three years of 
their lives. 

The first plow used by Mr. Spitler had a 
wooden mold board, and his first cast-iron 
mold board was made to order in Lebanon, 
Ohio. For some time he was engaged in 
assisting to survey the state road from Dayton 
to Greenville, a Mr. George, of Dayton, being 
the surveyor. 

Mr. and Mrs. Spitler were the parents of 
eleven children, all of whom were reared on 
the old homestead, and all of whom lived to 
be men and women and married. Their names 
were as follows : Mary, Jacob, Joseph, John, 
Susan, Andrew, Betsey, Samuel, Hannah, Bar- 
bara and Solomon. When Mr. Spitler died 
there were seventy-three grandchildren, sixty- 
three great-grandchildren, and two great-great- 
grandchildren. To each of his children he 
gave a farm. This noble pioneer and head of 
a most excellent family was a man of gentle 
disposition, upright and honest, and had the 
respect of all who knew him. He died on his 
farm in Clay township, March 24, 1874, at the 
patriarchal age of ninety years. He was a 
man of great mental power and clearness of 
thought, which he retained to the last. 

Joseph Rhorer, the father of Mrs. John 
Spitler, came to Ohio from Virginia, having 
previously gone to Virginia from Pennsylvania, 
and upon reaching Ohio settled on the west 
bank of the Miami river near Dayton. When 
he reached Dayton he was offered six lots in 
the best part of the town in exchange for his 
wagon. From this place the family moved 
down the river to what is known as the Troxel 
farm, near Miamisburg, at that time knowing 



of but one family west of the Miami river, and 
that one lived four miles below. In 1804 he 
removed to Clay township, and followed Wolf 
creek until he found the big spring on the Wor- 
mon farm, where he located, taking up three 
quarter-sections of land. His family then 
consisted of himself, his wife, three sons and 
one daughter, the children being named as 
follows: Joseph, Daniel, John and Barbara. 
Mr. Rohrer was the first settler, and for some 
time his was the only white family in Clay 
township. The Rohrer boys went to northern 
Indiana and settled there. 

Solomon Spitler, the subject of this sketch, 
and son of John Spitler, was born on the old 
homestead upon which he now lives. His ed- 
ucation was such as the common schools of the 
day afforded, and on May 25, 185 1, when he 
was twenty-two years old, he married Eliza- 
beth Limbert, who was born August II, 1833, 
in Clay township, and was a daughter of 
Henry and Catherine (Wagner) Limbert, the 
former of whom was born July 27, 1787, in 
Lancaster county, Pa. Henry Limbert, whose 
father died when he was six years old, removed 
first to Maryland, and came thence to Mont- 
gomery county as one of the oldest settlers, 
about 1825, locating on 160 acres of land in 
Clay township. He was a class leader in the 
United Brethren church, of which he was a 
member, and as a democrat he served as town- 
ship trustee. His death occurred when he 
was eighty-two years old, June 27, 1869. He 
was a man of strong character and excellent 
citizenship. He and his wife were the parents 
of eleven children, as follows: John, Barbara, 
Lewis, Henry, Polly, George, Levi, Adam, 
Susan, Elizabeth and Sarah. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Spitler 
lived on the Spitler farm one year, and then 
moved to Miami county, where they lived five 
years, at the end of which period they returned 
to Clay township, Montgomery county. They 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1263 



have lived on the old homestead for fifteen 
years. They have had the following children: 
Phares O, Joseph L., Jesse B., Emma L. , 
Homer Y. and William W. As a republican 
Mr. Spitler has served as township trustee, 
and as school director for twelve years. Mr. 
Spitler is a man of high character, a good citi- 
zen, and is bringing up an excellent family, 
giving them a good education, and instilling 
into their minds a love of morality, religion 
and country, the result of which must be a 
high grade of citizenship. 



<V^\ ICHARD SUNDERLAND, of Van- 

I /^ dalia, Ohio, one of the pioneer set- 
P tiers of Montgomery county, is of pa- 
triotic ancestry. His grandfather, 
Richard Sunderland, was born on the Monon- 
gahela river in Pennsylvania, and was of 
Scotch ancestry, and his father, Peter Sunder- 
land, great-grandfather of the present Rich- 
ard, was a teamster in the war of the American 
Revolution. 

Richard Sunderland, the grandfather, mar- 
ried Nancy Martin, in Pennsylvania, and their 
children were twins, William and Elizabeth. 
He moved with his family to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, when these children were quite 
small, his brother Peter coming here at about 
the same time — probably about 1800. In the 
probate judge's office of Montgomery county 
is a curious, musty volume of records, in which 
may be found a copy of the first will ever re- 
corded in the county. The date is June 6, 
1802, and is that of Gennet Van Norsdall, of 
Hamilton county, Territory of the United 
States, Northwest of the River Ohio. The 
witnesses to this venerable document were 
James Snowden and Richard and Peter Sun- 
derland, the signature of each being attested 
by " his mark." 

Richard Sunderland entered 640 acres of 



land, north of Centerville, in the pioneer cem- 
etery near which place lie the remains of Peter 
Sunderland, the father of the two brothers 
who attested the will above mentioned. Peter 
Sunderland, the brother of Richard, also set- 
tled near the same place. The house in 
which Richard Sunderland lived was burned, 
and he built a new log house, which also 
burned down the first night it was occupied by 
him. Then in 1804 he removed to Butler 
township, and there entered 404 acres of land, 
for which he paid $2 per acre, and which was 
then covered over with woods. This is where 
James Sunderland now lives. Richard Sun- 
derland was a captain in the war of 1812 and 
was stationed six months at Fort Greenville. 
In politics he was a whig, was an honored cit- 
izen, and lived to be eighty-eight years old. 
The memory of this hardy pioneer and de- 
fender of his country's liberty is still fondly 
cherished by the old settlers, as well as by the 
surviving members of his family. 

William Sunderland, father of the subject, 
was born in Pennsylvania, in 1794, and when 
his father brought his family to Ohio, coming 
down the Ohio river in a fiatboat, he was very 
small. Growing up among the pioneers, he 
received a fair education for the times, a much 
better one than that of the average pioneer. 
He had a good deal of stock, much of which 
ran wild in the woods. Coming as he did in 
almost daily contact with the Indians, he 
learned their language, and was thus able to 
transact all kinds of business with the native 
owners of the forests. He was accustomed to go 
among them with the productsof his farm, draw- 
ing these products with his ox team. He mar- 
ried Margaret Miller, who was born in Ken- 
tucky, and was a daughter of James Miller, a 
famous Kentuckian, a justice of the peace, and 
an early pioneer of that portion of Ohio where 
Mr. Sunderland lived. William Sunderland 
settled on the home farm after his marriage, 



1264 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and his children were Richard, Elizabeth, 
James, Nancy, Mamie and John. Mr. Sun- 
derland lived to be about seventy-three years 
age, was a thrifty and successful farmer, and, 
at the time of his death, owned about Soo 
acres of land. Politically he was first a whig, 
and in later life a republican. His death oc- 
curred in 1870. 

Richard Sunderland, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Montgomery county, June 
28, 1 8 1 8, on the old farm homestead. His 
education was such as was then obtainable in 
the primitive schools of the day. When he 
was twenty-one years of age he married Eleanor 
Reed, the ceremony being performed March 
-°, I §39. in Butler township. Eleanor Reed 
was born in that township in 1822 on the Reed 
homestead, and was a daughter of Isaac and 
Mary (Compton) Reed. 

Isaac Reed was an original pioneer, and 
settled on the farm which he cleared, and upon 
which his children were born. These children 
were Nancy, Margaret, Mary, Eleanor, Aaron 
and Isaac. Mr. Reed came from one of the 
Carolinas, and died when sixty-five years old. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Sunder- 
land settled in Butler township, and lived on 
one of his father's farms for two years, at the 
end of which time his father bought for him 
the Compton farm, upon which he lived for 
twenty-five years. In i860 Mr. Sunderland 
bought his present farm of 138^ acres, and by 
thrift and good management he has added 
thereto until he now owns 310 acres of land, 
and has a most pleasant home. By his first 
wife Mr. Sunderland had three children, as 
follows: Aaron, Mary E. and William. The 
mother of these children died in 1855, aged 
thirty-two years, and a member of the United 
Brethren church; and on March 13, 1856, Mr. 
Sunderland married Nancy Wells, who was 
born June 23, 1835, in Butler township, on the 
Wells homestead, and was a daughter of Sam- 



uel and Mary (Johnson) Wells, who were 
among the oldest settlers. 

Samuel Wells was of Virginia stock and 
was himself born in that state. He came to 
Ohio when he was but eight years old and was 
left an orphan at an early age. He grew up 
among the pioneers and cleared up one of the 
finest farms in Butler township. He married 
Mary Johnson, of North Carolina, who was a 
daughter of David Johnson, who died in that 
state, and whose widow removed to Ohio, set- 
tling in Butler township. At this time Mary 
was but seven years old, and rode a pony all 
the way from North Carolina to Ohio. Sam- 
uel Wells and his wife were members of the 
Christian church. Their children were: Re- 
becca, Mary, William, Nancy and Sarah, all 
of whom are yet living. Mr. Wells lived to 
be eighty-seven years old, and died on his 
farm. He was born in Maryland in 1798, and 
settled in Miami county in 18 17 and in Butler 
township in 1822. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sunderland settled on a farm 
adjoining the homestead, removing to their 
present home in i860. To them have been 
born the following children: Jeannette, Lola 
and Flora (twins), Addie, Samuel, Maggie, 
Efne and Edwin. Mr. and Mrs. Sunderland 
are members of the United Brethren church. 
Early in his life Mr. Sunderland was a whig, 
but later became and now is a republican. 
For fifteen years he served as trustee of Butler 
township, and has served as appraiser of both 
Butler and Randolph townships. During the 
late Civil war he was of great service to the 
Union cause, in making up the quota of his 
township, in aiding the families of the sol- 
diers, and in many other ways. He has al- 
ways been a great reader of current literature, 
and has thus kept abreast of the times. His 
judgment is highly respected, and he has served 
for many years on the grand jury with credit 
to himself and his fellow citizens. 









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OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1267 



>Y*OHN Q. A. COOVER, whose post of- 
m fice is Spanker, Ohio, is one of the 
/• 1 most prominent farmers of Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county. He springs 
from Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. Michael 
Coover, his grandfather, was born in Cumber- 
land county, Pa., November i, 1781, and be- 
came a farmer and one of the early ministers 
in the United Brethren church. He married 
in Pennsylvania, April 14, 1S07, Elizabeth 
Shopp, who was born in the same county with 
himself, August 20, 1788, and their children 
were John M., Jacob, George, Michael, Sam- 
uel, Sarah, Isaac, David, and William H., 
all but the last born in Pennsylvania. In 1829 
the Rev. Mr. Coover removed to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, settling on the farm on which 
the subject of this sketch now lives. The farm 
then contained 120 acres, which he cleared 
from the woods, with the exception of a small 
portion. He was a prosperous man, and 
bought more land, until at length he owned 
234 acres, and became a very wealthy and 
substantial farmer. 

He was one of the earliest of the United 
Brethren ministers in Butler township, and 
rode a circuit for many years, becoming well 
known for many miles around. Beside carry- 
ing on his farm and preaching among the pio- 
neers, he ran a distillery for many years, as 
was the custom in those days. The United 
Brethren church of Butler township was or- 
ganized in 1829 at his residence, services being 
held there and at the residences of other mem- 
bers, until a church edifice was erected at Van- 
dalia. Mr. Coover died April 19, 1839, aged 
fifty-seven years. 

John M. Coover, father of John Q. A., was 
born February 13, 1S08, in Cumberland 
county, Pa. He was about twenty-one years 
old when he came to Ohio with his parents. 
He followed farming all his life, and married 

Mary Duncan, who was a daughter of William 
57 



Duncan, one of the earliest pioneers of But- 
ler township. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Coover 
settled on the Coover homestead, upon which 
they lived all their remaining days. Their 
children were Benjamin F., Martha E. and 
John Q. A. Mrs. Coover died when her 
youngest child was but six weeks old. Politic- 
ally in his early life Mr. Coover was a whig, 
taking an active interest in politics, and being 
a member of the state legislature in i860 and 
1 86 1. He was a man of integrity and of true 
christian character. He died in 1876, in his 
sixty-ninth year, regretted by the entire com- 
munity in which he had so long lived. 

John Q. A. Coover was born February 13, 
1S47. He was educated first in the common 
schools, then at the Otterbein university at 
Westerville, Ohio, and then at Wittenberg 
college, Springfield, Ohio. At this latter 
school he remained three years. He has 
always followed farming and has been very 
successful. He was married June 18, 1874, 
to Sella C. Beardshear, who was born in 
Montgomery county, May 21, 1855, and is a 
daughter of John and Elizabeth (Coleman) 
Beardshear, both of whom were of Scotch- 
Welsh ancestry. 

John Beardshear was born in Pennsylvania, 
and came to Ohio in 1802. He became a sub- 
stantial farmer of Harrison township, and 
married in Montgomery county, in 1848, Eliza- 
beth Coleman, daughter of Robert and Mary 
(Van Cleve) Coleman. They had the follow- 
ing children: William, Sella C, Rilla M. 
and Emma D. Mr. and Mrs. Beardshear 
were members of the United Brethren church, 
and the founders of Beardshear chapel, Mr. 
Beardshear being the principal contributor to 
the building of the church edifice. In politics 
he was a republican. He was a man of excel- 
lent moral and christian character, exerting a 
a wide influence for good, and died January 



1268 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



20, 1873, aged about fifty-eight years, honored 
by all his fellow-citizens. 

William M. Beardshear, LL. D., son of 
John Beardshear, is a graduate of Otterbein 
university, and a post-graduate of Yale college. 
He was president of Western college, at To- 
ledo, Ohio, for eight years, and is now presi- 
dent of the Iowa State Agricultural college, at 
Ames, Iowa. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Coover 
settled on his father's farm, where they still 
reside. The farm now consists of 250 acres, 
and is in an excellent state of preservation. 
Upon it Mr. Coover erected a pleasant and 
tasteful residence in 1880. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Coover there have been born the following 
children: Winifred F., Leila A., Mabel E. 
and John W. The parents are members of 
the United Brethren church, of which Mr. 
Coover has been a trustee for several years. 
Politically he is a republican, and has served as 
township trustee for four years. He is a mem- 
ber of the Industrial Order of Foresters, coun- 
cil Cooper, Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Coover is a 
man of liberal education, and a most valuable 
member of the community, his education ren- 
dering him a practical business man, as well as 
a practical farmer. Mrs. Coover attended 
Otterbein university at Westerville, Ohio, and 
is a highly educated woman, and a suitable 
helpmate for her husband. 



WOHN W. UNDERWOOD, of Vandalia, 
■ Ohio, one of the honored citizens of 
A 1 Butler township, Montgomery county, 
and who has served as justice of the 
peace for twenty-five years, sprang from ster- 
ling English ancestors, who settled in Virginia 
in colonial times. His grandfather, Joseph 
Underwood, was a farmer in the Shenandoah 
valley, Virginia, and there lived all his days, 



dying at the great age of ninety years. His 
children were John and William. 

John Underwood, the eldest son of Joseph, 
and father of John W., was born in the Shen- 
andoah valley, Virginia, May 5, 1776. When 
yet a young man he removed to Lexington, 
Ky. , and was there married to Miss Mary Scud- 
der, daughter of James Scudder, of that place. 
Shortly after their marriage John Underwood 
and his wife removed to Ohio, in 1808, settling 
in Shelby county. They located on 1 60 acres of 
land, which he cleared of its heavy timber and 
made a good farm and a comfortable home, 
building the first brick house in the county. His 
children were Lucinda, William, Esther, Hugh 
M., Sarah and John W. John Underwood 
served his country as a soldier in the war of 
18 12, under Gen. Anthony Wayne, and partici- 
pated in the battle of Fallen Timbers. He 
and his wife were life-long Methodists, and 
were among the early members of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church in Ohio. Mr. Underwood 
lived to be about eighty-one years of age, dying 
in 1857 at the residence of his son, John W. 

John W. Underwood was born May 6, 
1828, in Shelby county, Ohio. His education 
was received in an old-fashioned log school- 
house, made of large, round logs, with a stick 
and clay chimney at one end, and with slabs for 
benches. At that time there were no regular 
school books, but instead any books that could 
be found in the community were taken to school 
for the pupils to read and study. Among these 
books, when young Underwood attended 
school, were the New Testament, the life of 
Daniel Boone and an English reader. Thus 
it was possible for him to receive only a very 
limited education in the schools; but this was 
supplemented by private instruction at home, 
sufficient for all the really practical purposes 
of a farmer's life. 

Mr. Underwood was married March 28, 
1852, in Montgomery county, on his own farm, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1269 



to Miss Margaret Hoover, who was a daughter 
of Felix and Lydia (Fry) Hoover, and who 
was born in Miami county, Ohio, in Decem- 
ber, 1832. Felix Hoover was a native of Ken- 
tucky, and he and his wife settled in Miami 
county some time in the 'forties on a farm of 
eighty-eight acres, upon which they lived until 
his death, which occurred in 1846. His chil- 
dren were John, Margaret, Harriet, Mary, 
Isaac, Wilson, Adam, Elizabeth and Lydia. 
Politically he was a democrat, and was always 
actively interested in the success of his party, 
though not an office-seeker. 

Mr. Underwood settled on the parental 
homestead, which he farmed for two years, 
and then purchased a canal boat on the Miami 
& Erie canal, and was on the canal for ten 
years. During this period he bought two more 
boats, and was unusually successful and pros- 
perous. Returning to the homestead in 1864, 
he has since followed farming. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Underwood there have been born the fol- 
lowing children: Frank, John, Alice, Charles, 
William, Shannon, Adam and Emma. In 
politics Mr. Underwood was formerly a whig, 
but upon the organization of the republican 
party became a republican and has so remained 
ever since. During the late Civil war he was 
one of a committee whose duty it was to see 
that the quota of the township was filled, and 
in all ways he was essentially the friend of the 
Union soldier. 

Mrs. Underwood is a member of the United 
Brethren church. Mr. Underwood has been 
one of the township trustees for over thirty 
years. He was elected justice of the peace in 
October, 1871, and has served in that capacity 
ever since. During his entire career as justice 
of the peace he has had but four cases ap- 
pealed to higher courts, though his docket 
contains the record of about 1,500 cases. 
Esquire Underwood is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity, and was one of the earliest 



members of Vandalia lodge, No. 57, I. O. O. F. 
He has always taken an active interest in all 
matters pertaining to the education of the 
young and to the improvement of the schools. 
As a public-spirited man he has taken deep in- 
terest in the improvement of the public high- 
ways, believing that the condition of such 
roads indicates to a great extent the state of 
the civilization of the people. He stands high 
in the community for his sterling worth, integ- 
rity of character and high sense of justice. 
Esquire Underwood, in 1890, was one of the 
appraisers of real estate in Butler township, 
and it is much to the credit of his work and 
his judgment that no changes in his valuations 
were made by the board of equalization. He 
is, in short, one of the most intelligent and 
reliable of the citizens of his township and 
county, and a credit to the community in 
which he lives. 



-^VACOB CARMONY, a citizen of Wen- 
■ gerlawn, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
/• 1 and a native of this county, was born 
July 10, 1823, in Washington township. 
He is a son of Jacob and Mary (Stensel) Car- 
mony, the former of whom was a son of John 
Carmony, who was of Pennsylvania-Dutch 
descent. John Carmony was a farmer of Dau- 
phin county, Pa., and descended from one of 
the original settlers of that state. He was the 
father of the following children: Jacob, Sarah, 
Mary, John, Joseph, Catherine, Margaret and 
George, all of whom were born in Dauphin 
county, Pa. John Carmony removed to Ohio 
with horses and wagon in 18 10, and settled 
two miles south of Centerville, Washington 
township, Montgomery county, there entering 
160 acres of land, which was covered with 
timber. This land he cleared and developed 
into a good farm. He erected a log cabin near 
a fine spring, and this cabin stood for many 



1270 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



years. For some years he ran a still on his 
farm, and in this way supplemented his agri- 
cultural labors. In religion he was a Lutheran 
and in politics a democrat; was known far and 
wide for his high character, and lived to be 
seventy-two years old. 

Jacob Carmony, his son and the father of 
the subject, was born in Dauphin county, Pa., 
October 17, 1790, and was reared among the 
pioneers. He was about twenty years old 
when his father came to Ohio, and in this state 
he followed farming. On June 9, 1814, he 
married Mary Stensel, who was born January 
4, 1796, in Mason county, Ky., and was a 
daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Allen) 
Stensel. Henry Stensel was born in central 
New York, of Catholic parents. In the year 
1774, before the Revolutionary war, the In- 
dians were friendly with the white settlers, 
and were frequently at his father's house. 
When the war broke out Henry was about 
thirteen years of age, and the Stensel family 
were at the settlement a few miles from the 
farm. One day Henry, his two brothers, and 
all the men who worked for them, returned to 
the farm to look after the stock they had left 
there, and while they were thus engaged they 
discovered the Indians coming toward them, 
and the boys ran for their lives, the savages 
giving chase. William Stensel was shot and 
scalped, and the other brother made his escape 
to the settlement. Henry was captured and 
was kept for several years a prisoner among 
the Indians. He was, however, at last traded 
to the British troops, and allowed to return 
to his home. 

From the time of his capture to his release, 
Henry had greatly changed in appearance. 
He looked in fact more like an Indian than a 
white man, and none of his family recognized 
him but his mother, who identified him by a 
scar on his face. Soon after Henry came of 
age he had a disagreement with his parents on 



religious matters, he having united with theOld- 
School Baptists, and when he was twenty-one 
years of age he went to Kentucky, working his 
way to Lexington, which was then only a fron- 
tier station. Here he remained a couple of 
years, and by industry and hard work pros- 
pered, becoming a land owner. Henry Sten- 
sel married Elizabeth Allen, sister of Jeremiah 
Allen, and in 1802 moved to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, and settled in the woods of 
Washington township, on 160 acres of land, 
which he converted into a fine farm and ex- 
cellent home, there passing the remainder of 
his days, dying in 1833, when he was seventy- 
two years of age. He was a man of high 
character and was much beloved by the old 
settlers. He was a great hunter, and was a 
bosom friend of Simon Kenton, who is well 
known to all familiar with the early history of 
Ohio. His children were as follows: Martha, 
Mary, William, Jeremiah, Enoch, Henry, 
Elizabeth, Sarah, Clarissa, Isaac and John. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jacob 
Carmony settled in Washington township, on 
a farm in the woods, which he cleared of its 
timber. This farm contained seventy-five 
acres of land. He and his wife were the par- 
ents of the following children: Henry, John, 
Elizabeth, Martha, William and Jacob. Mr. 
Carmony lived to be seventy-eight years old, 
and died at the home of his son, Jacob, in 
1868. Politically he was a democrat, and in 
all respects was an estimable citizen. 

Jacob Carmony, the subject of this sketch, 
was born July 10, 1823, in Washington town- 
ship, on his father's farm. Reared a farmer's 
boy, he received a common-school education, 
and at the age of twenty-three married Mary 
Tice, who was born April 24, 1829. She was 
a daughter of Joseph and Jane (Hulse) Tice, 
the former of whom was born February 22, 
1 80 1, in Monmouth county, N. J. Joseph 
Tice was a son of Elias and Sarah (Horn) Tice, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1271 



Elias Tice being a tavern keeper, at whose 
tavern George Washington was frequently a 
guest. Joseph Tice was married January 22, 
1826, to Jane Hulse, who was born March 14, 
1805, in New Jersey, and was a daughter of 
Anthony and Mary (Vaughn) Hulse. The 
Tice family were descended from four different 
nationalities — English, Irish, German and 
Scotch, and the Hulse family were of Dutch 
stock. Joseph Tice removed to Ohio in 1833, 
settling at Centerville, Montgomery county, 
where he for some years worked at his trade. 
In politics he was a democrat, and in religion 
a Universalist. His children were Ann E., 
Mary, Jerome, Sarah A., Anthony and Joseph. 
Mr. Tice lived to be about seventy years of 
age, dying in 1871. His wife had died Feb- 
ruary 21, 1852. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Carmony 
settled on land in Washington township. In 
1866 he bought about 166 acres of land, only 
half of which was then cleared, but the whole 
of which he brought under cultivation. He 
and his wife are the parents of the following 
children: William J., Joseph T., Mary. J., 
Franklin, Armita, Clarissa, Sarah E., Henry 
J. and Jacob S. Mr. Carmony is a democrat 
in politics, and Mrs. Carmony is a member of 
the New-School Baptist church. Both are 
excellent people, liberal in their views, chari- 
table in their deeds, and enjoy the respect and 
confidence of all that know them. 



HARON MILLER, a prominent and 
substantial farmer of Madison town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, is a 
son of John and Susan (Bowman) Mil- 
ler. John Miller was a son of Daniel Miller, 
the noted pioneer of Montgomery county, who 
lived on Wolf creek, and who is frequently re- 
ferred to in this volume. John Miller was 
eleven years of age when brought to this coun- 



ty by his parents in 1804, was given the best 
education obtainable in the country schools of 
his day, and was brought up to farm life and 
labor. Remaining at home until he was thirty- 
three years of age, he then married Mrs. Annie 
Sollenberger, a widow, whose maiden name 
was Winger. To this marriage there were born 
six children, as follows: Annie, Susan, Aaron, 
Sarah, Mary and Moses. By her first husband, 
Mrs. Sollenberger had two children, John and 
Elizabeth. 

John Miller settled on a farm containing 
160 acres of land in Harrison township, which 
at the time was covered over with timber and 
which his father had entered. This farm he 
cleared up from the woods, and by prudence 
and good husbandry became a prosperous man. 
He added other acres to his possessions until 
he had 240 acres in his home farm, 160 acres 
in Madison township, and also eighty acres in 
Harrison township. To each of his children 
he gave a good home, and to each of the Sol- 
lenberger children he gave eighty acres of land 
in Indiana. 

Daniel Miller and his sons built flat-boats, 
which they loaded with the products of the 
farm and still, and thus laden permitted them 
to drift down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers 
to Natchez and New Orleans, where they sold 
their products and boats, returning by steam- 
boat. They made three such trips, and did 
well with their merchandise. Daniel Miller, 
after settling on Wolf creek, cut a road from 
his home to Dayton, which village at the time 
contained not more than two or three houses 
with shingle roofs. 

Aaron Miller, the subject of this sketch, 
was born January 25, 1834, in Harrison town- 
ship, on a farm, and was well educated in the 
common school. On March 18, 1855, he was 
married to Miss Eva dinger, who was born in 
Madison township March 23, 1838, and is a 
daughter of John K. and Nancy (Kuntz) Olin- 



1272 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



ger. John K. Olinger was born in Trotwood 
and was a son of John and Eva (Kagen) Olin- 
ger, coming to Montgomery county about 
1804. John K. Olinger settled in Madison 
township, near Salem, and cleared up a farm 
of about 160 acres of land. He and his wife 
reared the following children : Susan, Eva 
and Mary. Mr. Olinger was a member of the 
German Baptist church, a republican in poli- 
tics, and a man of exemplary character. He 
died when sixty-nine years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Miller, after their marriage, 
lived on a farm for one year, and in 1856 re- 
moved to a farm he had purchased, containing 
168 acres, upon which they have lived ever 
since. This farm he has greatly improved in 
every way, but especially with excellent build- 
ings, including a large residence. Mr. Miller's 
life has been that of a progressive, well- 
informed farmer, and he has gained merited 
prosperity and success. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Miller 
there have been born six children, as follows: 
John; Jane, who died at the age of thirty- 
three years; Andrew, who died when twenty- 
one years old; Moses, who died in infancy; 
Martha and Lorinda. In religion Mr. Miller 
is a member of the German Baptist church, 
and in politics a republican. Of his children, 
Jane married Dr. Samuel Toman, and left 
four children; Martha married John H. Con- 
way, and has two sons; Lorinda married 
Clayte Brosier, a resident of Dayton, and John 
married Lizzie Gunther, and has one son. 
Mrs. Aaron Miller died January 20, 1896. 



\S~\ EV. JESSE KINSEY, a leading min- 
I /^ ister of the German Baptist church 
W and a substantial farmer of Clay 
township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
is a native of the county and was born Novem- 
ber s, 1836, of Pennsylvania-German descent. 



David Kinsey, his grandfather, was born in 
Lancaster county, Pa., was there married to 
Margaret Eltzroth, and became the father of 
eleven children, viz: Elizabeth, Polly, Jacob, 
Rebecca, Susan, Eli, David, Sallie, Catherine, 
Delilah and Nancy. In 1805 he brought his 
family to Ohio with a horse and wagon, first 
camped at Cincinnati, and then came directly 
to Dayton, arriving in the spring. Dayton 
was then but a small hamlet of a few log 
houses, and the party, which comprised four 
families — the Kinseys, the Crips, the Millers, 
and another, whose name is forgotten, settled 
near Wolf Creek. Mr. Kinsey entered 160 
acres in the woods, and, being a strong, robust 
man, soon developed, with the assistance of 
his sons, a good farm and comfortable home. 
Game was very plentiful, and food was easily 
obtained from this source at the beginning. 
Mr. Kinsey in the early day was a noted team- 
ster, for which his great strength well-fitted 
him, and in that capacity he made many trips 
to and from Dayton. The three families who 
came with his were all members of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, and at first meetings were 
held in the cabins of the settlers, but through 
the energy of Mr. Kinsey a log church-build- 
ing was soon erected, and large numbers of 
German Baptists from Pennsylvania, Maryland 
and Virginia came flocking to the neighbor- 
hood, and thus a moral and christian commu- 
nity was early founded in Clay township. 
David Kinsey prospered in his new home, and 
owned at one time over 1,000 acres of land, 
and after giving to each of his children an 
eighty-acre tract, had left a fine farm for his 
own use. He lived to reach the age of eighty 
years, was conspicuous and influential in the 
affairs of his township and county, and left to 
his family a heritage much more valuable than 
his land — that of an honored name. 

Jacob Kinsey, son of David, the founder of 
the family in Montgomery county, was born 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1273 



October 19, 1805 — the fall of the year the fam- 
ily came here. He was reared on the farm 
among the pioneers and received his limited 
education in the frontier school, but was very 
intelligent and possessed of an excellent judg- 
ment, which afforded him a compensatory sub- 
stitute for mere book-learning, and he, also, 
became a leader in the community. He mar- 
ried Miss Susan Boyer, who was born in Bo- 
tetourt county, Ya., March 14, 1812, a daugh- 
ter of Samuel Boyer, who came to Ohio about 
1815, and who was a blacksmith by trade, but 
bought 160 acres of land in Montgomery county 
and became an opulent farmer. His children 
were named Susan, Elizabeth, Henry and Eli. 
He died at the age of seventy years, a member 
of the German Baptist church. 

Jacob Kinsey and his wife went to house- 
keeping on the old homestead, where he passed 
all the active years of his life, and then retired 
to Stringtown, where he bought a small place, 
on which he died December 30, 1S82, at the 
age of nearly eighty years, beloved and re- 
spected by all who knew him. He was a 
deacon in the German Baptist church, and a 
sincere Christian. To Mr. and Mrs. Kinsey 
were born the following children: Noah, Jesse, 
Margaret, Harriet, David, Sarah, Elizabeth, 
Susan, Mary A., and four who died in infancy. 

Rev. Jesse Kinsey received a very good 
common-school education and was reared a 
farmer. He married, February 23. i860, Miss 
Christina Wolf, who was born December 28, 
1840, in Madison township, Montgomery 
county, a daughter of Jacob and Catherine 
(Miller) Wolf. Jacob Wolf was born in Penn- 
sylvania, of German descent, and when a 
young man came to Ohio with his father, who 
settled in Greene county, where he grew to 
manhood, became a wealthy farmer, owning 
500 acres of land in the Miami valley, and died 
in 1863, at the age of seventy-five years, the 
father of the following children: Daniel, 



Mary A., Susan, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Cather 
ine, Sarah, Christina, Joseph, Harriet, Lydia. 
For the first five years of their married life 
Mr. Kinsey and wife lived on a rented farm in 
Randolph township, Montgomery county, and 
in 1865 purchased their present farm, which is 
now finely improved and cultivated and com- 
prises 1 1 2 acres. To the marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Kinsey no children have been born, but 
they have reared four orphans, viz: Samuel 
Graybill, William Danner, Christian Wolf and 
Emma E. Wolf, whom they have cared for 
and educated with as much devotion as if they 
were their own. Mr. Kinsey has long been 
active in church work, began preaching about 
1868, and was ordained an elder in 1883, as 
well as minister. His voice is influential in its 
councils and his labors as a minister tireless 
and faithful. 



IRVIN THOMAS, of Center, Ohio, a 
veteran soldier of the late Civil war, 
was born in Clay township, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, January 29, 1838. 
He is a son of Isaac and Tamar (Mendenhall) 
Thomas, and was reared a farmer boy. On 
August 21, 1862, when he was twenty-four 
years of age, he enlisted at Dayton, Ohio, in 
company A, One Hundred and Twelfth Ohio 
volunteer infantry, under Capt. Thorn. In 
November this regiment was consolidated with 
the Sixty-third, and he became a member of 
company H, of the new organization, his cap- 
tain being now O. L. Jackson. He veteran- 
ized in January, 1864, and was honorably dis- 
charged at Camp Dennison, Ohio, July 18, 
1865. He was mustered out at Louisville, 
Ky. , having served his country faithfully and 
well for nearly three years. He was in the 
battle of Parker's Cross Roads, and in the 
famous Atlanta campaign, during which the 
Union troops were constantly under fire for 



1274 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



nearly four months. While on this campaign 
he was in the battles of Dallas, Resaca, Pump- 
kin Vine Creek and of Kenesaw Mountain, 
and was then on detached duty as cook for Dr. 
Stewart, of the First division, Seventh army 
corps. On July 22, 1864, he was taken sick 
and for three days lay under a tree at Decatur, 
Ala., at the end of which time he was ordered 
away to avoid capture by the rebels, who were 
about to take possession of the town. He 
was taken care of by comrade Henry Meshler, 
of Clay township, and partially recovered, but 
on account of exposure contracted a deafness 
from which he has not recovered. Shortly 
afterward he rejoined his regiment, and was 
in the battle of Jonesboro, afterward going on 
the great march to the sea. He was also in 
the battle of Snake Creek Gap, and marched 
on to Washington, D. C, participating in the 
grand review. Then going to Parkersburg 
and thence to Louisville, he was mustered out 
at the latter place. 

Mr. Thomas participated in all the battles 
in which the Sixty-third was engaged after he 
joined it. and endured with courage all the 
hardships of a soldier's life. 

After the war was over he returned to 
Montgomery county, where he has since re- 
sided. Mr. Thomas has been married twice — 
first on November 7, 1S58, at Phillipsburg, 
Ohio, to Sarah Tibbs, daughter of Jackson 
and Mary (Falkner) Tibbs. To this marriage 
there have been born five children, who are 
still living, as follows: Arnold C, Francis O.,. 
William W. , Cora O. and Webster E. Mrs. 
Thomas, the mother of these children, died in 
1 88 1, a consistent member of the Christian 
church. Mr. Thomas was next married to 
Mrs. Ellen Pugh, daughter of John Smith. 

After the close of the war Mr. Thomas en- 
gaged in farming in Clay township, on his fa- 
ther's farm, and in 1872 purchased from his 
father eighty-five acres of land. Upon this 



farm he lived until he removed to Phillipsburg, 
in 1892, building in this place an attractive 
residence. Mr. Thomas takes a deep interest 
in all things pertaining to the welfare of the 
old soldiers and the good of the country in gen- 
eral. He has manifested the strictest integrity 
in his dealings with his fellow-men during all 
of his life, and as a consequence he is held in 
the highest esteem by all who know him. 

Isaac Thomas, father of Irvin Thomas, 
was born in North Carolina, and removed to 
Clay township, Montgomery county, in 1826 or 
1827, being thus one of the pioneers in that 
part of the county. He cleared a farm of 
ninety-two acres of land, and through toil and 
economy prospered greatly, eventually becom- 
ing the owner of about 400 acres of land. 
He lived to be about seventy-six years of age, 
his children being Parmelia, Harriet, Milo, 
Caleb, Seth, Irvin and Susannah, twins, and 
Elam. Seth Thomas was a soldier in the same 
company with Irvin, and died at Memphis, 
Tenn., in September, 1863. Mr. Thomas was 
a Quaker in religion. 

Irvin Thomas has been an Odd Fellow 
since July 28, 1874, a member of Phillipsburg 
lodge. No. 594, of which lodge he has been 
treasurer twelve years. He is also a member 
of the Grand Army of the Republic, of Foster 
Marshall post, of Brookville. His mother, 
Tamar Mendenhall, was born in Miami county, 
Ohio, September 1, 1802, and was the daugh- 
ter of Caleb Mendenhall, a Quaker pioneer of 
Miami county, Ohio. She was the first white 
child born in Union township, Miami county, 
and a woman of excellent character. 



ISAAC STOCKSLAGER, one of the old 
settlers of Butler township, Montgom- 
ery county, is of German ancestry. 
His grandfather, John Stockslager, was 
born in Maryland, the father of John coming 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY 



1275 



from Germany. John Stockslager owned a 
good farm of 160 acres of land in Washington 
county, Md., and was the father of the follow- 
ing children: John, Katie, Jacob, Philip, Con- 
rod and Betsey. He died on his farm in Mary- 
land, when about eighty years of age. In 
religion he was a Lutheran. 

John Stockslager, eldest son of the above, 
and the father of Isaac Stockslager, was born 
in Washington county, Md., was a farmer by 
occupation, and married Regina Schlenker, 
who was a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth 
Schlenker. John Stockslager and wife were 
the parents of four children, as follows: Isaac, 
Barbara, John and Jacob. They were all born 
in Maryland, where Mr. Stockslager had a 
farm of 160 acres of land. He was killed 
when a young man by being run over by a 
heavily laden wagon. He was a member of 
the Lutheran church, and devoted to his re- 
ligion and to his family. 

A few years after the death of her husband 
Mrs. Stockslager came with her children to 
Ohio, settling in Butler township, Montgomery 
county. This was in 1833, and Mr. Schlenker 
reached Dayton, Ohio, by team. May 1, 1833. 
His children were as follows: Daniel, Solo- 
mon, Polly, Sallie, Betsey and Lavina. One 
daughter he left in Maryland. He lived to be 
an aged man, dying in Montgomery county. 
He was a member of the Lutheran church and 
a man of sterling character. 

Upon arriving in Montgomery county, Mrs. 
Stockslager rented a house in Union, and there 
made her home. After a few years she mar- 
ried John Lambert, by whom she had one 
daughter, Elizabeth, who died when eighteen 
years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Lambert bought 
a farm of forty acres in Butler township, and 
upon this farm she died at the age of eighty 
years. She was a woman of many fine traits 
of character and a consistent member of the 
Lutheran church. 



Isaac Stockslager, the subject of this sketch, 
was born December 7, 1823, in Pennsylvania, 
and was but ten years old when he came to 
Ohio with his mother. Receiving a limited 
education, he was reared a farmer, and mar- 
ried, July 9, 1846, in Butler township, Mary 
Cress, who was born February 15, 1823. She 
is a daughter of John and Catherine (Plum- 
mer) Cress, the former of whom was a native 
of Virginia, and of German and Irish stock. 
He came to Montgomery county a young single 
man, married Catherine Plummer, and had by 
her the following children: Jacob, David, 
Andrew, Sophie, Simon, Alexander, John, 
Mary and Betsey. John Cress became a pros- 
perous farmer and lived to be an aged man. 

Isaac Stockslager and wife, after their mar- 
riage, settled on the homestead farm. From 
his earnings prior to his marriage he had saved 
$500, which he applied in partial payment on 
a farm of eighty acres, and by the utmost econ- 
omy and persistent industry he not only accu- 
mulated the funds to complete his payments, 
but also added sixty-nine and a half acres to 
his original purchase. The latter portion of 
his farm he has given to his children, and has 
still the original amount, eighty acres, for him- 
self. He and his wife had two children who 
lived to mature years. John died when seven 
years of age; Louis at the age of seven months, 
and Amanda and Jacob are still living. The 
parents of these children are members of the 
Adventist church. Politically, Mr. Stockslager 
is a republican. He has always been a hard- 
working man, and is highly esteemed as a man 
and as a citizen wherever he is known. 



WOHN FRANCIS ALLEN, a represent- 

■ ative farmer of Wayne township, Mont- 

/• 1 gomery county, Ohio, was born on the 

old Allen homestead, on which he still 

lives, May 27, 1869, and is a son of Stephen 



1376 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Johnes and Margaret (McConnaughey) Allen, 
of whom further mention will be made. 

Col. John Allen, grandfather of John Fran- 
cis, was born in Monmouth county, N. J., 
November 19, 1797, and was a son of William 
and Sarah (Johnston) Allen, natives of the 
same state. The mother died about the year 
1 80 1 and the father in 181 1, and the orphaned 
John was bound as an apprentice to a black- 
smith until his majority, when, having learned 
his trade, he came on foot to Ohio, worked 
here at his trade a few months, and then re- 
turned to New Jersey. He there married 
Margaret Johnes, of Middlesex county, N. J., 
a daughter of Bergen and Martha (Titus) 
Johnes. June 4, 1830, Col. Allen came back 
to Ohio, bringing his wife and three children — 
Sarah, Andrew J. and Stephen J. He re- 
mained in the vicinity of Franklin for a few 
months, and then, September 15, 1830, set- 
tled on 160 acres in Wayne township, in the 
extreme northern part of Montgomery county, 
on which farm John F. Allen, the subject, now 
lives. Here were born his two younger chil- 
dren, William and Alice. He was an intelli- 
gent and practical man, accumulated 1,000 
acres of land, and as a democrat served as 
township trustee for twenty-three years. Mrs. 
Allen was called away December 14, 1871, and 
Mr. Allen lived to be eighty-five years, four 
months and seven days old, at which great age 
he passed away, a greatly hononed citizen. 

Stephen J. Allen, father of John F. Allen, 
was born near Hightstown, N. J., April 28, 
1830, and was but six weeks old when brought 
to Ohio by his parents. He was reared to 
hard work on the farm, received the ordinary 
common-school education, and on March 16, 
1854, in Wayne township, married Miss Mar- 
garet McConnaughey, who was born March 28, 
1829, in Miami county, a daughter of David 
and Anna McConnaughey, who were old set- 
tlers of that county. David McConnaughey 



was of Irish descent, was a substantial farmer, 
and his estate still remains in the possession of 
his descendants. His children were named 
Maria, James, Thomas, John, William, David, 
Margaret, Ann, Robert and Belle. 

After his marriage, Stephen J. Allen settled 
on the old Allen homestead, having received 
from his father 162 acres, to which, by his 
thrift and good management, he added until 
he owned 950 acres, becoming one of the most 
solid farmers of the township. In politics he 
was a democrat, as such rilling the offices of 
township treasurer, clerk, and trustee, and 
serving as treasurer of Montgomery county for 
two terms, ending with 1884. In this latter 
office he became well and widely known to the 
people of the county, who entertained for him 
the highest confidence and regard. His chil- 
dren were named William, Anna M. , David F. 
and John F. 

John Francis Allen was reared on the orig- 
inal Col. Allen homestead, and was educated 
in the common school, the high school and 
the commercial college at Dayton, and the 
law department of the university of Michigan, 
at Ann Arbor. He inherited 450 acres of farm 
land from his father, and his life has been 
passed chiefly in agricultural pursuits, although 
other lines of industry have also engaged his 
time and attention. 

September 23, 1891, he married, in Day- 
ton, Miss Esther W. Keplinger, a native of 
that city, born May 19, 1868, a daughter of 
David and Mary Elizabeth (Whitley) Keplinger, 
and this union has been blessed with two chil- 
dren — Margaret Esther and Anna Mary. Mrs. 
Allen is a member of the Presbyterian church 
at Dayton. In politics Mr. Allen is a demo- 
crat. Beside managing his large farming in- 
terests, he is a director in the Eagle Paper 
company, of Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, 
a director in the Cast Steel Plow company, of 
Dayton, and secretary and treasurer of the 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1277 



Miami Coach Horse company, of Tippecanoe 
City, Ohio. 

The great-grandmother of Mrs. Allen was 
Mrs. Catherine Thompson, who died at the 
age of eighty-two years. She had previously 
been Mrs. Catherine Van Cleve, and was the 
mother of Benjamin and William Van Cleve. 
She was the first female resident of Dayton, to 
which place she came on the ist of April, 1796. 
She was also one of the earliest inhabitants of 
Cincinnati, having moved to that place before 
its name was changed from Losantiville, and 
when two small hewn-log houses and a few 
log cabins constituted the whole town. Her 
first husband, John Van Cleve, was killed by 
the Indians on June 1, 1791, within the pres- 
ent corporate limits of Cincinnati. Her second 
husband, Samuel Thompson, was drowned in 
Mad river. She was the mother of thirteen 
children, and her grandchildren numbered 
eighty-seven, and her great-grandchildren 
ninety. She was a worthy member of the 
Methodist church. 

The parents of Mrs. Allen are David K. 
and Mary E. (Whitley) Keplinger, of Dayton. 
The father was born in Mad River township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, July 24, 1838, and 
is the son of William and Eliza (Kneisley) Kep- 
linger, both of whom were natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. The mother was born in Richmond, 
Ind., on May 2, 1842, and is the daughter of 
James and Effie (Van Cleve) Whitley, natives 
of Virginia and Ohio respectively. For thir- 
teen years David K. Keplinger has been a 
trusted employee of the United States Express 
company in Dayton. His children are named 
Kneisley, Eva Stella, Esther Wagner, William 
Whitley, Bertha Cora Etta, Emma and Mor- 
ris. The parents are members of the Lutheran 
church, and in politics Mr. Keplinger is an 
uncompromising republican. 

Mr. Allen has a delightful country residence 
and a fertile and profitable farm. He is a fac- 



tor in the affairs of his township, of which he 
is one of the most active and useful citizens 
and an honored member of society. 



>-j»OHN SPITLER, a descendant of one 
fl of the pioneer families of Clay town- 
/* 1 ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, was 
born here, on the original Spitler home- 
stead, April 10, 1S14, and is now one of the 
oldest citizens of his native township. 

Jacob Spitler, his grandfather, was a na- 
tive of Lancaster county, Pa. Jacob's father 
was slaughtered by Indians in a massacre in 
that county about the time of Braddock's 
defeat, but his mother escaped with her three 
children — Jacob, John and a daughter. Jacob 
married in Pennsylvania a lady who had borne 
the maiden name of Bookwalter, but who was 
the mother of four children by a former hus- 
band, named Lane, from whom descended 
the Gen. James Lane, of Kansas border war 
fame. After his marriage Jacob Spitler removed 
from Pennsylvania to Berkeley county, Va., 
thence to Rappanhannock county, and finally 
to Botetourt county, where he died at the age 
of sixty years, his wife following him to the 
grave within a week. Their children were 
named Cally, Joseph, Jacob, Betsey, John, 
Polly, Samuel and Anna. 

John Spitler, son of Japob and father of 
subject, was born in Berkeley county, Va., 
February 9, 1785, was re?/ed a farmer, and 
came to Ohio in 1805, in company with his 
sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Buntraeger, riding horse- 
back more than 500 miles. Late in the same 
year Mr. Spitler settled in Clay township, 
Montgomery county, on the present site of 
Brookville, and in 1807 married Miss Barbara 
Rohrer, who was born in 1789, in Lancaster 
county, Pa., a daughter of Joseph Rohrer, 
who settled in Clay township in 1804, being 
the first of the pioneers. Joseph Rohrer, a 



1278 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



native of Pennsylvania, was left an orphan at 
the age of six years, was reared a farmer, and 
married Mary Raesor. He became well to do, 
owned about 1,400 acres of land in Clay 
township, and at his death, when fifty-five 
years of age, gave 320 acres to each of his 
living children, who were named Barbara, 
John, Joseph and Daniel; two others died 
young, one of whom was a boy that was 
drowned at the Pinnacles, at the first settle- 
ment on the Miami river. 

After marriage John Spitler cleared up a 
large farm in Clay township, and during his 
active life became possessor of about 2,000 
acres. He bequeathed 160 acres to each of 
his eleven children, who were born and named 
in the following order: Polly, Jacob, Joseph, 
John, Susan, Andrew, Elizabeth, Samuel, 
Hannah, Barbara and Solomon, all of whom 
lived to reach mature age. Mr. Spitler was a 
man of great strength of character, and 
made his mark as a leader of men, being 
wise in counsel, and always consulted when 
it became necessary to adjudicate or arbi- 
trate difficulties among his neighbors. He 
lived to the advanced age of nearly ninety 
years and died in 1874, a conscientious mem- 
ber of the German Baptist church, of which 
his wife was also a member. 

John Spitler, whose name opens thissketch, 
was educated in the first school-house erected 
in Clay township and was reared to be a 
thorough farmer. April II, 1839, he married 
Miss Esther Warner, who was born in Ran- 
dolph township, March 5, 1820, a daughter of 
Jacob and Rosannah (Ligenfelter) Warner. 
Her father, Jacob, was born on a farm in Bed- 
ford county, Pa., and came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, in 18 12, settled in Randolph 
township and cleared a farm of 160 acres. By 
his first wife he was the father of thirteen chil- 
dren, of whom Mrs. Spitler was next to the 
youngest, and by his second wife there were 



born four children. The second wife bore the 
maiden name of Susan Bruebaker, but at the 
time of her marriage with Mi*. Spitler was the 
widow of a Mr. Warner, a distant relative of 
Mrs. Spider's mother. Jacob Warner lived 
to be sixty-two years of age, and his widow 
survived him thirty years, dying at the great 
age of ninety-seven. 

For some little time after marriage John 
Spitler lived on the homestead, but in 1841 
moved to Darke county, where he cleared from 
the woods a farm of 160 acres, and later re- 
turned to Clay township, Montgomery county, 
where he pursued his vocation as a farmer 
until 1894, when he retired. Mr. and Mrs. 
Spitler had born to them a family of fourteen 
children, born in the following order: Oliver, 
Barbara, Elizabeth, Solomon, Susan, William, 
Hannah, Lydia, John, Benjamin, May E. , 
Ephraim W., Flora M. and Charles S. In 
their religion Mr. and Mrs. Spitler are Ger- 
man Baptists, and in politics Mr. Spitler was 
in his early years a whig, casting his first presi- 
dential vote for Gen. William Henry Harrison, 
but with the change of parties fell into line 
with the republicans, and was a sound Union 
man His son Solomon served for three years 
in company H, Sixty-third Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, in defense of the national flag during 
the Civil war. 

Dr. Ephraim W. Spitler, son of John and 
Esther Spitler, was born July 2, 1859, and re- 
ceived an excellent academic and collegiate 
education; he taught school five years in 
Darke, Miami and Montgomery counties, stud- 
ied medicine under Dr. J. H. Spitler, and 
graduated from the Medical college of Ohio, 
at Cincinnati, in 1885. He began the practice 
of his profession in Jamton, moved to Phillips- 
burg in 1886 and is a successful and progress- 
ive physician. 

The marriage of the doctor took place 
April 26, 1885, in Miami county, to Miss 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1279 



Emma A. Hershey, who was born in that 
county, March 20, 1861, a daughter of John 
P. and Elizabeth (Kolp) Hershey. Her fa- 
ther, John P. Hershey, is a native of Lancas- 
ter county, Pa., and before coming to Ohio, 
in 1849, was the first conductor on the Penn- 
sylvania railroad between Mount Joy and Phil- 
adelphia. He is the father of seven living 
children and still survives at the age of seventy- 
five years. In politics Dr. Spitler is a repub- 
lican, and fraternally is an Odd Fellow. 



* w * EVI BAKER, one of the most prom- 

| inent business men of Brookville, 

^J Clay township, Montgomery county, 

Ohio, was born here June 11, 1836, 

on his father's farm, and is a descendant of 

one of the oldest pioneers in the county, 

Michael Baker, and of one of the wealthiest 

ante-Revolutionary families of Pennsylvania, 

whose genealogy will be given at the close of 

this memoir. 

Michael Baker, grandfather of Levi, and 
his wife, Elizabeth (Smucker) Baker, came 
from Somerset county, Pa., to Clay township 
in 1805, and settled on a tract of 200 acres of 
land in the wilderness, on which there was a 
camp of 200 Indians, who were friendly and 
proved to be good neighbors. He cleared up 
this farm and added to his possessions until he 
was the owner of about 2,000 acres. Mr. 
and Mrs. Baker had a family of ten children, 
viz: John, Samuel, Jacob, Michael, Ben- 
jamin, Catherine, Elizabeth, Susannah, An- 
nie and Mary. The father lived to be over 
eighty-two years of age, and his wife expired 
at the age of eighty, both devoted members of 
the Dunkard or German Baptist church, and 
the large property was distributed among the 
various children. 

Benjamin Baker, son of Michael, and 
father of Levi, was born on the original Baker 



homestead in Clay township, March 24, 18 10, 
and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He 
received as good an education as the schools 
of the neighborhood afforded at that early day, 
and in 1830 married Miss Frances Niswanger, 
the union resulting in the birth of twelve chil- 
dren, viz: Sadie, Malinda, Noah, Levi, Cyrus 
(who died at the age of five years), Mary, 
Simon, Amanda, Sarah H., Sylvester, Jona- 
than and Minerva. 

About 1850, Benjamin Baker engaged in 
the grain trade in Brookville, being the first 
to enter into that business in the village. He 
built a warehouse, and hauled his grain by 
wagon to Dayton until 1853, when the rail- 
road was constructed and a track or switch 
extended to his warehouse. For a few years 
he was associated in this trade with Richard 
Reily, but in i860 Levi, his son, bought Mr. 
Reily's interest, and the business was contin- 
ued by father and son until 1866, when the 
father retired. Benjamin Baker was a most 
energetic and enterprising business man. He 
was one of the founders of Brookville, opened 
its first general store, and was its first station 
and express agent. He at one time owned 
about 500 acres in different farms — one of 1 50 
acres one-half mile east of Brookville — and in 
connection with his grain trade was a large 
buyer and shipper of tobacco. 

Benjamin Baker was at first a whig in 
politics, was one of the original republicans of 
Montgomery county, and during the Civil war 
was a pronounced Union man. In religion he 
was a member of the German Baptist church, 
in which faith he died, and was highly es- 
teemed for his christian benevolence and un- 
swerving integrity. 

Levi Baker was reared on his father's farm 
and received an excellent common-school edu- 
cation. January 10, 1856, he married, near 
Brookville, Miss Catherine Ganger, daughter 
of George and Elizabeth (Richard) Ganger, 



1280 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



and to this union was born one child, Mary 
A., who married Louis Cotterman, and died at 
the age of twenty-two years. Mrs. Catherine 
(Ganger) Baker died in 1876, a member of the 
United Brethren church. The second mar- 
riage of Mr. Baker took place October 17, 
1878. at Chambersville, Va., with Miss Re- 
becca Koontz, who was born January 3, 1861, 
a daughter of Abraham and Susannah (Floro) 
Koontz. Abraham Koontz was from Pennsyl- 
vania, was of German descent, was married in 
Rockingham county, \'a. , and was a resident 
of that state at the outbreak of the Rebellion, 
when he was drafted into the Confederate 
service, but escaped and brought his family to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1861 or 1862, 
and settled near Harrisburg. Here he worked 
at his trade as carpenter until his death, at 
the age of about forty-nine years, a member 
of the German Baptist church and the father 
of the following children: Sarah, Catherine 
(who died when thirty-seven years old), Min- 
erva, Rebecca, Mary and Alice. 

Levi Baker began his business life as a 
farmer, which vocation occupied his time for 
four years; he then joined his father in the 
grain trade at Brookville, and in 1867 built a 
residence in that town, but had the previous 
year bought his present farm of 1 14 acres. 
For several years he was in partnership, in the 
grain trade, with Daniel Litter, but for the 
past nine years has been associated with 
Daniel C. Williamson. This firm bought their 
brick warehouse in 1885, Mr. Baker being 
also a buyer and shipper of tobacco on a large 
scale. The firm of Baker & Williamson do an 
extensive business in grain, and are also the 
station and express agents in Brookville. 

In politics Mr. Baker is a republican and 
served as assessor in Clay township for thirteen 
years; he is postmaster of Brookville, having 
been appointed under the Harrison adminis- 
tration; he has been land appraisortwo terms, 



a member of the school board and of the town 
council, for three years county infirmary 
director, and is the present town treasurer. 
He is president of the Citizens' Bank of Brook- 
ville, and is in every way energetic and pro- 
gressive as a business man and citizen. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Baker have been born two chil- 
dren, named Edith Lillor and Arlie Levi. 

It may be proper here to trace the Baker 
family of Ohio to its origin in America. 
George Peter Baker, who was born and who 
lived and died in Strasbourg, Germany, had 
four sons who came to America in 1727, viz: 
George, Jacob, Henry and Peter. Of these, 
George died a youth; Jacob married, but died 
without issue; Henry died a bachelor; Peter 
inherited property from his father, and the 
accumulated property of his brothers through 
long leases and also by will. Part of this es- 
tate is now covered by Fairmount park, in 
Philadelphia, and by the zoological gardens in 
the same city. To this valuable estate the 
Baker family of to-day still lay claim, as the 
original deed granted it "To Peter Baker, his 
children and grandchildren forever;" and, be- 
ing thus entailed, the claim is considered to be 
valid. Peter had born to him two children — 
Jacob and Elizabeth. Jacob married Hannah 
Lemon, and Elizabeth married Leonard Ellm- 
sker. Jacob had born to him ten children, of 
whom one, Lemon Baker, is the great-grand- 
father of Isaac Baker, of Lawrence, Kans. 
Peter, to whom the above mentioned estate 
was granted or devised, was the great-great- 
grandfather of Levi, the subject; Jacob was the 
great-grandfather; Michael, who settled in 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was the grandfa- 
ther, and Benjamin the father, as has already 
been shown. Many members of the Baker 
family went to Canada about the beginning of 
the present century, and in that country have 
been found the bibles containing the old family 
records, establishing the identity of the many 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1281 



heirs there and in the United States without a 
missing link. One of these ancient volumes is 
165 years old and another is 135, but the rec- 
ords are all legible and convincing. 



y'-V'OLOMON BEYL, an old settler of 

•\^^%T Wayne township, Montgomery county, 

r<_J Ohio, an ex-soldier and a successful 

farmer, was born in Northampton 

county, Pa., February 6, 1830, of sterling 

German ancestry. 

Jacob Beyl, his father, was also a native of 
Northampton county, Pa., was born in 1806, 
and was a son of Jacob Beyl, Sr. , who owned 
a large farm on which he passed all his life, 
and reared a family, of whom the names of 
Jacob, John and Joseph only can be remem- 
bered. Jacob, father of Solomon, was reared 
on his father's farm, and was married in Le- 
high county, Pa., to Magdalena Hartman, who 
was born in that county July 27, 1804. Im- 
mediately after his marriage, Jacob Beyl went 
to housekeeping on his father's farm, and 
there all his children were born, viz: Elizabeth, 
Solomon, Catherine, Matilda, Sarah, John and 
William. In 1838 Jacob Beyl brought his 
family to Ohio by means of wagons, and for 
about four years lived at Fairfield, Greene 
county, where he purchased forty acres of 
land, but about 1844-45 removed to Jasper 
county, Ind., where he purchased a tract of 
eighty acres; he was not, however, satisfied 
with the change, and four months later re- 
turned to Ohio, and for two years conducted a 
grocery buriness at the market-house in Day- 
ton and on Third street. About 1846 he 
moved to Wayne township and purchased the 
farm on which Solomon, his son, now resides, 
and which then comprised 147 acres, of which 
but forty acres were cleared. The remainder 
he himself subsequently cleared and improved, 
eventually converting it into a profitable and 



comfortable farm, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his days and died at the age of 
eighty-five years. He and wife were members 
of the Lutheran church, in which he had been 
an elder for many years; in politics he was 
first a whig, afterward a republican, and for 
two years was a justice of the peace. He was 
of a very liberal disposition and was the chief 
factor in the erection of the Lutheran church 
at Osborn, contributing freely of his own means 
for that purpose; and this, united with many 
other generous acts, won for him universal re- 
spect and gratitude. 

Solomon Beyl, it will be seen, was about 
eight years of age when brought by his parents 
to Ohio. He here received a good common- 
school education, was reared to a sound un- 
derstanding of agriculture on the home farm, 
and was also taught the millwright's trade. 
October 21, 1852, he married, in Wayne town- 
ship, Miss Mary Rubsam, who was born in 
Union county, Pa., September II, 1835, a 
daughter of Henry and Mary (Shane) Rubsam. 

Henry Rubsam, father of Mrs. Beyl, was 
born in Fulda, Germany, August 24, 1798, a 
son of John and Cornelia (Swanger) Rubsam, 
the former of whom was a baker by trade and 
lived and died in the land of his birth, and whose 
children were named John J., Phebe J., Henry, 
Benedict, John, Frances W., Ludwig, Cather- 
ine, Elizabeth, Carl and Theresa. Of these, 
Henry Rubsam left his home at the age of 
nineteen years, came to America and for some 
years followed his trade of fuller and then be- 
came a farmer. He married, in the Keystone 
state, Mary Shane, who was born in Lycoming 
county, September 18, 1804, a daughter of 
Jacob and Susannah (Swartzi Shane, of Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch stock, and the parents of nine 
children, viz: Mary, Michael, Peter, Rosan- 
nah, William, Sophia, Jacob L. , Theresa and 
Susan. For some time after marriage Henry 
Rubsam continued to follow his trade in Penn- 



1282 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



sylvania, and in i S3 5 came to Ohio, settled 
on eighty acres of land in Wayne township, 
Montgomery county, cleared up and improved 
his place, and here reared his children — Eliza, 
Sarah, Henry, Mary, John and Jacob (twins) 
and George. He was a republican in politics, 
and in religion a German Baptist. 

Solomon Beyl, after his marriage, settled 
on the old homestead, which he has increased 
from its original dimensions to 205 acres and 
greatly improved. His children were named, 
in order of birth, as follows: Jacob (who died 
at the age of two years), Emma, John, George, 
Mary and Minnie. Mrs. Beyl is a member of 
the German Baptist church. Mr. Beyl is in 
politics a stanch republican. His enlistment 
took place August 22, 1862, in Osborn, Ohio, 
in Capt. Aaron Spangler's company F, One 
Hundred and Tenth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
to serve three years, and he was honorably 
discharged, with the rank of corporal, at a 
Cleveland hospital, in June, 1865, on account 
of the close of the war. He took part in the 
battle of Winchester, Va., was captured and 
sent to Libby prison, thence to Belle Isle, and 
at the close of thirty-three days was paroled. 
He returned home, but at the end of three 
months rejoined the army at Alexandria, Va., 
where he was stricken with rheumatism and 
was sent to the Howard hospital, in Washing- 
ton, D. C. , whence, having contracted small- 
pox, he was transferred to a hospital in George- 
town, D. C, and then furloughed home. On 
reaching Columbus, Ohio, he was so enfeebled 
that he was sent to Cleveland. He there re- 
covered sufficiently to do light duty, and was 
one of the guards at the time that the remains 
of the martyred Lincoln lay in state in the 
city of Cleveland. 

On his return home Mr. Beyl resumed his 
agricultural pursuits, in which he has prospered 
and is now recognized as one of the most sub- 
stantial farmers of Wayne township and one 



of its most honored citizens. He still holds 
his affection for his old comrades in arms, being 
a member of Steele post, No. 623, G. A. R., 
in which he at one time served in the office of 
quartermaster. 



aHRISTIAN A. COLER, of Dayton 
and Farmersville, Ohio, and one of 
the leading farmers of Jackson town- 
, ship, springs from old colonial stock 
of Maryland. His ancestry is both German 
and English. Adam Roller, as he spelled the 
name, was a native of the northern part of 
Maryland, and owned a farm on the line be- 
tween that state and Pennsylvania (Mason & 
Dixon's line), his land lying chiefly in Pennsyl- 
vania. His children were Joseph, John, Polly 
and Elizabeth. In religious belief Adam Rol- 
ler was a Lutheran, and was opposed to slav- 
ery. He lived to be seventy years of age, and 
his wife lived to be seventy-five. 

Joseph Roller, son of the above, was born 
on his father's farm in Maryland, was reared a 
farmer and married, in Pennsylvania, Eliza- 
beth Eby, daughter of Christian and Susan 
(McDaniel) Eby, the Eby family being of 
German and the McDaniel family of Scotch- 
Irish ancestry. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Roller first settled in Baltimore county, 
Md., on a farm, but came to Ohio in 1832, 
locating in Montgomery county, in Jackson 
township, on 160 acres of land, which was 
partially cleared, and which Mr. Roller fin- 
ished clearing. This he made into a good 
farm and upon it he passed his remaining days. 
He died at the early age of forty-five years, a 
member of the German Baptist church. Mrs. 
Roller died at the age of eighty-nine years, an 
exemplary mother and Christian, a member of 
the German Baptist church. Mr. Roller was 
well educated for his day, and was an unusual- 
ly successful man, accumulating by his thrift 




^f//?^W^ 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1285 



and good management 540 acres of land. The 
children born to him were Susan, Christian 
A., Noah and Jane. 

Christian A. Coler was born May 26, 1825, 
in Baltimore county, Md., and was therefore 
seven years of age when brought to Mont- 
gomery county by his parents. He was well 
educated in his youth, attending not only the 
common schools, but also Wittenberg college 
and, later, Miami university, from which he 
graduated in 1858. He had been a teacher 
for several years before entering college, teach- 
ing in both Ohio and Indiana. After his grad- 
uation he resumed farming and married Cather- 
ine Bear, born in 1840, in German township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and a daughter of 
Henry and Lydia (Swihart) Bear. 

Henry Bear was born in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, and was of German stock. He was 
a son of an early pioneer of Montgomery coun- 
ty, was a good farmer, and by his first wife 
had one child, Catherine; and by his second 
wife, Ellen Bruner, the following children: 
Albert S., Florence, Ira, Paul and Myrtle. 
Mr. Bear is still living and is now eighty-three 
years of age. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Coler 
settled in Jackson township, on the line of 
German township, on a farm of 264 acres of 
land, which Mr. Coler purchased. After six- 
teen years of successful farming he removed 
to his present farm, where he owns 165 acres 
of excellent land, beside several pieces of prop- 
erty in the city of Dayton. In 1894 Mr. Coler 
moved to West Dayton, but spends several 
months during the summer and fall on his farm , 
two miles southeast of Farmersville, on the 
Germantown and Farmersville pike. In 1862 
Mr. Coler was commissioned captain of com- 
pany C, Twelfth regiment, Ohio national 
guard, which position he held until entering 
the United States service in the spring of 
1864. On the call of the president for troops, 

58 



Mr. Coler reported for duty May 2nd, and was 
commissioned first lieutenant of company F, 
One Hundred and Thirty-first regiment, Ohio 
volunteer infantry, was on duty in Virginia 
and Maryland, was honorably discharged 
August 25, 1864, and with his company re- 
turned to Dayton. Politically Mr. Coler is ai 
republican and Mr. and Mrs. Coler were pres- 
ent at the inauguration of Mr. Lincoln, the 
first president of the party. Mr. Coler, was a 
member of the Sixty-first general assembly of 
Ohio, the only man save one elected on the 
republican ticket in Montgomery county in the 
fall of 1873. While in the legislature in 1875, 
he advocated the enlargement of the Miami 
& Erie canal to the capacity of the Erie 
canal of New York, and introduced a resolu- 
tion to that effect. 

Mr. and Mrs. Coler are members of the 
Baptist Brethren church. Mr. Coler being an 
educated man, has always taken a deep in- 
terest in educational matters, and has for sev- 
eral years served as manager of the Farmers' 
institute, to which he has contributed papers. 
He is a member of the G A. R. , Carlton 
Bear post, 516, Germantown, also a member 
of the P. of H., and has always sympathized 
with the interests of the farmers. He has 
also taken an active interest in school affairs, 
serving as a member of the school board for 
several years. Mr. Coler is a man of wide 
reading and has a well-selected library. He- 
has long enjoyed the confidence of the people- 
and has been called upon to settle a number 
of estates, and has transacted much business 
with the courts. A public-spirited man, he 
has aided churches, favored good roads, andl 
encouraged all enterprises calculated to advance 
the public good. In the many positions of 
trust which he has filled, he has been faithful 
and true, having given entire satisfaction to 
all who were associated with him, and having 
won credit for himself in every capacity, 



1286 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



***-* EWIS F. HOFFMAN, of Randolph 
f township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
\ is a son of one of the early pioneers. 
His ancestors were of strong Penn- 
sylvania-Dutch stock. His great-grandfather 
came to the United States from Germany in 
about 1750, when he was sixteen years of age. 
The tradition is that two brothers came to 
America at that time, and that their services 
were soJd to pay their passage across the sea, 
as was often the case in those early days. 

George Hoffman, grandfather of Lewis F., 
was born June 21, 1775, was married in Perry 
county, Pa., to Elizabeth Limpard, and their 
children were as follows : Philip, Joseph, 
John, Catherine, Barbara, Martha, Jesse, 
Lewis, Levi and George. The father, George 
Hoffman, was a farmer and also manufacturer 
of woolen goods in Pennsylvania, and in 18 19 
removed to Montgomery county, Ohio, with 
his wife and children, making the journey 
with a team of five horses and a big wagon. 
He settled in Randolph township, one mile 
south of Harrisburg. where he bought land. 
He cleared this land from the woods, and ex- 
perienced all the hardships and deprivations 
of pioneer life, becoming a most substantial 
farmer, owning 300 acres of productive land. 
George Hoffman lived to be nearly sixty-four 
years of age, dying April 1, 1839. He was a 
prominent ministerof the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and was among the first to preach at 
Conccrd, before there was any church build- 
ing erected in that part of the country, the 
meetings being held in his house. He was 
one of the founders of the church at Concord, 
and was accustomed to preach in all parts of 
the county. He died on his farm, regretted 
by all who knew him as a man of great worth 
and usefulness. 

Joseph Hoffman, father of Lewis F. , was 
born in Pennsylvania in 1801, and was about 
eighteen years of age when he drove the team 



brought to Ohio in 18 19. Receiving his edu- 
cation in the subscription schools of his youth- 
ful days, he was brought up to farm labor and 
became a good farmer and business man. In 
his early life he was a teamster, and hauled 
flour, whisky, etc. His first wife was Sarah 
Worman, and by her he had the following 
children: Eliza, David, Anna, Levina, Solo- 
mon, Mahala, Jesse, Levi and Sarah. After 
his first marriage Mr. Hoffman settled in Ran- 
dolph township, on 106 acres of land, which 
he bought of his father, and by toil and econ- 
omy he added to this farm eighty acres, so 
that he had a good farm of 186 acres, which 
he partially cleared from the woods, and upon 
which he erected a comfortable dwelling. After 
the death of his first wife he married Mary 
Fry, by whom he had two children, Lewis F. 
and William R. Mr. Hoffman was a practical 
and successful farmer. He also followed team- 
ing to Cincinnati, and afterward to Dayton for 
some time. He was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and in politics was in 
his early life an old-line whig and later a repub- 
lican. His two sons, Lewis F. and William R. , 
entered the one hundred days' service, in com- 
pany A, One Hundred and Forty-seventh regi- 
ment, Ohio volunteer infantry. Their time hav- 
ing expired, William R. re-enlisted for one 
year, and died while in service, at Columbus, 
Ohio. Joseph Hoffman died in 1863, aged 
about sixty-two years, leaving the record of a 
busy and useful career. 

Lewis F. Hoffman was born on his father's 
farm, November 15, 1842, and received the 
common-school education of the time, which 
was of a higher order than that obtainable in 
the boyhood of his father or of his grandfather. 
On May 2, 1864, he enlisted in company A, 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio volun- 
teer infantry, for one hundred days, and was 
discharged from the service, by reason of expi- 
ration of his term of enlistment, in August, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1287 



1864. His service was rendered at Arlington 
Heights, and on the farm of the Confederate 
leader, Gen. Lee, and he saw quite active 
service during Gen. Early's raid on Washington. 

On September 24, 1867, he married Miss 
Mary A. Maugens, who was born January 10, 
1847, near Tippecanoe, Miami county, Ohio, 
and is a daughter of John and Olive (Jenkins) 
Maugens, the former of whom was born in 
Frederick county, Md. , of German ancestors. 
John Maugens was a son of David and Cath- 
erine (Blickenstaff) Maugens. The Maugens 
family is an ancient one in Maryland. The 
children of David and Catherine Maugens were 
Elizabeth, John and Mary. David Maugens 
was a well-to-do farmer, and lived to a great 
age. John Maugens came to Ohio when a 
young man, was married in Miami county, and 
his children were David K. and Mary A. Mr. 
Maugens, who was a capable and enterprising 
citizen, died in Miami county when his daugh- 
ter, afterward Mrs. Hoffman, was nine months 
old. Olive Jenkins, his wife, was a daughter 
of Esquire David Jenkins, a pioneer of Miami 
county. David Jenkins was twice married, his 
first wife being Rosetta Russell, and his second 
wife Ann Pierson. Mr. Jenkins was a well- 
known pioneer and a justice of the peace for 
forty years. In early times the elections were 
held at his house. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hoff- 
man settled on the home farm of fifty-four 
acres, which he has greatly improved and 
brought to an advanced condition of produc- 
tiveness, and upon which he is engaged in the 
raising of nursery stock. His children are as 
follows: Homer K., born November 10, 
I 868; Theodore C, born November 10, 1871; 
Albert, born May 31, 1876; and Howard, born 
September 7, 1882. In politics Mr. Hoffman 
is a republican, and has six times been elected 
trustee of Randolph township, serving nine 
years. He and his wife are members of the 



Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hoffman 
takes great interest in educational affairs, and 
has served on the school board for six years. 
Fraternally he was formerly a member of St. 
John lodge, of the Masonic fraternity, and is a 
member of Little York lodge, No. 696, I. O. 
O. F., and has filled all the chairs. Mr. Hoff- 
man is a progressive and capable citizen, 
standing high in the estimation of his friends 
and neighbors. 



<>^V ANIEL BOOMERSHINE, of Farm- 
I ersville, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
^^^J and a prominent farmer of Jackson 
township, is a grandson of one of the 
original pioneers. He springs from German 
stock, his grandfather, Henry Boomershine, 
having been born in Prussia, Germany. Henry 
Boomershine was impressed into the German 
army and became one of King George Ill's 
Hessian soldiers in the war of the Revolution, 
coming to America with them to aid in sup- 
pressing the revolt against the rule of that 
king. Like many others of the Hessian troops, 
he took advantage of his opportunity to remain 
in America and to become a citizen of the 
country. 

Settling in Pennsylvania, he married and 
became the father of the following children: 
Peter, Henry, Jacob, Abraham, John, Susan 
and Elizabeth. Mr. Boomershine moved with 
his family to Ohio some time during the last 
decade of the eighteenth century, settling in 
Hamilton, Butler county. In 1802 he moved 
to German township, Montgomery county, 
settling on the north line of the township on 
160 acres of land, all of which was covered 
with dense woods, he being one of the very 
first to settle in that part of the country. 

Mr. Boomershine was one of the first mem- 
bers of the Evangelical Lutheran church in 
his vicinity, and in politics was a thorough- 



li?SS 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



going Jacksonian democrat. He was a typi- 
cal pioneer and the founder of his family in 
Ohio. He lived to the great age of eighty- 
eight years, dying in 1836. 

Abraham Boomershine, father of Daniel, 
was born in Hamilton, Butler county, December 
25, 1801, and was three months old when his 
parents came to Montgomery county. Reared 
in the wilderness, he attended one of the old- 
fashioned log school-houses, 14 x 14 feet in 
size, which was four miles from his home 
and which was reached by going through the 
woods the entire distance, a path having been 
made and marked out for the purpose. This 
school, however, he attended but a short time, 
learning to read German at home. Becoming 
a farmer, he married Catherine Cook, who was 
born in 1794, in Berks county, Pa., and was 
a daughter of Frederick and Margaret Cook, 
the former of whom was of Pennsylvania- 
Dutch stock, and a pioneer of Jackson town- 
ship. Abraham Boomershine settled at first 
in Germantown, where he lived two years, 
and then removed to eighty acres of land in 
the woods, one-half mile from Farmersville, 
on which not a stick of timber had been cut. 
By hard work he cleared up this farm and 
added other acres thereto until at length he 
owned 239 acres, and became a wealthy and 
substantial citizen, erecting excellent farm 
buildings, among the best in his township. 
He and his wife had the following children: 
Henry, Abraham, Michael, Lewis, Daniel, 
William F., Elizabeth, Catherine and Sarah. 
The parents were members of the Lutheran 
church, and in politics Mr. Boomershine was 
a democrat. He died in June, 1889, at the 
great age of eighty-nine. 

Daniel Boomershine was born June 18, 
1838, on the Boomershine homestead. Re- 
ceiving a common-school education, he was 
reared a farmer, and on June 6, 1867, married 
Sarah A. Peck, who was born August 13, 



1844, in German township, and is a daughter 
of James W. and Phebe (Snethen) Peck. 
James W. Peck was born in Kentucky, Au- 
gust 22, 1803, of English ancestors, and his 
wife was also born in Kentucky, February 8, 
1808. They were married in Montgomery 
county, August 17, 1834. James W. Peck 
came to Ohio when a boy, and received the 
common-school education of his day. While 
a young man he followed teaming, and settled 
on eighty acres of land in German township, 
which were covered over with timber, but 
which he cleared and made fertile and pro- 
ductive. His children were : Susannah, 
George E., Mary J., Hannah, James F., 
Elizabeth, John, Samuel, Sarah, Alexander 
and Matilda. Mr. and Mrs. Peck were mem- 
bers of the Christian church of Franklin, and 
in politics Mr. Peck was a republican. Mrs. 
Peck died January 10, 1865, aged about fifty- 
eight years. Mr. Peck died November 4, 
1869, aged sixty-six years. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Boomer- 
shine settled on the old homestead, lived there 
three years, and then one year at Boomer- 
shine mill. He then removed to Farmersville 
in 1 87 1, and worked six years in a mill in 
which he owned an interest with his brothers, 
Michael, Lewis and William — a flouring and 
saw-mill on Big Twin creek. He was afterward 
engaged in the butcher business for five years; 
he bought the Boomershine homestead in 1883 
and enrered into the lumber and coal busi- 
ness. As a democrat he has held the office of 
constable for six years, and has been collector 
of delinquent taxes for twenty-two years, and 
treasurer of the town of Farmersville four 
years, also treasurer of Jackson township six 
years, all, as will be seen, being offices of 
trust. He was one of the charter members of 
Farmersville lodge No. 482, F. & A. M., and 
has held the offices therein of junior warden, 
junior deacon and treasurer. 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1289 



Mr. and Mrs. Boomershine are members 
of the Reformed church, of which he has held 
the office of treasurer. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Boomershine there has been born one son, 
Clement L. Boomershine. 

Clement L. Boomershine, who is at pres- 
ent mayor of Farmersville, was born Septem- 
ber 14, 1868, on the Boomershine homestead. 
He was first taught in the public schools, and 
afterward attended the Heidelberg university 
at Tiffin, Ohio, where he graduated June 21, 
1889. After teaching school in Jackson town- 
ship one year he was elected justice of the 
peace in 1890, and has ever since filled that 
office. He was elected mayor of Farmersville 
in the spring of 1893, and re-elected in the 
spring of 1895. He is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity and secretary of his lodge. 
Politically Mr. Boomershine is a democrat, 
and is deservedly popular not only in Farm- 
ersville but throughout the county, where his 
professional and business ability are generally 
recognized. When first elected justice of the 
peace he was but twenty-two years of age, and 
when first elected mayor of Farmersville he 
was only twenty-five years of age, facts which 
in themselves testify strongly to his ability and 
popularity. 



•""V* HEREBIAH JOSEPH BRADFORD, 
*^^fc£ a prosperous farmer of Van Buren 

k^_J township, Montgomery county, and a 
member of a prominent Ohio family, 
and one of the oldest families of the United 
States, was born October 12, 1870, on the farm 
upon which he now resides. He was trained 
to be a farmer, and has made an unquestioned 
success in that vocation. He is a son of 
George G. and Elizabeth (Butterfield) Brad- 
ford. On the first of September, 1892, he 
was married to Miss Annie E. Rice, daughter 



of Fleming and Mary E. (Miller) Rice, and 
has one child, George Fleming. Mr. and Mrs. 
S. J. Bradford are members of the United 
Presbyterian church, and in politics he is an 
independent republican. He farms 165 acres 
of the old homestead, upon which his grand- 
father settled many years ago. It is finely 
improved and has upon it one of the best 
orchards in the county. 

George G. Bradford, father of S. J. Brad- 
ford, was born on the farm upon which he now 
lives, March 14, 1833. He is a son of George 
G. and Margaret (McCandless) Bradford, both 
of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. They 
were the parents of nine children, five sons 
and four daughters, only two of whom are now 
living, viz: J. J. and George G., the latter 
being the father of S. J. Bradford. George G. 
Bradford, the grandfather, was a farmer and 
died in 1841, when his son, George G., was 
eight years of age. His wife died in 1882, 
aged seventy-six years. She and her husband 
were members of the Presbyterian church, 
and he was a soldier in the war of 18 12. 

The great-grandfather of S. J. Bradford 
was of Scotch-Irish ancestry and a native of 
Pennsylvania. He came to Ohio at an early 
day, and located in Van Buren township, 
north of Beavertown, Montgomery county, 
where he bought land and lived until his death, 
which occurred when he was very old. He 
had a family of eight children. The maternal 
grandfather of George G. Bradford was James 
McCandless, of Scotch ancestry and a school- 
teacher. 

George G. Bradford, father of S. J. Brad- 
ford, has always lived on his present farm. 
After his father's death this farm was divided 
between him and his brother, George G. still 
later purchasing his brother's share. On 
March 29, 1S60, he married Miss Elizabeth 
Butterfield, daughter of Sherebiah A. and 
Mary Butterfield. To this marriage there were 



1290 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



born six children, three sons and three daugh- 
ters, four of whom are still living, as follows: 
Annie, Sherebiah J., Jennie and Blanche. 
Annie married William Bryan, of Dayton, and 
has two children, Alonzo and Marguerite. 
Sherebiah J. married Miss Annie E. Rice, and 
is living on the farm. Jennie and Blanche are 
living at home. Mr. and Mrs. George G. 
Bradford are members of the United Brethren 
church, and in politics he is a republican. 

The Bradfords of Van Buren township de- 
scended from John Bradford, who was a first 
cousin of William Bradford, the second gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts. John Bradford, the 
founder of the family in this state, came to 
Ohio in 1800, settling in Beavertown in 1801, 
and bringing with him a family of nine chil- 
dren. Here he carried on farming, and here 
died at an advanced age. He was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and married Miss Mary Gilles- 
pie July 15, 1782. To them there were born 
twelve children, the names and dates of birth 
of whom are as follows: Robert, born Janu- 
ary 7, 1784, and died March 4, 1795; George 
G., born April 29, 1787, and died June 1, 1840; 
John, born April 25, 1790, and died February 
9, 1863; Jean Eleanor, born March 14, 1792, 
and died April 19, 1831; James G., born Jan- 
uary 27, 1794, and died October 14, 1823; 
William, born May 15, 1796, and died Septem- 
ber 25, 1862; Samuel D., born September 22, 
1798; Mary, born December 15, 1800, and died 
June 28, 1812; Margaret, born February 22, 
1803, and died March 16, 1856; David D., born 
July 30, 1805, and died April 8, 1833; Martha 
Allen, born October 27, 1807, and died April 
16, 1808; Allen, born December 12, 1809, and 
died October 25, 1866. 

John Bradford, father of the above-named 
children, died March 22, 1820. Robert Charl- 
ton and Jean E. Bradford were married May 
29, 1817. James G. Bradford and Caty Ann 
Conover were married October 7, 18 17. John 



Bradford and Rachel Retenhouse were mar- 
ried September 9, 1S19. George G. Bradford 
and Margaret McCandless were married March 
29, 1 82 1. John Bigger and Mary Bradford were 
married October 23, 1823. Joseph Bigger and 
Margaret Bradford were married October 26, 
1825. William Bradford and Margaret Logan 
were married May 2, 1825. Samuel D. Brad- 
ford and Mary Ann Johnston were married 
April 24, 1S27. David D. Bradford and Ser- 
phina Crane were married May 10, 1827. 
Allen Bradford and Eliza Johnston were mar- 
ried December 20, 1831. 

John Bradford was one of the first settlers 
in the vicinity of Dayton. He came to Ohio 
in the year 1800, and located near Cincinnati, 
where he remained one year, and then entered 
160 acres of land a short distance south of 
Dayton, upon which he moved with his family 
in 1 80 1. To him and his wife there were born 
twelve children, of whom all save two lived to 
adult years. All of those that reached ma- 
turity followed farming for a living. In 1801, 
when Mr. Bradford settled near the present 
site of Dayton, there were but four log cabins 
within about five miles, and one of these was 
on the bank of the river at the head of what 
is now known as Main street. 

George G. Bradford, grandfather of S. J. 
Bradford, was born in Redstone, Pa., and 
came with his father, John Bradford, to Cin- 
cinnati. Afterward he located on a farm near 
Beavertown, which farm was later owned by 
George D. Bradford. George G. Bradford 
married Miss Margaret McCandless, daughter 
of James McCandless. To this marriage there 
were born nine children, as follows: James J.; 
Mary A. ; John; Jane A. ; William; George 
G., father of the subject of this sketch; Mar- 
garet; Martha D.; and Joseph A., all of whom 
lived to be men and women. George G. Brad- 
ford was a member of the Associate Reformed 
church, and in politics he was a whig. His 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1291 



death occurred June i, 1840, and his widow 
died September 17, 1872. 

James J. Bradford, son of the above-named 
George G. and Margaret Bradford, and who is 
a deacon in the United Presbyterian church, 
supplied this work with most of the history and 
genealogy of the Bradford family. He was 
born February 13, 1822, and, of course, had 
but limited educational advantages in his youth. 
He lost his father when he was eighteen years 
of age, and the duty of caring for the family 
devolved upon him. For eleven years he 
worked for his mother by the month, and this 
was the way in which he began life on his own 
account. By dint of hard work, integrity of 
purpose and a natural aptitude for business, 
he became a prosperous and wealthy man. 
On February 13, 1861, he married Miss Har- 
riet P. Wead, who was born August 26, 18 19, 
and was a daughter of Robert and Mary Wead, 
of Van Buren township. To this marriage 
there was born one daughter, Mary G., born 
July 30, 1862. James J. Bradford has been 
for many years a deacon in the United Pres- 
byterian church. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, and while he has not sought office, he 
has been elected to various positions of honor 
and trust. His wife's parents, Robert and 
Mary Wead, settled near Beavertown in 1799. 
They reared a family of eleven children, ten of 
whom lived to become men and women, but 
only four of them are now living. The father 
of Mrs. Bradford, Robert Wead, was born 
September 17, 1781, in York county. Pa. He 
was by trade a tailor, and removed with his 
family to Kentucky in 1797, remaining in that 
state two years. He married Miss Jane Gip- 
son, who was born February 13, 1784, the 
marriage occurring September 30, 1806. They 
were the parents of two children, John S. and 
Mary J. Mrs. Wead died November 7, 181 1, 
and for his second wife Mr. Wead married 
Miss Mary Gipson, who was born April 5, 1788. 



Their marriage took place November 25, 1813, 
and they became the parents of nine children, 
as follows: Ebenezer G. ; Eliza; Harriet P.; 
William W. ; James W. ; Samuel G. ; Margaret 
H. ; Joseph W. , and one that died in infancy. 
The others lived to become men and women, but 
only four of them are now living. Mr. Wead 
was a member of the Associate Reformed 
church, and in politics was a whig. His second 
wife died September 12, 1871, and he died July 
30, 1873, being then nearly ninety-two years 
of age. He had lived on his farm near the 
asylum more than sixty-seven years. 

Elizabeth (Butterfield) Bradford, mother 
of S. J. Bradford, is a daughter of Sherebiah 
and Mary Butterfield. Mr. Butterfield was a 
descendant and representative of an ancient 
and noble family of Scotland, which for about 
three hundred years owned one of the re- 
nowned castles of that country. At the time 
of the contest between England and Scotland, 
which resulted in the union of the two kingdoms, 
an old man and his five sons were banished to 
the American colonies. They landed in Bos- 
ton, Mass. , and it is from them that the But- 
terfields of this country have descended. One 
of these five sons was the father of Benjamin 
Butterfield, the father of John Butterfield, the 
father of Jeremiah Butterfield, the latter of 
whom was born in Massachusetts March 4, 
1776. In 1787 John Butterfield traveled 
through the northwest territory, now Ohio, 
Indiana and Illinois, and on into the country 
then belonging to Spain. In 1800 he made a 
second journey through this great section of 
country, accompanied by nis brother and 
brother-in-law, who returned in the fall. He 
was engaged in surveying and assisted in 
establishing the Ludlow line of survey. 

In 1799 Jeremiah Butterfield married Mary 
Campbell, a native of Massachusetts, who was 
born in 1781. Returning to New York he 
then in 1802 brought his wife to their new 



1292 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



home in the wilderness, and erected his first 
cabin within the limits of Hamilton county, 
Ohio. Here he owned upward of a section of 
land, which he cleared and improved, but 
afterward built a house in Butler county, where 
the remainder of his life was spent. Mr. 
Butterfield traveled thousands of miles in the 
wild western country, and endured many hard- 
ships seldom experienced even by the pioneers. 
He traveled on foot, on horseback, and in 
every way then in vogue. He swam and 
waded streams, exposed himself to danger 
from wild beasts and Indians, as well as to 
the diseases peculiar to a new and unsettled 
country, yet came through all unharmed. 
After settling in Butler county he dealt largely 
in hogs, making frequent trips by means of 
flat boats to New Orleans. On arriving in 
that city he sometimes found the market over- 
stocked with hogs, and would then take ship 
for Havana, Cuba. 

Sherebiah Butterfield, eldest son of Jere- 
miah, was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, was 
reared a farmer and was familiar with all the 
trials and hardships of the pioneer farmer's 
life. He used to accompany his father on his 
trips down the Ohio and Mississippi to New 
Orleans. His marriage was celebrated in 1828, 
and his grandson, Sherebiah J. Bradford, has 
in his possession a gun which Mr. Butterfield's 
uncle carried through the Revolutionary war, 
and which his father carried on his journeys in 
the northwest. 

In the entire city of New York there is per- 
haps no more interesting spot than Trinity 
churchyard. Upon one of the tombstones 
therein is the following epitaph: 

•' Here lies the body of Mr. William Brad- 
ford, Printer, who departed this life May 23, 
1752, aged ninety-two years. He was born in 
Liecestershire, in Old England, in 1660, and 
came over to America in 1682, before the city 
of Philadelphia was laid out. He was Printer 
to this government for upward of fifty years, 



and, being quite worn out with old age and 
labor, he left this mortal state in the lively 
hopes of a blessed immortality. 

" Reader, reflect how soon you'll quit this Stage. 
You'll tint! but few attain to such an Age. 
Life's full of Pain: Lo ! Here's a place of Rest. 
Prepare to meet your God, then you are blest." 

" Here also lies the body of Elizabeth, wife 
to the said William Bradford, who departed 
this life July 8, 1 73 1 , aged sixty-eight years.' 



Vy^ ALTER L. MARTINDALE, one of 

mm the younger members of the bar of 

\_jLzl the fifth generation 

bearing his name in the Buckeye 
state, is a son of Capt. Samuel and Melvina 
Cary (Strong) Martindale, allusion to the former 
of whom is made in the history of Martindale 
family, and whose biography in full will be 
found on page 1304. 

Capt. Samuel Martindale was born Janu- 
ary 10, 1830, in Monroe township, Miami 
county, Ohio, a son of John and Amelia (Camp- 
bell) Martindale, and was always a tiller of 
the soil. He received a good common-school 
education, also attended the college at Dela- 
ware, Ohio, for a year or more, and continued 
to live on the paternal farm until twenty-three 
years of age, when he married, in Butler 
township, Montgomery county, June 3, 1853, 
Miss Melvina Cary Strong, who was born in 
Butler township, April 14, 1835, a daughter of 
John and Sarah (Pearson) Strong. 

Col. John Strong, Sr. , great-grandfather of 
Walter L. Martindale, was born February 17, 
1724, and was married to Louisa Crouch, his 
first wife, in 1744; to them were born four 
children. He was married to his fourth wife, 
Deliverance Cary, whose maiden name was 
Grant, widow of Dr. Samuel Cary, of Lynn, 
N. H., in 1786; of this last marriage were born 
John Strong, Jr., at North Hetford, Vt. , March 
2 5> I 7^7> an d Zebulon Strong, born Septem- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1295 



ber 7, 1788. Col. John Strong, Sr. , died No- 
vember 17, 1795, aged seventy-one years. 
His wife, Deliverance Strong, died at Cincin- 
nati in 1 8 10. 

When a young man, in company with his 
brother, Zebulon, John Strong, father of Mrs. 
Martindale, came to Ohio and located at Col- 
lege Hill, near Cincinnati, where he was em- 
ployed for some years at his trade of carpenter 
and cabinet-maker, and first married, Febru- 
ary 4, 1 8 1 3, Miss Sarah Pearson, who was 
born April 7, 1793. In August, 1832, he came 
to Butler township, Montgomery county, and 
in 1833 entered 319^ acres of land, all in the 
woods. He proved to be a capable farmer 
and added 120 acres to his first entry, and his 
homestead was one of the best in the township 
in its day. In politics he was a whig and in 
his religious views was independent. To his 
first marriage were born the following-named 
children: Sarah, John, George, Mary, Eber, Gil- 
bert L., Julia Ann, Benjamin G. , Bela F. and 
Melvina C. — all now deceased with the excep- 
tion of the youngest (Mrs. Martindale). Mrs. 
Strong died January 25, 1846, a devoted mem- 
ber of the Methodist church, and September 
20, 1852, Mr. Strong married Phebe French, 
but to this union no children were born. Mr. 
Strong was himself called away January 15, 
1897, a t the age of seventy-nine years, nine 
months and twenty days, and no man of his 
day stood higher in the esteem of the commu- 
nity. Mrs. Phebe (French) Strong survived 
until 1895. 

Samuel Martindale and wife, at their mar- 
riage, first located on a part of the Strong 
homestead, where they made their home until 
1869, but between these two dates a digression 
may be made in order to record the war history 
of Mr. Martindale, which must be brief: In 
August, 1 86 1, he enlisted in Dayton, and was 
assigned to the recruiting service. He organ- 
ized a company in Butler township for the 



three years' service, which was mustered in at 
Camp Hamilton, September 9, 1861, as com- 
pany H, Thirty-fifth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
of which company he was commissioned first 
lieutenant, under Capt. Michael Gunckel, and 
took part in the engagements of Corinth, 
Perryville, Tullahoma, Chickamauga, Mission- 
ary Ridge, Buzzard's Roost, Atlanta, Dalton, 
Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Chattanooga, 
Pine Mountain (general assault) and Peach 
Tree Creek. He was promoted to be captain 
of his company in October, 1862; at the siege 
of Chattanooga his hearing was destroyed 
through concussion caused by the bursting of 
a shell (1863), and he was finally honorably 
discharged, at the same point, April 8, 1864. 

Capt. Martindale, after his return from 
the war, remained on the Strong homestead, 
as stated, until 1869. He then moved to the 
western part of Butler township and settled on 
a farm of 143 acres, was industrious and man- 
aged well, and in due course of time acquired 
800 acres, located in Butler township, Mont- 
gomery county, and in Union township, Miami 
county. Before the war and during its prog- 
ress Mr. Martindale was in politics a repub- 
lican, but afterward became a democrat. 
He held the office of county commissioner from 
1872 to 1875, and served also, at different 
periods, as township treasurer and township 
trustee, and was likewise an officer in several 
stock companies; fraternally, he was a mem- 
ber of the Dayton lodge of Freemasons, and in 
religion was a consistent member of the United 
Brethren church. 

To the marriage of Capt. and Mrs. Martin- 
dale were born the following children: Ed- 
mund D., Warren O., Florence L., Samuel 
C, Wilson C, Walter L., Urilla A. and Ar- 
thur A. The death of the captain took place 
April 29, 1894, at the age of a little over 
sixty-four years. He was a faithful soldier, 
always active and prompt in the discharge of 



1296 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



his duty; was possessed of excellent business 
abilities; he was a loving husband, a kind 
father, faithful and warm in his friendships, 
and a power in the community in which he 
lived. Mrs. Martindale is now living in Har- 
risburg. Through her father she is connected 
with the well-known New England family of 
Carys and also with the famous Ohio poets, 
Alice and Phebe Cary. 

Walter L Martindale, the subject proper 
of this biographical memoir, was born Decem- 
ber 19, 1868, on the Martindale (or John 
Strong) homestead in Butler township, Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio. His preliminary edu- 
cation was acquired in the district school, and 
when sufficiently advanced, he attended the 
Ohio Normal university at Ada. After his grad- 
uation from the literary department of this in- 
stitution, he taught school for five years — three 
in Ohio and two in New York state — at the 
same time studying law. He then entered the 
law department of the Ohio Normal university, 
and graduated from both the scientific and law 
departments in 1894, in which year, also, he 
was admitted to the bar of the state of Ohio. 
He at once entered upon the practice of his 
profession at Harrisburg, Montgomery county, 
where his abilities were speedily recognized, 
and where, during the short space of time 
since intervening, he has secured a patronage 
respectable in its proportions and remuner- 
ative in its returns. 

Mr. Martindale was happily united in mar- 
riage June 2, 1892, in Stokes township, Logan 
county, Ohio, with Miss Minnie L. Brubaker, 
who was born October 8, 1871, a daughter of 
Joseph T. and Sarah (Loudenbock) Brubaker. 
For a year after marriage, Mr. Martindale 
taught school in Vandalia, Montgomery county, 
and it was shortly after the birth of his daugh- 
ter, Ethel M., July 13, 1894, that he located 
in Harrisburg, his present home. In politics 
he is a democrat, and fraternally is a member 



of the I. O. O. F. lodge at Union, Ohio. As 
a citizen he is respected and well-to-do, own- 
ing 350 acres of excellent farming land, and as 
an attorney is well-equipped, popular and 
unusually successful. 

Joseph T. Brubaker, father of Mrs. Martin- 
dale, was born November 12, 1846, in Page 
county, Va., and is a son of Peter Brubaker, 
who was of Pennsylvania descent, and in Page 
county, Va. , was a wealthy planter and slave- 
holder and the father of the following children: 
Joseph T., John, Perry, Abraham, Charles, 
Emma and Linna. Joseph T. Brubaker was 
a well-educated gentleman, and married, in 
Champaign county, Ohio, December 15, 1870, 
Sarah R. Loudenbock, and first located in 
Washington township, Logan county, on 
Loudenbock land, comprising 218 acres, and 
later settled on 100 acres of his own land in 
Stokes township. His wife died May 13, 1874, 
the mother of two children — Minnie L. (Mrs. 
Martindale) and one that died in infancy. Mr. 
Brubaker still resides on his farm and is an ex- 
cellent citizen. During the Civil war he was 
drafted into the Confederate army at the age of 
eighteen years, and served until the close. 



«>^\ OBERT CARSON, one of the ex- 

■ /^ soldiers of the late Civil war, springs 
P from Scotch ancestry, his parents be- 
ing natives of Scotland. He was 
born October 3, 1838, on the Atlantic ocean 
off the banks of Newfoundland, while his par- 
ents were on their voyage to the United States. 
Reared in Newark, New Jersey, he received 
there a good common-school education, and 
when twelve years old became a cabin boy on 
the sea, sailing until he was fifteen years of age, 
and visiting different countries. After some 
further schooling he taught for a time, and 
then learned the painter's trade. In 1862 he 
enlisted at Buffalo, N. Y., for three years, or 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1297 



during the war, in company B, Sixteenth New 
York volunteer infantry, which regiment, after 
seeing some service, was consolidated with the 
Twelfth New York volunteer infantry. After 
serving nearly three years he was honorably dis- 
charged on account of wounds received in the 
service. At the time he was discharged, in 
1865, he was in hospital at Washington, D. C. 
Mr. Carson was in many skirmishes in Virginia, 
on the Potomac river, at Alexandria, and was in 
Washington when Gen. Early made his famous 
raid on that city. He was also with Sherman 
on the march from Atlanta to the sea, and took 
part also in many skirmishes and foraging ex- 
peditions in the southern part of the country. 
He received his wound in the battle of Gettys- 
burg, in a cavalry charge, the ball passing 
through the right shoulder, paralyzing his en- 
tire right side and limbs. He lay in hospital 
at Washington eight months, and after leaving 
there went to Rochester and thence to Cham- 
bersburg, Ohio, where he had lived before the 
war, and where he owned land. 

Mr. Carson is a member of Weaver post, 
G. A. R. , of Vandalia, Ohio. In politics he 
is a republican, and in religion a Presbyterian. 
He is one of those who served his country well 
during her hour of need and trial, and thereby 
lost his health, and partially lost the use of 
his body. 

John L. Carson, his father, was born in 
Scotland, near the town of Dumfries, learned 
there the trade of painter, and married Mar- 
garet Miller. They became the parents of 
two children — Robert and Isabella. Mr. Car- 
son came to the United States in 1838, settling 
in Newark, N. J., where Mrs. Carson died. 
By a second marriage Mr. Carson became the 
father of five children. John L. Carson and 
his first wife were members of the Presbyterian 
church, his second wife being a member of the 
Baptist church. 

Robert Carson first married Mary Brooker, 



of Chambersburg, who died February 24, 1894, 
and who was a member of the United Breth- 
ren church. His second marriage took place 
October 21, 1895, at Chambersburg, Ohio, to 
Kate Hilderbrand, a widow, whose maiden 
name was Watkins, and who was a daughter 
of David and Angeline (Whittacer) Watkins. 
David Watkins is a prominent citizen of War- 
ren county, and his children were Oscar, Kate, 
Almira and Esther. Mr. Watkins' first wife 
died, and he then married Jerusha Witcey, by 
whom he had one daughter, Emma. 



»-j'OHN W. DRILL, of Chambersburg, 
■ Ohio, one of the old soldiers of the late 

m 1 Civil war, is a son of George and Je- 
mima (Leakins) Drill. He was born 
February 9, 1828, in Frederick county, Md., 
and was brought the same year to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, by his parents. Reared among 
the pioneers, he acquired their habits and cus- 
toms, and was educated in the little log school- 
house, common in the country in the days of 
his boyhood. When he was about twenty-one 
years of age he married, November 30, 1849, 
Lebina Hosier, who was born in Butler town- 
ship, October 21, 1829, and was a daughter of 
Robert and Nancy (Compton) Hosier. After 
their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Drill settled on land 
in Harrison township, which Mr. Drill had pur- 
chased, and lived thereon two years, when he 
sold it and bought ten and a half acres, where 
he now lives. To Mr. and Mrs. Drill there 
were born the following children: Martha J., 
who died at the age of three years; Mary J., 
who died at the age of twenty-eight years; 
Nancy and Jemima; Robert, who died in in- 
fancy; and Josephine. The mother of these 
children died December 11, 1896. 

Mr. Drill enlisted in October, 1 861 , in Capt. 
Walter Crook's company, F, Seventy-fourth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, to serve three v ears 



L298 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



or during the war, and was honorably dis- 
charged at Savannah, Ga., by reason of the ex- 
piration of his term of service, January 6, 
1865. At the time of his enlistment Mr. Drill 
was thirty-five years of age and left at home 
his wife and one child. He was at the battles 
of Stone River, Chickamauga, Lookout Mount- 
ain, Missionary Ridge and many smaller bat- 
tles and skirmishes, including all of those of the 
great Atlanta campaign, when the Union 
troops were under fire for four months. He 
was in the battle in which Gen. McPherson 
fell, and in that of Jonesboro, after which he 
went with Sherman to the sea. He was in the 
battle of Savannah, and that at Columbia, 
after which he was discharged, his term of 
service having expired. Sent by ship from 
Hilton Head to New York, he returned home 
from this latter city. He was one of the for- 
tunate soldiers of the war, never being wounded 
nor taken prisoner and being sick in the hos- 
pital at Nashville only three weeks. He was 
in all the marches, campaigns, battles, and 
skirmishes in which his regiment was engaged, 
and was always prompt and cheerful in the per- 
formance of his duties. As a republican he 
has held the office of supervisor ten years and 
is an honored member of Yandalia post, No. 
94, G. A. R. 

George W. Drill, father of John W., was 
born in Frederick count}', Md., October 7, 
17S7, and married in that county Jemima Lea- 
kins, who was born December 6, 1791, in the 
same county. Their children were Daniel. 
Elizabeth, Jacob, George. John W. , Ann R. 
and Thomas. All except Ann R. lived to ma- 
ture years. In 1828 Mr. Drill came to Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, making the journey with 
a four-horse wagon and a one-horse carriage, 
or rockaway, as it was called. He settled in 
Harrison township, three miles from Dayton, 
at Ebenezer church. Here he purchased 160 
acres of land, mostly Stillwater bottom land. 



With the exception of ten acres he cleared this 
tract of its timber, made of it a fine farm and 
lived thereon the remainder of his days, dying 
January 26, 1835. His wife died June 23, 
i860, at the residence of John W. Drill. Mr. 
Drill was a member of the Protestant Episco- 
pal church, and the Ebenezer Methodist Epis- 
copal church was built on his land. He was 
of German ancestry, his father having come 
from Germany to the United States. 

Robert Hosier was born in Virginia, was a 
farmer by vocation and was a teamster in the 
war of 18 1 2. He married in Montgomery 
county, to which he came when about thirty 
years of age. His wife was Nancy Compton, 
born in South Carolina, daughter of William 
and Tetty Compton, both of English descent. 
Robert Hosier was one of the original pioneers 
of Montgomery county, settling here when 
there was but one store in Dayton. He en- 
tered 300 acres of land one-half mile east of 
Chambersburg before the Indians had left the 
country. He and his wife had the following 
children: Nancy, Isaac, Zimri, Rebecca, Rho- 
da. Mary, Joshua. Eli, Leona and one that 
died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Hosier were 
members of the Christian church, and he was 
well known throughout the country as a sturdy 
and prosperous pioneer. 



(D 



OSES EVANS, one of the most sub- 
stantial fanners of Butler township, 
whose post-office is Fidelity, Ohio, 
springs from Welsh ancestry. His 
grandfather, Joseph Evans, was a farmer of 
Georgia, and in 1773 married in that state Miss 
Esther Buffington. Their children were Sam- 
uel, born January 27, 1775; Hannah, born 
October 27, 1776; Isaac, born November 7, 
1778; Moses, born September 24, 1780; Mar- 
garet, born October 17, 1782; Adam, born De- 
cember 30, 1784; John, born February 16, 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1299 



1787; Robert, born February 7, 1789; Phebe, 
born December 13, 1790; Mary, born Decem- 
ber 8, 1792; Aaron, born January 13, 1794, 
and Sally, born May 31, 1797. 

Joseph Evans, father of these children, 
moved to Ohio in 1802 by means of wagons. 
The Evans family were Quakers, and moved 
away from Georgia on account of their opposi- 
tion to slavery. They settled in Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county, near Yandalia. 
Here Mr. Evans passed his remaining days, 
dying August 31, 1828, when seventy-nine 
years and eleven days old. Esther Buffington, 
his wife, was born February 1, 1756, and died 
May 30, 1830. Mr. Evans was one of the 
sturdy, thrifty pioneers, and owned land enough 
to give each of his children a good farm. 

Robert Evans, his son, and the father of 
Moses Evans, was born in Georgia, and ac- 
cording to his own statement was a small boy 
when the family moved to Ohio. Robert 
Evans received a fair common-school educa- 
tion in his youth, and became a farmer. July 
12, 1812, he married Esther Jenkins, of Ohio, 
daughter of Thomas Jenkins. Mr. Evans after 
his marriage settled in Miami county on 170 
acres of land, which he cleared from the woods. 
The town of Tippecanoe, Ohio, now stands on 
this farm. Mr. Evans became a prosperous 
man, and bought additional land for his chil- 
dren. This land lay in St. Joseph's county, 
Ind. Politically he was an old-line whig and 
later a republican, and a strong Union man. 
Four of his sons were in the Union army, 
Jesse, Robert, Moses and Eli. The first three 
were in company G, One Hundred and Forty- 
seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, and served 
100 days, and Eli served in an Indiana regi- 
ment. Mr. Evans was a Quaker in religious 
belief, like his ancestors before him. 

His children by his first wife were Thomas, 
Joseph, William, Moses, Morris, Eli and 
Esther, all of whom grew to mature years, 



and all married and reared families. There 
were several other children who died young. 
The mother of these children died January 26, 
1835, an d Mr. Evans again married, his second 
wife being Mary Jenkins, by whom he had the 
following children: Jesse, Mary L., Robert, 
Elizabeth and one that died young. 

Moses Evans was born January 17, 1826, 
on his father's farm in Monroe township, 
Miami county, Ohio. His early education 
was only a limited one, but sufficient for all 
the practical purposes of a farmer's life. 
When about twenty-one years old he married, 
on February 25, 1847, Elizabeth Pearson, 
who was a daughter of Noah and Florentine 
Pearson. Noah Pearson was an excellent 
man and a good farmer of Miami county. 
His children were Simeon, William, Elizabeth, 
Mary and Henrietta. Mr. Pearson was also 
a Quaker in religion and lived to the age of 
seventy years. After their marriage Moses 
Evans and wife settled in Monroe township, 
within four miles of Tippecanoe, on his 
father's farm, of which his father gave him 
eighty acres. In 1865 he sold it and moved 
to his present farm of eighty acres, which he 
has much improved. His wife died October 
13, 1856, a woman of excellent character and 
many virtues. December 31, 1857, Mr. 
Evans married Ruth Russell, who died April 
25, 1859, leaving no children. On May 3, 
1865, Mr. Evans married Delilah Fanner, a 
widow, whose maiden name was Yount. She 
was born in Montgomery county, July 21, 
1833, and was a daughter of Solomon and 
Eve (Fouts) Yount. 

Solomon Yount was a son of John and 
Mary Yount, the former of whom was a pio- 
neer of Montgomery county and of German 
descent. He came with his family from North 
Carolina with the old Friends or Quakers, and 
settled in Butler township. His children were 
Frederick, Henry, Rebecca, Delilah and Solo- 



1300 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mon. Solomon Yount was born July 22, 1797, 
in North Carolina, and came with his parents 
to Ohio in 1802. He married Eve Yount, a 
widow, nee Fouts, who was a daughter of 
Michael and Elizabeth (Sinks) Fouts. Solo- 
mon Yount settled on the land where now 
lives Isaac Macy, which land he cleared and 
then removed to another farm in Butler town- 
ship, this latter farm containing 170 acres, and 
upon which he became a substantial farmer. 
His children by Eve Yount were Enos, Fred- 
erick, Mary, Roanna, Elizabeth and Delilah. 
He had previously been married to Joanna 
Insco, and by her had one child, Insco Yount. 

In religion Mr. Yount was a Quaker or 
Friend, and in politics was first a whig and 
then a republican. He died April 10, 1870, a 
man of most excellent character and of strict 
integrity. 

Mr. Evans is a member of the Christian 
church, as also his wife. He served in the 
one hundred days' service as a member of 
company E, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio volunteer infantry, and was stationed at 
Fort Marcy, W. Va. Mr. Evans is an hon- 
ored citizen, and has held the offices of super- 
visor and member of school board. By his 
first wife, he had four children who are now 
living: Hester M.; Nancy J.; Noah D. and 
Harriet. Mrs. Evans was married first to 
Allen Fanner, a farmer of Miami county, and 
by him had three children, Webster, Callie 
and Arnold. Allen Fanner died at the age of 
twenty-seven years. 




HE ARNOLD FAMILY.— Samuel, 
Joseph, Elizabeth, Henry H. and 
Abigail Arnold were born near Har- 
risonburg, Rockingham county, Ya., 
and with their parents, Daniel and Catherine 
1 Harshbarger) Arnold, emigrated to Ohio in 
the year 1830. 



Samuel Arnold, a worthy citizen and pioneer 
settler of Wayne township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, was born June 24, 18 17, and was 
thirteen years of age when brought to Ohio by 
his parents. He received a common-school 
education and became an energetic and suc- 
cessful farmer, managing the farm and raising 
the crops while his brothers worked in the saw- 
mill. At twenty-two years of age he married 
Miss Hannah Wolf, daughter of Jacob and 
Elizabeth (Ullery) Wolf. Samuel Arnold, after 
marriage, settled on a farm of 110 acres on 
Little Bear creek, Montgomery county. The 
children of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold are Jacob W., 
Abigail and Samuel A., all of whom are mar- 
ried and living on homes of their own in Mont- 
gomery county. Hannah (Wolf) Arnold was 
born in Montgomery county, Ohio, March 23, 
1821, and died May 10, 1873. Samuel Arnold 
then, on March 3, 1878, married Mrs. Lizzie 
Stoneroad, who died in March, 1879. He then, 
in April, 1884, married Mrs. Polly Warner, 
with whom he is living a retired life near Brook- 
ville, Ohio. Samuel Arnold is of the Old Ger- 
man Baptist faith, and has held the office of 
deacon for many years. 

Rev. Joseph Arnold, a devout minister of 
the Old German Baptist church, was born Oc- 
tober 27, 18 1 8, and was twelve years of age 
when brought to Wayne township, Montgom- 
ery county. He received a good education 
and was reared on his father's farm. Being a 
natural mechanic, and particularly apt with 
carpenter's tools, he was able to erect all his 
own buildings, besides planning and aiding 
others in the construction of theirs. May 19, 
1840, he married, in Clarke county, Ohio, Miss 
Elizabeth Frantz, who was born in Botetourt 
county, Ya., January 30, 1821, a daughter of 
Michael and Elizabeth (Crist) Frantz. 

Michael Frantz, father of Mrs. Arnold, was 
a native of Virginia, a grandson of Peter 
Frantz and a son of David and Elizabeth 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1301 



(Garst) Frantz; David was a farmer, and died 
in middle life, the father of the following chil- 
dren: Michael, David, Abraham, Samuel, 
Christian, Jacob, Joseph, Annie, Elizabeth, 
Lydia and Susannah, all born in Botetourt 
county. After the death of her husband Mrs. 
Frantz came to Ohio and settled in Logan 
county, where she passed the remainder of her 
life, and in the year 1840, at seventy years of 
age, died in the faith of the Old German Bap- 
tist church. Michael Frantz, father of Mrs. 
Arnold, was born September, 1 791 , and mar- 
ried Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Marga- 
rette (Hoh) Crist, of Augusta county, Va., 
but who became residents of Botetourt county. 
Jacob and Margarette (Hoh) Crist reared a 
family of four daughters and one son, viz: 
Betsy, Barbara, Catherine, Jacob and Susan. 
Jacob Crist, the father of this family, died in 
Virginia, in 1805, aged about forty years; his 
widow, Margarette (Hoh) Crist, came to Ohio 
in 1826, and died in Clarke county in May, 
1840, aged seventy-two years and five months. 
The children of Michael and Elizabeth (Crist) 
Frantz were David, Elizabeth and Catherine. 
Elizabeth (Crist) Frantz, the mother of Mrs. 
Arnold, died in Clarke county, Ohio, May 31, 
1823, aged thirty years, seven months and 
seven days. The father next married Susan- 
nah Neher, and to this union were born John, 
Susannah, Lydia, Michael, Samuel and Annie. 
The mother of these children also died, and 
the father next married a widow, Catherine 
(Ohmarti Crist, who bore him one child, 
Aaron. Michael Frantz came to Ohio in 1823 
and settled on 160 acres of land in Pike town- 
ship, Clarke county, cleared up a good farm 
from the forest, and died on his homestead in 
February, i860, aged sixty-eight years and 
five months. He was a member of the Old 
German Baptist church, and recognized as one 
of the most responsible and useful citizens of 
his township. 



After marriage, Joseph Arnold settled on 
his present homestead, which consists of 
seventy-six acres in Wayne township, Mont- 
gomery county, in a fine state of cultivation, 
and improved with a modern and commodious 
dwelling. Mr. Arnold also owns a fine farm 
of 126 acres in Miami county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Arnold have no children of their own, but 
have reared three with the kindest of parental 
care and affection, viz: Catherine Neher, 
who died at the age of twenty-two years; John 
and Melissa Baird, both now married and set- 
tled in life. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold are mem- 
bers of the Old German Baptist church. Mr. 
Arnold has been a minister since 1856, has ex- 
tended his labors in the cause of the church 
over at least twelve states of the Union, and 
has been in attendance at each annual confer- 
ence since 1870. 

Elizabeth Arnold was born November 29, 
1 82 1, was nine years of age when brought to 
Wayne township, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
was here married to Daniel Funderburg in 
1840, and settled on a farm of eighty acres in 
Miami county, Ohio, where Mr. Funderburg 
died in March, i860. Mrs. Elizabeth (Arnold) 
Funderburg married George W. Studebakerin 
February, 1863, and they are now living a re- 
tired life in Fredonia, Wilson county, Kans. 
Both are devout, active members of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, Mr. Studebaker being a 
minister and elder. 

Henry H. Arnold, one of the old-time 
farmers and mechanics of Wayne township, 
Montgomery county, Ohio, was born January 
[ 1, 1827, and was but four years of age when 
brought to Ohio; he was reared to farming 
among the pioneers, received the usual com- 
mon-school education, and was also taught 
the use of tools, for which he had a natural 
aptitude, but he and his brother Joseph both 
worked in a saw-mill when young, and both 
learned to do millwright work. His maternal 



1302 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



grandfather, Henry Harshbarger, who settled 
in Wayne township in 1830, at the same 
time with the Arnold family, bought the farm 
on which Henry H. now lives; this farm was 
then mostly in forest; game, such as deer and 
wild turkey, was plentiful. In the winter of 
1830-31, he built a saw-mill on the farm on 
Dry Run, it being the first mill in Wayne 
township. He sold the farm in 1831 to his 
son-in-law, Daniel Arnold. This mill was run 
almost continuously until 1875, and here the 
two brothers worked for thirty-five years, both 
becoming expert saw-millers. At nearly the 
age of twenty-one years Henry H. Arnold was 
united in marriage, September 12, 1847, in 
Clarke county, Ohio, with Magdalena Crist, 
born in that county, August 5, 1825, daughter 
of Jacob and Magdalena (Frantz) Crist. 

Jacob Crist, the father of Mrs. Arnold, 
was born January 11, 1801, in Augusta 
county, Va., and was married to Magda- 
lena Frantz, of Botetourt county, Va., in 
1822, emigrated to Ohio by wagons in 1823, 
settled on eighty acres of land in Pike town- 
ship, Clarke county, and cleared up a farm. 
Magdalena (Frantz) Crist, who bore to him 
two sons and one daughter, viz: Joel, Jacob 
and Magdalena, died in Clarke county, Ohio, 
August 5, 1825, at about twenty-five years of 
age, and is buried in the Meyers cemetery, 
Clarke county, Ohio. She was a daughter of 
Peter, Jr., and Peggie (Garst) Frantz. Peter 
Frantz, Jr., was a iarge landholder of Vir- 
ginia, and he and his family were members of 
the Old German Baptist church, Mr. Frantz 
being a minister and elder for many years. 
He died in Botetourt county, Va., in 
1852, aged eighty-seven years. Jacob Crist 
was next married to Catherine Ohmart, in 
Clarke county, Ohio, in 1826, and in 1828 
moved to Logan county, Ohio, bought 160 
acres, and cut the first tree from the land, 
which was all in the forest. Here he hewed 



out a well-improved farm, on which they lived 
thirteen years, then returned to Clarke county 
in 1840, and cleared up another farm of 160 
acres in Pike township, built a large frame 
dwelling and made a comfortable home. 
Catherine (Ohmart) Crist bore him nine chil- 
dren, viz: Polly, John, Adam, Christopher, 
Barbara, Margarette, Samuel, Catherine and 
Aaron. All his children excepting two reached 
mature age and were married. Jacob Crist 
died in Clarke county, Ohio, in January, 1849, 
aged forty-eight years, and is buried in the 
Meyers cemetery. He was an earnest Christian 
and a faithful member of his church, the Old 
German Baptist, for many years holding the 
office of a minister and elder. 

Henry H. Arnold, after marriage, settled 
on his present place of 144 acres, a part of the 
old Arnold homestead, which he bought of his 
father in 1861, and here there have been born 
to him nine children, viz: Elizabeth, Daniel 
(who died at the age of ten years), Silas J., 
Henry C, Emma A., and four who died in 
infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Arnold have been 
members of the Old German Baptist church 
for more than fifty years, and two of their chil- 
dren are likewise members. Aided by his 
faithful wife and children, Mr. Arnold has 
greatly improved the old homestead. Mr. and 
Mrs. Arnold have met with the prosperity 
their industry deserves, and their undeviating 
rectitude has won for them the respect of the 
community. 

Abigail Arnold was born September 4, 
1829, and was one year old when brought to 
Ohio, and died in Wayne township, Mont- 
gomery county, March 20, 1840. 

Samuel Arnold, the great-grandfather of 
this family, came to America from Germany, 
arriving at Philadelphia when it was quite a 
small town, and, with his wife, settled in Fred- 
erick county, Md. He was the father of Dan- 
iel, Zachariah, David. Samuel, Betsey and 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1303 



Mollie. The father and sons were all farmers 
and of the Old German Baptist faith. Daniel, 
David, and Samuel were ministers and elders 
of their church, and Zachariah was a deacon. 
Zachariah Arnold, son of Samuel and grandfa- 
ther of our subjects, was born in Frederick 
county, Md., December 5, 1766, and married 
Abigail Miller, who was born in Germany Jan- 
uary 8, 1776; they moved to Hampshire coun- 
ty, W. Va., and settled on a large farm near 
Romney, where they reared a family of eight 
sons and two daughters, viz: John, Daniel, 
Joseph, Peter, Samuel, David, Benjamin, Zach- 
ariah, Betsey and Peggy. The family were 
members of the Old German Baptist church, 
Joseph and Benjamin being ministers and Zach- 
ariah and Daniel deacons. The sons all owned 
large farms in West Virginia, with the excep- 
tion of Daniel, who emigrated to Ohio; all were 
married and reared large families, except Peter, 
who remained unmarried and died in 1875, 
aged about eighty years. Zachariah Arnold, 
father of this family, died June 5, 1829, aged 
sixty-two years and one month. His wife, Abi- 
gail (Miller) Arnold, died October 24, 1856, 
aged eighty years, nine months and sixteen 
days; both are buried on the old Arnold home- 
stead in West Virginia, which is now in the 
possession of the third generation. 

Daniel Arnold, son of Zachariah, and fa- 
ther of our subjects, was born in Hampshire 
county, W. Va. , June 30, 1792, and Septem- 
ber 3, 1 8 16, was married to Catherine Harsh- 
barger, of Rockingham county, Va. , who was 
born in that county, January 17, 1795, and was 
the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Rhine- 
hart ) Harshbarger. To Mr. and Mrs. Daniel 
Arnold were born three sons and two daughters, 
whose names open this record. Daniel Ar- 
nold, after his marriage, bought 200 acres of 
land in Rockingham county, Va., and there 
followed the pursuit of agriculture until 1830, 

when he and his family, his father-in-law, 
59 



Henry Harshbarger, and part of his family, 
and Jacob Snell and family, a party of sixteen 
persons, emigrated to Ohio in wagons. This 
colony arrived in Wayne township, Montgom- 
ery county, in September, 1830; of this num- 
ber only five are living at this date, March, 
1897; they are the three sons and one daugh- 
ter of Daniel Arnold above mentioned, and 
John Snell, of Miami county, all between the 
ages of seventy and eighty years. 

Upon his arrival, Daniel Arnold rented land 
in Wayne township, on which he passed the 
first-winter, and Henry Harshbarger bought the 
farm of 160 acres, which he sold a year later to 
his son-in-law, Daniel Arnold, who then moved 
on the farm. By hard work, as was usual as 
well as necessary in that early day, assisted by 
his sons, he converted the wilderness into a 
comfortable home, where he passed the remain- 
derof hisdays. On December 3, 1845, he bought 
fifty acres adjoining the south side of his farm; 
about the same time he sold seventy-six acres 
to his son Joseph, where he still lives. Daniel 
Arnold died at the home of his son Henry H., 
July 11, 1864, aged seventy-two years and 
eleven days, from injuries received by an acci- 
dental fall from a wagon. Catherine (Harsh- 
barger) Arnold died December 6, 1852, aged 
fifty-seven years, ten months and nineteen 
days. Both are buried in the family graveyard 
on the old Arnold homestead. Mr. and Mrs. 
Daniel Arnold were members of the Old Ger- 
man Baptist church, and were greatly re- 
spected for their general usefulness as citizens, 
and for the reason that they did as much as 
any pioneers of the township to redeem it from 
the forest and advance its civilization. Henry 
Harshbarger, the maternal grandfather of our 
subjects, was born in Virginia February 28, 
1774, and was married to Elizabeth Rhinehart, 
who was born in Virginia March 18, 1775. 
They owned and lived on a farm near Dayton, 
Rockingham county, Va., where they reared a 



1804 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



family of two sons and five daughters, viz: 
Catherine (the mother of our subject), Magda- 
lene, Elizabeth, Barbara, John, Henry, Jr., 
and Anna, all of whom came to Ohio, except 
John, who remained in Virginia. Mr. Harsh- 
barger, after leaving Wayne township, bought 
and occupied a farm in Bethel township, Miami 
county. Here his wife died, April 2, 1833, 
aged "fifty-eight years and fifteen days, being 
the first person buried in the Hickory Grove 
cemetery. Mr. Harshbarger then married a 
widow Ullery, and returned to Montgomery 
county, where he died at his home on Little 
Bear creek, June 3, 1847, aged seventy -three 
years, three months and three days, and is 
buried in Bright's cemetery in the vicinity. 




• HE MARTINDALE FAMILY is one 
of the oldest, most substantial and 
respected in the county of Montgom- 
ery, Ohio, and is noted for its intelli- 
gence, thrift, industry and sturdy traits of 
character, as well as for its prominence in the 
social and material progress of the county. 
The founders of the family in America were 
three brothers, who came from England in the 
colonial days, and settled near Philadelphia, 
Pa., and a son of one of these, Maj. James A. 
Martindale (or Martindill, as the name was 
originally spelled), was a patriot of the war of 
the Revolution, and was a great-great-grand- 
father of Walter L. Martindale, the lawyer of 
Harrisburg, Ohio. 

Maj. James A. Martindale was born in 
South Carolina in 1754. His father was of 
Irish and his mother, nee'Alexander, of Scotch 
parentage, and both came to America with 
their parents about the year 1735. James A. 
Martindale enlisted in 1780, served as a private 
one year, as lieutenant two years, and eventu- 
ally attained the rank of major, and in 1832 
was granted a pension, having rendered valu- 



able service at King's Mountain, N. C, siege 
of Ninety-six, S. C, Cowpens and elsewhere. 
After the war he moved to Greenbrier county, 
now in West Virginia, where several of his 
children were born, and in 181 1 came to 
Ohio and settled in Gallia county. He was 
three times married — first to a Miss Bishop, 
and of the children born to this union the 
names of Samuel, Thomas and Mattie are re- 
membered; after the death of his first wife he 
again married, and after the death of his sec- 
ond wife he married a third, being then over 
ninety years of age. He came to Montgomery 
county from Gallipolis some time after his son 
Samuel had settled here, and it is remembered 
that at one time the major, his son Samuel, 
his grandson Jesse, and his great-grandson Ma- 
kinny — four generations — cradled wheat to- 
gether on the farm of Samuel, near Troy. The 
major lived to reach the age of ninety-six years, 
and his remains lie interred in the soil of the 
Buckeye state. 

Samuel Martindale, son of Maj. James A. 
Martindale and great-grandfather of Walter L. 
Martindale, was born in South Carolina and 
was twice married. After the death of his first 
wife he married Elizabeth Campbell, of Scotch 
descent, and to this second union were born 
Rebecca, John, Hester, Lydia, Rachel, Martha 
and Samuel. The father, Samuel, was a farmer 
and in 1803 came to Ohio, bought forty acres of 
land near Waynesville, Warren county, on 
which he resided until 1807, when he came to 
Montgomery county and settled on 160 acres 
on the north line of Butler township, prospered 
greatly, acquired several farms and became a 
citizen of great influence and prominence. He 
was an old-line whig in politics and he and his 
wife were members of the Christian church. 
He was really the founder of the Martindale 
family in Montgomery county, as his father, 
Maj. James A., was an aged man when he 
came here. He also lived to a great age, be- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1305 



ing over eighty years of age when he died an 
honored pioneer. 

John Martindale, eldest son of Samuel and 
grandfather of Walter L. , was born in South 
Carolina in 1798 and was brought when a child 
to Montgomery county, Ohio, by his father. 
He here grew to manhood on his father's farm 
among the pioneers, and first married Miss Mary 
Sidney, a native of North Carolina, who had 
come to Ohio in company with two sisters, mak- 
ingthe trip on horseback, afterthe death of their 
parents. To this marriage was born one son, 
Jesse, and after the death of the mother, Mr. 
Martindale married Miss Amy Campbell, 
daughter of Robert and Amelia (Henderson) 
Campbell. This lady was born in Pennsyl- 
vania and her parents were of Scotch-Irish ex- 
traction. This second union was blessed with 
ten children, viz: Elizabeth, Robert, Mary, 
Samuel, Rachel, John, William, Stewart, 
Martin and Rebecca. John Martindale, after 
marriage, first located in Fidelity, Miami 
county, where he worked at the trade of black- 
smith (which he had learned when a young 
man) until 1821, when he settled on a farm of 
eighty acres on the north line of Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county. This farm he 
cleared up in great part from the woods, made 
a success of farm life, and added to his posses- 
sions until he owned 520 acres, situated in 
Montgomery and Miami counties, Ohio, and 
in Indiana, thus becoming one of the most 
substantial citizens of Butler township. He 
was a man of sterling qualities, and was a 
deacon in the Christian church, and in politics 
was a whig. His death took place in 1859, 
at the age of sixty-one years, and his loss was 
deeply felt throughout the entire community. 
Of his sons, Samuel served three years in the 
Civil war as captain in the Thirty-fifth Ohio 
volunteer infantry; Stewart was an orderly 
sergeant in the Sixty-third Ohio infantry; 
Robert served in the One Hundred and Forty- 



seventh for 100 days and was promoted to be 
sergeant, and John served as private in the 
same regiment for the same length of time. 
Of Samuel Martindale, the fourth child born 
to John and Amelia (Campbell) Martindale, 
full mention will be made in the biography of 
Walter L. Martindale, of Butler township. 



£"V*AMUEL F. NORTH, one of the vet- 
•^V eran soldiers of the late Civil war, 

h<_J springs from Scotch ancestors on his 
father's side, and on his mother's side 
from German ancestry. His grandfather came 
from Scotland, and his father, David North, 
served as a soldier when he was eighteen years 
old, in the war of 18 12. David North married 
Susan Fair, a daughter of Michael Fair, in 
Dayton. She was born in Taneytown, Md., 
of German ancestry. Mr. North was a saddler 
by trade and lived in Dayton until he moved 
to Vandalia, where he died in 1849, at the age 
of fifty-three years, a member of the Lutheran 
church. Mrs. North, who still lives at the age 
of eighty years, is a member of the United 
Brethren church. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. North were George W., Martha J., David 
V., John V., Samuel F., Michael J., Thomas 
J., Rebecca and Emma. Four of these sons 
served in the late Civil war, viz: George W. , 
Thomas J., Samuel F. and Michael J. George 
W. was in an Ohio regiment; Thomas J. was 
in the Seventy-fourth Ohio volunteer infantry, 
marched with Sherman to the sea and partici- 
pated in many battles, and Michael J. was in 
company G, Second Illinois volunteer cavalry. 
David V., when a young man, went to Mem- 
phis, Tenn. , where he followed his trade, that 
of molder; he went with Gen. Walker on his 
ill-fated expedition to Nicaraugua and there 
perished with many others. 

Samuel F. North was born April 2, 1840, 
near Harrisburg, Ohio. He received a com- 



1306 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



mon-school education, learned early in life 
what hard work meant, and was but nine years 
old when his father died. Becoming a farmer, 
he went to Mason county, 111., in the spring of 
1 86 1, and then enlisted at Havana in July fol- 
lowing, being enrolled on the 23d of that 
month, in company C, Second Illinois volun- 
teer cavalry, to serve three years or during the 
war. He was honorably discharged from the 
service January 3, 1864, at Memphis, Tenn., 
in order to re-enlist as a veteran to serve again 
for three years or during the war. He was 
honorably mustered out the second time at San 
Antonio, Tex.. January 2, 1866, by reason of 
the close of the war. He was promoted to 
sergeant of his company, and held that office 
when finally discharged. He was in the battle 
of Holly Springs, Miss., and on the Obion 
river, Tenn., on the Tallahatchie, and in many 
skirmishes. He was in a raid with Col. Sper- 
ling from the Florida coast to Gravel Hill sta- 
tion on the Mobile & Columbia railroad, and 
on the Blakely & Claiborne when a fight oc- 
curred. He marched on through to Vicksburg 
and up the Red river country to Shreveport 
and then to San Antonio, Tex., being on the 
march from March 20, 1865, to August 18, 
1865. Mr. North was a faithful and efficient 
soldier throughout the war. 

The great conflict having come to a close, 
Mr. North returned to Montgomery county, 
and on March 7, 1867, at Vandalia, married 
Cynthia A. Collins, who was born in 1847, 
and is a daughter of William and Nancy (Rob- 
erts) Collins. Mr. Collins was of Irish descent, 
but was born in Highland county, Ohio, and 
was a blacksmith by trade. He married Nancy 
Roberts, of New Antioch, Clinton county, Ohio, 
by whom he had two children, who lived to 
mature years: Henry and Cynthia A. Mr. 
Collins settled in Auglaize county, at Saint 
Mary's, where he ran a blacksmith shop and 
also managed a farm of eighty acres. He died 



January 1, i860, a member of the Christian 
church. His widow lived on the farm until 
November 17, 1895. when she died at the age 
of eighty-two years, two months and seventeen 
days. She was a member of the church and a 
woman of excellent traits of character and at- 
tractive disposition. 

Mr. North settled in Auglaize county, and 
there lived until within a few years, when he 
sold his farm and removed to Montgomery 
county, buying his present farm in Butler town- 
ship in 1891. His children are Jennie and 
Nannie. Mrs. North is a member of the Chris- 
tian church and the children are members of 
the Brethren church. Mr. North is a repub- 
lican in politics, and is a member of Milton 
Weaver post, G. A. R. His daughter Jennie 
married Sherman S. Sunderland, and Nannie 
married Allen T. Routson, and has one son, 
Nevin S. 

George North, the grandfather of Samuel 
F. North, came from England with Lord Balti- 
more. He was for many years a justice of the 
peace in Maryland, and died in Cumberland 
county, that state. His children were John, 
George, David, Michael, Samuel, Polly, Betsey, 
Nanny, Susan and Sallie. Mr. North was a 
member of the Lutheran church. 

David North, father of Samuel F., was born 
March 17, 1796, in Cumberland county, Md., 
and received a limited common-school educa- 
tion. While he was a farmer, he also carried 
on the saddler's trade at Hagerstown, Md., 
and, having married in Maryland, removed to 
Ohio, settling in Montgomery county. By his 
first wife he had no children. After her death, 
which occurred a few years after marriage, he 
married Betsey Harvey, in Montgomery county, 
Ohio, and by her he had two children, George 
and Martha J. This wife also died a few years 
after her marriage, and Mr. North then mar- 
ried Susan Fair, who was born March 10, 18 16, 
in Frederick county, Md., and was a daughter 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1307 



of Michael and Sarah (Krouse) Fair. Michael 
Fair was a native of Maryland, his parents 
having removed thither from North Carolina. 
He was a soldier in the war of 1 8 1 2. He mar- 
ried in Maryland, and had the following chil- 
dren: Volusha, Mary, Elizabeth, Susan, Re- 
becca, Samuel and Sarah. Mr. Fair came to 
Montgomery county in 1834, settled in Dayton, 
and worked at his trade of shoemaker. He 
died in Chambersburg at the age of sixty-nine. 
He was a member of the Reformed church. 



£~V*AMUEL SOUDERS, M. D., a promi- 
*V^^%T nent physician of Montgomery coun- 

h<_y ty, living at Beavertown, was born 
near Zanesville, Ohio, September 15, 
1830. He is a son of Jacob and Mary M. 
(Slater) Souders, both natives of Loudoun 
county, Va., and the parents of ten children, 
all of whom lived to mature age, and five of 
whom are still living, as follows: George, of 
Hocking county; Eli, of the same county; 
Samuel; Mary Ann, wife of G. W. Baughman, 
of Muskingum county, Ohio, and Amos, of 
Morgan county, Ohio. 

Jacob Souders, the father of this family, 
was a farmer by occupation, came to Ohio in 
18 16, and located in Morgan county, building 
his log cabin just across the line from Mus- 
kingum county. He at first took up 160 acres 
of land for himself, and later bought land for 
his children. There he continued to live until 
his death, which occurred December 22, 1866, 
when he was seventy-six years of age. His 
wife survived him until August 10, 1886, when 
she died at the age of ninety years and five 
months. They were members of the Lutheran 
church. 

The father of Jacob Souders was a native 
of Maryland, in which state he died in middle 
life. His family consisted of three sons and 
two daughters. The maternal grandfather of 



Samuel Souders, John Slater, was a native of 
Loudoun county, Va., and there he died at 
middle age, and his wife, whose maiden name 
was Elizabeth Comfort, survived him for some 
years, dying at the ripe age of ninety-four. 

Samuel Souders, M. D., received his edu- 
cation in the district schools, making such good 
use of his opportunities as to begin teaching 
school when nineteen years of age. He con- 
tinued to follow the profession of teaching for 
eight years, attending Muskingum college in 
the meantime, and paying his expenses with 
the money he earned as a teacher. He was a 
regular graduate of the Ophthalmic hospital 
in New York in 1861, engaged in practice and 
intended to make ophthalmy a specialty; but, 
ophthalmy alone not being remunerative, he 
entered the medical department of the univer- 
sity of New York, and ten years later gradu- 
ated from Bellevue Hospital Medical college. 
In 1 87 1, after a thorough preparation. Dr. 
Souders began the general practice of his pro- 
fession in Beavertown, Ohio, and has continued 
to practice there ever since, but, as he had 
practiced from 1861 to 187 1, he has conse- 
quently been in continuous practice now for a 
period of thirty-five years. 

On the 6th of August, 1863, he married 
Miss Jennie O'Neill, daughter of Charles and 
Elizabeth (Sherman) O'Neill, natives of New 
Bedford, Mass. Mrs. Souders was born in 
Franklin county, Pa., October 28, 1842. She 
was educated in the east, and after coming to 
Montgomery county, Ohio, at the age of six- 
teen, was a successful school teacher from that 
time until her marriage. 

Dr. and Mrs. Souders are the parents of 
four children, all of whom are living, as fol- 
lows: Minnie Anna, wife of Rev. E. W. Darst, 
now of Chicago, but who was formerly minister 
for seven years in Boston; J. Maud, yet single; 
Samuel Mott, principal of the Beavertown 
public schools; and Myrtle, a graduate of the 



1308 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



Conservatory of Music, in which she took the 
normal course, finishing in 1896. Dr. and 
Mrs. Souders are members of the Lutheran 
church. He is a member of the Montgomery 
county Medical society, and also of the state 
and national Medical associations. In his 
practice he has met with unusual success, and 
is recognized throughout a large district as one 
of the best of its physicians. In his early life 
he was a whig, voting first for Gen. Winfield 
Scott. From the organization of the repub- 
lican party he was a republican until 1871, 
when he became a prohibitionist, and has since 
adhered to that party. Dr. Souders has been 
a resident of Montgomery county for thirty- 
eight years, and has a beautiful residence in 
Beavertown. 

He is a firm believer in the education of 
the young, and all of his children have been 
given a classical education. In his profession 
Dr. Souders enjoys the confidence of a large 
circle of patients, and in the community where 
he has spent so many years of useful labor he 
is esteemed as a good and honorable citizen. 



>Y*OHN P. CREAGER, farmer, of Van 
J Buren township, Montgomery county, 
A 1 was born in Franklin, Warren county, 
Ohio, in 1844. He is a son of Will- 
iam and Susanna (Doland) Creager, the 
former of whom was a native of Maryland 
and the latter of Warren county, Ohio. 
When yet a small child William Creager was 
brought to Ohio by his parents and was reared 
at Franklin, where his father followed his trade, 
that of blacksmith, for some years, but after- 
ward bought a farm upon which he lived the 
remainder of his life. William Creager and 
his wife were the parents of eleven children, 
six sons and five daughters, seven of whom are 
now living, as follows: John P.; Mary Ann, 
wife of Otho Mundebaugh; Ezra; Susanna, 



widow of Nicholas Eylar; Jacob; Eliza Jane, 
widow of James Mehan; and Emma F., wife 
of Elmer Marshall. 

William Creager grew to man's estate near 
Franklin, in Warren county, and in 1856 moved 
to Van Buren township, Montgomery county, 
where he bought a farm of 1 5 1 acres, afterward 
selling six acres, and lived on this farm the re- 
mainder of his life, dying November I, 1892, 
aged nearly eighty years. His wife died March 
18, 1893, aged seventy years. She was a mem- 
ber of the Catholic church, and he was a Lu- 
theran. Both were good citizens, and dying 
left many friends to mourn their loss. 

The paternal grandfather of John P., Cas- 
per Creager, was a native of Maryland, but of 
German descent. At an early day he came 
west and settled in Warren county, where he 
died at a great age. There also his wife died. 
They reared a family of five children. The 
maternal grandfather, Mr. Doland, located at 
Franklin count)', Ohio, as one of the pioneer 
settlers of the county, and died there at an ad- 
vanced age. 

John P. Creager, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared to farm life and labor on his father's 
farm, which he now owns. He received his 
rudimentary education in the district schools, 
but has added to and supplemented this edu- 
cation, which was necessarily somewhat crude 
and deficient, by personal study, reading and 
observation, and has thus become one of the 
well-informed and intelligent citizens of his 
county. On March 17, 1SS7, he married Miss 
Julia M. Ditman, daughter of Jacob Ditman, 
and by this marriage he has two children, viz: 
William Howard and John. Politically Mr. 
Creager is and always has been a democrat, 
but has never sought any official position, pre- 
ferring the certain profits and quiet happiness 
of farm life to the turmoil and disappointments 
of politics. His farm, which is among the best 
in the county, contains 145 acres, is well im- 



OF DAYTON AND MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



1309 



proved and stocked, and furnishes him and his 
family with all the necessities and many of the 
luxuries of life. Mr. Creager's excellent quali- 
ties have made him many friends throughout 
the surrounding country, wherever known. 



WOHN ZEHRING, a retired farmer of 
■ Brookville, Montgomery county, Ohio, 
A 1 was born in Jackson township, in the 
same county, March 8, 1841, a son of 
Barnheart and Elizabeth (Swartzel) Zehring, 
who were of Pennsylvania-German stock, of 
whom mention is made in the biography of 
Rev. Aaron Zehring. 

John Zehring was reared on his father's 
farm, and was educated in the common 
schools. May 2, 1864, having enlisted in 
Johnsville, he was mustered into the Union 
service at Camp Chase, Ohio, under Capt. 
Coler, but served under Capt. David Holler- 
man at Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md., on guard 
duty, and was honorably discharged at Camp 
Chase, August 25, 1864, having served about 
two weeks over his term of enlistment. His 
marriage took place at Lewisburg, Ohio, Oc- 
tober 15, 1868, to Lucretia Kumler, who was 
born near Lincoln, Ohio, August 13, 1844, a 
daughter of David and Frances (Disher) Kum- 
ler, both of German descent and respectively 
of Pennsylvania and Virginia parentage. 

Rev. Henry Kumler, father of David, was a 
son of a pioneer minister, also named Henry, 
whose wife lived to the great age of ninety-seven 
years — her portrait, which is still in the fami- 
ly, being included in a group of five genera- 
tions. Rev. Henry Kumler, the younger, and 
the grandfather of Mrs. Zehring, was a bishop 
in the United Brethren church, and traveled 
through many circuits, but made his perma- 
nent home in Lewisburg, Ohio. He lived to 
be eighty years of age, and was the father of 
eight children, viz: David, Andrew, Noah, 



Henry, Susannah, Jesse, Salome and Samuel, 
of whom two of the sons — Jesse and Samuel — 
served three years each in an Ohio regiment 
during the Civil war. 

David Kumler was born in Harrison town- 
ship, Preble county, Ohio, was a wheel- 
wright, and also a surveyor, and lived to the 
age of seventy-two years. To him and his 
wife, Mrs. Frances (Disher) Kumler, were 
born two children — Lucretia and Savilla. 

Capt. Matthias Disher, the maternal grand- 
father of Mrs. Lucretia Zehring, was born on 
the banks of the James river, in Botetourt 
county, Va. , January 1, 18 17. His grand- 
father, Peter Discher (as the name was orig- 
inally spelled), came from Germany prior 
to the Revolution, was a soldier in that 
glorious struggle, and fought under Benedict 
Arnold at Quebec, Canada. At the close of 
the war he located in Maryland, but some years 
later removed to Botetourt county, where 
his death took place about 1821 or 1822. 
Of his seven children, the youngest, Chris- 
tian, was born in Maryland in 1788, was a 
lieutenant in the war of 1812, and was sta- 
tioned at Norfolk, Va. He married Frances 
Circle and settled on a farm in Botetourt 
county, Va. , where he lived until the fall of 
1829, when he came with his wife and five 
children to Ohio, and settled on a farm in 
Harrison township, Preble county, where his 
son, Christian, now lives, and where he died in 
1 87 1, at the age of eighty-two years and eleven 
months. His son, Capt. Matthias Disher, raised 
or recruited company H, Ninety-third Ohio 
volunteer infantry, and fought through the 
Civil war, thus continuing the military record 
of the family. 

After marriage Mr. and Mrs. John Zehring 
located on a farm of ninety-seven acres in 
Harrison township, where there were born to 
them three children — Estella, Clare and Ear- 
nest. In 1882 they removed to Brookville, 



1310 



CENTENNIAL BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



where theyjbought a pleasant residence, which 
is still their home. They are members of the 
United Brethren church — old constitution — in 
which Mr. Zehring has held the offices of trus- 
tee and steward. He has always been zealous 
and active in his church work, and largely 
aided with his means in the erection of the 



United Brethren church in Perry township. 
He is a republican in politics, but has never 
been ambitious for public office. He is greatly 
respected by his neighbors in Brookville, and 
was always regarded with esteem in his town- 
ship as a man of the strictest integrity. 



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